"Caswell!" Josh yelled.
"Where are you?" said Molly.
"He's got to be here somewhere," said Mrs. O'Donnell.
Everyone was still calling for Caswell.
All at once we heard a small, muffled voice.
"Here I am!" Caswell appeared from a dark space under the stairs.
He was completely covered with dust.
"Ah-choo!" Molly sneezed a few times.
"Look what I found under the stairs!" said Caswell.
He was clutching an old penny.
"Caswell, I am so glad to see you," cried Mrs. O'Donnell.
"When we couldn't find you, we were all very worried!"
"I found a treasure!"
said Caswell, proudly holding out his penny.
"You are my treasure!"
said Mrs. O'Donnell, hugging Caswell.
"He's a pest, that's what he is," said Molly.
But she was smiling as she ruffled her brother's hair.
"I'm glad we found you."
I couldn't wait to get back to my room to plan my new invention.
It was going to be great.
Caswell would never be lost again—at least not for long.
The first thing I needed was a bell.
Luckily, I knew just where to find one.
My mom keeps a box of Christmas tree ornaments in our coat closet.
One of the ornaments was a beautiful brass bell.
I went in the closet and opened the box.
I found lots of ornaments, including a colored glass ball and a gingerbread house.
At last I found the brass bell.
After that I got some string.
I tied the bell to the string and jingled it.
It made a nice loud ringing noise.
If we could get Caswell to wear the bell, he'd jingle wherever he went.
So we'd always be able to find him!
I decided to bring the bell to school tomorrow to show Molly and the other kids.
Then they would see that I was a really good inventor.
By this time I was getting really hungry.
I went into the kitchen to see what Mom was making for dinner.
But Mom was still talking on the phone!
There was nothing cooking on the stove.
And there were no good smells coming from the oven.
"What's the matter with Mom lately?" I wondered.
"All she does is talk on the phone."
And tonight it looked like she had forgotten to make dinner for Tate and me.
I was about to look for something to eat when I heard something strange.
"I'll have to rob a bank," my mom said into the phone.
And then she laughed!
Oh my gosh!
My mom works as a bank teller.
But that wouldn't turn her into a bank robber, would it?
I decided I'd better tell someone about it right away.
So I ran to Molly's apartment and knocked on the door.
When Molly answered, I could smell something really good coming from her kitchen.
It smelled like roast beef, which is my favorite food.
"Molly, my mom is planning to rob a bank!" I cried.
"What?" Molly blinked in surprise.
"What on earth are you talking about, Iggy?"
"I heard her on the telephone," I explained.
"She said she was going to rob a bank.
She even laughed about it!"
Molly stared at me.
"You know what?" she said.
"What?" I said.
I was hoping Molly would know how to stop my mother from robbing a bank.
Molly shook her head.
"You like to invent things, Iggy.
And now you're inventing stories!"