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It was a painted statue of Dale A faithful replica, except the paint waswould have been His head was turned to one side, eyes squinted shut, arms raised protectively The proportions were exact He earing the saht
Kendra touched the figure It was made of metal, clothes and all Bronze, ainst the forear
They turned him into a statue, Seth said
You think it’s really him?
It has to be!
Help me flip hie He ay too heavy
I really blew it, Seth said, palainst his tee him back
Seth kneeled down and put his n! he yelled
The ure made no response
Do you think Grandpa and Lena are around here too?
Kendra asked
We’ll have to look
Kendra cupped her hands around her mouth
Grandpa! Grandpa Sorenson! Lena! Can you hearbeside the overturned birdbath The birdbath had tipped over toward a flowerbed In the flowerbed was a clear footprint-three large toes and a narrow heel The print was big enough to suggest that it carown man
Giant bird?
Check out the hole behind the heel He stuck a finger into a nickel-sized hole A couple inches deep
Weird
Seth acted excited It has a pointy thing on the back of its heel, a spur or so
Which means what?
We can probably track it
Track it?
Seththe ground See! He crouched, pointing at a hole in the lawn That spur digs deep It should leave a clear trail
And what happens if you catch up to whatever made the tracks?
He patted his pockets I throw some salt and rescue Grandpa
How do you know it took Grandpa?
I don’t, he admitted But it’s a start
What if it turns you into a painted statue?
I won’t look directly at it Just in et that from?
History
You don’t even knohat you’re talking about, Kendra said
We’ll see about that I better get my camo shirt
First let’s make sure there aren’t any other statues in the yard
Fine, then I’ cold
After scouring the yard for half an hour, Kendra and Seth had come across various articles of furniture from the house or porch in unexpected locations, but they had found no other life-sized painted statues They ended up by the swi pool
Have you noticed the butterflies? Kendra asked
Yeah
Anything special about them?
Seth slapped his forehead with the heel of his hand
We haven’t had s
If those fairies are srowled Seth
Yeah, you’ll show theiraffe?
None of this would have happened if they had kept guarding the
You did torture one of them, Kendra pointed out
They tortured me back! We’re even
Whatever we do, we should drink soerator was lying on its side Together they pried the door open Some of the rabbed one, uncapped it, and took a sip Seth drank next
I needfor the stairs
Kendra started searching for clues Wouldn’t Grandpa have tried to leave thee? Maybe there hadn’t been tih the rooms, but encountered no hints to explain the fate of either Lena or Grandpa
Seth showed up in his ca to find that shotgun You haven’t seen it?
Nope There’s an arrow by the front door You could toss that at the monster
I think I’ll stick with the salt
We never checked the basement, Kendra said
Worth a try
They opened the door by the kitchen and stared down into the glooed door in the house Stone steps led into the darkness
How about that flashlight? Kendra said
No light switch? he asked They couldn’t find one
He ruht
With soht in the other, Seth led the way It was a longer flight than would ordinarily lead to a basement - - ht bea at an iron door
They walked to the door It had a keyhole below the handle Seth tugged the handle, but the door was locked
There was a small hatch at the base of the door
What’s this? he asked
It’s for brownies, so they can come in and fix stuff
He pushed open the hatch Grandpa! Lena!
Anybody!
They waited in vain for a reply He called once ht into the keyhole
None of your keys would fit this? he asked
They’re way too sht be a key stashed in Grandpa’s bedroom
If they were down here, I think they’d answer
Kendra and Seth started back up the stairs At the top, they heard a loud, deep groan that lasted at least ten seconds
The penetrating sound came from outside It was much too powerful to have been roan had ended It was difficult to say froinated
Chapter Fifteen