Free Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series) by C.DEANNA VERHOFF

look for a glass. “The barn is dry as kindling. One stray spark and it’ll go up like a bonfire . Smo ke in there again and I’ll have to beat some sense into you. D id I make myself clear?”
    Brandon nodded . “ Crystal .”
    “ Glory , are we clear about the mesa?”
    “ Yes, sir. Now that I know the Hoogula is for real , I’m never going back again.”
    Grandpa stopped chewing, giving Glory a puzzled look . “ Hoogula ? Where?”
    “Hush, dear,” Nana said. “Eat your eggs.”
    Dad wordlessly left the kitchen with his pitcher and a tall glass . The television clicked on and the latest news from the Farm Report blared through the house .
    “Man, oh, man!” Randy squealed, looking to Brandon, and then to Glory , sounding disappointed . “You two got off easy! ”
    “Easy ? ” Glory complained, feeling the welts on h er backside . “ Dad whipped me out in the barn . And it’s all your fault, Brandon.”
    “Mine ? What did I do?”
    “If you hadn’t thrown my things out the window, I wouldn’t have run into the pink -faced bums who stole my shoes.”
    Brandon glanced at Randy, and then to Danny , who curled up his lip to emphasize his disgust . “What on Tullah are you talking about?”
    “The hoboes with the blue dust, I think they’re the same ones I saw in the woods chomping the heads off squirrels . They were in the barn last night . They sa id something about me being the soul they were looking for . Then they knocked me out and took my shoes . I bet they ’re the ones who murdered the chickens. ” Glory gave a paranoid glance behind her and whispered , “I tell you ... they’re trying to frame me or something.”
    Eyebrows raised , h er brothers looked at each other with concern, until Randy snickered.
    “Or something, alright . You’ve gone plumb bonkers!”
    Milk shot from Danny’s his nose. Randy’s shoulders shook from all the chuckling. Brandon punched both twins in the arms .
    “Ow ! Why’d you go and do that for?”
    “Just shut-up and leave h er alone,” Brandon snarled.
    Glory was astounded. Did Brandon just stand up for h er ? That was almost as u nbelievable as Hoogula s and midget bums lurking in the barn.
    An unexpected knock rattled the front door.
    “Who can that be so early in the morning? ” Nana said, wiping her hands on her apron . She shuffled out of the kitchen and down the hall toward the front door . Danny hurried past her . He returned breathlessly to the kitchen.
    “It’s the cops ! They have Patrice !”
     
     
     

C hapter 7
     
     
     
    Dad greeted the visitors on the front porch . The Alley kids gathered behind the staircase where the cellar door was located, to eavesdrop . Glory watched Patrice through the glass . She stood between two officers, face puffy, tears rolling down her cheeks. A woman in a gray tweed coat knocked on the door. She had a bony face, short brown hair, and looked familiar.
    Keeping one hand on the door handle, Dad spoke with the visitors on the other side of the screen. Nana stood beside him. A brisk wind blew Patrice ’s fine strawberry hair into her mouth. Her trembling hand kept removing it, but it kept blowing back again.
    “Uh-oh,” Brandon said . “It’s Miss Crenshaw.”
    “No, please, not her.” Glory pleaded to the fates . Miss Crenshaw was the lady from children’s services who had zealously tried to split them up right after Mom died . If it wasn’t for Nana moving in after Grandpa’s stroke, they’d be in foster care right now. “I’d rather tangle with the red-eye d devil again than ole Crenshaw,” Glory whispered.
    “That can’t be,” s he heard Dad say . “ Patrice babysits the Miller kids down the road on school nights.”
    “That’s right,” Nana agreed. “ The m i ster works the late shift and the m isses has to be at work by four in the morning, so they pay Patrice to sleep there and get their little ones off to school .”
    “ Your daughter hasn’t babysat the Miller kids for two