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  “Let them go,” Leigh said. “If there’s a problem, I’ll go get them.”

  It was like someone had opened a window on a hot day, turned on a fan, and handed me a frosty glass of lemonade. Leigh had never jumped in for us like that, and I could tell Mom was just as surprised.

  She sat back and studied Bryce and Leigh and me. “Well, if Leigh will pinch-hit for Sam, I guess it’s okay.”

  “And tomorrow night too,” Bryce said, jumping up and taking his plate to the sink. “They have satellite, and it’s like 50 times clearer than our cable.”

  “We’ll see,” Mom said.

  “But it’s the Cubs and the Cardinals at Wrigley.”

  “We’ll see, I said.”

  Chapter 66

  The alpacas seemed more jumpy than usual, probably because they missed Buck.

  Ashley kept looking at Denise’s house and then the road. “I still say he didn’t attack her,” she said.

  “Wasn’t there blood all over?”

  “Yeah, but just in one spot. Don’t you think if she had really been bitten, she would have left a trail? And if Buck thought she was a threat, why didn’t he kill her? Why did he stop, and how did she call the paramedics?”

  “I thought Denise called them,” I said. “If the jogger was just making this up, how did she know anyone would be watching?”

  “Maybe she waited until she saw someone outside at Denise’s.”

  “But why, Ash?” I said. “What would be the point?”

  She shrugged. “What if someone was trying to get Buck out of here so they could rob the house? Otherwise they’d have to kill him or the neighbors would hear the barking.”

  I snapped my fingers. “None of the places that were robbed had a dog. Mrs. Watson took hers with her.”

  “How would the burglars know?”

  “They probably check the places out first.”

  It was getting dark, so we made sure all the alpacas were in the barn. Whitney was still walking back and forth.

  The phone was ringing when we got back inside. It was Mom. “Mr. Morris called a few minutes ago and said he wasn’t able to reach you. He asked how things were going. I told him you were staying there tonight, and he seemed happy about that. He said he’d call again Sunday or Monday. Everything all right out there?”

  I heard a yip and a howl, and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. “Yeah, great.”

  Chapter 67

  Bryce quickly dialed the Morrises’ cell phone, hoping they would still be in range, but he got their voice mail. He asked them to call and said it was urgent.

  I called animal control. There wasn’t much chance of reaching anyone there on a Friday evening, but it was worth a try. No luck.

  I looked up the number for the sheriff’s office and handed the phone to Bryce. He had found ice cream in the freezer and looked at the phone like it was a dead skunk.

  “Ask the officer what they’re going to do with Buck,” I said.

  He poured a glop of chocolate syrup on the ice cream. “Mr. Morris will call and work it out.”

  “That could be too late. I have a bad feeling.”

  He put a big spoonful in his mouth. “Call him yourself. You’re the one who talked to him.” He walked into the living room, flipped on a sports channel, and plopped onto the sofa.

  “Bryce, this is serious!”

  A recap of the Cubs game flashed on the screen, and I knew I’d lost him.

  I dialed the nonemergency number, and an operator told me the officer I had talked to was not on duty. After I explained the problem, she suggested I call animal control Monday.

  “But that could be too late.”

  “Best I can do is to connect you with Officer Tolson’s voice mailbox.”

  I spilled my story in the message and said, “If they might put Buck down if they can’t get hold of the Morrises, please don’t let that happen. They’ll be back within phone range Sunday. At least call me before anything happens, please!”

  I couldn’t watch baseball replays, so I stood in the kitchen looking out the window at Denise’s house. Lights lit her back patio, and I could make out a couple of people sitting there.

  “I’m going out for a couple of minutes,” I said.

  Bryce grunted.

  The distance between the Morris farm and Denise’s house was about two football fields and filled with tall grass. I went slow, keeping an eye on the house while trying to avoid any holes. I finally climbed through the fence to Denise’s property and drew close enough to hear voices. It was Denise and Liz. They had a small fire going in a pit near the swimming pool.

  Chapter 68

  The Cubs had lost to the Cardinals by a run in the ninth inning on a wild pitch. I wanted to throw my ice cream at the television. I couldn’t wait until Saturday night to see them get revenge. The two teams have been rivals almost since David and Goliath.

  I flipped the TV off. It was dark out now, and the moon rose full above the pine trees on the mountain behind us. Everything seemed peaceful.

  “Ash?” I called. Hmm. Still out. Where was she going?

  “We’ll be right back after these messages,” Lewis squawked.

  I almost had a heart attack. He scared me every time. I covered his cage and went outside. Immediately I heard a low, guttural sound, like someone breathing heavily.

  “Ashley?” I called, knowing it couldn’t be her.

  Then I smelled it—stale, rancid, like rotten food mixed with barn smells. There and then gone with the breeze.

  I walked farther into the yard and looked at the barn. Dew had begun to form and glistened in the moonlight—a soft, shimmering light like you see on lakes and the ocean.

  Something moved in the distance. A black dot bobbed along the hill, just outside the fence line. Was it my imagination? a cloud moving in front of the moon?

  I grabbed a flashlight from inside.

