Fear Stalks Grizzly Hill Read Online Free PDF Page B

sweatsuit, tennis shoes, and a cloth hat ran up to the tree. The person stopped, looking up at the hollow where the kinkajou was hiding. He pulled out a cloth bag and broke a long, thin branch from the tree. Then he pushed one end of the branch into the hollow, grunting and jabbing, trying to get the kinkajou to climb into the bag. The frightened kinkajou hissed frantically.
    It was too dark to recognize the person at the tree, but Sean stood up and snapped two pictures.
    Startled by Sean’s movement, the person stepped backward into the dish of fruit and almost lost his balance.
    The person spotted Sean and started for him, waving the stick, but Brian leaped up and shouted, “Stop!”
    Confused, the person hesitated.
    Alan raced into his house, yelling, “Mom, Dad!”
    “Help me get him, Sean!” Brian cried out, as the person dashed into the forest.
    Sean ran after him, but collided with Brian. They went down in a heap. When they managed to get to their feet the person had gone.
    “Where’s Alan?” Sean shouted. Panicked, he ran between the houses, heading for the street. Brian dashed after him. “Alan! Where are you?” Sean yelled.
    In less than a minute, Alan came flying through the front door of his house shouting, “Dad’s coming!”
    Mr. and Mrs. Nash were right behind him.
    Rusty, excited by the commotion, burst through the Everitts’ open door, with Mr. Everitt—dog leash in hand—frantically chasing him.
    “What’s happening? What’s the matter?” Miss Crane called. She hurried to join the group. In what seemed like less than a minute Mr. and Mrs. Shaw and Mr. Webber showed up.
    Brian groaned. There’d be no way to discover who the person in the yard had been by matching clothing to the person who’d gone after the kinkajou. All of the neighbors, with the exception of Mr. Webber, were wearing tennis shoes and sweatsuits. Miss Crane and Mr. Shaw wore cloth hats. Mr. Webber wore sweatpants, sandals, and a loud Hawaiian shirt.
    Rusty bounced around the group, bumping into everyone, until Mr. Shaw quieted him with the words, “Sit, Rusty. Stay.”
    Sean nudged Brian. “It had to have been Mr. Shaw who made Rusty sit at the entrance to the cave, shutting us inside. He’s the only one Rusty pays any attention to.”
    “Shutting you inside a cave? What’s all this?” Mrs. Nash asked. She looked back and forth from Sean to Mr. Shaw.
    Mr. Shaw sighed. “I’m sorry Rusty frightened you. I’d taken him for a walk, and he picked up your scent and followed your trail. I couldn’t keep up with him. By the time I caught up, you were crawling out of the cave. Sitting in front of the cave entrance was Rusty’s own idea. All I wanted to do was make sure you boys were safe. You hadn’t listened to me when I warned you to stay out of the forest.”
    “Why did you want to keep us out of the forest?” Brian asked.
    Surprised, Mr. Shaw said, “To protect you, of course. I suspected, after seeing that paw print in your plaster casts, that there was a wild animal loose in the area. I couldn’t say anything until I knew more, but I didn’t want you boys to get hurt.”
    “There is a wild animal loose,” Brian told them. “It’s a kinkajou.”
    “What in the world is a kinkajou?” Miss Crane asked.
    “You saw it. It hissed at you,” Sean told her.
    “It’s not only wild, it’s out of its element. It lives in Central and South America,” Brian explained.
    “Then what is it doing here on Grizzly Hill?” Mrs. Nash asked.
    “I think it was smuggled here,” Brian answered.
    “Smuggled? That’s ridiculous!” Mr. Webber said.
    “No, it isn’t,” Brian said. “We’ve been doing some investigating, and we believe that someone in this neighborhood is in the business of smuggling wild animals. This person probably had possession of the kinkajou until it escaped.”
    No one said a word. In shock, the neighbors looked at each other.
    “You’re just kids. What could you know about investigations