Free Sammy Keyes and the Curse of Moustache Mary by Wendelin Van Draanen

you talking about the Huntley cabin?”
    They heard me, but over the sound of their engines, they didn't hear me very well. Officer Borsch turns off his motor but leaves his lights on, and I can see him looking around for where the sound came from. So I call again, “Are you talking about the Huntley cabin?”
    He motions the guy in the fire truck to shut off his engine, and then there they are, parked in the middle of the street looking around for who's asking the question. I roll forward a few feet so I'm out of the shadows, then I straddle the bike and wave once like I'm cleaning a window.
    For a second there I think Officer Borsch forgot that we were “okay.” Even with the light blinding me a little, I can see him lose a few shades—like
he's
seen a ghost.
    Holly rolls out beside me, then Dot and Marissa do the same. And we're all lined up like we're ready for a rumble when Officer Borsch calls, “And what would you know about the Huntley cabin?”
    “Not much, I just want to know if that's what you're talking about.”
    “It is, but
why
do you want to know?”
    In my heart I knew that they'd been talking about Mary's cabin, but when Officer Borsch actually said it
was,
well, all of a sudden my stomach went queasy and I felt like I was going to lose my
oliebollen
.
    Holly sees me turning green and calls, “Lucinda Huntley gave us a tour of the place today.”
    Officer Borsch calls, “How well do you know her?”
    Holly shrugs. “Well enough to know she's gotta be really upset that the cabin's burned down.”
    I whisper to Holly, “We've got to go see her.”
    Holly nods, but Dot says, “What about my brothers? We're supposed to be looking for them.”
    “They're fine, Dot. The sirens were for the fire, not Pioneer Village. You can go there if you want, or we can go afterward, but right now I've got to see Lucinda.”
    Holly nods. “Me, too.”
    Marissa says, “What do you want to do, Dot?”
    Dot thinks a minute, then calls to Officer Borsch, “Have there been any other…uh…incidents in this area?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Uh…you know…anybody get hurt or anything?”
    Officer Borsch says, “Noooo…,” like he's not real sure he wants to let her in on this valuable piece of classified information. “Why do you ask?”
    Dot says, “No reason,” and then whispers to us, “Okay, let's go.”
    Officer Borsch calls, “Girls?”
    We look at him and say, “Yes?”
    “Stay out of it, okay? There are plenty of professional people there taking care of things. Your friend is going to be fine. She just needs a sedative.”
    I felt like saying, A
sedative
…you don't understand! But I knew that arguing with Officer Borsch would turn the “okay” into “go away!” So I nodded and said, “Thanks for the information, Officer Borsch. It's too bad about the cabin, but I guess there's nothing much we can do about it.” Then I turn my bike around and head up thehill toward Pioneer Village, and the others are looking at me like, Are you feeling all right? but they follow along.
    I guess I made life a little too easy on Officer Borsch, because he's not buying it. The Blazer takes off, but Officer Borsch follows along beside us in his squad car and calls out the passenger window, “So where you headed?”
    “Up to Pioneer Village.”
    “Pioneer Village, huh? To a party?”
    “Yeah.”
    He nods and you can see his little wheels turning. “I was headed that way myself. Some of those parties can get pretty out of hand.”
    I laugh and say, “Just don't tell anybody that we sent you!”
    He laughs, too, then says, “Oh, and Sammy?”
    “Yeah?”
    “One last thing.”
    “What's that?”
    “Keep back, okay? That's all I'm asking. Let the professionals do their job.”
    By now we've both stopped, and we're leaning over, looking at each other through the passenger window. I blink at him, and he stares at me. Then he says with a little smile, “You think I don't know you better than that?”
    I