Great Bicycle Race Mystery Read Online Free PDF

suggested.
    But the building was locked.
    Other riders rode into the water stop.
    “We have to find water somewhere. We can’t let the riders go thirsty, especially on such a hot day,” the crew captain said.
    “I have extra water,” came Grandfather’s voice. He was standing by his bike, holding a water bottle that he had taken from his backpack. “I can share.”
    “Me too,” said someone else.
    “I have some, too,” said a third. “And some juice.”
    Soon all the riders who had water were sharing it with the riders who didn’t. Along with the coolers that still had water in them, there was just enough water for everyone to have a drink.
    “That’s wonderful,” the crew captain said as she watched all the riders sharing water.
    “We’ll find more water along the way, anyway,” said Al, who was standing near the end of the table. He clipped his empty bottle into his bottle holder and swung his bike out of the water-stop parking lot.
    Other riders began to follow. The parking lot emptied out.
    “I’m still a little thirsty,” Benny said softly. But he got on the bike behind his older brother. They went up one hill and down another and Benny thought of how Watch panted on hot days when he was thirsty. He tried panting, but it didn’t help.
    They rounded a curve. By the side of the road ahead was a clump of riders.
    “Oh, no,” Violet said anxiously. “I hope no one had an accident.”
    But it wasn’t an accident. As they slowed to a stop, they saw water squirt into the air in the midst of the stopped riders.
    Someone laughed. Someone else said, “Feels good.”
    “Missy! Don’t squirt people! Help me fill their water bottles,” said a girl with dark braided hair. She looked down at a smaller girl, who also had dark hair, in pigtails.
    The smaller girl grinned, showing a missing front tooth. “Okay,” she said. She held a garden hose out and directed water into each rider’s bottle.
    The Aldens saw that the two girls had brought the hose from the front of their house to fill water bottles for the riders. As each bottle was filled, the older girl said, “Good luck,” and the younger girl echoed her words. Their mother watched proudly from the porch of the house.
    “Thank you,” said Benny to the younger girl as she filled his bottle.
    She looked at him in surprise. “How old are you?” she asked.
    “Six,” said Benny.
    “Me too,” the younger girl said. “Good luck.”
    “Thanks,” said Benny, waving as he and Henry pedaled away.
    They kept riding. Then Jessie, who’d sprinted ahead, slowed down. She stopped her bike.
    Her family stopped with her. She said, “Up ahead, beyond that hedge—isn’t that Ms. Whatney’s car?”
    “I think it is,” said Henry. “I think we should ride by extra slowly and take a look.”
    Sure enough, the car belonged to Ms. Whatney. They could see her in the back, talking on a phone.
    She didn’t see them. But Ronald did. He was leaning against the front fender, watching the riders pass.
    He surprised all of the Aldens as they went by, however. He didn’t frown or scowl at them. Instead he smiled.
    Then he raised a cup to his lips and took a long drink. “Hot day,” he said. “Having something cool to drink sure is nice, isn’t it?”

CHAPTER 6
A Bad Sign
    “That was so mean of him,” said Jessie angrily as soon as they were out of his hearing.
    “I know. He shouldn’t make fun of us for being thirsty,” said Soo Lee.
    “Well, he doesn’t like us. Or the bike race,” Henry said.
    “And maybe he’s the one who emptied all the water out of the jugs,” said Violet. “Maybe he and Ms. Whatney did it.”
    “He was wearing a navy blue T-shirt, almost the exact same color as the crew members’,” Violet said.
    “He could have slipped up onto the truck and into the back of it and opened all the spigots,” Jessie said. “I wonder if anybody noticed anything suspicious.”
    “We can ask when we reach the riders’ camp tonight,”