“Thanks.” Xander pulled off the headphones and handed them back to her. “Very interesting.” He picked up a spoon and dug into his trifle. He was so disappointed, he hardly tasted it.
“Yeah, thanks,” echoed Xena.
Emma wound the cord around the headphones and tucked them into her backpack. “Everyone’s been really nice and helpful. But I don’t know. We might just have to take an incomplete for this assignment.” She started walking away down the sidewalk.
“Come on, now, Emma,” Katy said. “Let’s talk this over.” She took off after her friend.
“How big do you think those camera tripods are?” Xander asked his sister.
Xena shrugged. “I don’t know, but the cameras must be pretty heavy. Why?”
“You know those holes in the woods?” Xena nodded. “Do you think they were made by something like that?”
“Hmm …” She frowned in concentration. “Could be. We should have asked Katy and Emma if they’ve been out that way.”
“Going to make a list of questions we need to ask?”
Xena ignored his teasing. “It’s time we got some answers.” She fished in her pocket for the money to pay for their lunch. “Eat up and let’s go find Trevor.”
At first Trevor didn’t want to tell Xena and Xander anything.
“Come on,” Xander said. “We already know a lot about what’s going on. We’re pretty sure this isn’t a real beast, just someone dressed up in a costume.”
“Do you have any proof?” Trevor asked.
“No,” Xena admitted. “But we’ll keep looking. Everybody slips up sometime. And it’s obviously someone who knows the woods well, like you.”
Trevor looked like he was about to say something, but he closed his mouth.
“And the manor house has something to do with it,” Xena went on. “A lot of the sightings came from near there. So maybe the Beast hides out there or something.”
Trevor still didn’t say anything. “Come on,” Xander said. “Your grandparents are awake half the night worrying, and lots of people are starting to panic. If this keeps up, all the tourists will stop coming, not just the ones who get scared easily, and your guide business will flop.”
Trevor looked from one to the other, and then seemed to make up his mind. “Okay,” he said. “It’s like this. I’ve been tracking the Beast’s movements. I’ve always wanted to be a naturalist, and I knew that if I was the first to find the Beast, I’d get my name known right away. Maybe I’d even have my own TV show. So I’ve been keeping track of all the places where the Beast has been sighted. And I’ve found some things—”
“What things?” Xander burst in.
“Come on,” Trevor said. “I’ll show you.”
They followed him out to a different part of the woods from where they’d been at dawn. On the way he pointed out clues to them: footprints, broken branches, crushed leaves.
“Aha!” Xander snatched something off the ground. He held up the wrapper of a protein bar, triumphant.
“I don’t think a beast would eat one of those,” Trevor said.
“No way,” Xena said. “Chickens and things, sure. Maybe even a human once in a while. But not peanut butter–cranberry protein bars!”
“Maybe chicken-flavored protein bars!” Trevor said with a laugh.
“Maybe human-flavored—” But Xander didn’t get to finish his sentence, because suddenly they heard, off in the distance, the sound of the birdcall that Katy and Emma had played for them the day before. They stopped in their tracks.
“What was that?” Trevor asked.
“A birdcall,” Xena said. “Those girls from the other B and B are making a movie.”
Trevor didn’t move. “I wonder,” he said thoughtfully. “You know, those girls arrived before you, and the day they came was when the Beast sightings started. Maybe that was just a coincidence, but maybe they have something to do with it. We should see what they’re up to.”
“Let’s go now,” Xander suggested.
Trevor glanced at his watch and grimaced. “I can’t,” he said. “I’ve got to get back. I promised my grandmother I’d help her clean out her shed today.”
“Can’t you do that some other time?” Xander asked.
Trevor shook his head. “No, it wouldn’t be fair to Gran. I’ve already put it off twice.” His face suddenly brightened. “The shed! I completely forgot to tell you. We have a couple of bikes in the shed. You could borrow them if you want and take them to look for the film crew. It’ll be faster than going on foot.”
They walked back with Trevor as fast as Xena’s sore ankle would allow them. While Xander ran inside to ask Mrs. Roberts to tell their parents they’d gone for a bike ride, Trevor set Xena up with the two bicycles and helmets.
The road was flat and smooth and the day was beautiful. Xander joined her and they wheeled the bikes out.
“Your ankle okay?” Xander asked.
Xena nodded. “It’s just a twist. I’ve done a lot worse in a soccer game and still scored a goal!”
Xander threw one leg over the smaller bike and pushed off. “Isn’t this great?” But there was no answer. He turned and saw Xena sitting on the bike seat, one foot on a pedal, the other on the ground. Her mouth was hanging open.
“What is it?”
Xena didn’t answer him for a second, but then she turned shining eyes on him. “Xander! I think I know who’s pretending to be the Beast—and why!”
“What do you mean? Who is it?”
“Remember how Trevor told us all this started when the college students arrived?” Xena said as she put on her helmet. They started to ride a little way down the street. “They use lights when they make movies, right? That birdcall came from a different part of the forest than the light. So the light must have come from one of the other groups from their school. Why would someone come out here to this little town for a film project? Only if there’s something here they can’t find anyplace else.”
