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One sunny day Danny and I were outside when a funny little man
crashed into us. He wore green clothes and was gasping like he'd run
a mile."Help!" he cried. "Someone's stolen my treasure!"
Surprised, Danny asked "Who and what are you?"The little man looked up at us and asked, "And what do ye think I
be? You're from these parts and ya don't know a thing about the
little people?""A leprechaun?!" Danny gasped."Aye, at your service," was his reply.I couldn't think of what to say. It wasn't every day you meet a
leprechaun. "I just can't believe... I mean, I am so glad to...
to... to...""Meet you," Danny finished. He and I were like two peas in a pod. We
usually knew what the other was thinking. "What could we do for you,
Mr. Leprechaun?" he asked."Oh, call me Tom, that's short for Thomas O'Reilly McFlann.""Well, Tom, I'm Danny and this is my sister Bonnie. What was it you
were saying about a stolen treasure?" "As you might already know a leprechaun has his gold to take care of
all his days and mines been taken. Oh, when I get my hands on the
thief, I'll bop him a good one!""Do you have any idea who it was?" I asked. "No.""How do you think you're going to find them, then?" I asked. "It has to be someone with a recently used shovel; I buried that
treasure pretty deep," he said.Danny groaned. "There's nothing but farms for miles around. Everyone
has a shovel, and they use them all the time!" "I had it buried by a certain apple tree in your Da's orchard and it
was dug up only a little while ago-- I left it alone only for a few
minutes," said Tom. "We should be able to find 'em still." We headed over to check out where the treasure was buried. We'd
hoped to find something that might tell us who could have taken our
new friend's treasure. The ground was still damp from the morning
dew, so footprints would be easy to spot. We found the big hole but
no footprints on the grass around it and no other sign of who had
been there. "We're so sorry," I said."I know," Danny said, "Da hired three men to help with the orchard
just a few days ago. Maybe it was one of them-- Da gave 'em the day
off, so they wouldn't have been in the orchard unless they were up
to no good. Let's go check them out.""Mr. Tom, sir, could you hide in my purse while we go over and check
on the hired hands?" I asked."I'd be honored to rest my legs for a wee bit; thank you kind lady."
I put my purse down and let him climb in. Then we took off toward
the bunkhouse.Danny knocked on the bunkhouse door and entered at their invitation.
When he came back out he didn't look very happy. "They've been
playing cards for a few hours, and none of their shoes or the floor
has any dirt on them." We were stumped. We sat outside, thinking, when we heard Ma yelling.
"Scat! Scat!" she shouted.We ran over. "Ma, what's going on?" I yelled. "It's that stray dog that showed up this morning." She pointed
towards a mischievous-looking mutt, no higher than my knee, rolling
happily in the dirt next to a freshly dug hole."He's been digging in my flowers and now he's trying to get into the
kitchen. Would you kindly keep an eye out for him so he does no more
damage while I go finish dinner?" "Sure, Ma" I said.Danny eyed the dog as it dug the hole deeper. "Are you thinking what
I am thinking?" he said."Aye I think I know what ye both are thinking," came a reply from my
purse."Oh, I'm sorry. Here," I set my purse down so he could climb out. "It's a nice purse, lassie, but a wee dark." "We better check out our new lead. Danny, I think we better find our
friend's treasure."We searched the orchard, and it wasn't long before we found it
buried in a shallow hole in a small bunch of trees not far from its
original spot. Danny and I handed a little sack over to Tom. "I thought leprechauns had pots of gold?" Asked Danny. "Aye, most do, but I'm a young 'un. As a leprechaun grows older, we
collect more gold and then we get the pots to the gold in! I surely
do thank you both. Could I share a gold coin from this here sack
with you?"Danny shook his head. "No, sir, we couldn't take it. Da and Ma would
want to know where we got it, and spending it in the village would
cause too many questions."Tom said, "Keep an eye out for your reward, then. It'll be more
precious to you than this here sack of coins." We said our goodbyes. Tom winked at us as he walked across the
orchard. "Danny," I said, "is he...""Shhh," Danny said. We watched as Tom rose higher and higher as if
he was walking on a staircase, until he disappeared. Months later, when the apple trees were ripe, Danny and I set out to
pick some fruit from the tree where Tom's treasure had been. But the
apples were different-- larger, more golden, and with a clear glow.
They were the most beautiful golden we'd ever seen, and they tasted
like no other fruit we'd had before.We become well-known for our golden apples. People from all over
came to buy them and would say, "They almost look like real gold."
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Go to Winning Mystery 5: Find That Valentine!Go to Winning Mystery 4: The Puzzling Pie ContestGo to Winning Mystery 3: The Ghost ImpersonatorGo to Winning Mystery 2: Give Cheetos a ChanceGo to Winning Mystery 1: The Haunted Middle School |
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