Nate the Great on the Owl Express Read online

  Praise for the

  series

  “Plenty of suspects, comical plot twists, and a satisfying resolution, [this is] a strong addition to a popular series.”

  —School Library Journal

  “A consistently entertaining series.”

  —Booklist

  “They don’t come any cooler than Nate the Great.”

  —The Huffington Post

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2003 by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and Mitchell Sharmat

  Cover art and interior illustrations copyright © 2003 by Martha Weston

  New illustrations of Nate the Great, Sludge, Fang, Annie, Rosamond, and the

  Hexes by Martha Weston based upon the original drawings by Marc Simont

  Extra Fun Activities text copyright © 2004 by Emily Costello

  Extra Fun Activities illustrations copyright © 2004 by Jody Wheeler

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Yearling, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, New York, in 2003.

  Yearling and the jumping horse design are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

  Visit us on the Web! randomhousekids.com

  Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at RHTeachersLibrarians.com

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

  ISBN 978-0-385-73078-5 (trade) — ISBN 978-0-385-90102-4 (lib. bdg.)

  ISBN 978-0-440-41927-3 (pbk.) — ISBN 978-0-307-55847-3 (ebook)

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

  v4.1i

  a

  To each other

  and our long journey together.

  —M.W.S.

  To Marjorie and Mitchell—

  with thanks for the great pleasure of getting to come

  along on these wonderful trips with Nate.

  —M.W.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter One: Curvy Beak, Pointy Claws

  Chapter Two: Wanted: A Bodyguard

  Chapter Three: All Aboard

  Chapter Four: Achoo!

  Chapter Five: The Look-alike

  Chapter Six: The Cage

  Chapter Seven: Pancake Time

  Chapter Eight: Sidetrack

  Chapter Nine: The Great Train Detective

  Extra Fun Activities

  Learning with Nate

  About the Authors

  I, Nate the Great, am a detective.

  Right now I am a

  clickety-clack

  rocking-back-

  and-forth

  detective.

  I am on a train.

  My dog, Sludge, is with me.

  He is a detective too.

  We are on a case.

  We are bodyguards.

  For an owl.

  Her name is Hoot.

  She belongs to my cousin Olivia Sharp.

  The case started this morning.

  Sludge and I were visiting Olivia

  in San Francisco.

  Olivia is also a detective.

  This morning she said,

  “Hoot needs to take a train

  to a special owl doctor

  in Los Angeles.”

  “A plane is faster,” I said.

  “Hoot doesn’t like to fly,” she said.

  “I, Nate the Great, say

  that is a good enough reason

  for an owl to see a doctor.”

  Olivia tossed her boa around her neck.

  She always wears a boa.

  “Glad you think so,” she said.

  Then she tossed her boa

  around my neck,

  looked me straight in the eye,

  and said, “You’ll take Hoot

  on the train for me.

  I know I can count on you.”

  Olivia pulled me over

  to a covered birdcage.

  She lifted the cover.

  I looked into two huge staring eyes.

  Then I saw a big head,

  a curvy beak,

  and sharp pointy claws.

  “What big eyes she has!” I said.

  “Yes, and she’s easy to feed,”

  Olivia said. “She eats mice.”

  “You have told me, Nate the Great,

  more than I want to know.”

  But Olivia wasn’t finished.

  “I will catch up with you later,”

  Olivia said.

  “How? Where? When?”

  “When the time is right,” she said.

  “But for now, Willie will drive

  the three of you in my limo

  to the train station.”

  Willie is Olivia’s chauffeur.

  We had worked on another case

  together. I knew him well.

  “Anything else I should know?” I asked.

  “Just one little thing,” Olivia said.

  “You’ll be a bodyguard.”

  “What? Who am I guarding?”

  “Hoot, of course.”

  “Hoot? Why does Hoot need a bodyguard?”

  Olivia handed me a piece of paper.

  “Look at this,” she said.

  I, Nate the Great, read,

  “Hmmm,” I said. “Do you think

  someone in this building

  is trying to get rid of Hoot?”

  “Yes, and I made sure

  all the neighbors know that Hoot

  will be on the train today.

  So if the note writer takes the train

  and tries to get at Hoot,

  we’ll catch him or her.”