“Like that kite,” Xander said. He thought he could see where Xena’s thoughts were heading, and he started pumping the pedals faster as his heart sped.
“Right. Or the Beast of Blackslope!”
They came to a red light, and a young woman on a motor scooter wearing a hot pink helmet was waiting for the cross traffic to stop. She was talking on a cell phone as her scooter pumped smelly dark gray smoke into the air. Xena didn’t want to keep talking about their investigation in front of a stranger, and anyway, she could never resist eavesdropping. Besides, if someone has a conversation right out in the open, it isn’t really private, she reasoned. She leaned in a little closer, trying not to breathe in deeply because of the fumes.
This time she heard even more than she was hoping for. The woman was saying, “But what am I supposed to do? Don’t you think I should run and scream? It’s scary enough with those fangs and that ratty-looking fur. I don’t understand why—” At that moment the light turned green and she gunned her engine, the noisy scooter drowning out the rest of her words as she sped through the intersection.
Xena and Xander took one look at each other. “The Beast!” Xena said, and she took off, Xander pedaling madly to keep up with her.
Luckily the road went slightly downhill as it left the town, and they were able to keep the motor scooter in sight. Even when it rounded a curve they could keep on the trail as its noisy engine announced its location.
They were gaining on the woman when she turned down a country lane. Xander stood on his pedals for a burst of speed and managed to pass Xena, who was slowed by her ankle. They were close enough that if the scooter hadn’t been so noisy, they could have called out and asked her to stop. But before they could do so, a flock of sheep suddenly appeared, bumping into one another and baaing and making a commotion.
“Quick! Let’s go across the field!” said Xander, puffing.
“No use.” Xena stopped and balanced herself with her good foot. “It’s too bumpy and uneven. We’d have to walk the bikes arou
nd the rest of the flock and then wheel them over the field. It will be quicker to wait. The sheep can’t cross the road forever.”
But it seemed like forever before the last few stragglers were hurrying across the lane to catch up to the others, bleating pitifully as though to say “Wait for me!”
“Go!” said Xena, and she pushed off, Xander close behind.
They arrived at a fork in the road and paused. Xena cocked her head and listened: nothing. No beastly howling, no racket of the motor scooter’s engine. “Where could she be?” she asked in frustration. Xander hopped off his bike and bent over, looking down.
“What’s the point?” Xena asked irritably. “There are so many tracks here, how could you figure out which one is the scooter’s?”
“Look!” He pointed at the road. “A drop of oil! Remember how much smoke her scooter was making? I bet there’s an oil leak, like when our car had one and Dad called it Old Smoky!”
“I bet you’re right!” Xena said. “Let’s go!”
They took off down the left-hand fork. But this time they didn’t have to go far.
Leaning against the hedge at the side of the road was the scooter. The woman’s hot pink helmet lay on the ground next to it. Xander jumped off his bike and ran to the scooter. “What could have happened to her?” he asked.
At that moment the underbrush shook, and something stepped out. But it wasn’t the motor-scooter woman. It was a huge, hairy beast, and it was growling. Xena and Xander cried out and clung together as it lifted its massive clawed paws above them.
CHAPTER 18
“Cut!” someone cried from the bushes.
The Beast stopped in its tracks and lowered its arms. In the daylight it was easy to see it was a person wearing a costume. Torn patches of the shaggy light brown fur were roughly mended, and the eyes were blank glass. The shoulders were obviously padded, giving it an ape-like appearance. Vicious fangs stuck out of its mouth. Rubbery-looking paw pads ended in long plastic claws. A strange sound came from the head of the Beast—could it be a muffled laugh?
“It’s just a movie.” Xena’s voice wobbled. She couldn’t tell if she was about to laugh too, or if she was on the verge of tears. Even though she’d figured it couldn’t be real, when the Beast jumped out at them it seemed completely believable.
“Why did you yell cut? Did I miss my cue?” came a voice from the bushes, and out stepped the woman who’d been riding the scooter. Only now, instead of jeans and a denim jacket, she was wearing a long filmy gown and high heels. She wobbled on the uneven ground, and a redheaded young man who had also just emerged from the underbrush grabbed her arm.
“Steady, there!” he said with a laugh. “Can’t have Lady What’s-her-name break an ankle!”
“What’s going on?” Xander asked, but Xena said, “I bet I know!”
The couple turned to her. “What do you know?” asked the man.
“You’re making a movie, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” said the man. “We’re calling it Death on the Downs. Good title, don’t you think?”
A third person hurried up to them. She looked about the same age as the others, college students like Katy and Emma. She was smiling at Xena and Xander. “That was great! You two looked terrified. Marvelous! I’d like to keep that shot in the film. I’m Susan, the director.”
“We weren’t really scared,” Xander said.
“No, just startled,” Xena confirmed. “We already figured out that the Beast was a person in a costume.”
“Still, it’s one thing to know and yet another to have it pop out of the bushes at you, isn’t it?” Susan said with a grin.
“Are we taking a break?” asked a muffled voice from inside the Beast. “Because if we are, I want to get out of this thing. It’s hot in here.”
