That night, the Aldens decided to keep watch out the window, to see if anything strange happened — like moving lights or fleeting shadows or barking dogs. They each agreed to take a two-hour shift while the others slept.
Benny had the first shift, from ten o’clock to midnight. While the others curled up in their beds, he sat by the window, looking out. At first it was fun staying up so late. He played cards and sipped a cup of juice and checked the window every few minutes.
But soon Benny began to feel sleepy. The room was dark, and the sound of Henry’s slow, peaceful breathing made him want to crawl into his own bed. Looking out the window, he could see nothing out of the ordinary. All the windows across the way were dark. Benny knew everyone was probably asleep, just as he wished he were.
He looked at his watch. It was only eleven-thirty — he still had another half hour to go! His eyelids felt so heavy. He let out one long slow yawn, and then another. Each time he blinked, it was harder to open his eyes again.
Benny forced his eyes open wide and stared out the window, trying not to blink. But it was no use. Soon his eyes were closing again.
He didn’t want to let the others down. What if something important happened and they missed it because Benny couldn’t stay awake? He knew he had to do something or he would fall asleep.
Benny went into the bathroom. He turned on the cold water and splashed some on his face. That helped a lot.
He went back to his seat by the window feeling better, but soon his eyelids were heavy again. He leaned his elbows on the windowsill and put his head in his hands. He wanted so much to put his head down — just for five minutes. What could be the harm? Benny crossed his arms on the windowsill and rested his head on top.
Suddenly he woke with a start. His arm had slipped off the sill. For a moment, he didn’t know where he was. Then he remembered. He was supposed to be keeping watch. How long had he been asleep? he wondered.
Benny peered at the clock and saw that it was twelve o’clock. He smiled. It was time to wake up Henry, who was doing the next shift.
Before he woke Henry, Benny took one last peek out the window. There were no lights in the rooms across the way. He checked the kennel off to the left. And then he spotted something. From behind a tree, a shadow moved.
The shadow moved again, and this time Benny was sure he’d seen it. As if to prove this fact, the dogs began barking.
“Henry, Henry, wake up!” Benny called, his eyes glued to the window.
Henry stirred slowly. “Is it my shift already?” he asked.
“Yes, but I think I see something!”
Henry bolted out of bed and in a moment he was standing next to his brother. The two boys looked out the window.
“I saw a shadow by the kennel, and — ” Benny began. “Look! There’s a light moving around in the kennel! Someone’s in there!”
Henry ran to get the girls while Benny kept watch.
When the girls joined them, they all agreed. It appeared that someone was snooping around in the kennel with a flashlight.
“If they’re using a flashlight, I’m sure they’re not supposed to be there,” said Jessie.
“I bet it’s the person who stole Jason’s key!” cried Jessie.
“We’d better go tell somebody!” Benny said.
“Jason!” said Henry.
The children ran out of the room and all the way down the hall. They ran and ran, around two corners, to Jason’s room.
“Jason! Jason! Wake up!” the Aldens called as they pounded on his door.
In a moment the door was opened by a very sleepy-looking Jason. “What is it?” he wanted to know.
“Come quickly! Someone’s broken into the kennel!” Jessie said.
Jason looked confused. “What are you talking about?”
“Jason!” Henry said. “There’s no time to explain. Come on!”
Jason sighed heavily. “You kids and your imaginations.”
“It’s not our imagination,” Jessie said. “But if you don’t believe us, we’ll go by ourselves.” The children started down the hallway.
“All right, I’m coming,” Jason said, following them.
When they reached the kennel, they found the door was open, and the sound of barking dogs was deafening. As they peered into the dark building, they could see a flashlight shining down the hallway ahead of them.
Jason flicked on the overhead light, and the Aldens saw someone down the hall duck behind a large box. “Hello? Is there somebody there?” Jason called out. “Please come out at once!”
There was no response at first. Suddenly a figure darted out and began running down the hall away from them.
“He’s heading for the back exit,” said Jason. “I’ll go around that way and try to head him off!”
The others ran down the hall after the figure. But before they could catch him, he’d run out the back exit. The heavy door slammed shut behind him.
The Aldens pushed open the door and looked out. There was a rustling in the woods. Jason stood next to the door, out of breath.
“Whoever it was, he took off into the woods before I could get to him,” Jason said when he’d caught his breath.
“We’d better make sure the dogs are okay and that everything is in order,” Jessie said.
The Aldens helped Jason go through the building and check each dog. Zach, Ginger, and the other dogs were all in their individual pens, just as they were supposed to be.
“Let’s get back to bed,” Jason said.
“Wait a minute,” called Violet, who had gone back to take another peek at Ginger. “What are all these scratch marks on the gate to Ginger’s pen?”
Jason came over to take a closer look. “That’s odd,” he said. “It looks as if someone was trying to break into her pen. There’s a special latch on every pen so that the dogs can’t get out. I guess the person who was in here was after Ginger.” Jason twisted the latch and opened the gate. Ginger came out and began sniffing at Jason. “Are you okay, girl?” Jason said, rubbing her back. When he was satisfied that she was unharmed, he led her back into her pen.
“What are we going to do? The person that sneaked in here probably used your key,” Henry said. “He could come back.”
“I’ll camp out here tonight,” said Jason, “and I’ll talk to Mrs. Carter in the morning. We’ll have to have the locks changed.”
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Violet asked.
“We’ll bring you some blankets and a pillow,” Jessie suggested.
“We could stay with you,” Benny offered.
“No sense in all of us staying up,” Jason said.
After making sure that Jason was settled for the night, the Aldens returned to their rooms.
“It’s a good thing you were on watch, Benny,” Jessie told her brother.
“I can’t believe you were able to stay awake so late,” Violet said.
“Aw, it was easy,” Benny said, hiding a smile.
“I shouldn’t tell you this, but we all thought you’d fall asleep for sure,” Jessie said.
Benny gave her a look. “What? I can’t believe you’d think that.”
Violet noticed that Henry had been walking along quietly beside them. “Thinking about something, Henry?” she asked.
“What?” Henry had been deep in his own thoughts. “Oh, well . . . I was just wondering . . . did anyone else think that Jason acted strangely tonight?”
“Not really,” Jessie answered. “What do you mean?”
They had reached their rooms. Jessie opened the door to the girls’ room and they all went inside and sat down on the beds to talk for a moment.
“Remember when we first told him someone had broken into the kennel?” Henry asked. “He kept saying he didn’t believe us, before he finally came along. I wonder if he was stalling.”
“Why would he do that?” Violet asked.
“Maybe he knew someone was going to break into the kennel,” Henry said slowly. “Maybe he wanted to make sure we didn’t get there before they finished whatever it was they were up to.”
“Then why did he come with us after all?” Jessie asked.
“He knew we were going, so he had to come,” Henry said. “Then when we got there, remember he went around the outside to head off the person inside? He said he couldn’t catch the person — but maybe he wasn’t even trying.”
“But he seemed so out of breath,” Violet said.
“That’s just it,” Henry said. “I wonder if it was all an act.”
“Do you think that’s why he offered to keep guard?” Jessie asked.
“And he didn’t want us to stay with him. . . .” Benny said.
“I can’t believe Jason is up to anything bad,” Violet said.
Jessie sighed. “It’s possible. But we really haven’t got any proof.
“Tomorrow we’ll have to do more detective work.”
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