Zoey Rockshindle, chapter 6: The letter

The next day, Cecillia and Cody hired a search crue online to find Zoey.
A while later sixteen or so men arrived at the great mansion where the
Rockshindles lived. They were dressed in slick black suits, wore serious
expressions, and came in a van that had blue exhaust. The first man walked up the
concrete steps and knocked on the door. Cecillia came out to meet them. She was wairing brown pants with a leather belt, and had a peach-colored long-sleeved turtle-neck blouse. She had clearly been crying. Her face was flushed and her eyes
were red. But she was happy to see the men, and led them inside.

So, in the house they went, following Mrs. Rockshindle into an office where
Mr. Rockshindle sat working on a computer. He looked pale and skinny.
When he heard them coming, he turned and told them all
that had happened. It seemed he had been rehearsing what he said to the men.

"An old woman came to our house to see Zoey, then left without an explanation.
Zoey remained upstairs, possible crawling out the window, while we called her down for dinner. Then a crow flew down from her room. We didn't know how it got inside, because Zoey always keeps her windows shut. Maybe while Zoey escaped, it flew in. We've been so worried. It's been, like, a day since we saw Zoey."

The men nodded and set to work.

By the time sunset came, they had spread all over the county. They assumed, or rather
hoped, that Zoey hadn't made it out of town. Lucky for them, she hadn't. The only
problem was that she had been turned into a bird.

Zoey and Mellisa had thought up a plan the night before. It wasn't brilliant, just
a simple way to convince Cody and Cecillia that Zoey was safe.

First, Mellisa waited for the men to leave. Then she walked up to Cecillia and
Cody's house and rang the dootbell. Then she ran off.

This time Cody answered. He looked around, and, seeing nobody, was about to leave but then he spotted the envolope lying on the WELCOME mat. Cody opened the envelope and read the letter inside. By the time he was done, his frown had turned to a big smile. He walked inside and showed Cecillia the letter. She read it out loud:

"Dear Mom and Dad,
I'm sorry to leave without telling you where I was going.
Let me explain why I did.
The kind old lady who came to my room that day was a my good
friend Eva's grandmother. She was there to tell me that it was
Eva's birthday. She said she had been on a walk,
seen our house, and realized they had missed our house when
they sent out invitations. She understood you guys wouldn't
let me go, so she lied and said it was urgent. (But don't be
mad at her, please.) I also figured you guys wouldn't let me go,
so I snuck out the window. I don't know why, but a crow flew
in after I crawled out. Please don't worry about me, I just
need some time alone. I love you guys!

-Zoey

(p.s. : I might go to a summer camp in a few days.)"

Cecillia looked up from reading. She smiled.
Secretly she had always wanted Zoey to have an adventure.