Free Crooked Hills by Cullen Bunn

following silence, another sound answered the train.
    The dog’s howl.
    It was off in the distance, and the echo made it sound like it came from all directions at once, bouncing through the trees.
    “You hear that, right?” I asked my cousin. “I’m not imagining it, am I?”
    “I hear it.” Marty stood up and cocked his head, trying to detect the source of the sound. “Sounds like it’s trying to talk back to the train whistle.”
    “Just like last night,” I said.
    The howl faded.
    “You know what this means?” Marty’s face brightened as an idea crossed his mind, and I knew what he was thinking before he spoke the words. “If it always answers the train whistle, we can track its howl. We might be able to find it.”
    “No way.” I shook my head. “We couldn’t possibly pinpoint the sound.”
    “You never know. With a little luck, we might be able to—” He snapped his fingers. “Why didn’t I think of it sooner? I know one of the best trackers in the state!”
    “You do?” I asked. “Who?”
    “You already met her.”
    “Lisa?” I asked.
    “You bet. She knows these woods even better than I do, and she’s a natural tracker—part bloodhound.”
    “You think she’d help us?”
    “Sure she would. She’d see it as a challenge. And besides—” Marty winked. “—I think she likes you.”
    “No, she doesn’t!” I raised my voice a little too much, and the words resounded through the darkness.
    “Okay, okay,” Marty said. “You’re probably right. She probably doesn’t like you at all. Heck, she hardly knows you.”
    I grumbled under my breath.
    “Cheer up,” my cousin said. “By tomorrow night we’ll be on the hunt for your mystery dog.”
    The idea of finding the dog filled me with a sense of dread.

CHAPTER TEN
    I FORGOT ALL ABOUT THE SQUEAKY BEDROOM DOOR as I crept back into my room. The hinges let out a long, drawn out creeeaaaaaak! I feared I would wake everybody in the entire house, especially my little brother. I didn’t want to face his questions. No way he’d believe I had been getting a drink of water and using the bathroom for three hours. Despite Marty’s jokes, I hadn’t eaten that many beans for supper!
    Lucky for me, Alex didn’t awaken. He just rolled over and muttered something I couldn’t make out.
    I tiptoed to bed. It didn’t hit me until I crawled beneath the covers, but I was wiped out. My eyes felt heavy, and my arms and legs ached. I sagged into the mattress like a trash bag full of Jell-O. I wasn’t used to staying up so late. Something told me, however, I’d have many late nights to come.
    Alex mumbled something again. He looked to be sleeping peacefully for the most part, but every now and then he fidgeted or twitched. The glow of the moon filtering through the window bathed him in a bluish light. I didn’t know he talked in his sleep, but then again I’d never really shared a room with him all that often.
    He said something again, and this time I understood him.
    “Someday.”
    He was having a dream—or more than likely a nightmare—about the old witch!
    I considered waking him up, but decided against it. In a couple of minutes he settled down and didn’t say anything else. I watched Alex for a while, waiting for him to say something else about Maddie. He was still and quiet, though. I closed my eyes.
    I might have gone right to sleep, except for the screaming.
    From outside.
    The animals.
    Screaming.
    The sounds startled me, and I sat bolt upright in bed. The chickens squawked as though a coyote had broken into the henhouse, and the goats shrieked terrible bleating cries. Awful, screeching cat cries added to the maddening racket. I threw the covers aside and climbed out of bed to investigate—
    That’s when I noticed Alex was gone. His covers were messy, but he wasn’t in bed. He must’ve heard the sound, too, and his curiosity got the best of him. Why didn’t he wake me?
    I stepped into the hall. The thin carpet beneath my feet