and let the answer come.”
Alyson grabbed Devon’s arm and started toward the door. “Now what?” she asked as she stepped out onto the sidewalk. “Seriously, I have no idea what that guy was talking about.”
“He’s obviously a fake,” Mac grumbled as they walked toward the SUV.
“Yeah, but we had to try,” Devon said.
“Let’s pick up the guys and get out to the barn before we lose our light.” Alyson wrapped her arms around her body to suppress a shiver. The man hadn’t said much, but she had the distinct impression he’d been speaking directly to her rather than the group as a whole.
The answer was in the dark beyond the door that couldn’t be seen.
Chapter 6
The sun was starting its descent toward the distant horizon when they reached the barn. If they were going to find anything they didn’t have much time; it would be dark in less than half of an hour.
“Does anyone know what we’re looking for?” Eli asked as they pulled up in front.
“Not really,” Devon answered. “Just anything that doesn’t fit. Let’s start inside.”
The gang, each of them armed with a flashlight, got out of the SUV and headed toward the barn. They looked around the interior in the hope of finding something they’d missed the last time they were there, as well as any remnant of the props and decorations they’d dropped off earlier in the week.
“Here’s where we left the decorations the other day.” Mac pointed toward the center of the barn. “And here are the tire tracks from Devon’s Expedition. I don’t see any evidence of another vehicle having been here. Don’t you think that if someone was going to cart that stuff away they would have had to pull a vehicle in to load it up? Some of it was pretty heavy.”
“You’d think,” Alyson agreed. “There are a lot of footprints, but that doesn’t mean anything. Lots of people have been here recently. Us, the kids in the drama club, Spyder and V, and whoever took the props and decorations.”
“Why would anyone want that stuff?” Mac asked. “I mean, the decorations were cool and all, but why go to the trouble of stealing them? And other than the kids helping Caleb, who would even know they were here?”
“Good question.” Devon walked along the back wall, shining his light on the ground. “Maybe whoever stole the stuff didn’t necessarily want it but was simply trying to ruin or even stop the hayride.”
“Yeah, but why?” Alyson knelt down to study the ground near the spot where they’d left the second set of decorations more carefully.
“Who knows? Revenge, maybe. Maybe it’s a case of someone being angry with Caleb or the drama club or whoever, and they’re trying to mess things up. Caleb did seem pretty stressed out about the missing stuff.”
“There’s nothing here.” Devon joined the others in the center of the barn. “I say we call it a day.”
“We still have a few minutes of daylight left. Let’s look around outside,” Alyson suggested. “It was dark when we were here the other day.”
“We can try, but I doubt we’ll find much after all the rain we’ve had.” Devon followed Alyson around the side of the barn.
After several minutes of searching Alyson had to conclude that Devon was right. The heavy rains had wiped out any potential footprints or tire tracks.
“Check this out,” Trevor said from the back of the clearing behind the barn. “It looks like something may have been dragged through here. The grass is matted down and the brush has broken branches.”
The rest of them joined Trevor near the dense brush line. The trees from the orchard grew thick in this area and had protected the underbrush from the ravages of the heavy rain. Something had definitely matted the tall grass.
Tucker began to bark as he dug a hole near a sharp rock formation.
“Looks like that dog found another rabbit,” Mac said with a laugh.
“Yeah, but last time we thought he had a rabbit it didn’t turn out to be
Alyson grabbed Devon’s arm and started toward the door. “Now what?” she asked as she stepped out onto the sidewalk. “Seriously, I have no idea what that guy was talking about.”
“He’s obviously a fake,” Mac grumbled as they walked toward the SUV.
“Yeah, but we had to try,” Devon said.
“Let’s pick up the guys and get out to the barn before we lose our light.” Alyson wrapped her arms around her body to suppress a shiver. The man hadn’t said much, but she had the distinct impression he’d been speaking directly to her rather than the group as a whole.
The answer was in the dark beyond the door that couldn’t be seen.
Chapter 6
The sun was starting its descent toward the distant horizon when they reached the barn. If they were going to find anything they didn’t have much time; it would be dark in less than half of an hour.
“Does anyone know what we’re looking for?” Eli asked as they pulled up in front.
“Not really,” Devon answered. “Just anything that doesn’t fit. Let’s start inside.”
The gang, each of them armed with a flashlight, got out of the SUV and headed toward the barn. They looked around the interior in the hope of finding something they’d missed the last time they were there, as well as any remnant of the props and decorations they’d dropped off earlier in the week.
“Here’s where we left the decorations the other day.” Mac pointed toward the center of the barn. “And here are the tire tracks from Devon’s Expedition. I don’t see any evidence of another vehicle having been here. Don’t you think that if someone was going to cart that stuff away they would have had to pull a vehicle in to load it up? Some of it was pretty heavy.”
“You’d think,” Alyson agreed. “There are a lot of footprints, but that doesn’t mean anything. Lots of people have been here recently. Us, the kids in the drama club, Spyder and V, and whoever took the props and decorations.”
“Why would anyone want that stuff?” Mac asked. “I mean, the decorations were cool and all, but why go to the trouble of stealing them? And other than the kids helping Caleb, who would even know they were here?”
“Good question.” Devon walked along the back wall, shining his light on the ground. “Maybe whoever stole the stuff didn’t necessarily want it but was simply trying to ruin or even stop the hayride.”
“Yeah, but why?” Alyson knelt down to study the ground near the spot where they’d left the second set of decorations more carefully.
“Who knows? Revenge, maybe. Maybe it’s a case of someone being angry with Caleb or the drama club or whoever, and they’re trying to mess things up. Caleb did seem pretty stressed out about the missing stuff.”
“There’s nothing here.” Devon joined the others in the center of the barn. “I say we call it a day.”
“We still have a few minutes of daylight left. Let’s look around outside,” Alyson suggested. “It was dark when we were here the other day.”
“We can try, but I doubt we’ll find much after all the rain we’ve had.” Devon followed Alyson around the side of the barn.
After several minutes of searching Alyson had to conclude that Devon was right. The heavy rains had wiped out any potential footprints or tire tracks.
“Check this out,” Trevor said from the back of the clearing behind the barn. “It looks like something may have been dragged through here. The grass is matted down and the brush has broken branches.”
The rest of them joined Trevor near the dense brush line. The trees from the orchard grew thick in this area and had protected the underbrush from the ravages of the heavy rain. Something had definitely matted the tall grass.
Tucker began to bark as he dug a hole near a sharp rock formation.
“Looks like that dog found another rabbit,” Mac said with a laugh.
“Yeah, but last time we thought he had a rabbit it didn’t turn out to be
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