  “Good plan,” I said. “But why

  aren’t you Hoot’s bodyguard?”

  Olivia tossed her boa.

  “Because my neighbors know

  that I know

  what they look like.

  If they see me on the train,

  I might scare them off.

  That’s why I need you!”

  And that’s how I, Nate the Great,

  became a bodyguard

  for an owl.

  Sludge and I got into

  the back of the limo.

  Willie was already in the front seat

  with the covered cage beside him.

  I was glad it was not beside me.

  Willie turned around.

  “Miss Olivia wants Hoot

  to get a good day’s sleep,” he said.

  “So keep her cage covered.”

  “No problem,” I said.

  “But is an owl allowed on a train?

  And a dog?”

  “Miss Olivia took care of everything,”

  Willie said.

  “I believe it,” I said.

  Willie started the limo and we were off.

  I took a pad of paper

  and a pencil from my pocket.

  I wrote a note to my mother.

  When we got to the train station,

  I handed the note to Willie.

  “A note for your mother, Mr. Great?

  I will send it to her.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  On the train Willie carried
the cage

  down the aisle.

  Sludge was sniffing.

  People were staring at us.

  At last Willie stopped at a door.

  He opened it.

  We went into a room.

  Willie put the cage on a table,

  patted Sludge, saluted, and left.

  And there we were.

  The three of us.

  Hoot, Sludge, and me.

  The train pulled out of the station.

  Sludge kept looking at the cage.

  Was he trying to be a good bodyguard

  or was he afraid of Hoot?

  “I am going out to see

  what I can learn,” I said.

  “Stay here and guard Hoot.”

  Sludge did not look happy.

  I opened the door, walked out,

  and closed the door behind me.

  There was a room next to mine.

  The door was open.

  A man and a woman were inside.

  “Hello,” I said. “Do you know

  an owl named Hoot?”

  The man laughed. “Hoot who?”

  I walked on.

  Two boys were coming down the aisle.

  “Do you know an owl

  named Hoot?” I asked.

  They laughed. “Hoot-toot-toot.”

  I walked on.

  I saw another open door.

  Inside, a lady was soaking her feet.

  “Do you know an owl

  named Hoot?” I asked.

  “Yes. She lives in my building.”

  “I see,” I said. “Is anyone else

  from your building on this train?”

  “Yes. Two men. One is a musician.

  He’s in the lounge. I don’t know where

  the other man is.”

  “Last question. Do you like Hoot?”

  The lady scrunched up her face.

  “She makes me sneeze.

  Duck! I’m about to sneeze right now.”

  “Thank you for the information,” I said.

  “I will use it right now.

  Especially the last part.”

  I ducked and rushed away.

  I knew that lady had a reason

  for not liking Hoot.

  I walked on.

  I passed rows of people.

  They were sitting, talking,

  reading, sleeping, or

  just looking out the windows.

  I found the lounge.

  I saw a man with a guitar.

  “My name is Nate the Great,” I said.

  “Tell me, do you like Hoot the owl?”

  “Sure,” he said. “She screeches.

  And it’s like music to my ears.”

  “Glad to hear that,” I said.

  “Now I’m looking for another man

  who knows Hoot.”

  The musician smiled. “The Owl Man.

  He looks like an owl.

  He’s sitting back there.

  You’ll know him when you see him.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “I’m writing a song about sounds,”

  the musician said.

  “A wolf can howl without a towel

  but sometimes needs to use a vowel.”

  “Well, have a good time

  trying to rhyme,” I said.

  “Hey, nice rhyme,” the musician said.

  I walked back to where

  people were sitting in rows.

  I stared at everyone.

  Then I saw a man

  wearing a spotted shirt

  and big yellow glasses.

  His hair stuck up in two points.

  The Owl Man.

  I bent over him.

  “Perhaps you like Hoot the owl?” I asked.

  “Perhaps I don’t,” he said.

  “People keep telling me

  I look like her big brother.”

  I walked on.

  Hmmm. Maybe Hoot did need a bodyguard.

  Three people who knew her

  were on this train.

  Two of those people might not like her.

  I went back to my room.

  I opened the door.

  Sludge was standing there.

