At the end of the garden, four friends are busy. Mia, Zoe, Ella, and Ruby have their hats on. They are little detectives. They want to solve a mystery today.
The sun is shiny, and the grass is soft. Birds sing in the trees. The girls laugh. Suddenly, Mia puts her finger to her lips. “Shhh… Did you hear that?” she asks.
“I heard it too!” says Zoe. “It was a funny ch-ch-ch sound!”
“Let's find out where it comes from!” says Ella.
The four girls look around. Mia listens very hard. There! The ch-ch-ch sound comes again. It's quiet, like a tiny secret. The girls walk softly, like cats. Their feet go pat-pat on the grass.
Ruby points to the big blue flowerpot. “Maybe the sound is hiding there!” she says.
They peek behind the pot. But only funny ants are there, running in a line. No ch-ch-ch sound. The girls giggle.
“Let's try the old wooden bench,” says Zoe.
They tiptoe to the bench. Underneath, there is only a sleepy snail. No ch-ch-ch sound here.
“Maybe the sound is up high,” says Ella, looking at the apple tree.
The girls look up. They see bright red apples and a soft green leaf. Suddenly, Mia hears the ch-ch-ch again. It is closer now! The girls look, look, look. They listen, listen, listen.
Ruby spots something small and brown. “Over there!” she says.
Near the bottom of the tree, something wiggles. It is a little brown mouse! The mouse is busy nibbling and cleaning its whiskers.
“Oh!” says Ella. “The mouse is making the ch-ch-ch sound!”
The girls smile. Mia says, “We solved the mystery! The ch-ch-ch was Mouse all along.”
The mouse looks up and twitches its nose. Everyone giggles. “Hello, Mouse!” they say.
The mouse blinks and scurries away, quietly. The garden is calm again.
The girls sit in the grass. They feel happy. They were curious and brave. They used their ears and their eyes. They worked together. Mia smiles. “We are good detectives!”
“Yes!” say Zoe, Ella, and Ruby.
The sun feels warm. The girls lean on each other. Their hats slip down a little. They close their eyes and rest. The garden is safe, and the mystery is solved.