  Chapter 69

  The girls’ faces were lit orange by the fire. They were throwing marshmallows into the flames and watching them turn black.

  “You should have seen that girl’s leg,” Denise said. “It was awful. I don’t blame them for anything they do to that dog.”

  “Good thing you were there,” Liz said.

  I edged closer, trying to make them look at me, but the fire crackled and hissed. Finally, Liz looked up and screamed.

  “It’s just me,” I said. I must have been scary looking, coming in from the darkness.

  Denise put a hand over her chest. “I thought you were a bear. Mom saw one the other morning.”

  A man came to the door. “Everything all right?”

  “It’s okay, Dad,” Denise said.

  He studied me, took a sip of something, and moved back inside.

  Liz pursed her lips and looked away, like I had a disease.

  Finally, I put my hands out and warmed them by the fire. “Denise, can I ask you a question?”

  She threw another marshmallow and it sizzled to death. When she had been alone earlier, she had seemed more open. Now, with Liz by her side, it was as if a door had closed.

  “How did you know the girl was hurt?” I said.

  “I heard her scream.”

  “From where?”

  “I told you. I was right here. She was yelling like she was dying.”

  “And you ran to her?”

  “After calling 911. But I guess she had already called, because the operator said she had just dispatched a squad car and an ambulance.”

  “How long had you been out here?” I said.

  Denise looked at me like it was none of my business, but she answered anyway. “I’d been sunbathing about a half hour.”

  Liz sighed and crossed her arms. “I’m getting cold. Think I’ll go inside.”

  “Did you actually see Buck bite her?”

  “Did you see her leg? I didn’t have to actually see him chomping her.” She stood and followed Liz. When she reached the door she turned. “Face it, Timberline.
That dog is a menace. I hope they’ve already gotten rid of it.”

  Chapter 70

  I ran through the barn into the field, causing the alpacas to hum as I flew past. The black dot was gone now, so I figured it had just been my imagination.

  The awful smell hit me again, like year-old dirty diapers mixed with rotten potato peels. I heard the heavy breathing again. Closer. Like Darth Vader breathing into a giant coffee can.

  I pointed the flashlight toward the road. The breathing stopped, but that smell hung in the air. Two huge eyes glared back at me from the other side of the fence.

  Chapter 71

  As I made my way back across the field I heard Bryce yell. A flashlight beam swung wildly behind the barn, then fell.

  “Bear! Ashley, it’s a bear!” he shouted.

  I passed the barn and heard the alpacas humming. Bryce was throwing stones over the fence. I picked up the flashlight and pointed it toward the road. The bear was next to the fence. I pulled out Leigh’s Mace, took a few steps toward the animal, and fired. I must have missed. On the third try the bear screamed—I didn’t know they could—then ran away, swatting at its face with huge paws. The smell was awful. It was like Pippin and Frodo had spent a year inside our garbage.

  Bryce turned, and I saw fear in his eyes. “We need to build a fire,” he said. “Find kindling and I’ll get wood.”

  We made two small piles, one near the barn and the other near where we’d seen the bear. We dug a trench around each pile so it wouldn’t catch anything else on fire. Bryce lit the one by the barn, and I lit the one by the road. They were hard to start, but then they burned easily.

  “Where were you, anyway?” Bryce said.

  I told him what Denise had said. “Maybe the bear will take a dip in their pool.”

  “He could use some shampoo,” Bryce said, crawling through the fence and moving through the ditch to the road. He was standing near where the girl had been attacked. He aimed the flashlight at the ground. At his feet was a hamburger wrapper from a fast-food restaurant. The burger was gone, but the bun lay on the ground, slathered with ketchup and mustard. “Litterbugs,” he muttered.

  “Think that’s what the bear smelled?” I said.

  Bryce shrugged. He picked up an empty plastic container, a little bigger than a nail polish bottle. It had a narrow, white tip. He pointed the flashlight at it. There were traces of red liquid inside. The label had been ripped off.

  He stuffed it in his pocket, and we returned to the barn. “I ought to stay out here tonight,” he said. “The fire will probably keep the bear away, but without Buck I want to be sure.”

  “I’m not staying inside by myself,” I said.

  He nodded. “Let’s look for some sleeping bags.”

  Chapter 72

  I woke up to something sniffing my face. I thought it was the bear and almost yelled before I remembered where I was and realized it was an alpaca. I sat up on my soft bed of hay in the barn. The animals were up, and the sun was peeking through the boards.

  Ashley and I smelled like the fires, which had burned out. At least we had kept the animals safe. Whitney was standing still, but when Ashley moved toward her, she jumped. I guess she’d been sleeping.

  We gave the alpacas their food and water, then carried our sleeping bags to the house. I pulled out the tube I had stuck in my pocket the night before and held it under the light in the kitchen. It had turned upside down, and a red spot dotted my pocket. I squeezed a drop of the stuff onto my finger. It didn’t smell like nail polish.

  Ashley said, “Remember that play in sixth grade? I had to put fake blood on my arm. That’s the kind of bottle the stuff came in. Bryce, what if the girl—?” She stopped and pointed to the answering machine, which was blinking.

