“Freaked us out.”
“Cause there’s only like
“So that’s when we figured we’d better come out, you know?”
“Like, who’s Number Three?”
“Creeped us out.”
“Big time.”
“Freaky.”
“So that’s how come we quit and came down.”
“We appreciate it,” Tuck said. “Thanks for not making us hunt high and low for you.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Dana said.
“You’re welcome. But it was like, shit, you know? Who else is in here?”
“And what if he’s hiding where
“Like, same room, different corner.”
“Did you see or hear anything?” Tuck asked.
“just you.”
“We didn’t see Number Three.”
“Or hear him.”
“Or smell him.”
“Or her.”
“Or it.”
“But we, like, felt the
“Creeped us out.”
“But, not, like,
“Right. We’re scared, but we’re not chicken.”
“We’ll be your body guards.”
“Thanks,” Tuck said. “If you want to be a real help, though, why don’t you go on outside? Rhonda’ll be coming along pretty soon and she might be worried about us. Just tell her everything’s all right. Then you can either take off, or stick around for a while if you want to see who we turn up.”
“Rhonda?”
“She’s another guide,” Tuck explained.
“She a babe?”
“A major babe,” Tuck said, grinning. “She has a tendency to get nervous, though. So it’ll be really nice if you keep her company till we come out.”
“We can do that.”
“Sure. Happy to.”
“Okay,” Tuck said. “Thanks. One other thing.”
“Anything you say.”
“We’re, like, at your service.”
“Stick close enough to the house so you can hear us if we call for help.”
“You gonna be calling for help?”
“Probably not. But you never know.”
“Sounds to me like you definitely need body guards.”
“We’d be happy to oblige.”
“We’d guard your bodies with our lives.”
“Or die trying.”
Dana laughed softly. “You guys are okay.”
“Thanks.”
“Yeah.”
“What’re your names?”
“I’m Arnold Anderson,” said the boy in the Howard Stem T-shirt.
“I’m Dennis Dexter?” said the Beavis and Butt-head fan, lifting his voice at the end as if asking whether this was his name.
“A.A. ’n D.D.,” said Arnold. “That’s what we call ourselves.”
“And you’re Dana and Lynn,” said Arnold.
“That’s us,” Tuck said. “Big D, Little L Anyway, nice to meet you guys.”
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” said Dennis.
“A
“You’re, like, sure you want us to leave?”
“Yeah. Keep Rhonda company and stand watch outside.” Tuck stepped over to the door and opened it for them. Looking out, she said, “I don’t see Rhonda yet, but she’ll probably be along any minute. See you later, guys.”
They headed for the doorway.
“Just shout if you need us,” Arnold said.
“We’ll come and save you,” said Dennis. “We’ll, like, kick ass.”
“Sounds good,” Tuck said.
“Bye, guys,” Dana called after them.
Chapter Eighteen
THE SEARCH
As Arnold and Dennis trotted down the porch stairs, Tuck shut the door. “Okay! That’s two down, one to go. Now we’ve got the odds on
“I liked it better the other way,” Dana said. “What sort of person would want to hide out alone in a place like this?”
“Maybe he isn’t hiding,” Tuck suggested.
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe he dropped.”
“Oh, terrific.”
“Passed out, tossed a heart attack, popped an aneurism...Let’s start upstairs and work our way down.”
Dana nodded and followed Tuck to the foot of the stairs.
Staying close to each other, they started to climb. “I won’t shout any more,” Tuck said.
“Glad to hear it.”
“Unless we hit trouble. But if it’s BIG trouble, let’s just run like hell. Know what I mean?”
“sure.”
“Like if a psycho starts coming down the stairs at us with a chain saw? We run. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“Or if a big white beast tries to nail us...”
“We run.”
“Right.”
“I get the picture. Thanks.”
When they reached the top of the stairs, they stopped and looked both ways. In each direction, the dim, shadowy hall looked deserted.
“You go that way,” Tuck said, “I’ll go this.”
“Bite me.”
“Don’t you want to split up?”
“Sure. We’ll split up and I’ll wait for you outside.”
“Ah. Well.Never mind.”
