Sleepy Hollow Sleepover

by Ron Roy

  “I’m not sure,” Dink replied. He thought for a minute. “Maybe the robbers put it there,” he said.

  “But that woman—Bonnie—told the police that they only took two hundred dollars,” Ruth Rose said. “There must be a lot more than that in only one of these bags!”

  “Then she wasn’t telling the truth,” Dink said. “But why?”

  “Wait a minute!” Josh said. “Maybe Bonnie is one of the crooks. She could’ve hid the money in the horse. And—”

  “You’re right!” Dink said. “She must have taken the money out of the vault this morning, after it opened automatically!”

  Just then they heard the truck’s doors open. The truck rocked as someone climbed into the cab, and the doors slammed, one after the other. Then the engine roared.

  When the truck started moving, Dink thought he was going to be sick. The three of them were trapped in the truck!

  The ride was noisy and bumpy.

  “What are we gonna do?” Josh asked.

  His head was scrunched up next to Dink’s elbow.

  “I don’t know,” Dink said. It was hot under the tarp. Sweat ran into his eyes, making them sting.

  “Well, I do!” Ruth Rose said. She was curled up like a pretzel near Josh’s knees. She pulled out her cell phone. “I’m calling Officer Klevor!”

  “Call nine-one-one,” Dink said. “It’ll be faster!”

  Ruth Rose tapped in the three digits.

  She shook her head at the boys. Then she tried it again. “Nothing,” she whispered. “I can’t get any signal.”

  “Maybe we can jump out,” Josh said.

  “No, we’re going too fast,” Dink said. “But I have an idea!”

  He grabbed a bag of money and untied the twine that kept it closed. Then he yanked out a fistful of money and handed it to Josh. “Throw this out the back of the truck,” he said.

  “What? Are you crazy?” Josh cried.

  “We’ll leave a money trail,” Dink explained. “People will see it, and maybe they’ll call the cops. The money could lead them to this truck!”

  “That’s a great idea!” Ruth Rose said. She pulled a handful of bills from the bag and slipped her hand under the edge of the tarp. “I did it!” she said. “I threw money away!”

  The kids pulled all the money out of the bag and dropped it under the tarp, out of the truck.

  “What if those guys up front see the money flying around?” Josh said.

  “If they do, they’ll stop,” Dink said. “Then maybe we can get away.”

  Then he had another idea. “Ruth Rose, do you have a marker in your book bag?” he asked.

  “Of course,” she said. She opened a small zippered pocket. “What color?”

  “Any color, but quick!” Dink said.

  Ruth Rose handed Dink a blue marker.

  Dink grabbed it and scrawled CALL THE POLICE on the empty money bag. He tossed the bag out of the truck.

  A minute later, the truck swerved, then slowed. It stopped. Dink put his fingers to his lips. Maybe, he thought, they’ll leave the truck, and we can hop out and run away.

  Dink heard the men walking near the side of the truck.

  “Let’s get this baby inside,” a voice said. The voice was only ten inches from Dink’s ear.

  Suddenly the tarp was yanked away. Bright sunlight made the kids squint. The truck was parked in front of a barn behind an old house. The yard was full of weeds. An old car sat on cinder blocks because it had no tires.

  Two men stared down at the kids.

  “What’re you little rats doing?” one of them asked. It was the tall man.

  Dink couldn’t say a word. He thought he’d swallowed his tongue.

  “Ace, look,” the chubby man said. He pointed to the opened door in the horse’s side. “They know about the money!”

  “I can see that for myself, Goose,” Ace said. He stared at the kids. “All right, who are you? How’d you get in this truck?”

  “Never mind who we are!” Ruth Rose shouted. “Let us go, or I’m calling the cops!” She showed the men her cell phone.

  Ace reached for the phone, but Ruth Rose dropped it on the truck bed. Dink grabbed the phone and started to punch in a number.

  Ace snatched the phone out of Dink’s hands. “Now what, little boy?” he asked as he slipped the phone into his shirt pocket.

  Dink recognized the man’s voice. He looked down and saw silver toes on cowboy boots. “You set the wagons on fire last night!” Dink said.