  With his ears perked up.

  Like a good bodyguard.

  He wagged his tail.

  I looked at Hoot’s cage.

  It was just where Willie had put it.

  “Fine job, Sludge,” I said.

  Sludge wagged his tail again.

  “Time to rest,” I said.

  I sat down on a couch.

  I looked out the window.

  I saw trees going by.

  And mountains.

  And lakes.

  I closed my eyes.

  I heard a voice.

  It belonged to my friend Annie.

  She was talking in rhyme.

  “Do you know where you are?

  Take a big guess.

  You’re asleep on this case,

  on the Owl Express.”

  What was Annie doing on this train?

  Then I heard a strange voice.

  It belonged to Rosamond.

  She is the only strange person I know.

  She was also talking in rhyme.

  “Don’t snooze. Find clues.

  Try hard. Bodyguard.”

  I sat up suddenly.

  I, Nate the Great, had been asleep.

  Had I been working on the case

  in my dreams?

  Why did bad rhymes get into my dreams?

  Perhaps I was trying to give myself a clue.

  I looked at the cage.

  Was Hoot still asleep?

  Was she hungry? Was she happy?

  I, Nate the Great,

  hoped the answers were

  yes, no, and yes.

  I got up and walked to her cage.

  Willie had told me to keep it covered.

  He had told me to let Hoot sleep.

  But, I, Nate the Great,

  had a job to do.

  I lifted the cover.

  Hoot wasn’t asleep or hungry or happy.

  She was gone!

  Had something happened

  while I was asleep?

  Sludge was standing by the door.

  He would have barked or growled

  if anyone had tried to come in.

  I stared at the cage.

  The cover looked

  the same as before.

  I peered inside.

  There was a door, and it was closed.

  There were perches,

  and they looked clean.

  Everything looked clean.

  Whoever had taken Hoot

  had been careful to leave everything neat.

  But who had taken her?

  And how?

  I needed time to think.

  I needed pancakes.

  “Wait here, Sludge,” I said.

  I rushed to the dining car.

  I sat down.

  A waiter came over.

  “Has anyone ordered

  a mouse to go?” I asked.

  The waiter laughed. “A mouse?”

  “Did you know there’s

  an owl on this train?” I asked.

  The waiter shrugged.

  “I heard people talking about it.

  But nobody seems to have seen it.”

  I, Nate the Great,

  was getting nowhere.

  “May I have some pancakes

  and one bone, please?”

  “We have pancakes

  with a wonderful fruit syrup,”

  the waiter said.

  “Fine,” I said.

  The food came fast.

  I stared down at it.

  The bone looked normal.

  But my plate was dripping with syrup.

  “Doesn’t that look wonderful!”

  the waiter said.

  “No,” I said. “It looks like a swamp<
br />
  made of syrup.”

  The waiter smiled.

  “This is a blanket of syrup.

  The pancakes are tucked in under it.”

  “Tucked in? The pancakes are asleep?

  Never mind. I’m hungry.”

  I ate and thought.

  Did I have any clues?

  Yes.

  My biggest clue was that Sludge

  is a great detective.

  He had kept wagging his tail

  as if nothing had happened.

  As if no one had come into the room.

  And I had other clues.

  I finished my pancakes,

  put the bone in my pocket,

  and walked back to my room.

  I opened the door.

  Sludge wagged his tail.

  I gave him the bone.

  “We have solved the case,” I said.

  I picked up the owl cage.

  “This cage is clean.

  No stray feathers.

  No bits or pieces of anything.

  This is a new cage.

  Never used.

  Also, a waiter told me

  that nobody seems to have seen the owl.

  I, Nate the Great, say that

  that nobody includes us!

  You and I never saw Hoot

  in this cage.

  Because she was never in it!”

  Sludge looked puzzled.

  “You’re right,” I said.

  “We have not solved the case.

  We still don’t know

  who wrote the note.

  And we don’t know why Olivia

  wanted us to guard an empty cage.

  She planned this well.

  She didn’t want me

  to look in the cage.

  That’s why I was told that Hoot

  needed a good day’s sleep.

  She told me about the mice

  to make sure I wouldn’t

  try to feed Hoot.

  And now, here we are,