The Disappearing Milk Cartons

The Case of the Disappearing Milk Cartons


         It was eight o’clock on Monday morning. Two kittens named Mandy and Jasmine were headed for school. They were sisters, and looked very much alike. Mandy was a small, mainly black kitten, while Jasmine was a little bigger, with brown and black striped fur. The bus dropped them off at the door with the other students. They said goodbye to each other, and went to class. Mandy went to meowing class, and Jasmine went to math. When it was time for lunch, they met in the lunch line that ended near the door. Their teachers guided them toward the food and cash register.
           It was an average, ordinary day until Mandy and Jasmine were further up in the line. It was then that they found that something strange was going on. Students who had bought their milk in the lunch line got to their tables only to find it gone! They looked away for a moment, and when they looked back at their trays, their milk cartons had simply disappeared! The fish was still there, but the milk was gone. Something was clearly happening to the milk cartons!
         When they first heard the news from another kitten, Jasmine turned to her sister. “How could this be happening? And to so many cats? Could someone be taking them?” she wondered aloud.
         Mandy shook her head. “Hmm. Maybe. If it is a thief, they must be very fast. I don’t know how they’re doing it!” she replied.
         The two of them began to watch all of the other kittens very closely. But nothing ever happened. There was no sign of a thief at all.
         Suddenly, Mandy had an idea. “Jasmine, let’s try to figure this out. Let’s be detectives and find the thief ourselves! I’ve got an idea. You could go through the line to get your lunch like you usually do, but when you lean over to get a carton of milk, grab one out of your pocket that has a string tied to it that goes out to me and put it on your tray. You go ahead through the lunch line and wait for the crook to snatch the milk,” she suggested excitedly. “Then, when whoever it is does, we can follow the string to the hiding place!”
         Jasmine clapped her paws together. “It’s brilliant! Let’s do it!”  she cried. To any human, it would have sounded like a very loud meow.  “I’ll sneak across the hall into the art room to get some string. You stay here and keep our place in line.”
         Mandy nodded. “Okay. I’ll be here.”
         With this, Jasmine very quietly slipped behind a wall where their teacher couldn’t see her. Fortunately, the teacher wasn’t looking. Jasmine waited for a moment, and then ran across the hall into the empty art classroom. Just as she’d thought, there was a large ball of string near the door on a table. She grabbed it and ran back to the spot where she’d left Mandy. The line had moved up a little. Jasmine hurried back, trying to stay out of the teacher’s sight.
         Jasmine tapped Mandy on the shoulder. “I’ve got it! Now we can put our plan into action!“
         Mandy twitched her tail. “Good. While you were in the art room, I picked up this empty carton off the floor. Now all you have to do is tie it to one end of the string, and let me hold the other. Hide it, and when you get ready to get a carton out of the ice cooler,  pull it as if you just picked it up.“
         Jasmine nodded. “Got it. Let’s go!” As the line moved up again, Jasmine did as Mandy had suggested. She tied the carton to the string, and handed the ball to Mandy. But, from the moment the plan was put into action, it went all wrong. When Jasmine got to the large ice box full of milk, her string snagged on the side of the cooler when she pulled the fake milk carton out of her pocket. Quickly trying to get it unstuck, Jasmine lingered a little too long at the ice box.
         “Hey, you! Move along! We don’t have all day!” the kitten standing behind her yelled.
         “Just a minute! I…I can’t find what I‘m looking for. I want chocolate milk, but I think they’re all out!” Jasmine lied, trying to keep the other kitten from making too much noise.
         The irritated kitten behind her made a noise of disgust. “Hey, lunch lady! The chocolate milk’s gone!” he called. Jasmine panicked. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen!
         The lunch lady came running. “Now what’s all this fuss about? No chocolate milk? Are you sure? I know I just put some more in there.” She leaned over to look into the ice box, and saw the carton hidden in Jasmine’s paw.
         “Aha! A thief! Now I see! You were trying to steal that, weren’t you? There’s enough of a frenzy over the other milk cartons disappearing - I suppose you think you could get away with nabbing an extra one yourself without anyone noticing!” the angry lunch lady accused Jasmine.
         “I…but I…” Jasmine began to say, but at that moment, everyone was looking at the tangled string caught on the edge of the cooler. Then they looked at her.
         “And what is this? Maybe you’re the one who’s been taking ALL of the milk cartons! With this string, I have to wonder. No one knows how those cartons are getting snatched right off of students’ trays. But maybe you have the answer!” the lunch lady said, even angrier. She called Jasmine’s teacher over and they huddled in conversation for a moment.
         After a moment, the teacher looked up at Jasmine and beckoned her over with a paw. “I think we need to have a little chat with the principal, Jasmine. Come with me,” she said in a tone that could only mean something bad was going to happen. Jasmine looked around frantically for her sister, who was hidden in the crowd that had now formed around Jasmine and the two authority figures. She could not see Mandy at all. Unhappy and scared, she followed the teacher out of the cafeteria toward the principal’s office.
