Rosco the Rascal and the Holiday Lights - A Free Preview

Block Patrol

Chapter 2

Block Patrol

Late the next morning, excitement filled the chilly air as James, Mandy, and their dad met with the neighbors.

"Thanks for meeting out here, everyone. Now, let's get down to business," said Mr. McKendrick. "First of all, my wife and I decided to host a little celebration. The contest judges visit each winning block to make sure things are running smoothly every year on opening night, and I thought we might share our Christmas spirit with them while they're here. So I invited them over."

"Good idea, Dan," said Mr. Campbell, Mason's dad.

Mr. McKendrick looked around the group. "My wife makes delicious cookies and eggnog this time of year. You're all welcome to stop in on opening night, too."

After the neighbors thanked him, they divided up the list of tasks for each night of the tour. Then Mr. McKendrick waved his hands. "Listen up, everyone. I have a few more things that the officials wanted me to share with you."

The group gathered in. "Opening night will be the most important night for our block, because that's when the judges will be watching very closely. If things aren't shipshape around here, the city won't hesitate to let us know. Apparently, it's a very big deal."

"That happened about three years ago," said Mr. Da Costa, who lived next door to the McKendrick family. "It was over on the west side of town. I was there that night!"

Mr. McKendrick turned to address Mr. Da Costa. "What happened that night, Jim?"

"It turned out they hadn't prepared well for the crowds. There were no signs to point drivers which direction to drive through the tour, and too many cars were parked on the streets inside the neighborhood. Traffic practically came to a standstill!"

James and Mandy were surprised. Mr. McKendrick listened closely.

"And then lots of folks didn't leave their lights on, so almost half of the Best Block was dark!"

Several neighbors gasped.

"The city received so many complaints that they made new rules for the following year. Nowadays, if a neighborhood doesn't run its opening night well, the officials can remove them from the tour—completely."

The group exchanged a worried look.

Mr. McKendrick nodded. "I remember it was a huge embarrassment for that neighborhood. And that explains why the rules are so strict."

Mr. Campbell spoke up. "So if they think we're not operating at a first-place level, they can take away our first-place status, just like that?"

"Just like that," said Mr. McKendrick, snapping his fingers. "The winner of the Best Block represents all of Harmony, so the city wants to be sure that we live up to its standards. You know—keep the public happy and put on a really good show."

"Well, I'm sure we can live up to Harmony's standards if we put our best foot forward," said Mrs. Benton, the retired woman who lived on the other side of the McKendrick's house.

"Agreed, Elizabeth," said Mr. Campbell. Everyone nodded. Mandy gave Mrs. Benton a wide smile, nodding.

"Great, then. It's going to be a lot of work, but a lot of fun!" Mr. McKendrick finally addressed the kids in the crowd. Most were younger than Mandy. "Kids, we need your help too, keeping the yards nice and neat, helping your parents with whatever they ask. So do your best to make the neighborhood proud." The children turned to each other and chatted excitedly.

Then Mr. McKendrick turned to James and Mason. "Boys, I've got a job that I'd like you to do together on opening night, since you're older than the others. It's going to be extremely important. What do you say?"

James raised an eyebrow. He wasn't crazy about working closely with Mason. Plus, opening night was starting to sound like a lot of pressure. But there were too many people around for James to refuse. He'd just look rude. "Uh, sure Dad. Okay."

"Great. How about you, Mason?"

"Sure, Mr. McKendrick. I'm in!" said Mason. "What's the job?"

"Block patrol!" said Mr. McKendrick.

"What does that mean, Dad?" James asked.

"It means you'll be the eyes and ears of this operation—the soldiers on the front line!"

James and Mason exchanged a questioning look as Mr. McKendrick continued. "Since it's hard to get back and forth around here in a car on a busy night like opening night, we'll need people to go on foot or on a bike. You two can do that! You can patrol together and if you find a problem that you can't fix by yourselves, you can report it to me." He took two handheld radios from his jacket pocket and handed one to each of them. "I'll have one of these, too."

James pushed a few buttons on the walkie-talkie as he listened to his father. He liked the sound of this job—a lot—but he wasn't so sure about working with Mason.

"Then I'll alert the homeowners by phone so they can fix any problems," Mr. McKendrick continued. "I think we can keep things really tight that way."

Mason nodded eagerly. "Sounds great, Mr. McKendrick. What kind of problems are you talking about?"

"You know, if someone's lights go out—things like that. We can't keep an eye on our displays at every moment of the night, after all. I'll be entertaining the judges at our house, so I can't patrol that night."

Mr. Campbell spoke up. "I think it's a great idea to give the kids a little responsibility, Dan. And of course, we'll be close by if you need us, boys."

"Thanks, Dad," said Mason. "You can count on me."

"You'll do a great job, Mason. You too, James," said Mr. McKendrick.

"Uh, thanks, Dad." James was torn. Patrolling the block sounded really cool, but things usually felt like a competition with Mason. James wasn't used to being on the same team with him even though they hung out with the same group of kids at school. Besides, Mason always took over, acted like the boss of everything. James really didn't want him doing that this time. He chewed on a fingernail, thinking.

Mr. McKendrick clapped his hands and rubbed them back and forth. "All right, now. Why don't we all get back to work before this whole Saturday gets away from us?"

Mr. Benton spoke up. "Hold on Dan. How about if they patrol a few times after school next week, too? It'll be good practice."

"That's a great idea, Charles," said Mr. McKendrick. "Got that, boys?"

Black and white illustrations copyright Ros Webb. All rights reserved.