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Nate the Great Talks Turkey
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NATE THE GREAT DETECTIVE STORIES
NATE THE GREAT
NATE THE GREAT GOES UNDERCOVER
NATE THE GREAT AND THE LOST LIST
NATE THE GREAT AND THE PHONY CLUE
NATE THE GREAT AND THE STICKY CASE
NATE THE GREAT AND THE MISSING KEY
NATE THE GREAT AND THE SNOWY TRAIL
NATE THE GREAT AND THE FISHY PRIZE
NATE THE GREAT STALKS STUPIDWEED
NATE THE GREAT AND THE BORING BEACH BAG
NATE THE GREAT GOES DOWN IN THE DUMPS
NATE THE GREAT AND THE HALLOWEEN HUNT
NATE THE GREAT AND THE MUSICAL NOTE
NATE THE GREAT AND THE STOLEN BASE
NATE THE GREAT AND THE PILLOWCASE
NATE THE GREAT AND THE MUSHY VALENTINE
NATE THE GREAT AND THE TARDY TORTOISE
NATE THE GREAT AND THE CRUNCHY CHRISTMAS
NATE THE GREAT SAVES THE KING OF SWEDEN
NATE THE GREAT AND ME: THE CASE OF THE FLEEING FANG
NATE THE GREAT AND THE MONSTER MESS
NATE THE GREAT, SAN FRANCISCO DETECTIVE
NATE THE GREAT AND THE BIG SNIFF
NATE THE GREAT ON THE OWL EXPRESS
NATE THE GREAT TALKS TURKEY
NATE THE GREAT AND THE HUNGRY BOOK CLUB
AND CONTINUE THE DETECTIVE FUN WITH
OLIVIA SHARP
by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and Mitchell Sharmat
illustrated by Denise Brunkus
OLIVIA SHARP: THE PIZZA MONSTER
OLIVIA SHARP: THE PRINCESS OF THE FILLMORE STREET SCHOOL
OLIVIA SHARP: THE SLY SPY
OLIVIA SHARP: THE GREEN TOENAILS GANG
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 © 2006 by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and Mitchell Sharmat
Cover and interior illustrations copyright © 2006 by Jody Wheeler
Extra Fun Activities text copyright © 2007 by Emily Costello
Extra Fun Activities illustrations copyright © 2007 by Jody Wheeler
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House LLC, New York, a Penguin Random House Company. Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Delacorte Press in 2006.
Delacorte Press is a registered trademark and the colophon is a trademark of Random House LLC.
Visit us on the Web! randomhouse.com/kids
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.
eBook ISBN: 978-0-385-37685-3
Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-385-73336-6
Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-0-440-42126-9
Book design by Trish Parcell
Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.
v3.1
In memory of Martha Weston, with great affection and admiration
—M.W.S. and M.S.
For Isabel, Trish, and Françoise; and of course Marjorie and Mitchell, with thanks for introducing me to Nate and the gang
—J.W.
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter 18
Chapter Nineteen
Extra Fun Activities
About the Author
My name is Nate the Great.
I am a detective.
My dog, Sludge, is a detective too.
This morning we did not have
any cases to solve.
We were eating breakfast
and listening to the radio.
I was eating pancakes.
Sludge was eating a bone.
It was a nice, quiet, tasty morning.
“There is not much news
on the radio,” I said to Sludge.
Sludge kept crunching his bone.
Suddenly I heard something.
“A giant turkey is sitting on a car in a
supermarket parking lot.
The people inside the car cannot get out.
There is panic in the parking lot.”
“Do you believe that?” I asked Sludge.
Sludge looked puzzled.
I heard a knock at the door.
I got up and opened it.
Claude was there.
Claude is always losing things.
He is one of my best clients.
“I found something,” he said.
“You found something?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Tell me about it,” I said.
“Well,” Claude said, “I was walking
in Deering Woods about three hours ago
and I found this really big turkey.
Big feathers, big feet, big everything.
He started to follow me,
but then I lost him.
So, can you find him?”