         Mandy, who had been watching the whole scene sick with worry, rubbed her paws together nervously. Now they had not one mission, but two. They still had to catch the thief, but now Jasmine was in big trouble! Frightened, Mandy knew she had to do something. She began to back up slowly, unnoticed by anyone in the crowd. She carefully made her way toward the other door leading out of the cafeteria.
         Once she was outside the room, she was able to slink through the school’s halls unnoticed. All the teachers had left their rooms to see what was going on, and now were waiting to see what would happen to the milk carton thief. At the moment, everyone in the school was focused on Jasmine. Taking advantage of this, Mandy quickly located an empty girls’ bathroom with an air vent and unscrewed the hinges on it. She was small enough to fit inside. This way, she could keep looking for the real thief and hide from teachers too. Mandy knew that once Jasmine was in the principal’s office, everyone would quickly go back to their classrooms.
         Claws scratching on metal, Mandy made her way through the air duct pipes in the school ceiling. Her green eyes glittered in the darkness. The echoes of her moving along were loud enough to scare a tiny gray and white mouse out of his hiding place in a nearby vent. He scurried across in front of her. At first, Mandy didn‘t notice him. She continued on.
         A little while later down the pipe, the mouse ran in front of her again. This time, she saw more clearly that it was a gray mouse with something white all over him. She stopped, and realized after a second that, actually, maybe the white splatter was milk! She started to follow the mouse.          Mandy crept up quietly behind the mouse. But before she had a chance to get closer to it, a booming voice shook the entire pipe system under her paws. It seemed that Mandy had found her sister. Jasmine was in the office below with both the principal, the angry lunch lady and the teacher. “Well, Miss Jasmine. You’ve stolen, according to this record, 48 milk cartons. You’re going to be responsible for either returning them or paying the school for them. And, I‘m making a call to your mother right now! We don‘t put up with stealing at this school at all!!” The loud voice was the voice of the school principal, talking to Jasmine in a very harsh tone. Then, somewhat softer, he said, “But I just wonder…how did you do it?”
         Mandy sighed. She knew what a call to their mother would mean: Extra chores for Jasmine for a week. She’d probably have to take out the trash and clean the bathrooms. Maybe she’d even be grounded. Their mother was not going to be happy, that was for sure. Mandy began working the grate beneath her open as fast as she could so that she could explain about their attempt to solve the mystery and try to convince the principal that Jasmine was not the thief. “Jasmine! I’m here!” she whispered. She pulled one screw out with her claws and loosened the grate.
         Across the school in a classroom on the second floor, Mandy’s teacher found that Mandy had not returned from lunch with the other cats in her class. She sent a messenger to the bathroom to check. When the messenger returned with the reply that Mandy was not in the bathroom, nor was she in the hall or the library or anywhere else in the school, the teacher began to worry. She set off for the office at once.
         Meanwhile, Jasmine was left to try to stall for time until her sister could get to her. She had no idea how she was going to get herself out of all this trouble, and simply chewed on one of her claws, hoping Mandy would come up with an idea to get her out of trouble. “I told everyone. I didn’t steal the milk cartons. I was actually trying to find out who was taking them. I was doing everyone a favor. And I would never steal!” she told the principal honestly.
         The office door opened. Mandy’s teacher walked in. “I have a missing student to report. Mandy has disappeared from my class. I don’t know where she is. We’ve checked the bathroom and the library, and she’s nowhere to be seen.”
         But before the principal or Jasmine’s teacher and the lunch lady could respond to this new information, Mandy had finally worked the grate open. She pulled the cover aside and poked her head through. She was looking down through a hole in the ceiling of the room at the scene in the office. Her heart sunk as she heard her teacher lodging a complaint about her as well.  Both of them were really in deep trouble. She was beginning to regret ever having decided that she and her sister could try to solve the milk carton mystery.
         Mandy’s paws suddenly began to slide, and she found herself scrambling to hold on. Looking up to see what the noise was, the cats below saw her.
         An expression of relief immediately followed by anger crossed her teacher’s face.  “Mandy! There you are! What are you doing in that vent? I‘ve been looking all over for you. I guess I‘m going to have to talk to your mother about both of you!”
         Mandy’s paws gave way. She slid out of the pipe and landed in a heap on the floor. The principal let out a yell of shock and anger as Mandy tried to figure out what to say. She felt horrible, knowing she was now in trouble, too. Jasmine, who was standing nearby, moved to check that her sister was okay.
         Slowly sitting up, Mandy began to speak with a tremble. “My sister didn‘t do anything wrong. Neither of us had anything to do with the milk cartons. We were actually trying to find out who was taking them, not stealing them ourselves,” Mandy tried to explain. “See, we had this plan to…” she began, but was suddenly interrupted.
