McKenzie

by Shari Barr

  “Really? Where?” McKenzie asked excitedly.

  “I’m just getting to that part, but it’s about too dark to read. Besides, I need to go in the house and finish packing my bag.” He paused. “My son is taking me to his home. I won’t be back until later tomorrow. I might have a few minutes to read before he gets here. Why don’t I loan the book to you when I get back?”

  The girls eagerly agreed and then headed to the dock. Alex took several pictures of the western sky, painted with streaks of pink, orange, and blue. McKenzie sat on the dock, dangling her legs over the side. She kicked her feet in the cool, clear water. Alex lowered her camera and pointed out a family of loons gliding through the shadowy water of the cove.

  “Do you think Mel and Tia Franks stole the sea lion pups?” Alex asked as she sat down cross-legged beside McKenzie.

  “I don’t know. The evidence sure points to them.” McKenzie scratched her arm. “That is, if we can believe the story that little boy told.”

  Alex sighed. “I wish we had seen the couple in the boat that morning. We only have a rumor to go on. We can’t accuse anyone based on that.”

  McKenzie jumped as her cell phone rang. She pulled it from her pocket and answered it. “Hey, Sydney,” she said after recognizing her friend’s phone number. “What’s up?”

  “When Bailey called Mr. Franks ‘Cave Man,’ I started thinking. Maybe Mr. Franks tipped your sailboat over on purpose yesterday.”

  “Why would he do that?” McKenzie pulled her feet out of the water and tucked her wet legs beneath her.

  “He tipped you over by the cave entrance, right? Maybe he didn’t want you to see something in that cave, like nets or something. I don’t know how anyone steals a sea lion, but maybe there’s stuff in there they use to capture sea mammals. If they stole two sea lions, they might steal more,” Sydney explained.

  McKenzie thought for a moment. “I didn’t see anything in the cave. Except for a little bit of trash.”

  “I thought if the thieves stole two pups, they might come back for more. I mean, who would know if any other sea lion pups were missing? If Susie wasn’t such a favorite for tourists, who would know Mario and Bianca were missing?” Sydney continued.

  “I guess you’ve got a point,” McKenzie answered. “But there’s no way we can go back to the cave. Aunt Becca would never let us sail back over there.”

  “Oh, well. It was just an idea,” Sydney said. “I’m just looking for clues.”

  By the time McKenzie hung up the phone, darkness had settled in and a cool wind had come up. A full moon and a sprinkling of stars lit up the sky. The lights of the resorts farther down the beach dotted the shoreline. Talking about Mr. Franks and his strange behavior on Mr. Lowry’s boat made her feel uneasy. All the talk about thieves, missing sea lions, and dark caves made her shiver.

  “Let’s go in,” McKenzie said as she stood and headed toward the light glowing in the kitchen window of the beach house.

  “Good idea,” Alex said, in close pursuit. “I need a snack before bed, anyway.”

  Hurrying up the sidewalk leading to the house, McKenzie set her camera on the porch railing. She kicked off her flip-flops and turned on the outside faucet. Then she stuck her foot under the stream of water to rinse the sand off her feet.

  She jerked herself upright and froze in horror as a crazy, laughlike scream pierced the night!

  The Intruder!

  A feeling like icy cold fingers rippled up McKenzie’s neck as she lunged through the doorway. “What was that?” Her voice trembled as she turned to Alex.

  A look of shock passed over Alex’s face then she giggled. “You should see the look on your face. That’s just a loon calling for its mate.”

  McKenzie’s face grew warm, and her breathing began to return to normal. “You mean that was a bird? It sounded like a maniac laughing and screaming at the same time.”

  “Oooh-ooh-ooh-OOOH!” Alex let out a mournful cry. She raised her arms high and bent her fingers like crooked claws. “I’m a scary loon, and I’m going to get you.”

  McKenzie playfully punched her friend in the arm. “That’s the creepiest-sounding bird I’ve ever heard. It sounded like a scream.”

  “It used to scare me too,” Alex said, grabbing a box of cheesy crackers from a kitchen cupboard. “But now I love to hear the loons calling to each other.”

  McKenzie shivered as the loon’s cry carried through the open windows of the sun porch. She rubbed her arms to chase away the chill. As she reached for the light switch, something warm and fuzzy brushed against her leg.

