Strange Outfit: An Avery Barks Dog Mystery (Avery Barks Dog Mysteries Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

bright eyes.
    Bullfrog just continued to look at his butt, like he was wondering what had just happened.
    I opened all the windows in the living room to get some fresh air flowing.  Jamie grabbed a can of air freshener from the end table and sprayed a flowery fog of her own.  We both started coughing from the flower and fart combination.
    I hurried to the kitchen window and pushed on the frame up to open it. There was no screen there, so I stuck my head out into the fresh air to make Jamie laugh.  She ran to the kitchen and squeezed her face through the same window, which made us both laugh even harder.
    The hilarity abruptly stopped when we both noticed a small light moving slowly through the dark night up on the ridgeline.  Then it shut off.
    I pulled my head back into the house. “Jamie, someone is up on that ridge.  That had to be a flashlight up there.” The muscles in my back tensed.
    “Whose land is it?” Jamie asked a good question.
    “I think it is Ben’s.” I wasn’t quite sure. “Should we go up there? “
    “No way, Avery.” She was right. “Should I stay the night?”
    “No, I’m fine.  It’s probably someone’s house up that way.”
    We talked ourselves into the notion that we were overreacting, and over the next two hours, finished up both the pizza and our conversation.
     

Chapter 7
    As Jamie left for home, I realized the dogs hadn’t eaten a meal since this morning.  They snacked on some delicious dog cookies from our good friend Miss Millie, but it was time they got some solid nutrition. I searched the pantry closet and found their dog food bin and checked the rest of the cabinets for any medicine they might need to take.  In the corner cabinet, I found a bottle of hip supplements that I figured were for Bullfrog.
    As I closed the closed the cabinet, I noticed an old newspaper article taped to the inside of the door.  I took it off to take a closer look.  It was a poem of some sort that was published in a California newspaper from about 20 years ago.
    It read:
    TREASURE
    In the hills of the stills
    I took my chest.
    Buried it there, among the best.
     
    The air grew cold and the bears grew fat,
    The sound of the rain was pitter pat.
     
    Look on the map of the USA
    A 2 and a 6 will show you the way.
    Fly like a cardinal to see the site,
    If you find my treasure, you now own the rights.
    - JOE
     
    The hills of the stills….where did I see that before?
    I fished in my back pocket and pulled out the small notebook I found in the tree stand earlier that morning.  Written in sloppy handwriting on the cover was ‘The Hills of the Stills.’  I had to assume this notebook belonged to Ivan, the deceased.
    I opened the notebook and saw this same poem written in sloppy penmanship on the inside of the front cover.
    Is Ben somehow connected to the dead man? 
    I sat down on the couch and slowly looked around the living area.  It seemed like an average mobile home. Nothing fancy, but clean and kept up well.  I did notice that the couch was pulled out a several inches from the wall. Behind the couch were a shotgun and a couple small boxes. That was normal in these parts.  But what was lying next to it was not, a small metal detector.
    I sat back and studied the poem.
    “Hills of the stills.” Yep, we are in the mountains and smack dab in the middle of moonshine central.  But so are several other areas of the country.
    “Cold air, bears and rain.” Check.  We’ve got that too, along with the entire east coast.
    “Map of the USA.” That really narrows it down.
    “A 2 and a 6 to show you the way.” Highway 26 runs close to here, but 2 and 6 could be an address, a sports jersey number or most anything.
    “A cardinal” That’s the North Carolina state bird, but five other states have the same one.
    “Find the treasure and own the rights.”  Why would a guy climb a tree and go bird watching writing about dreams of treasure?  Pretty strange stuff.
    I put the poem down and