The scooter woman undid some snaps around its neck and pulled the head off. Then she unzipped the back of the costume and pulled down the shoulders, revealing a blond young man whose hair was plastered with sweat. He must have been looking through holes in the chest of the Beast, since its head was well above his own.
“Phew!” he said. “That’s better.”
“We’re making one of those mockumentaries,” the redheaded man explained. “You know, it will look like it was filmed by a news crew as it happened, but really it’s a regular film, with a script and actors and everything.”
“I play Lady Periwinkle,” said the woman who had been riding the motor scooter. “It’s the starring role!”
“No, the Beast is really the star,” teased the blond man.
“You’ve got to be joking,” said the woman. “You don’t even use your own voice for the howl!”
“What is that sound anyway?” Xena asked.
The redheaded man seemed eager to explain. “I made it out of a mixture of effects. There’s a bloodhound and a peacock—”
“A peacock?” Xander asked.
“Yes, that’s the screech. And a train whistle and a beluga whale. I mixed them all. I’m the technician.”
“So you’re the one in charge of lights and things?” Xena asked. He nodded.
Xander walked over to one of the tall spotlights. With his hands he measured the distance between its legs. “I was right! It was the tripod that made those holes!”
“We saw one of your lights this morning around dawn,” Xena said to the red-haired man. “It was really bright.”
“It has to be when we’re filming in dim light,” he explained. “Otherwise you lose a lot of detail. We use a filter to keep it from looking like the middle of the day.”
“But the other nights when we heard the howl, I didn’t see any light,” Xander said. “And it’s so bright that we would have seen one.”
“Early this morning was our first time filming in the dark. It’s hard enough getting around in this costume without stumbling over things.”
“You mean like the post near the rosebushes in the village?” Xena asked.
The blond man groaned. “Yes. The first time I tried on the costume was our first night in the village. I lifted my arm and one of my fingertips got stuck on the wooden slats! The costume’s arms are at least a foot longer than my own, and they’re hard to control. I had to tug at it until the end ripped off. How on earth did you know about that?”
“We found some fur,” Xena said.
“And you took the newspapers from the library to get details about the Beast sightings a hundred years ago, right?” Xander added, eager to confirm all the details.
“Newspapers? I didn’t take any newspapers.” The technician looked puzzled. “Did you, Susan?”
The director shook her head. “Not me. I finished my share of the research before we came.”
“Derek?” The man in the Beast costume shook his head, and for good measure shook the Beast’s head in his hand too.
“Maggie?” But the woman playing Lady Periwinkle denied it too. Understandable, Xena thought. Nobody wants to confess to it in front of us. It’s pretty sneaky, taking something from a public library.
“So why’ve you been making all that noise at night?” Xander crossed his fingers, hoping they’d slip up and admit they’d been out late.
“We haven’t been,” said the director. “I told you, early this morning was our first time out in the dark.”
“But wait a second,” Xena said. “If it wasn’t you, who was it?”
“Maybe there is a Beast after all,” Xander said. He tried to sound like he was joking but his nervousness must have come through, because the others fell quiet.
Xena broke the silence. “I bet someone’s using your costume!”
Susan considered this. “That other team, maybe. The ones doing that bird film.” Her voice was scornful. “They’re so competitive—they’ll do anything to get their film done first. Maybe they’re stealing the costume at night. Remember that morning when we found some rips in it?” she asked one of her crew.
“But why would they?” one of the other students objected. �
��And how? Our props are locked up in the shed every night. Nobody in the crew would tell anyone the combination to the lock.”
“Hmm.” Xander thought about this. The film would account for some Beast sightings, maybe, but there was no reason for the students to lie about whether or not they’d been making the noises at night. Someone else must have been doing that.
“Where’s this shed?” Xena asked.
“On the estate,” Susan said. “Blackslope Manor. On the end of the stable where the old man keeps his dogs.”
Xander drew Xena aside. “I bet that’s not a shed!” He was practically dancing up and down with excitement. “I bet it’s the apartment that Adeline the cook lived in with her husband!”
CHAPTER 19
“Back to work,” the director said. “Places, everybody! And you two—seriously, I’d like to use that shot in the picture. Do you think your parents would sign a permission form?”
“Sure,” Xander said, and he told her where they were staying.
“And there’s one more thing,” Susan said. “Our film is in a competition with the other team that’s shooting here in Blackslope. We’ve been telling everyone we’re filming a nature documentary. No one knows what we’re really doing, and we’re trying to keep it all very hush-hush.”
“No problem,” Xena said. “We won’t tell.”
The Beast put his head back on, and soon all the actors were running around and screaming and getting caught. Xander and Xena turned to go. Normally they would have loved to stay and watch, but they were burning to get over to the manor and check out the stable.
“Race you!” Xander said.
“No fair!” Xena said. “I’m injured.”
So they rode their bikes at a steady pace. Soon the wide sweeping drive of the estate opened in front of them, and they turned into it. “I hope nobody comes and tells us to get out of here,” said Xander, feeling naked in front of all those huge windows.
“That’s a chance we have to take,” said Xena.
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