  Ace smirked. “Yep, and my buddy Goose let the air out of that cop’s tires,” he said.

  “Kept those guys busy, didn’t it?” said Goose. “Now we got a surprise for you kids. Right, Ace?”

  “Right. Let’s stash ’em in the barn,” Ace said. “Then we’ll paint the truck and get out of here.”

  The chubby man reached for Josh.

  “Watch it, buddy,” Josh said. He held up his hands. “I know karate!”

  “Me too,” Goose said. “And I’m bigger than you.”

  The men yanked the kids out of the truck. They marched them into the barn.

  “Put ’em down there,” Ace said. He pointed to a hole in the barn floor.

  “I’m afraid of dark places,” Josh said. “I’ll throw up.”

  “Sorry about that,” Ace said. One by one, he and Goose lowered the three kids by their arms into the deep hole.

  Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose crouched in the dark space. It was an underground room with a dirt floor and walls. Old tin cans and bottles lay everywhere. Some still had stuff in them. The smell of rotting food and damp dirt nearly made Dink gag.

  “Enjoy your stay in Barn Hole Hotel!” Goose yelled down at them.

  “You’ll never get away!” Ruth Rose yelled up at the men. “People know we’re here! They’ll come and find us!”

  “In your dreams, little girl,” Goose said. “But don’t worry, when we’re a hundred miles away, we’ll use your cute little cell phone to let the cops know where we stashed you.”

  Then the kids watched in horror as he slid something solid over the hole. Now they were in pitch-darkness.

  They heard the men’s footsteps as they crossed the barn floor above. Then there was just black silence.

  A few seconds later, they heard a motor, and something heavy shook the floor above their heads.

  “It’s the truck,” Dink said. “They must have brought it into the barn to paint it.”

  “I feel so stupid for letting that guy get my cell phone,” Ruth Rose said. “Now what’re we going to do?”

  “Guys, I have something to tell you,” Dink said. “Let’s sit down.”

  “Where?” Josh asked. “This floor is nasty!”

  “Move some of this junk out of the way,” Dink said. “Toss it in a corner.”

  Dink could hear Josh fumbling and muttering in the dark a few feet away.

  Suddenly Ruth Rose gasped.

  “What’s wrong?” Dink asked.

  “I touched someone,” Ruth Rose said. Her voice was trembling. “I think it was a … body!”

  CHAPTER 10

  “I hope you’re kidding,” Josh said. “It’s a Halloween joke, right?”

  “I’m not kidding,” Ruth Rose said. “I felt skin!”

  Dink followed Ruth Rose’s voice. He put his hand on her shoulder. “Where?” he asked.

  Ruth Rose took Dink’s hand and stretched out his arm. Dink’s fingers felt clothing, like a shirt. Moving his hands, he felt another pair of hands and rope wound around them. He moved his hand up and felt a face. Then his fingers touched something smooth, not skin. It was tape.

  The mouth behind the tape made a choking sound.

  “Guys, there’s someone tied up and gagged down here,” Dink said. “Help me get him loose!”

  Dink worked on the tape. He found a corner and carefully pulled it away.

  “Thanks, man!” a hoarse voice said. “I could hardly breathe!”

  “Who are you?” Dink asked.<
br />
  “I’m Hank. Those two guys who tossed you in here stole my truck,” the man said.

  “The Ride ’Em, Cowboy truck?” Ruth Rose asked.

  “Yes. I was supposed to go to the bank and pick up one of my mechanical horses,” Hank said. “They jumped me and drove me here. I’ve been in this stinking hole for hours! Can you get these ropes off?”

  Dink tried loosening the knots at the man’s wrists, but couldn’t. “These knots are too tight!” he said.

  Ruth Rose got her knife out of her book bag. “Here, try this,” she said, handing the knife to Dink.

  Just then they heard a loud motor over their heads.

  “Are they leaving?” Josh asked.

  “No, they’re using a paint sprayer on the truck,” Hank said. “I hope they chose a good color.”

  Dink opened a blade in Ruth Rose’s knife. Soon the ropes were off, and Hank sat up in the dark. “Thanks, kid,” he said. “Who are you, anyway?”

  Dink explained who they were and why they’d hidden in the truck.