  “Aaaahhh!” she screeched, jumping as something cold and wet touched her hand.

  Glancing down, she sighed with relief. “Oh Mickey. I’m glad it’s you, boy.” She patted the dog’s head as he danced about her feet, whimpering.

  “I think he needs to go out,” Alex said, bending to scratch Mickey’s ears. She held out a couple of crackers and dropped them, letting the dog catch them in his mouth. Then she reached up and grabbed a leash from a hook by the back door.

  “You don’t mean we’re going back out there, do you?” McKenzie asked, feeling like a scaredy-cat.

  “Aah, come with me.” Alex snapped the leash onto the dog’s collar. “Let’s just take Mickey out for a minute.”

  McKenzie hesitated, but then followed Alex and Mickey out the door into the cool night air. The glow of the yard lights in front of each cabin lined the beach like a string of Christmas lights. The dog scampered about their feet, tugging the leash until Alex was almost running to keep up.

  McKenzie scurried after them until Mickey stopped at the nearest tree and sniffed. Though the loons still called their eerie cry in the distance, she wasn’t as scared as she had been earlier. It still sounds creepy, but at least I know it’s just a bird, she thought.

  “Uh-oh,” Alex said, looking at McKenzie as she tugged on the leash. “What time is it?”

  “Five after ten,” McKenzie said after pushing the tiny button on the side of her watch so it would light up.

  “I told Mom and Dad I’d call them at ten. I’d better do that now.” Alex handed McKenzie the leash. “I’ll be right back.”

  Alex sped toward the back steps and let the screen door bang behind her. McKenzie let Mickey pull her toward the next tree. Come on, dog. Hurry up and do your business. I don’t like it out here alone.

  McKenzie glanced around. The cabin to her right stood in darkness. Apparently the renters staying there weren’t home yet for the night. She turned toward Mr. Carney’s cabin on the other side of Aunt Becca’s cabin. The dark windows reminded her that the older man was spending the night with his son.

  Her gaze continued to the left, noting the dark grove of pine trees standing like a black forest separating Mr. Carney’s cabin from the Hideaway. McKenzie had never seen the Hideaway except from Aunt Becca’s airplane. Tucked behind the grove of trees, it was completely hidden from view. A maintenance road behind the cabins was the only entrance to the isolated cabin. Even then it was a quarter of a mile hike from the road to the Hideaway.

  Mickey tugged McKenzie around the tree, sniffing the ground. An owl hooted somewhere in the top of a nearby tree. The wind whistled through the pine needles. McKenzie shivered while she watched Alex through the window, talking on the phone with her parents.

  “Okay, Mickey,” she muttered as she tied the dog’s leash around a tree trunk. “I’m not waiting out here all night. It’s too creepy out here for me. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  McKenzie sprinted up the back steps and into the house, feeling like the biggest chicken ever. Normally, the dark didn’t bother her, but too many weird sounds were freaking her out. Sounds she wasn’t used to.

  Once inside, she relaxed and grabbed a handful of peanuts from a bowl on the coffee table. She settled onto the arm of the couch. Alex smiled and kept chatting into the phone’s receiver.

  Aunt Becca walked into the family room, wearing a purple terrycloth bathrobe. She hugge
d McKenzie and whispered, “I’m going to bed. I’ve got to be at work early in the morning. Don’t stay up too late.”

  McKenzie returned her hug and said, “Good night.” Aunt Becca gave Alex a quick squeeze and went down the hall to her bedroom.

  After Alex hung up, McKenzie stood and wiped her hands on her jeans. “Finally,” she teased. “We’d better go get Mickey. He probably thinks we forgot him.”

  The girls scurried out the back door and raced down the steps. Moonlight flickered through the branches that rustled in the night. Gentle rolling waves in the cove lapped upon the beach. A screen door slammed shut somewhere down the beach, and a shadowy couple walked across the moonlit sand. The cluster of torchlights in front of the resort looked like tiny dots flickering in the wind.

  “Where did you leave him?” Alex asked, interrupting McKenzie’s thoughts.

  McKenzie pointed at a tree bathed in the glow of the yard light. “Right there, next to the hammock.”

