Philip and the Case of Mistaken Identity & Philip and the Baby

By John Paulits

In Philip and the Baby Philip resents the fact that a new baby is coming into his house.   Will anything get Philip to love and accept his new baby sister before he drives his parents crazy with his behavior?

In Philip and the Case of Mistaken Identity Philip and his best friend Emery, detectives on the trail, try to cope with a mystifying little girl who runs them a merry chase.   

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wings ePress, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9781597051095

Book preview

Dedication

For Becky, Bud and Lou

One

W ait, wait, wait a minute, said Emery. Philip Felton stopped and waited. They had just stepped out of the schoolyard on their way home. Emery slung his school bag off his shoulder and put it on the ground. He squatted and opened it up.

Hurry up, Emery, said Philip. The last day of school before the spring break was over. We have nine whole days to play. No homework. No worrying about fourth grade tests. What are you doing?

I’m looking for my library books. You have to take them back for me.

Me? Why me? Why don’t you take them back?

I have to go with my mother after school. You said you might go to the library, right?

Philip felt a touch of gloom. Now who was he going to play with?

When’ll you be home?

I don’t know. Emery’s voice sounded impatient. I don’t want to go. She said, though. With my two sisters, too.

Emery had two baby sisters born about a year apart. He considered himself the unluckiest boy in the world.

Here they are. He pulled two books from his bag, closed it up, stood, and handed the books to Philip.

Philip looked at them. Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet and The Golden Mushroom.

What do you have—mushrooms on the brain? Philip asked.

No, no. They were good. You should read them. One’s in outer space. The other’s a secret land inside the earth.

Philip nodded half-heartedly. What do you want to do tomorrow? he asked.

Something good. Let’s not waste this vacation. You think tonight and I’ll think tonight. Tomorrow we’ll make a good plan.

Philip nodded.

They chatted about previous vacations for the ten minutes it took to reach their street. They said good-bye in front of Emery’s house and Philip kept on to his own, five houses down on the opposite side of the street. He opened the front door and tossed his book bag inside. I’m going to the library, Mom.

Philip?

Philip made a face. Who was she expecting? Yeah, me, Mom.

All right. His mother appeared from the kitchen, brushing her hands off. She smiled. Spaghetti and pepperoni tonight to celebrate no school.

And garlic bread?

And garlic bread.

Philip smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. I won’t be late. With Emery’s books cradled in his left arm, he pulled the front door closed behind him.

The library was three blocks away. There was a traffic light on each corner so his mother didn’t fuss too much about being safe when he said he was going there.

It was mid-April and the weather had started turning nice—not really warm, but at least not cold. The past winter had been freezing. He and Emery had spent more time than ever indoors. That was one reason they were so looking forward to this week’s vacation. Philip had even been tuning to the Weather Channel on his TV, and he knew that the weather was supposed to be nice all week.

The library was a small, square, two-story building at the corner of the block. Downstairs was the adult room. The children’s room was on the second floor. Philip went inside and pushed apart the swinging doors that led to the stairway. The children’s room had the librarian’s station, a square of two long desks and two bookcases, in the middle of the floor. Books lined all four walls except where there were two big windows on one side. There were some tables and chairs and more bookcases that made aisles on the floor. There were also two bathrooms, a water fountain, and lots of small windows high above the top of the bookcases, as well as a skylight above the librarian’s station.

Philip got behind the only person returning a book, a girl about his size. She looked over her shoulder and smiled at him. The girl had long, blonde hair and blue eyes.

Philip’s forehead wrinkled. Why was she smiling at him? He didn’t like it when girls his own age smiled at him. He ignored her and stared over the library desk at the librarian.

The girl was having some sort of problem—Philip thought he heard one of the librarians mention a lost library card—so the girl stepped aside while the first librarian, an older woman, did something on the computer and a second librarian, a shorter, younger woman with a nice smile, came to take care of him.

He handed her Emery’s library books. She opened one and scanned it into her computer. Then she scanned the other one.

She looked at Philip and smiled. Well, Emery, you’re two days late. Do you have twenty cents for us?

Late? Philip burst out. Emery never mentioned that. But...

You search your pockets and I’ll fill out your contest entry, the librarian said, smiling. She walked across to the other side of the square workstation and took a piece of paper from a short pile.

But, I’m not...

The librarian was bent over writing and didn’t look like she was listening to him. When Philip tried to get her attention, the girl waiting for her new library card looked at him and smiled again. Philip didn’t want to put up with that, so he dug into his pocket and found two dimes—his only two dimes—and held them in his fist.

The librarian returned. Just put this into the box, she smiled and pointed.

Philip handed over his two dimes, and made a mental note to yell at Emery for sticking him with his late bill. He also promised himself to tell Emery that they weren’t going to play anything over the vacation until he got his twenty cents back. Philip stuffed the piece of paper the librarian had given him into a square cardboard box she’d pointed at and headed for the door.

He took one last look over his shoulder at that girl and immediately hated himself for doing it. The girl was still looking his way, and when she saw him look back, she smiled at him again.

Philip snapped his head around, pushed the swinging doors apart harder than necessary, and ran down the stairs.

Two

Philip woke up early Saturday morning. The first thing he thought of was that Emery owed him twenty cents. He scurried into his clothes and went downstairs. His parents were still sleeping, so he got himself a bowl of cereal and went into the living room.

If his mother were awake, she’d chase him back to the kitchen to eat, but he’d be careful, he told himself. Besides, he’d be finished before she woke up and came downstairs.

He turned on the TV, found the Cartoon Channel, sat on the sofa, put his bowl of cereal on the coffee table, and began to eat.

It was only eight-fifteen, and he knew he wasn’t allowed out of the house until nine-thirty. So after he finished his cereal, he put the