  “So they robbed the bank and hid the money inside my horse?” Hank asked the kids.

  “Yeah, and they’re gonna get away with it!” Josh said.

  “Maybe not,” Dink said. “The cops might be here by then.”

  “What cops?” Josh asked. “The police think the robbers took off last night!”

  “And how would the cops find us, anyway?” Hank asked.

  Dink grinned in the dark. “My dad will tell them,” he said.

  “Your dad?” Josh asked. “He doesn’t even know where we are!”

  “That’s what I started to tell you when Ruth Rose found Hank,” Dink said. “Before that jerk grabbed Ruth Rose’s phone, I hit the green Talk button. That would have dialed my dad’s number, right, Ruth Rose? And Dad would have heard what those guys said to us, so he’d know we’ve been kidnapped. He’d call the cops.”

  “And maybe they’ll see the money we threw out of the truck,” Ruth Rose said. She explained to Hank how they’d emptied one of the stolen bags.

  “Cool idea,” Hank said.

  “What if your dad didn’t answer his phone?” Josh asked Dink. “What if he left it somewhere or went out for a walk without it?”

  Dink felt his stomach clench like a fist. He hadn’t thought of that. Of course, if his dad didn’t hear the phone ring, he wouldn’t answer it. And he wouldn’t hear what any of them said before they were lowered into the hole.

  “He usually keeps it with him,” Dink said. But he was worried.

  “Let’s just cool it,” Hank said. “My partner must be wondering where I am right about now. When I don’t get back, he’ll call the cops.”

  Hank and the kids sat against one of the dirt walls.

  “I wonder if this place has room service,” Josh said. “I need cookies and milk.”

  Ruth Rose giggled in the dark. “Dink, how did you figure it out?” she asked. “How did you know the money was inside the horse?”

  “The guy they call Ace is wearing cowboy boots with silver toes,” Dink answered. “I saw him yesterday in front of the bank. And the rope he used to tie the tarp over the horse was the same rope that woman Bonnie was tied up with. And yesterday, when we were watching the mechanical horse, he said something about Bonnie filling it with green candy.”

  “Green candy is money,” Josh said.

  Dink thought for a minute. “Last night before the fire, I saw two guys near the horses,” he said. “One of them had something shiny on his feet. At first I thought it was that cop who was dressed as a spaceman. He was wearing sneakers with heels that lit up. But now I realize what I saw was the silver tips on Ace’s cowboy boots.”

  “So you figured out it was an inside job?” Hank said.

  “Right,” Dink said. “I think Bonnie was lying when she told the police that the men kidnapped her late last night. I’ll bet she let them inside early this morning. When the vault opened at eight o’clock, they hid the money inside the horse. Then they tied Bonnie up to make it look like she was innocent.”

  “She knew her boss would come pretty soon and find her, right?” Josh asked.

  “Yeah, but by the time they figured everything out, Ace and Goose would be far away with the money,” Dink said. “She’s probably going to meet them somewhere.”

  “But I still don’t understand why they burned the hay wagons last night,” Josh said.

  “The way I figure, they wanted the cops to think the bank was robbed late at night, while we were all stuck in the woods,” Dink said. “Bonnie told Officer Klevor that the crooks came at midnight and took only a small amount of money, then left. The police would figure the crooks had over eight hours to get away and wouldn’t bother going after them.”

  “Wow, that was some plan,” Hank said. “When the real plan was to hide the bags of money in the horse after the vault opened this morning.”

  “Right,” Dink said. “Bonnie must have told Ace and Goose that you were coming to pick up your horse. So they decided to take your truck so they could get the horse.”

  “You got that right,” Hank said. “They jumped me outside my house. Made me spill my coffee! Next thing I knew, I was in this hole.”

  Suddenly the paint sprayer motor stopped.

  “What’s going on?” Josh whispered.

  “Either they finished the paint job or they ran out of paint,” Hank said.

  The four prisoners sat in the dark, listening. They heard nothing.

  Dink had an idea. “Hank, can I stand on your shoulders?” he asked.

  CHAPTER 11

  “Sure, kid,” Hank said. “You got a plan?”

  “Yes,” Dink said. “If I can move whatever they used to cover the hole, maybe I can run to town and get the police.”