  “I don’t see him,” Alex said as she squinted into the darkness.

  McKenzie ran toward the tree. I’m sure this is where I left the dog. “Oh, great! His leash must have come untied. Where did he go?”

  “Here, Mickey!” Alex called, looking toward the beach and then back to the yard. “Here, boy.”

  McKenzie whistled. She paused and listened but didn’t hear an answering bark. Mickey, why did you have to run off? she asked silently, glancing about for any sign of the dog.

  The girls searched the yard, peering behind every shrub and tree. McKenzie had an uneasy feeling. Soon all she could hear was the loud thumping in her chest.

  “We need a flashlight,” Alex said, darting back inside the house.

  Shivering as she waited on the back steps, McKenzie felt the cool breeze cut through her shirt. She considered going after a sweatshirt, but Alex bounded out the door and down the steps.

  “Where should we look?” McKenzie asked, following her friend.

  “How about that way?” Alex pointed toward Mr. Carney’s yard. The yard light by the beach shone through the tree branches, casting eerie shadows on the ground.

  Scritch! Scratch! The branches scraped against the metal light pole. Alex switched on the flashlight as the girls stepped across the yard. She shined the light around Mr. Carney’s porch and peeked behind the bushes out front.

  “Do you see him?” McKenzie whispered, peering over her friend’s shoulder.

  “No, but I did find this.” Alex bent and picked up an object caught on the bush.

  “That’s Mickey’s leash. He must have been caught and worked it loose.” McKenzie frowned as she took the leash and wrapped it around her hand. “At least we know we’re headed in the right direction.”

  Taking a deep breath, McKenzie huddled close to Alex. They crossed Mr. Carney’s yard and approached the grove of trees. Wind whistled through the needles of the pines, standing like an army waiting to attack. Crickets chirped and bullfrogs croaked. A large bird swooped down from out of nowhere. And, of course, the crazy loons were still at it, making the hair on the back of McKenzie’s neck twitch.

  I know now why people who want a secluded cabin would come to this resort, McKenzie thought. I’m glad our cabin is closer to the lodge where there are more people around.

  McKenzie felt a chill run up her back. She couldn’t help feeling like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.

  I’d better not see any flying monkeys, she thought with a tremble. She remembered how that part of the movie had terrified her when she was little.

  She eyed the grove as if someone might be hiding there now. Every stump and shadow beckoned eerily. The sweet, tangy scent of the pine trees wafted over her in the night air. A faint whimper came from somewhere deep in the grove.

  “I hear something.” McKenzie paused and then called softly, just in case someone else was listening nearby. “Mickey, here boy.”

  Again, she heard the faintest whimpering cry. She clutched Alex’s arm. “Did you hear that?”

  “Yes. We’d better go look for him,” Alex said, pointing the beam of light into the darkness.

  Hanging on to each other, the girls stepped into the shadows. They ducked beneath branches as they called Mickey’s name. Pine needles stung McKenzie in the face, and her shirt caught on a bramble. She tugged it loose and hurried onward.

  She knew they had to be getting close to the Hideaway. When they came to the yard of the last cabin, the small, boxlike cottage stood dark and lifeless. McKenzie knew why it was given the name Hideaway. It was completely hidden from the rest of the cabins and the main stretch of beach. The moonlight shining on the windowpanes stared at her like glassy eyes. Once she thought she saw a flash of light inside, but when she looked again, everything was dark.

  “So this is where the Frankses are staying?” Alex asked, pointing the flashlight at the house.

  “Yeah, but shut your light off. There’s enough moonlight coming through the trees so we can see without it,” McKenzie whispered. “I don’t think anybody’s home, but if they are, I don’t want to get caught out here.”

  McKenzie tipped her head as another whimper carried on the wind. “I heard it again!” McKenzie said. “It sounded like it came from over there—past the house.”

  Pulling Alex with her, McKenzie raced past the screened-in porch on the cabin to a cluster of bushes hugging the far side of the yard. A yip sounded—closer this time.

  “Shine your light back here.” McKenzie turned to Alex and knelt beside the shrubs.

  McKenzie felt something wet on her arm as two beady eyes shined in the flashlight beam. A long slobbery tongue hung from a gaping mouth.

