Hickory Creek, Inc.

"I'm gonna sue that kid!" Millie Turner screamed. The poor girl was storming down the sidewalk, ranting like a lunatic. To be fair the white lab coat she was wearing didn't help her appearance. As she stomped past our house, Millie spotted me out the corner of her eye.

"You!" she yelled. I didn't notice the future mad scientist stomping onto my porch. I was lounging in my hammock, eyes closed, and listening to music. Millie ripped my headphones off with unnecessary aggression. "I wanna hire you!" she declared.

If you've just moved to the block, you probably have no idea why anyone would want to hire a fourteen-year-old kid with such ferocity. Allow me to explain. My brother and I run a detective agency out of our parents' house. We receive a steady stream of clientele, not to brag.

"What troubles you, Citizen?" I inquired.

"This!" Millie exclaimed. She waved a semi-empty glass in my face. It was caked with some kind of greenish goo. Sprinkle Shoppe was etched on the cup. I breathed a sigh of relief. Millie's the neighborhood science geek, and I never know what she's gonna shove in my face. Literally.

"And this would be?" I asked.

"Ted Mercury said this milkshake would give me good luck!" Millie exclaimed. "Do I look like I've been lucky?" It was then I noticed all the dark stains on the girl's lab coat. Apparently, she'd blown something up. Hopefully, it wasn't the town's power grid.

"Let's back up," I suggested. "What exactly did he give you?" Millie explained that Teddy, the local troublemaker, had recently taken a job at the ice cream parlor. After the Sprinkle Shoppe fired him for stealing food, the bully had set up his own business.

Teddy had "borrowed" several glasses from the establishment and filled them with green ice cream. According to him, they were endowed with magic by a Leprechaun. These mystic shakes were supposed to bring good luck. Millie hadn't found any.

"Put that jerk outta business!" she roared.

"What'd going on?" Linus asked. My brother stuck his head out the door, saw Millie, and unsuccessfully tried to duck back inside. Millie's got a major crush on Linus, and it's not exactly reciprocated. Unfortunately, Millie never seems to get that.

"Wait!" she exclaimed, grabbing his wrist. "You can help, too."

"I'm really busy," Linus fibbed.

"There's ice cream involved," I said.

"On second thought, I'm not that busy," Linus decided. Together, our merry trio sauntered down the sidewalk toward Teddy's Luck of the Irish stand. Millie proceeded to talk Linus's ear off the entire way. While he tried to be polite, I plugged my earbuds back in.

I listened to Artemis by Lindsey Stirling for the hundredth time, which is in no way overkill in my humble opinion. By the time we reached the Lucky stand, there was a line going down the sidewalk. Millie shoved her way to the front and practically hurled her glass at the proprietor.

"This stuff's bogus!" she yelled.

"Did you drink the whole thing?" Teddy inquired dubiously.

"Well, no," Millie admitted.

"I specifically told you to drink it before you did anything else," Teddy said, shaking his head in exasperation. "You gotta learn to listen."

"Begging your pardon," I interjected. "Where did you happen upon your Leprechaun business partner?"

"Why you always trying to ruin things, Bucky?" Teddy groaned. "If you must know, he flew in my window the other day. Said I'd been specifically chosen to bestow his magic on the local population."

"That's the fanciest sentence I've ever heard you utter," I commented.

"Thanks," Teddy said snidely. "Now, kindly see yourselves to the back of the line. No cutsies!"

"As you wish," I answered. "Quick question."

"What?" Teddy asked impatiently.

"How'd the Leprechaun fly into your window?" I asked. "They don't have wings."

"He had a jetpack!" Teddy blurted.

"You might need a jetpack," Linus noted.

"Why?" Teddy demanded.

"Because of that," my brother replied with a smirk. Teddy glannced down the sidewalk to see two adults walking toward us. One was Mr. Williams, who owned the Sprinkle Shoppe. The other was a Policeman. Teddy's eyes flicked to the stolen glasses, and his face turned green.

Bolting from the stand, the thief sprinted down the street. Angrily, Mr. Williams and the Policeman gave chase. After this display, the kids in line decided these milkshakes weren't so lucky after all. As they dispersed, Linus reached behind the stand and recovered a gallon of lime sherbet.

"I believe that's stealing," I remarked.

"I believe you should shut up," Linus replied. He opened the container and began shoveling the frozen treat into his mouth. Unfortunately, my dear brother did this too fast. His eyes widened, and the carton tumbled to the ground.

Poor Linus sat on the sidewalk and tried to aliviate the brain freeze. Millie knelt beside him and offered numerous remedies, which only made Linus cringe all the more. I plugged my earbuds back in and walked away. Turns out that ice cream was bad luck for everyone.

THE END