“We had to leave the bus,” Ollie said. “Remember what the bus driver said?At nightfall they’ll come for the rest of you...”
“I was wrong,” said Brian. “You’re not going to get in trouble. You’re too crazy to get in trouble. Plead insanity at the hearing, that should clear things right up.”
“I hope we get in trouble,” said Ollie grimly. “I really hope so. Because then that would mean I’m wrong.”
Brian said nothing. Cold skeleton trees clustered thick on either side. The path itself twisted and turned, going gradually downhill. There was no proper sunset, just a slow, inevitable darkness. Eventually they had to pull out their phones to see. Their flashlight apps lit the woods in pieces and made everything seem sinister and unreal. Also, Ollie thought nervously, with lights in a dark forest, they might as well have been shoutingWE’RE HEREto anyone who cared to look.
They came to a place where the trail disappeared, and Ollie halted, uncertain.
“Where are we?” Coco whispered. Her voice sounded loud in the stillness. “It’s like it’s not even October anymore.”
Coco was right. In Evansburg, the trees were bright with golden leaves. Here the trees were bare, the wind sharp. Brown leaves lay thick underfoot.
“The rain last night just knocked the leaves down,” said Brian.
“Allof them?” retorted Coco.
Ollie didn’t say anything. She was struggling to find the path, even with their phone lights. “I think it’s this way,” she said, and headed off again. Coco was sticking close to Ollie, huffing and puffing and still cracking sticks under her feet.
“The way towhat?” demanded Brian, following them, exasperated.
Ollie wished she knew, wished again that her motherwere there. The shadows were dropping faster and faster, like a net descending.What are we doing?
“What are we doing?” said Brian, echoing her thought. “Ollie, are you done being nuts yet?”
Her watch chimed gently against her wrist. Ollie looked down at it in startled reflex, nearly tripping on a protruding root. The display had changed.HIDE, it said. The display lit for an instant, with a flickering blue glow.
Ollie was paralyzed for a second.
The countdown said 08:00.
“I’m scared,” whispered Coco.
They hurried down the path now, not talking. The leaves crunched under their feet; the trees groaned over their heads. “Where’s the farm?” asked Coco. “We should have found it by now, right? Are we lost?”
HIDE.
“It’s gettingdark,” said Coco.
“That tends to happen at night,” Brian muttered. And then—“Who’s that?” he asked suddenly, pointing. “Is that—?” It looked like a person, standing with his back to them. “Hey!” said Brian, hurrying over. “Hey, mister—”
“Brian, wait—” began Ollie.
Too late. Brian put a hand on the man’s shoulder, and then yelped and jumped back. The arm flopped, the head fell sideways. It wasn’t a person at all, only a scarecrow. The blank face scowled at them, hazy in the gathering dark.
“I thought it was a person,” Brian whispered.
“Well,” said Ollie, trying to be reasonable, to ignore her rising panic, “a scarecrow means we must be near the farm.”
Coco screamed. Brian and Ollie spun. Coco stood with her hand over her mouth, pointing up at the tree trunks.
WE SEE YOUwas written on a tree overhead in ragged, dripping white letters.
Below them another scarecrow leaned against the tree. There was paint on his coveralls; he was grinning ear to ear. He had no hands at all, just two flopping paintbrushes where hands should be.
The three stared at the letters a moment, disbelieving.
“Whatisthat?” demanded Brian. “Some kind of weird joke? Halloween?”