  “And leave us here?” Josh said.

  “I don’t know what else we can do,” Dink said. “If we just stay here, they’ll get away with the money. We don’t know how long it will take the police to find us.”

  “Yeah, maybe they were lying about letting the police know where we are,” Ruth Rose said. “They lied about everything else!”

  “Okay, kid,” Hank said. “It’s worth a try.”

  Dink heard Hank position himself. “Okay, step on my knee, then I’ll hoist you up,” Hank said.

  A minute later, Dink was standing on Hank’s shoulders. Hank held Dink’s hands so he wouldn’t topple off. Dink felt like an acrobat in a circus.

  “You okay?” Hank asked.

  Dink licked his lips. “Yeah, only I feel like I’m gonna fall.”

  “You’re fine. I won’t let you fall. Can you reach the top?” Hank asked. “I’ll let go of one of your hands, all right?”

  “Okay,” Dink said. He felt Hank release his right hand. Suddenly he lost his balance. “Hank, I’m falling!”

  “Grab my head!” Hank said.

  Dink’s free hand found the top of Hank’s head, and he held on.

  “Okay, you want to try again?” Hank asked.

  “I’m ready,” Dink said. With his left hand still clutching Hank’s left hand, he reached his right hand straight up. His fingers swept the air blindly, feeling nothing.

  Then they made contact.

  “I think I’m touching the top!” Dink whispered.

  “What is it?” Hank asked. “Can you lift it up?”

  Dink dragged his fingertips along something rough and solid. He pushed, and the flat object lifted, but only slightly.

  “I think it’s wood. Hank, I need both hands,” Dink said.

  He felt Hank release his other hand. Then Dink felt Hank’s strong hands clamp on to his knees.

  “Go for it, kid,” Hank said. “I’ve got you.”

  Slowly, Dink reached both hands over his head. He felt himself swaying in the dark, but when he had two hands pressing against the wood, he regained his balance.

  Dink steadied his feet on Hank’s shoulders. He took a breath and slowly pushed upward with his hands. It felt li
ke the thin plywood he, Josh, and Ruth Rose used to build a tree house in Josh’s backyard.

  The flat wood lifted a few inches. For a moment, Dink was blinded by sunlight. The stink of fresh paint stung his nostrils.

  He squinted and looked across the barn floor. He saw old farm tools and clumps of hay. He saw the rear of the truck, not far from the edge of the hole. Turning his head, Dink saw the mechanical horse on its side. He wondered if the money was still inside. The blue tarp was in a heap near the horse.

  Dink peered under the truck, between the tires. He had a clear view of the old house. On its steps sat Ace and Goose. Several bank bags were on the ground. They were counting the money!

  No way am I going to be able to run for help, Dink said to himself. He knew they’d grab him before he took two steps.

  Then Dink made another discovery. One of the truck tires was only inches from his fingers. He smiled at his new idea, glad he’d hung on to Ruth Rose’s knife.

  He gently let the wood down and rested his arms against its bottom surface. “Hank,” he whispered.

  “Yeah, kid?”

  “Does your truck have a spare tire?” Dink asked.

  Hank chuckled. “Nope. Been meaning to get one….”

  “I need one of those tin cans on the floor,” Dink said.

  Hank relayed the message to Josh and Ruth Rose.

  Dink heard his friends scurrying in the dark to find a can.

  “Coming up,” Hank said a minute later.

  Dink slowly reached one hand down and took a tin can from Hank.

  He lifted the wood again and used the can to prop it open. Then he eased the knife from his pocket.

  Dink slid his arm out past the can. He pushed the tip of the knife blade against the truck’s rubber tire.

  CHAPTER 12

  But he couldn’t do it. His plan had been to slash a tire so Ace and Goose couldn’t drive away with the money. But this was Hank’s truck and Hank’s tires. Why should I ruin a perfectly good tire? Dink asked himself.

  Dink had another idea. He folded away the knife blade and flipped out a tiny screwdriver. He held the knife in his right hand. With his left, he reached out and unscrewed the little cap over the tire’s air valve. Then he inserted the tip of the screwdriver into the valve and pushed.