“Actually, I believe I can,” I said.
“But why would you want him?”
“Well, that turkey made me think
about Thanksgiving Day.
Thanksgiving Day is terrific.”
“Perhaps the turkey has a different opinion
about that day,” I said.
“Besides, this is summer.
Thanksgiving Day is months away.”
“I still want that turkey,” Claude said.
“I found him and I am very proud of that.”
“I, Nate the Great, understand.
Good work.”
“Thank you,” Claude said.
“Now how can you help me?”
“I, Nate the Great, say that your really big
turkey is in a supermarket parking lot.”
“You are a great detective,” Claude said.
Sludge looked at me.
He knew I was not a great detective
in this case.
“Sludge and I heard about the turkey
on the radio,” I said.
“The radio?” Claude said.
“I found a famous turkey?
I am even better at finding
than I thought.”
“My radio is still on,” I said. “Let’s listen.”
Claude, Sludge, and I stood by the radio.
Soon we heard, “The giant turkey has fled the
supermarket parking lot.
Be on the lookout!
Do not approach him.
He is feathered and dangerous.”
Claude groaned. “He’s gone again.”
“Yes,” I said. “And he could be angry
or scared. You must be careful.”
“Oh, no,” Claude said. “He’s a really nice
turkey. A nice, nice turkey.”
“Hmmm,” I said. “What makes him nice
three times over?”
“We
ll, I was eating popcorn in the
woods,” Claude said.
“And I dropped some
along the way and he ate it.
Then he started to follow me.
I gave him more popcorn,
until I didn’t have any left.
He still followed me.
That’s when I knew he liked me.
But later on, when I turned around,
he was gone.
Will you take the case?”
“I can’t,” I said. “Nate the Great does
not take cases that everybody else is on.
The whole town must be looking
for this turkey.”
“Oh,” Claude said. He seemed sad.
Sludge put his head on my lap.
He looked sad too.
I patted Sludge. “You want this case,
don’t you?” I said.
Sludge wagged his tail.
“Sludge is a sniffer,” Claude said.
“I could use a sniffer on this case.
A detective sniffer.”
Claude pulled a white feather
from his pocket.
He put it near Sludge’s nose.
“I picked this off the ground
in the woods,” he said.
“It must have come from the turkey.”
Sludge sniffed the feather.
I, Nate the Great, was thinking.
This was Sludge’s chance to work alone.
And he wanted this case.
“You can do it,” I said to Sludge.
“You are a dog.
You are a detective.
You are great at being both.”
Sludge led Claude out the door.
The telephone rang.
This quiet day
was no longer quiet.
I picked up the receiver.
“I hope you are on this case,” a voice said.
It was my cousin Olivia Sharp.
Olivia lives in San Francisco.
She is also a detective.
She has a chauffeur named Willie.
I know him well.
She has an owl named Hoot.
I know her well too. Unfortunately.
Olivia loves birds.
But she couldn’t be calling about the turkey.
“I am calling about the turkey,” Olivia said.
“What?” I said. “You heard about him
in San Francisco?”
“Actually, the news is national.
I am on my way to help.”
“But…,” I said.
Olivia hung up.
Olivia does not like to hear buts.
She was determined to come.
What was she up to?
Olivia usually has more cases
than she can handle.
Why would she take time out for a turkey?
Let me introduce myself.
My name is Olivia Sharp.
My friends call me Olivia.
My enemies call me Liver.
I have an owl named Hoot.
We live in a penthouse
at the top of Pacific Heights
in San Francisco
with my chauffeur, Willie,
my housekeeper, Mrs. Fridgeflake,
and my folks.
But my folks aren’t home much.
Right now they’re on vacation
on Nantucket Island.
And me?
I was sitting in my office,
looking out the window,
watching the fog as it hung
over Alcatraz and the bay.
I was waiting for business.
I’m a special kind of detective.
An agent for secrets.
But business was slow.
I’d hit a dry spell.
I was bored.
Maybe it was time for me
to take a vacation.
I called Willie.
