The Ghost of Cutler Creek by Cynthia DeFelice

Author:Cynthia DeFelice
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Published: 2004-11-27T05:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

When Dub returned, flushed from riding his bike all over town to post the flyers, Allie told him what she had learned.

He said, “You think someone took her?”

“Or—worse.” Allie was barely able to get the words out. She kept imagining that she heard Hoover’s frantic barking, followed by silence. What could that sudden quiet mean, except that—She couldn’t bear to finish the thought.

Dub examined her face and seemed to hear what she was trying so hard to keep at bay. He said sternly, “Wait a second, Al. Just hold on. You may be right that someone took her. But there’s no reason to think anything worse happened. It doesn’t make sense. Why would a person sneak around at midnight and hide and all only to”—he paused and swallowed—“kill her? Or even hurt her. Think about it, Al. Really.”

Allie looked at him, wanting to believe he was right.

He went on. “We might have a case of dog-napping here, but not murder. I mean, Hoover’s a purebred golden retriever. She’s a pretty valuable dog. I just don’t see somebody going to all that trouble and then killing her, okay? Besides,” he added excitedly, “I just realized something. If Hoover was dead, you’d know it. I bet her ghost would contact you right away!”

Allie nodded slowly. “I never thought of that,” she said. “You could be right.”

Dub looked relieved. “Okay, then,” he said. “We’re going to assume she’s alive.”

“But who would take her?” Allie wailed. “And why?”

They talked this over as they ate the lunch Allie’s mother had left them. Allie only picked at her food, and she noticed that Dub didn’t have his usual appetite, either. They tried to imagine what enemies Mr. Henry might have, and couldn’t come up with any.

“And everyone who knows Hoover loves her,” Allie said. Then, narrowing her eyes, she added, “Except L.J.’s creepy father.”

“L.J. seemed awfully interested in her, too, remember?” Dub said. “At least he asked a lot of questions about her.”

They pondered this as they stuffed the leftover food, wrappers, and cans back into the grocery sack.

“I’m going to call Officer Burke,” Allie declared.

“Whoa,” said Dub. “You can’t just go around accusing people of dog-napping. I mean, you and I suspect L.J. and his father, but we don’t have any proof.”

“I’m not going to accuse anybody,” Allie answered. “I’m just going to tell her what Muriel said, and maybe mention that those guys were showing an unusual interest in the dog lately, and let her draw her own conclusions.”

“I guess that would be okay,” Dub agreed.

“And I should probably try to reach Mr. Henry again,” Allie said hesitantly, half hoping Dub would try to stop her.

“Yeah,” he said sympathetically.

“After that we might as well leave,” Allie said, getting up to go inside.

Dub nodded. “There’s no reason to hang around here.”

Officer Burke wasn’t at the station, but the desk sergeant said he didn’t think there had been any reports about a dog being found. Allie explained to him what Muriel DiRaddo had seen the night before, and asked him to pass on the information to Officer Burke.

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