“Which boy is that?” asked Tova. “What makes you think he wants to steal Peaky?”

Bentzi:

Batya was in the middle of telling us what Bubby said about her idea, when Moishy burst into the house. “We need to watch over Peaky. Someone wants to steal him!”

“What?!” We stared at Moishy, open-mouthed, forgetting all about the play.

“Who told you that?” I asked. “Asher?”

“No, Asher said I was just imagining things.” Moishy shuffled his feet back and forth. “But I saw him!”

“Who?”

“The boy who wants to steal Peaky.”

“Which boy is that?” asked Tova. “What makes you think he wants to steal Peaky?”

“Just a boy. I don’t know who he is. Yesterday he was standing near the fence, watching Peaky, and he was there again today.”

“So he likes looking at peacocks, what’s the problem? Why should you imagine he’s plotting something evil?” Batya winked at me. “Bentzi, Moishy is starting to follow in your footsteps...”

“But he is plotting! I know, because I went up to him to ask what he wanted, and he ran away!”

“Ran away? Really? Hmmm... That does sound suspicious.” On the other hand, I reminded myself, I had false suspicions during the adventure of the Museum Mystery. I must be careful.

Batya said in a soothing voice, “Moishy, he probably ran away because he was embarrassed or something. You have nothing to worry about.”

“But do keep an eye on things, and let us know if this boy comes again. Okay?” I asked.

Moishy nodded solemnly. “Sure!”