“Pack your bags. Order the plane!
We’re going to join my folks
in Nantucket.”
I hung up.
My folks own a private airplane.
Willie is a pilot as well as a chauffeur.
I walked out of my room
and closed the door behind me.
“Good-bye, slow business;
hello, fast vacation,” I said.
Mrs. Fridgeflake helped me pack my bags.
Willie brought the limo around.
“Everything is set to go, Miss Olivia,”
he said.
I tossed my boa around my neck and
got into the limo.
We were off.
We were in the air.
I watched the clouds go by
and ate a watercress sandwich
that Mrs. Fridgeflake had packed.
There wasn’t much to do.
I got tired of looking at clouds.
I turned on the TV.
I kept changing channels.
Dull, dumb, ho-hum.
I switched to the news.
There was a picture of a giant turkey
sitting on top of a car
in a supermarket parking lot.
I turned up the sound on the television.
I heard the word panic.
I heard “Catch him! Catch him!”
I sighed. Poor bird.
This turkey was having a worse day
than I was.
Suddenly he disappeared from the screen.
If I were that turkey,
I wouldn’t stick around either.
What city was this happening in?
I had missed that part of the story.
I looked closer at the screen.
I kept looking.
I knew that parking lot!
I knew that supermarket!
And suddenly I was back in business.
I made a quick phone call.
Then I went up to Willie.
“Change of plans,” I said.
“Back to San Francisco, Boss?” he asked.
“Not exactly, Willie.
I was just talking to Nate the Great.
I think we should drop in on him.
He needs help with a turkey.”
I, Nate the Great,
heard a knock at my door.
What now?
Sludge and Claude were off on a case.
Olivia was on her way from San Francisco.
Meanwhile, I was having
a good, quiet time again.
I was reading a book.
There was no more knocking.
There was pounding.
Somebody out there was in a hurry.
I opened the door.
Olivia was standing there.
“You’re here?”
I said.
“Where did you
call me from?”
Olivia stepped inside.
“I was up in the air,” she said.
“Willie and I flew into town.
We hired a limo,
and he’s out there cruising for clues.
Now let’s talk turkey.”
“Sludge is looking for the turkey,” I said.
“And Sludge will find the turkey.
I believe in him.”
Olivia crossed her arms.
“Now, listen carefully,” she said.
“Birds are my specialty.
That poor turkey is in trouble.
I need a list of your friends
for my turkey search team.”
“Wait a minute,” I said.
“My friends are not detectives.”
“Names, please,” she said.
I shrugged. “Well, there’s
Oliver next door.
He always follows people.
And he can show you
where to find Rosamond
There’s also Claude,
but he’s already
looking for the turkey
with Sludge.”
“Where are they looking?”
“In Deering Woods.
That is where Claude first saw the turkey.”
“He saw the turkey? Fantastic!”
Olivia tossed her boa into the air.
She wears that boa
just about everywhere.
“Not so fantastic,” I said. “Claude also
lost the turkey.”
“And I will find it again,” she said.
And she was out the door.
The minute I left Nate’s house,
someone started to walk behind me.
I knew who it was.
Oliver the Follower.
I turned around.
“Nobody follows Olivia Sharp,” I said.
“I follow everybody,” Oliver said.
“How about a turkey?” I asked.
“I need a search team to help me
look for a turkey.”
“You mean that famous turkey?
I can’t join the team. I haven’t seen him,
so I can’t follow him.”
“I would like to follow you,” I said.
“To Rosamond’s house.”
“Follow me? People just don’t do that
around here.”
I flung my boa around Oliver.
“Let me be the first.”
“Actually, you’re the second or third,”
Oliver said.
He started walking.
I started following.
Oliver led me to Rosamond’s house.
Oliver and I were standing in front
of Rosamond’s house.
I was trying to figure out
exactly what I was looking at.
I saw a sign in the front yard:
RENT-A-PET
A NICKEL AN HOUR
I saw a table.
A girl was sitting behind it.
She looked very strange.
Four cats were crawling over the table.