The Bicycle Thief Read Online Free

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    â€œCareful!” yelled Frank. “We don’t want to lose her now.”
    â€œRight!” yelled Joe. “And I’m going to try not to lose an eye, either.”
    It was hard to see Lucy through the trees. But they could still hear her running. Then, suddenly, the sound stopped. It was replaced by the sound of digging.
    â€œShe’s burying the toy,” said Joe. “But where is she?”
    The boys looked around. There was no sign of Lucy. Then they saw dirt flying up into the air.
    â€œThere!” yelled Frank.
    The boys ran over. She was sitting at the bottom of a deep hole, happily kicking dirt around. The hole was filled with things. Aside from Lucy’s favorite toy, there were three tennis balls, two dolls, a book, two pairs of glasses, an empty backpack, and dozens of sticks.
    But there was no sign of Frank’s bike.
    â€œDarn,” said Frank. He hadn’t really thoughtLucy had stolen his bike, but he’d gotten his hopes up anyway.
    â€œSorry, Frank,” said Mr. Mack, who had just caught up with them. “So that’s where my glasses went!” He began to pick all the important things out of the hole.
    â€œIt’s okay,” said Frank. “I’m glad she wasn’t the one who took it.”

    â€œBut,” said Joe, “maybe she can help us find out who did take it?”
    â€œWe’d be happy to help you boys any way we can. But how?” asked Mr. Mack.
    â€œWell, she’s good at finding where she hid all of this stuff,” said Joe. “So maybe she can track whoever took Frank’s bike.”
    â€œGood idea!” said Frank.
    Together Frank, Joe, Mr. Mack, and Lucy all headed back to the last place Frank had seen his bike.
    â€œOkay, Lucy,” said Frank. “I need you to find my bike. Can you do that, girl?”
    Lucy whined and sniffed all around where the bike had been. She laid her ears flat against her skull. She put her nose low to the ground. Slowly she started walking away. Frank and Joe followed her down the path. Halfway through the park, she suddenly turned off the path, onto the dirt.
    â€œLook,” said Frank. He pointed to the ground. Lucy was following a set of footprints—and a bike track!
    Lucy followed the tracks across the big lawn. But when they came to the road that ran through the center of the park, she lost them. The ground was drier here, and the tracks disappeared. They searched up and down, but neither the boys nor Lucy could find the trail again. They walked back to where they’d last seen the footprints. Frank kneeled down and drew them in his notebook.
    â€œI’m sorry to get your hopes up, boys,” said Mr. Mack when he caught up with them.
    â€œIt’s okay, Mr. Mack,” said Frank. “Lucy helped us more than you might guess. I think I know whose footprints these are!”

 6      
    So Close and Yet So Far
    I ’ll bet you anything those footprints belong to Adam Ackerman,” said Frank.
    â€œThey’re definitely the right size,” said Joe. “But how can you be sure?”
    â€œLook at the tracks,” said Frank. “See how the left footprints are all deeper than the right ones? They were made by someone who couldn’t step as hard on one side as the other. When Mrs. Ackerman took me to the ranger station, she told Adam to stay behind because he’d hurt his foot!”
    â€œLet’s find him!” said Joe.
    That turned out to be easier said than done. Bayport Park was large, and Adam could have been anywhere. He might have even left the park already!
    The boys decided to start their search where Lucy had lost the trail. They left the road behind and walked deeper into the park. Mr. Mack and Lucy followed behind them until Lucy grabbed a Frisbee and took off running.
    â€œYou boys keep going,” said Mr. Mack. “We’ll catch up.”
    The boys walked a little farther