CHAPTER THREE

Jed and Bobby were standing outside of Caroline’s bedroom window. She was only in the eighth grade, but Caroline was more intelligent than the two high school freshmen put together. Better athletes than detectives, Jed and Bobby both knew they needed Caroline's help to figure out what was happening in Bayberry Cove. Bobby threw the first pebble, but the stone missed its mark badly. He threw another and overshot the house by ten feet. His third attempt landed in a gutter. Finally, Jed picked up a rock and whizzed a fastball that crashed into the window's frame and ricocheted twenty feet in the opposite direction.

Caroline threw open her curtain and poked her head outside. “You Neanderthals,” she shouted, “that could have shattered glass!”

“Well, luckily, I never miss, so it hit exactly where I wanted it to hit,” Jed shouted back.

Caroline rolled her eyes and slammed the window shut. Her curtain fell back into place. Five minutes later, she was opening the front door.

Caroline was tall for her age, but had a typical teenage body – lanky and awkward. Her brown hair was long and straight, and her eyes were the shade of coffee with too much cream. She wore a pair of denim jeans and a pink fleece that protected her from the October chill. “Well, hello, Peyton Manning,” Caroline mocked. “Can I have your autograph, Mr. Star Quarterback?”

Bobby laughed, but Caroline was quick to emasculate him next. “Hey kicker, at least he is a real football player. Do you even wear a uniform or do you kick in your prom dress?”

Now Jed was the one laughing. “Caroline, good to see you as always,” he said.

“I wish I could say the same,” she replied. “What do you two Neanderthals want?”

“We need your help,” Bobby admitted reluctantly.

“You two need a lot of help,” she replied, “but I’m not in a very charitable mood right now, so how about you try back around Christmas.”

As she was about to close the door in their faces, Jed said, “It’s about the beast. We saw it last night.”

Caroline stood motionless, feeling her body tingle with excitement. “What do you mean, you saw it?”

“Well,” answered Jed, “we were goofing around in the woods and we heard a noise. We went to investigate, and there was this huge elk with its neck snapped like a twig. It had to be the beast, right?”

“It doesn’t have to be anything,” Caroline said, “but it does sound pretty suspicious. We need to go investigate the scene of the crime.”

“Ok, but not right now,” said Bobby. “My dad and the sheriff are up there checkin' it out.”

“Well, why did you go and tell them what happened!” Caroline shouted. “Your dad will have that elk buried before I can even get my shoes on.”

“Why do you say that?” Bobby asked.

“Remember last year when I did a research paper on the urban legends in Bayberry Cove?”

The boys both acknowledged the report with a nod.

“Well, part of my research was interviewing the mayor – your dad – and he wouldn’t tell me anything. So, my next stop was the Bayberry Library, but by the time I showed up, all historical records regarding the urban legends were mysteriously missing. Missing, my patootie!” Caroline shouted. She never cursed, but had an adorable way of substituting foul language with ridiculous sounding words like patootie.

“Why would my dad do that?” asked Bobby.

“Because he is part of the cover-up in this crazy little town,” Caroline answered.

“Cover-up?” interrupted Jed. “What cover-up?”

“I can’t talk about it here, but meet me tonight at eight o’clock down by the cove.”

“What about the elk?” Bobby insisted.

“Bobby, listen, the elk is gone. Forget about it. Anyway, we have bigger problems to worry about. Meet me at eight o’clock and I will explain everything.”

Caroline closed her front door and the two boys stared at each other. “What are we gettin' ourselves into, Jed?”

“I have no idea, Bobby, but I think we should stay out of the forest for a while.”

Caroline walked back upstairs to her bedroom. She closed the door and fell backwards onto her down comforter, letting her arms and legs flail away from her body. She stared at her ceiling and pictured Jed Rogers. “He’s so cute,” she thought, but frowned at her weakness. “I don’t even like boys,” she said to the nearest stuff animal. “They are dirty and gross and smelly and stupid. Why would any intelligent human being be attracted to one of those Neanderthals?” She paused for an answer, but the purple teddy bear remained silent. “It doesn’t matter anyway, Mr. Cuddles,” she said to her lifeless friend. “I can’t compete with all those older girls in high school. Jed sees me as an annoying little girl. Why can’t I be beautiful? Why can’t I be older? Why can’t I be what Jed wants, Mr. Cuddles?”

Caroline hugged the bear and rolled over to stare out her window at the blanket of stars overhead, but turned and realized her curtains were still closed. “And why can’t my curtains be open!” she whined. Caroline stood and pulled them apart, but before she could look at the millions of twinkling stars filling the night sky, she noticed the mayor and the sheriff standing outside Max Tucker’s front door. Max was the town’s most accomplished hunter, and probably knew the woods surrounding Bayberry Cove better than he knew his own living room. Caroline saw Max’s front door swing open, the exchange of a few pleasantries, and the three men disappear inside.

For the first time in a very long time, the girl with the highest IQ in all of Bayberry Cove was utterly clueless.