         At that moment, the mouse that had run in front of Mandy in the air vent reached his home at the end of the pipe. It was full of water. There was a leak in the top of the pipe that needed to be fixed. The school must not have known about it, because it was a pretty big leak. The mouse was dragging something into the pipe. It was a milk carton. He removed the hook that he’d made out of a paper clip and string from the top that was used to snatch the cartons off of kittens‘ trays, and opened the top of the carton. He dumped out the milk into the water puddle, and then put the last of his belongings in it. Pieces of lint, paper clips, staples and pencil shavings used for chairs and beds and other furniture along with other objects filled the carton to the top. When he was finished, he began scooting it to his new home, which was in a dry spot in the pipe. He didn’t see the open vent that Mandy had left. The mouse fell through the hole, and the milk carton full of his belongings fell with him. They landed behind Mandy on the floor for everyone to see.
         Jasmine jumped in surprise. Then she began to smile. “I think we found the milk carton thief! Look! This mouse has been using milk cartons as boxes to store things in!”
         The puzzled mouse looked around, dazed from the fall. He didn’t understand what in the world had just happened. His little eyes blinked in the light. Then he started to feel afraid when he realized everyone was looking at him. After a moment, when he had recovered, he scampered away with a squeak into a crack in the floor, leaving his belongings behind.
         The principal and the lunch lady looked at each other. “Well, I‘ll be darned!” said the principal. “I think that mouse has been taking the milk cartons. Look at this string and hook! He must have been using it to snatch milk cartons right off trays!” He started laughing.
         Jasmine looked at him hopefully.  “Does that mean I’m not in trouble anymore?”
         The principal looked at the mouse, and then looked at the two cats. “Well, I don’t usually do this, but I think I‘ll let this go, Jasmine. I don’t see any reason to call your mother. Now, Mandy, I don’t know about sneaking around through vents when you‘re supposed to be in class. I think that’s up to your teacher to decide,” he said.
         Mandy sighed. “Well, I guess it wasn‘t really that great of an idea. But, at least we did still find what we were looking for,” she said, looking at Jasmine sadly.
         Mandy’s teacher paused. “Well, since you’re safe and sound now, I guess we don’t have anything to worry about. I’ll bend the rules a little as I have a promise from both of you that no more detective work will be done while you’re at school. Understood?” Mandy and Jasmine both shook their heads yes. “Okay, then, you can go. I’ll see you in class tomorrow, Mandy,” the teacher said as the bell rang, dismissing students.
          Jasmine started to leave to go outside, and Mandy started to follow her, and then remembered something. “Oh, I think the school should know that the pipes are leaky up there. Maybe the reason the mouse needed the milk cartons was so that he could keep his things dry!” she said to the principal.
         The principal looked up at the vent, which was dripping water onto the floor. “Maybe you’re right. We’ll have a repairman come to fix it right away,” he said.
         Mandy smiled. “I’m sure the mouse would be very happy about that,” she said.
         Jasmine was standing in the doorway. “Come on, Mandy! We need to get on the bus to go home!” she said, looking worried.
         Mandy followed her outside. “Here I am. We’re not going to miss the bus.” They ran toward it and sat down in their seats.
         “You know, this is the most fun we’ve had all year! Let’s do it again! The next time we see something odd or out of place, let’s try to find out what’s going on!” Jasmine said excitedly.
         Mandy nodded in agreement. “Yeah!” She gave her sister a high-four with her paw as the bus drove away from the school to take them home.
          Meanwhile, the mouse came out of the hole in the floor in the principal’s empty office. He walked carefully over to his milk carton full of stuff. He sniffed it, and then began pushing it with his nose back toward the hole in the floor. The door opened, and the repairman came in. The mouse ran back into the hole, scared. The repairman looked at the milk carton full of junk. “What’s this? Looks like trash to me,” he said. He picked it up and dropped it into the trash can. The mouse, who was watching, shook his head. There was no way he was going to be able to get his stuff out of the trash can.
         The repairman climbed up into the vent to fix the leak. When he moved the grate, a bunch of water came rushing out and fell on his head. “Yuck!” he said. Pulling himself up into the vent, he discovered the rest of the mouse‘s stuff. “What is this stuff? More trash, I guess.” He picked it up and put it into a trash bag.
         Below, the mouse was still hiding. He decided to try to get to the trash can and somehow flip it over. He scampered over to the principal’s desk, which was next to the trash can. He climbed up on the chair and then onto the desk. Then, he jumped over onto the edge of the trash can. As he had planned, the trash can fell over on its side with his weight, making a loud noise. The repairman heard the noise and came down out of the pipe, bringing the bag of trash. He found the mouse dragging the milk carton of his stuff toward the hole in the floor.
         The repairman started to laugh. “I think that’s your stuff, isn’t it, little guy! I’m sorry. I’ll put it back for you,” he said. He took the other boxes out of the trash bag, and picked up the mouse and his box. The mouse was terrified. He didn’t know what was happening. But the repairman quickly put everything back, and the mouse relaxed. He hid in the corner of his pipe until the repairman had finished fixing the leak, and then he stretched out on a pile of lint to take a nap. He was very happy. His house was all put together, and everything was dry. It was just perfect. He didn’t know how many problems he had caused that day, but he did know that it had all ended well for him.