Maybe, he really had come home after all.
* * *
“WHERE ARE YOU GOING?” Charlie’s exaggerated whisper had Simon glaring over his shoulder from where he’d been peering out of the front of their tent.
“Shh!” Simon pointed outside, where he could hear rustling, before folding his surveillance notebook and stuffing it into the back of his pants. “I think Kyle’s up to something.” Kyle might have been all nice and polite to Sheriff Luke last night, but Simon overheard him telling Henry he’d only come on this camping trip to check on something in the surrounding woods. Simon didn’t know what that something was, but he was going to find out.
“Wh-what?” Charlie rubbed her hands against sleepy eyes and slogged forward on her sleeping bag, her hair mussed from sleep. She yawned. “It’s too early to go anywhere.”
Simon looked down at his Proton Patrol watch and hit the illuminator button. 6:00 a.m. “That’s why I’m watching,” he whispered and poked his head outside the flap. The rest of the camp was silent; the campfire from last night was still sending up exhausted smoke tendrils.
Simon spotted Kyle heading away from camp, up the path Sheriff Luke and Grandpa had told them to avoid. “I was right. I’m going to follow him.”
“Simon, no!” Charlie grabbed him by his jeans and pulled him onto his butt. “You’re not supposed to get in any more trouble. Not if you want to go to that school. You promised your mom and Sheriff Luke. You promised me.”
“I’m just following him.” Simon rolled his eyes and stood up. It was creepy the way she could tell when he was lying. “I promise I won’t do anything else. If I see him doing something wrong, I’ll come back and tell Sheriff Luke.” If he didn’t find a way to stop him. “Okay?”
“I’m going with you.” She tugged on her shoes.
“No.” If he got caught it was one thing, but Kyle could be mean. Even to girls.
Charlie glared at him. “If you’re not doing anything bad, why can’t I go?”
They stared at each other. “Fine.” Simon sighed. “But be quiet.”
“You’re the one who makes too much noise.”
Simon ignored her as he pulled the zipper of the tent the rest of the way up and crawled outside. When Charlie stumbled out, Simon glared at her and pressed a finger against his lips. She stuck her tongue out at him. Girls.
Simon took the lead, keeping Kyle in sight, but was still far enough away so he and Charlie could dash into the trees to hide. At least ten minutes had passed when he heard Charlie’s teeth rattle. “You didn’t bring your jacket?” he whispered.
“I f-for-g-got.” Charlie shivered, hugging her arms around her body, the short-sleeved pink T-shirt looking thin.
Simon pulled his sweatshirt over his head and handed it over. “What?”
Charlie stared at the sweatshirt and frowned as she slipped it on. The sleeves covered her hands and made her look like an undersize Muppet. “Thank you.”
“Welcome. Now let’s go.” Simon ran a little to warm up as he scanned the thicket and brush as the path dropped away. The trees loomed and Simon stopped, looking up into the sky, listening.
“Where did he go?” Charlie clutched at his shirt as she peered around him. “Are we lost?”
“Nope. We’re not lost.” But he didn’t look at her. Simon dug out his father’s old compass. “Camp is due west.” Where had Kyle gone? “If you want to go back, go that way.”
“I’m not going anywhere without you.” Despite trying to hide it, Charlie seemed scared as she looked to Simon for answers. “We’re a team, remember?”
“I remember.” Simon’s stomach jumped and he thought about returning to camp, but he heard the scrape of wood. “There he is. Come on.”
Another hundred yards or so and he saw a rickety cabin lodged under a bunch of crooked trees. There weren’t any windows, just gaps in big and small boards. He ducked down and crept closer, waving Charlie to stay behind him. She practically glued herself to him. A branch snapped under his foot and he froze. Charlie’s fists clenched harder, but she didn’t make a sound.
Simon went down on one knee, bringing Charlie with him to try to stay out of the line of sight. They waited to see if anyone appeared. He strained to listen, but only heard rustling and grunting from inside the cabin.
“Stay here,” he whispered to Charlie and pointed up the hill behind the cabin. “I’m going around to see if I can see anything.”
“Simon, no.” But he dashed away before Charlie could grab hold of him again. He walked along the side of the cabin, able to be more quiet now that he didn’t have a second pair of feet to worry about. The cabin was larger than he thought and was wedged hard between trees, as if the trees had grown up and around the structure. The slanted roof sagged in spots and the slats were warped and filled with knotholes. He skidded down a slight slope and braced himself against the back wall. After he pulled out his notebook and a pencil, Simon bent down and stuck his eye against one of the larger openings.