Free The Quicksand Question by Ron Roy Page A

adjusted, hecould see that the white pony was standing. Pal was awake, too.
    Dink crawled out of his sleeping bag and walked over to the animals. He stroked Polly’s warm nose. “What is it, girl?” he whispered.
    Polly snorted and shook her mane. Dink knelt and scratched Pal behind his ears. “Bet you just had a bad dream,” he murmured.
    Using his flashlight, Dink checked his watch. It was one o’clock, and he was wide awake. He pushed the barn door open and walked outside.
    The night was warm and quiet. Even the crickets were asleep. Josh’s house was dark except for a small light over the back door.
    Dink took a deep breath. The air smelled like the lawn had just been mowed. The springy grass felt cool under his bare feet. He yawned,stretched, and walked around the barn.
    Behind the barn was a broad meadow. Next to the meadow was River Road, and on the other side of that was Indian River. On a sunny day, you could see the light glinting off the river. But now the meadow, the road, and the river were covered in darkness.
    Dink was about to go back inside when he noticed two dots of light in the distance.
    Car headlights,
he thought.
What’s a car doing in the meadow?
    Then the lights disappeared. Dink smiled at himself. Of course the car wasn’t in the meadow—it was on River Road.
    Dink slipped back into the barn, crawled into his sleeping bag, and closed his eyes.
    Suddenly Polly started to whinny and Pal began barking.
    “What’s going on?” Josh askedgroggily. He switched on his flashlight and turned the beam on Polly.
    “Look at her!” Ruth Rose said.
    Polly’s eyes were rolling in fright. She rose on her hind legs and kicked at her stall. Pal barked and ran over to Josh. “Something’s been bugging them,” Dink said. “They woke me up a little while ago.”
    Then all three kids smelled it.
    “Smoke!” Josh yelled, kicking his way out of his sleeping bag.
    The kids ran outside, expecting to see something burning. But the night was peaceful and dark.
    Then Dink walked behind the barn. “Guys, over here!” he shouted.
    Josh and Ruth Rose hurried around the corner. Dink pointed toward the river. A small orange blaze flickered in the night.
    “There’s a fire in the meadow!” Josh said.

It took Green Lawn’s fire truck only five minutes to get to the fire. Dink and Ruth Rose stood next to the barn. They watched with Josh and his family as the firefighters put out the blaze.
    “I wanna go see the fire truck!” Josh’s brother Bradley announced, wiggling in his father’s arms.
    “Afraid not,” his dad said. “Besides, the fire’s out, and you’re going to bed.”
    “No, I wanna stay up!” Bradley’s twin, Brian, complained. “It’s time to play!”
    Josh’s dad just laughed.
    Dink looked at his watch. It was about one-thirty. Across the meadow, he could see the fire truck’s lights. The firefighters’ voices sounded muffled.
    A few minutes later, they saw the fire engine leaving. Soon the taillights disappeared on River Road. “Okay, the excitement’s over,” Josh’s mother said, taking Brian’s hand. “Back to bed, everyone.”
    “You three get some sleep,” Josh’s dad said as he carried Bradley toward the house.
    “Okay, Dad,” Josh said. The kids and Pal straggled into the barn. Pal flopped into the hay pile next to Polly again, and the kids climbed into their sleeping bags.
    Suddenly Dink popped up. “Hey, guys, I just realized something. I may have seen who set the fire!” he said.
    “What’re you talking about?” Josh asked.
    “Polly woke me up before we smelled the fire,” Dink explained. “I went out to look around and saw headlights over by the river!”
    “Maybe someone was camping,” Ruth Rose said. She yawned. “We can check in the morning.”
    It’s already morning,
Dink thought, copying Ruth Rose’s yawn. He lay back down. As he was falling asleep, he heard a scratchy sound in the dark.
    He froze, imagining some night creature crawling