  “Mickey!” Alex cried. “Oh, look, McKenzie. His collar’s caught on a branch.”

  While Alex held the flashlight, McKenzie quickly untangled the dog. He jumped the moment he was free, yipping and licking the girls’ faces. Despite being scared, she couldn’t help but giggle with relief that they had found Mickey.

  McKenzie clipped the leash back on the collar and pulled the dog from his hiding spot. “We need to get out of here before the Frankses get home.”

  “Yeah, I’m never going to get to sleep tonight. I’m too antsy. I wish I had a good book to read. I only brought one with me, and I’m almost done with it,” Alex said, clicking the flashlight off again and stepping away from the bushes. “Too bad Mr. C. didn’t give us that book before he left. I’m dying to find out where those caves are around here.”

  “Me too.” McKenzie tugged Mickey’s leash as they walked back across the Frankses’ yard. “Maybe we could go exploring, but definitely in the daylight.”

  When they approached the dark grove of trees, the squeak of a screen door cut through the night. McKenzie froze and turned slowly toward the Frankses’ sun porch. She saw nothing, but heard muffled voices from inside the house. Then all was silent again.

  Had someone been on the screened-in sun porch all along? One of the voices sure sounded like Mrs. Franks, McKenzie thought anxiously. And both voices sounded like women.

  McKenzie felt her pulse quicken. Alex stood motionless beside her. Grasping Alex’s arm, McKenzie ran through the trees, pulling Mickey with her. The branches tore at her hair, and pine needles scratched her arm. They sped through the grove. The beam from Alex’s flashlight bobbed up and down wildly as they dodged the maze of trees.

  After darting across Mr. Carney’s yard, the girls arrived, breathless, at their back porch. Once inside, McKenzie unhooked Mickey’s leash. He trotted eagerly to his bowl in the kitchen and slurped the water.

  “That was so-o-o weird!” Alex said after catching her breath. “Was Mrs. Franks watching and listening to us the whole time we were in her yard?”

  McKenzie grabbed a tissue and dabbed at a bleeding scratch on her arm. “I don’t know for sure, but I think she and someone else must have been out there.”

  “Why wouldn’t she let us know she was there? It’s almost like she was spying on us,” Alex said while handing Mickey
a dog biscuit.

  McKenzie didn’t answer. It does seem like she was spying, but why? Though McKenzie’s breath had returned to normal, she still felt nervous. God, forgive me if I’m wrong to suspect the Frankses, but something just doesn’t seem right. I’m scared, McKenzie quietly prayed.

  Mickey settled onto his pillow in the corner of the kitchen. The girls headed down the hall to their bedroom. As McKenzie was about to slip under the covers, she suddenly remembered she had left her camera on the railing outside earlier in the evening.

  “I’ll be right back,” she said to Alex and scurried down the dark hallway to the back door. With the moonlight shining through the window, she didn’t need to turn on any lights. She quickly opened the door and grabbed the camera. As she turned to step back inside, she glanced toward Mr. Carney’s cabin.

  Was somebody on Mr. C.’s sun porch?

  McKenzie slipped back into the shadows. The figure moved into the moonlight, bending over as if picking something up off the floor. Then the figure stepped back into the darkness. Someone, a woman, had just come out of Mr. Carney’s cabin and was standing on the sun porch!

  The Empty Cabin

  McKenzie raced back into the bedroom she shared with Alex. “Someone is in Mr. Carney’s house!”

  Alex sat cross-legged in bed, wearing a pair of pink and blue polka-dot pajamas. She put down the mystery she was reading. She looked stunned at her friend’s outburst. “Are you sure?”

  “Positive.” McKenzie felt her heart racing. “I saw her in the moonlight, standing on the sun porch.”

  Alex flung the covers back and jumped out of bed. “What do we do now?”

  Without hesitation, McKenzie answered, “We’d better wake Aunt Becca. She’ll know what to do.”

  McKenzie knocked on her aunt’s bedroom door and flung the door wide open. The hall light spilled onto Aunt Becca’s form lying on the bed.

  “What’s up, girls?” Aunt Becca said with a yawn as she rolled over, squinting at the bright light.

  “There’s a robber in Mr. C.’s cabin,” Alex blurted out.