"Where could he have gone?" said Mandy. "Where is he?"

"He was there all afternoon," said James, staring at the floor under the chair.

Mandy looked around frantically. Nearly everybody had gone. Mrs. Ponsonby was still talking to Ernie Bell over by the door. Walter Pickard was starting to clear up, and Pastor Walters was adding up the figures in his ledger at the auction table. But there was no sign of the little fox cub.

Pastor Walters looked up from his ledger. "We’ve had a very good day," he said, beaming at them all. "I think we have enough for some other camping equipment as well as the tents."

But Mandy wasn’t listening. Her mind was still on Lucky. "He must be somewhere," she said. "Oh, James, if he gets out of the hall he could wander off anywhere! You know how adventurous he is. Anything could happen to him. He could get run over. He could have an accident." Her eyes opened wide. "What if there are more of those awful traps? What if he gets caught in one? We have to find him!"

"What’s going on?" asked Walter Pickard. "Is there a problem?"

Mandy told him quickly. "He was here," she said, pointing to the leash still attached to the chair leg beside her.

"We’ll look for him," said Walter. "Just stay calm, and let’s do this in an organized way. After all, we can’t go losing the Cubs’ mascot."

"Oh," said Mandy. "Tommy will be so upset!"

Walter shook his head. "He will," he said. "He’s gone to deliver a couple of things to the MacFarlanes. Let’s see if we can find Lucky before he gets back."

Walter got them organized. They fanned out into a line covering every bit of the hall, looking in boxes and under chairs and even inside the enormous green vase. But there was no sign of Lucky.

"Maybe he got out of the hall," Mandy said at last. "What if we never find him?"

"Now, now," said Walter, "don’t give up yet, young miss. There are other places to look."

So they looked under the small stage at the end of the hall and behind the stairwell and in the restrooms. Mandy’s father came back from his afternoon surgery as they were giving up hope of finding Lucky.

"Oh, Dad, he’s lost," Mandy said. "What if he gets into one of those traps?"

"Hmmph," said Mrs. Ponsonby. "Just let me get a word with Sam Western and I’ll tell him what he can do with those traps!"

Just then the phone rang. Mandy turned hopefully toward the sound. Pastor Walters hurried over and picked up the receiver. "For you," he said to Dr. Adam.

Mandy’s father went to take the call while Mandy breathed a sigh. It wasn’t news of Lucky, then.

"What’s the matter?" asked a voice from the doorway.

Mandy looked around. It was Tommy. She hesitated. She didn’t want to upset him. But he was already looking around the hall.

"Where’s Lucky?" he asked. "Where’s our mascot? He really was lucky for us, wasn’t he, Grandpa? Have we made enough money to buy our tents now? Can we go camping this summer?"

Walter looked down at his grandson. "More than enough," he said. "You’ll have your summer camp this year."

"Oh, good!" said Tommy, but his eyes were still searching the hall. "Where’s Lucky?" he asked again. "I want to tell him he brought us good luck."

Walter cleared his throat. "Lucky has gone and gotten himself lost," he said. "Silly little cub. But he’ll turn up, don’t you worry."

Tommy looked puzzled. "Lost?" he said. Then his face brightened up. "Oh, I bet he’s still in the cupboard. I didn’t think he would sleep this long."

Six faces turned to the little boy – Mandy, James, Dr. Adam, Mrs. Ponsonby, Walter, and Ernie.

"What?" they all said at once.

Tommy took a step backward and looked unsure of himself. "He was so sleepy," he said. "And when Mrs. Ponsonby started to play the organ, he didn’t like the noise. So I unclipped him and put him in the cupboard with his blanket. He likes it in there."

"Cupboard?" said Walter. "What cupboard?"

"I think I know," said Mandy. "It was Grandma’s china cupboard, wasn’t it, Tommy?"

Tommy nodded. He was beginning to look a little frightened. "I didn’t do anything wrong," he said. "It’s Lucky’s cupboard."

James smiled down at him. "That’s all right, Tommy," he said. "He’s probably still there."

Tommy nodded proudly. "Oh, he will be," he said. "I made sure the door was closed."

Mandy’s breath stopped in her throat, and then she remembered that the cupboard had a latticework front. At least Lucky would have plenty of air. Then a thought struck her. "Where is it?" she said to James. "I didn’t see it when we were looking."

They made a quick tour of all the furniture that was left, but the cupboard wasn’t there. It had been sold.

"But who bought it?" asked James.

"What if it was that dealer?" Mandy said. "What if he’s taken it to the city?"

Pastor Walters looked up from his ledger. "We’ll soon find out," he said. "It’s all here in my ledger."

He took out a pair of half-moon glasses and put them carefully on his nose. Mandy was almost dancing with impatience, but she knew there was no point in hurrying him.

James couldn’t bear it. He watched Pastor Walters’ bony finger travel slowly down the length of the list of objects and buyers.

"Let me look," James said, his own glasses nearly slipping off the end of his nose.

Pastor Walters tutted and frowned. "Now I’ll have to start again," he said. "You young people have no patience."

James looked at Mandy in anguish as the pastor started at the beginning again, finger following the lot numbers down the page, turning each page of the ledger carefully, adjusting his glasses.

At last, after what seemed an eternity, he said, "Here it is. Lot number forty-two."

"Who bought it?" asked Mandy.

"Just let me look," said Pastor Walters.

He peered at the page and adjusted his glasses again. "Ah, the Spry sisters," he said at last. "And they took it with them to The Riddings, it says here. Ernie was doing this part, and I can’t read his writing." Ernie Bell started to say something, but Pastor Walters went on. "Oh, yes. Picked up by Sam Western," he said.

"Mr. Western?" said Mandy. "What was he doing here?" Sam Western was much too self-important to come to a Cub Scout auction.

"He wanted to talk to the Sprys," said Ernie. "He took them home in that fancy car of his. I remember now that they had some sort of cupboard in the back."

Mandy and James looked at each other, horrified. One awful thought followed another. It wasn’t hard to guess what Mr. Western wanted to talk to the Sprys about – the fox hunting. And poor little Lucky was locked in a cupboard in his car!

"We have to get him back!" said James.

Mandy nodded. "And quickly," she said. She turned to look for her dad.

Dr. Adam was striding across the hall in a purposeful way. He stopped as he passed them. "Look, Mandy," he said, "I won’t be back for an hour or so. There’s a suspected outbreak of disease at Baildon Farm, and I said I’d go up there at once."

Mandy bit her lip. She had hoped he would be able to take them to The Riddings. "Okay, Dad," she said.

"I could call home," said James as Dr. Adam hurried out the door.

Mandy shook her head. "We can’t waste time waiting," she said. "We have to go there – at once! We have to get Lucky back!"

"The bikes are outside," James said. "How long ago did the Sprys leave?"

Ernie looked doubtful. "Not more than half an hour," he said.

"Half an hour?" said Mandy.

James looked at her. "Time enough for the Sprys to have opened that cupboard," he said.

"We have to go like the wind," said Mandy. "We can’t take Blackie. He’ll never keep up."

James turned to Blackie. "Stay," he said sternly. Blackie looked up at him and wagged his tail. "Stay!" said James again even more shortly, and the Labrador looked puzzled.

"Come on, James!" said Mandy.

James turned and followed her, leaving Blackie looking sad and lonely. "Just think of the scare the Sprys will get when they find Lucky," he said as they made their way out of the hall. "They’ll probably faint with fright."

"There’s an even worse thought," Mandy said as they got on their bikes and headed off for The Riddings.

"What could be worse?" asked James.

Mandy turned a serious face toward him. "What if Mr. Western finds Lucky first?" she said.