The Case of the Missing Dinosaur Egg Read Online Free PDF Page A

left.”
    I examined the piece of wood, but there were no markings on it. Then I gave it to Hooligan to sniff. Did it smell like anything to him? Or were the differentsmells in the wastebasket confusing? For all I knew, somebody’s lunch leftovers were in there.
    My great idea didn’t seem so great anymore. But it was too late to worry about that now. I would just have to trust our dog.
    â€œReady?” I said.
    Malik, Tessa and Nate nodded.
    â€œOkay.” I took the leash and stood up. “Hooligan—go find!”

CHAPTER TEN

    Note to self: next time you track anything with Hooligan, let Malik hold the leash.
    Hooligan was so excited and took off so fast he nearly separated my arm from my shoulder, not to mention that no one could keep up with us.
    â€œHoo-Hoo-Hooligan! Slow down!” Tessa whined, but our dog didn’t listen. Instead, nose held high, he galloped one way then the other down the corridors.
    Was he really tracking a scent?
    Or did he think we were playing tag?
    Whatever it was, he was having a great time, and only skidded to a stop when he reached an impenetrable barrier—closed elevator doors.
    This was a different elevator from the one we came up in. Nate, Tessa, Malik and Professor Rexington were way behind us by now, and before they could come near, Hooligan did one of the amazing tricks he’s learned since coming to live in the White House: hejumped up and pushed the elevator call button with his paw.
    The elevator car must’ve been waiting, because the doors opened instantly, and Hooligan looked around like,
We don’t have to wait for those slowpokes, do we, Cammie?
    Well, of course we had to wait for them! I am not allowed to go anywhere without the Secret Service, in this case Malik—and he was bringing up the rear so he could keep Tessa and Nate in sight.
    Thinking,
No problem, I know how to hold an elevator
, I let Hooligan tug me inside, but then, before I could stop him, he did it again—jumped up and pushed a button on the panel.
    â€œOh, no you don’t!” I started looking frantically for the button that opens the doors, but there were a lot of floors in the building and a lot of buttons, too! By the time I finally found the right one, the doors were shut and the elevator had creaked into gear.
    â€œHooligan!”
I said.
“Bad dog!”
    He didn’t pay any attention, just sniffed the air, the walls and the corners. He was tracking something, but was it an ancient dinosaur egg? Or a stale turkey sandwich?
    Down, down and down the elevator dropped into the museum’s unknown depths. On the way, I had plenty of time to think . . . and to worry. When finally we came to rest, we were someplace called Level D.
    D for Dungeon?
    The second the doors cracked open, Hooligan shotthrough, dragging me so fast my shoulders bumped one after the other—
Ouch! ouch!
—and before I even blinked, we were galloping top speed down what I think was a corridor, but I’m not sure because it was pitch-black and I couldn’t see a thing!

CHAPTER ELEVEN

    Can dogs see in the dark the way cats can? Why, oh, why, had I never looked this up?
    I don’t know how long we ran or where we went, but just when my legs were ready to quit, Hooligan put on a burst of speed, the leash slipped out of my hand and I flew headlong into something big and solid and . . . 
furry
?
    Still blind, I backed up and hit another hard, furry something, turned left and . . . 
Ouch!
—something sharp! A claw? A tooth?—then right and . . . 
bump, tumble, somersault
—I was suddenly sitting on the cold, hard floor and trapped for sure, with big, furry, sharp-clawed somethings closing in around me.
    What did I do?
    I screamed!
    And then the lights came on. Now it was glare that blinded me, but I could still hear—the
click-click-clickety
of galloping doggy toenails, and then a man’s