Clio shivered as a cold wind blew towards her. She wondered what Mama, Papa, and Katie were doing. She even wondered if Eileen was asking about her. But Clio knew it was no use. Only one terrible guard knew that Clio had not just disappeared. She had forcefully been locked out.
Eleven-year-old Calliope Kyser had lived in a small town called Sision all her life. Her nine-year-old sister, Katie, loved to tag along with Clio and Clio’s best friend, Eileen. Together the three of them played the best pranks. One day Clio had been walking home from the park (which was very close by) and she had seen one of Sision’s guards ripping off his badge, so she hid behind a thick tree to listen. She knew she was not supposed to do this, but the guards had a rule to keep their badge on at all times in case of immediate identification, so she could tell something was up. He was talking with someone else—someone Clio had never seen before. “No, no one suspects a thing. In six days’ time our invaders can enter through the North Entrance and we can rob Sision in a snap! Once we get the last of this place we can go for New York.” Clio gasped. Towns and cities being robbed were all over the news, but no one could catch this gang. That was the reason Sision (like many other places) had put up extra guards.
Suddenly dust tickled her nose. She sneezed. “Hey a spy!” the fake police officer exclaimed. Clio had turned and fled. But she didn’t have much of a head start. The police officer had caught up to her quickly pulled her out of sight, and then bound and gagged her. “Can’t have you spoiling our plans now, can we?” he said. He had dragged Clio to an old car, shoved her inside and started up the engine. They had driven for a long time, and, once they had gotten to a rural area far from Clio’s home town, he dropped her in the grass and driven away.
Luckily, Clio had been carrying a backpack with a raincoat, water bottle, apples, a granola bar, and a few other of Clio’s belongings stuffed in it. She was also lucky that the guard hadn’t bothered to check in it. So, once the guard left, Clio had shrugged off her backpack and. using her mouth, found a stray bobby pin and started to pick the lock. Then she untied the gag and put all three things in her bag for later. Clio had then started walking, following the tracks of the car. Once she had come across a pond and an apple orchard, she used them to refill her water and food supply.
Here she was now. It had been four days. Clio was now camping out in the woods right outside the north entrance (which was the only main entrance to Sision). She only had two days left to find a way past the guards stationed at the gates. If one guard was on the invader’s side, any guard could be so, she couldn’t just ask them to let her in. It would be too dangerous. “If only I could get to the main police station in Sision. Then the town would be ready and even the people who were just faking it like the guard would be outnumbered and they would most likely run for it,” she thought.
Clio was pacing up and down. This was going to be hard. “What can I use to lure two guards away from their posts? Or should I delay them and then sneak in?” she wondered aloud. Suddenly Clio heard leaves rustling behind her. She turned and saw bushes moving. Out popped…
“Cookie!” Clio exclaimed. “You shouldn’t scare me like that.” Cookie was a baby doe that Clio had met on her first night camping out. The doe was very friendly, and had the fur color of a cookie, so that’s what she had named her—Cookie. Since then, she had kept Clio company. “What am I going to do, Cookie? I don’t have much time left.” Cookie only nudged her backpack in reply. “You’re right. I need to sleep on it.” Clio pulled of her backpack and took out an apple and her sleeping bag. While she ate dinner, Cookie grazed on grass and then they both fell asleep.
The next afternoon Clio had made up her mind. She realized the safest way to get into Sision was to sneak in during the switch of guards at 10 p.m. It had a better chance of succeeding. “If the guards with the night shift don’t show up, then may be the guards with the day shift will go looking for them. But how can I delay them and then run back here without being caught?” Suddenly, Cookie started stomping her hooves. “Are you saying that you want to help?” Clio asked. Cookie nodded excitedly. “Okay, thanks! That might help. Hmmm, let’s see. Can you delay the night shift guards while I try and sneak in? Oh, but how? We don’t know who’s on our side.” The rest of the day was spent creating and memorizing the plan until Clio could say it by heart, word for word.
On the sixth night (the night when the invaders were supposed to arrive,) Clio managed to take a nap, to help her stay up at night, despite her worries. If one thing went wrong she would be caught all over again and the whole plan would fail! For once in her life Clio wished that the invaders would come, right on time. Of course, they wouldn’t get any further than the gates because, if Clio’s plan succeeded, the whole town of Sison would be ready and armed. Then finally at 9:30 p.m. Clio and Cookie set their plan into action. Clio dropped Cookie off on the path that the night shift guards would come by. They had chosen a spot that was far enough from the entrance that the day shift guards, who were on duty now, wouldn’t be able to see anything, but hear everything. “Okay, Cookie. I should go now. Remember the plan! And make sure you don’t do it too hard. Bye!” Clio quickly ran back to her camp spot in the woods and slipped on her back pack. Earlier in the day, she had erased any trace of camping there in case anyone decided to check. Now all she had to do was wait and hope that Cookie would do her part. Even though Cookie was an animal, Clio believed she was smart and had understood every word of what she had said.
10 p.m. rolled by. Nothing happened. “Fred and George should have been here by now,” one of the guards said. “Keep an eye on the entrance, I’m going to go look for them.” He ran down the path. Clio held her breath. This was the trickiest part. Cookie was supposed to wait just a little bit before knocking this guard out, so he could shout “Help”. With the other three guards, however, she was supposed to sneak up from behind and knock them out silently. Suddenly a faint cry of “Help!!” rang out! Clio hoped that the guard had heard. The second guard looked down the path and then at the gates. After a moment’s consideration, he seemed to have decided that no one would be out at this hour, and he too ran down the path! Clio wasted no time, and quickly slipped in.
Clio was in bed. It had been a long night. As soon as she had gotten into Sision, she had run straight to the police station and told them her story. The handcuffs that the fake guard had put on her six days ago proved it. “This is the invaders symbol!” the head police officer had exclaimed, recognizing the picture. After that everything was in a rush. The whole town had been called awake, and despite her sore throat, she had told her story again. Then the town had prepared themselves and stood at the north face, catching person after person, silently. Once that was all over, you would have thought that the commotion would have died down, but oh no. There was still a lot left to be done! The next day, police officers from New York were coming to take the invaders to jail (and to return everything else they had stolen), as were news reporters who wanted to get the whole story. Clio and Cookie were famous! Speaking of Cookie, she was now sleeping right outside the Kyser’s home! When everyone heard that she had played a big part in the plan, her parents immediately said that she deserved a good home, provided that she sleep outside, and that Clio didn’t bring her in the house. One thing that stuck in Clio’s mind however, was what the head of New York’s officers had said right before they left. She had said “You will make a great police officer one day Calliope Kyser.” If that came true, if she did grow up to be a police officer, then she already knew exactly who her partner would be.
Cookie Kyser.
Ashmita Ghosh is a fifth grader from North Carolina.