The Mystery of Mr. E
Where is Mr. E?
The next afternoon, the girls arrive and go straight to Aunt Miranda’s house. She explains she left out some water and food outside the door. It was gone in the morning. She thinks Mr. E came to eat it, based on the pawprints left in the snow. But Mr. E didn’t bark to be let inside. The girls nervously wonder where Mr. E is.
Aunt Miranda says she already went by Shu Ping’s house, and Mr. E wasn’t there. Next, she’ll make signs and they’ll put them up over the neighborhood and ask them to give Aunt Miranda a call if they see Mr. E. She already notified the police and all the animal shelters in town.
The girls spend the whole day searching for Mr. E in the garden. But nobody finds her. Two days pass, and still Mr. E is gone. Every night, Aunt Miranda leaves food and water outside the house. And each morning, the food and water is gone, and there’s fresh pawprints on the ground. Aunt Miranda is sure the dog is still in the garden somewhere, at least some of the time.
On the fourth day, as always, the girls search the garden high and low. Their feet slip on the snowy ground, and the snow falls into their wellington boots and melts and makes their toes cold. Snow falls off branches and trickles down their necks. They shout and yell for Mr. E until their throats are sore. But yet, no matter how hard they search, they still can’t find Mr. E. Wherever Mr. E has gone, it’s a mystery.
The next day, they find another mystery. The girls come to the playhouse, and see a big mess of spilled popcorn and fabric and costumes that have been torn and are missing.
As the girls tidy up the playhouse, they realize the snow is finally beginning to melt. As they look outside the door, Emerson sings to the tune “Old MacDonald Had a Farm”:
With a drip, drip here,
And a drip, drip there,
Here a drip, there a drip,
Everywhere a drip, drip!
Ashlyn, who always loves a good party, suggests having a party to celebrate the snow melting. Kendall says she doesn’t think anyone is in the mood for a party with Mr. E still missing. And soon, Shu Ping will be coming home from China, and Aunt Miranda will have to tell him that they lost his dog.
Ashlyn says that they cannot give up looking for Mr. E. Willa is already putting on her coat and hat and mittens. They’ve got to go out looking for Mr. E again.