  I pushed the button.

  “Ashley, this is Officer Tolson from the sheriff’s department. Got your message this morning. We haven’t been able to get in touch with the Morrises, so if you hear from them, please have them call. Animal control said they had to tranquilize the dog to get him out of the truck.

  “Normally we’d keep an animal like this until we can make a determination. But I have to be honest. We heard from the girl’s father yesterday, and he wants the animal destroyed. I’m sorry, but I guess we don’t have a choice.”

  Ashley picked up the phone, shaking. “Bryce, Buck didn’t do anything to that girl.” She dialed, her lip trembling.

  I took the phone from her, and she looked relieved.

  The officer answered, sounding like he was in his car. I told him who I was. “Have they already . . . ?”

  “Put him to sleep? Not yet.”

  “When?”

  He paused. “Unless we hear from the owners, the vet will put him down first thing Monday morning at nine.”

  Chapter 73

  Officer Tolson’s words haunted me as we drove our ATVs home that morning.

  I was afraid Mom wouldn’t let us stay at the Morrises’ that night, and that was the only way we were going to protect the alpacas and catch the thieves.

  We hurried inside for breakfast. Mom smiled. “Is Leigh going to be gone tonight?” I said as she broke some eggs into a bowl.

  “She and Randy are going to a movie. She should be back late. Why?”

  “Bryce and I want to stay at the farm again.”

  Bryce groaned as he opened the paper. “The Cubs traded one of their best pitchers to the Mets!”

  “I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Mom said.

  “It was a terrible idea,” Bryce said.

  “No, about staying there tonight. If Leigh isn’t here and you need her—”

  “Mom, I have to see that game. They’ve got this new TV—it’s like being at Wrigley.”

  I’ll admit ganging up on Mom was unfair. “You told Mrs. Henderson you like to say yes to us as often as you can,” I said. “That if you can’t think of a good reason to say no, you try to let us do what we want.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You both look like you didn’t sleep well.”

  “It was a lot of fun,” I said.

  “Well, as long as that dog is there, I feel a lot better.”

  I sneaked a glance at Bryce, but he just stared at the newspaper. Not telling her everything was like lying. Normally I could tell her anything.

  Mom finally gave in, on the condition that we take naps that afternoon. That made me feel like a little kid, but keeping stuff from her made me feel terrible. I tried to tell myself I had no choice and that it was the only way to protect the alpacas, save Buck, and catch the criminals.

  Chapter 74

  Being in a cage must be the worst for a dog that is usually able to run in big fields. Everything in him must have wanted to go home and protect his herd.

  Then again, maybe it was like vacation. Meals brought to your kennel. You could lounge around and talk with the other campers. As much as I tried to make it funny, Buck was on death row. If we didn’t do something fast, his owners would return to find his grave.

  Ashley and I went back to the farm before dinner and made sure the alpacas were okay. There were no more signs of the bear, but the animals stayed close to the barn. I guess they sensed Buck wasn’t there and didn’t want to take any chances.

  We walked through the house trying to figure out what Eddie might be looking for. The big television was the only thing worth a lot of money. That and the leather couch, I guess.

  “Has to be something else,” Ashley said. “Who would risk trying to lug that out of here?”

  We went through the bedrooms and found Mrs. Morris’s jewelry box. There wasn’t much inside, and I figured she just wasn’t a jewelry person. Downstairs was a den with a big deer head on the wall and a locked gun cabinet with a glass door. I counted six guns. I wondered what the bear’s head would look like on the wall.

  Ashley said, “What’s this?”

  I shrugged. It looked like an end table with a Southwestern-style blanket over it, colored triangles woven into the in
tricate design.

  She picked up the lamp and pulled the blanket away. Underneath was a gray safe with a huge metal handle and tumblers the size of my hand. I spun the knob and heard the click-click-click.

  “Maybe this is what they’re after,” I said.

  “Wonder how they would know about it,” Ashley said, looking around. “There’s no window down here. If we can get them inside and jam the door from the outside, we’ll catch the crooks. Then the police will have to believe us about Buck.”

  Chapter 75

  Mom looked concerned when we came back to the house for dinner. She motioned me into the kitchen and asked me to sit down. She only does that when there’s a good reason, so I started getting nervous. “Denise’s mother called today,” she said.

  “Oh?” I said as innocently as I could.

  “She said you crept up on Denise and Liz and scared them last night.”

  “I didn’t mean to,” I said.

  Mom put up a hand. “She said they saw two fires at the Morrises’ last night. She wanted to know if you knew how dangerous that was.”

  I nodded. “We wanted to watch the animals, so we stayed in the barn. We dug a trench around the fires—”

  “Ashley, you know how edgy people are about fire during the summer. You can’t set campfires that close to the woods.”

  “It won’t happen again,” I said.

  Mom pursed her lips. “Denise’s mom also told me what happened with Buck.”

  I felt a lump in my throat. I was sure she wasn’t going to let us stay at the farm, and I had to keep that from happening. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

  “I’ve tried to call Mr. Morris,” she said. “Can’t get through.”

  “They’re going to put Buck to sleep if we don’t do something, Mom.”