"Cock-a-doodle-do!" came the cry from the rooster across the barn. Gertrude McCluck ruffled her feathers, grabbed her magnifying glass and hopped down from her roost. Anxiously, she half-ran half-flew to the big oak tree outside. She was meeting some of her friends here to go on a picnic, and...

"Hello, McCluck," Rhonda the Rhode Island Red interrupted her thoughts. Rhonda, a budding investigator, considered Gertrude her biggest competition. "I'm sorry to inform you, but Polly and Amy have changed their minds, and will not be joining you today."

"Why on earth not?" asked Gertrude in surprise.

"You'll have to ask them yourself. They're in the nesting boxes."

Gertrude hurried back inside as fast as her legs would take her. She could not imagine what could have changed her friends' minds. As she stepped into the room, she saw Polly the Polish and Amy the Araucana searching frantically through the pine shavings.

"There you are Gertrude. Come to return my egg?" Polly asked bitterly when she noticed the detective's presence.

"What?" Gertrude asked, clearly reeling from the unexpected accusation.

"You heard her," Amy jumped in. "Polly's egg wasn't in the nesting box this morning, and other than Fanny the Faverolle, who's already sitting on her own nest, you were the last one in here last night."

Gertrude was dumbfounded. How could her friends suspect her of stealing an egg? But the evidence did point to her, and as a detective, she was used to trusting evidence. And if no one else had been in the room after her...

"Wait a minute. Fanny?" Gertrude called up to the top row of nesting boxes.

"Yes?" came the Faverolle's reply.

"Do you know where Polly's egg is? I know that I was the last one in here last night, but did you see the egg after I left?"

"Why yes, I have it right here! I figured that Polly had forgotten about it, so I added it to my own clutch."

Polly flew up to where Fanny was sitting. Sure enough, her egg was there.

"You see, Polly, to hatch an egg, you can't leave it alone, or it will get cold and die. If you want, I can hatch this one with my own, but keep that in mind in the future."

Polly nodded, and then turned to Gertrude.

"I'm sorry I suspected you, Gertrude. Will you forgive me?"

"Of course," answered Gertrude. "Do you two want to go on that picnic now?"

"Of course!" the hens answered in unison before running into the spring sunshine with Gertrude. For the rest of the day, Polly, Amy, and Gertrude talked, dirt bathed, and enjoyed the weather. From something that started out as a misconception, the day became a happy memory that none of them would ever forget.

The end