Read Online 09 The Clue at Black Creek Farm by Carolyn Keene - Free Book Online Page B

Julie asked.
    Bess nodded. “Contaminating a whole farm full of produce—in broad daylight? It seems impossible.”
    I stood up, an idea taking root. “It probably is,” I said, walking toward the window and looking out over the rows of crops. Whoever’s doing this is doing it at night, I realized, and suddenly our next step became clear. I turned to Bess with a grin.
    Alarm brightened her eyes. “I know that grin,” Bess said. “I hate that grin. That’s the ‘Nancy has an idea Bess is going to hate’ grin.”
    I shrugged, glancing at the crops again and back.
    â€œSo what is it?” Bess went on.
    I smiled, gesturing toward the planted fields. “Feel like camping out tonight, Bess?”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Trouble in the Barn
    â€œI HATE THIS,” BESS GRUMPED as she laid out one of the sleeping bags Sam and Abby had loaned us in the tent they’d also loaned us.
    â€œCome on, Bess,” I chided, bumping her shoulder playfully (which was super easy to do, since the tent was only about five feet across). “We got to have a hot dog cookout for dinner!”
    She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that really made my day, Nancy. Because I am nine years old.”
    â€œAnyway,” I said, fluffing my pillow, “I thought you were invested in the case now?”
    Bess groaned. “Couldn’t I be invested while we watched the footage from a video camera or something?”
    I shook my head. “There’s no way a video camera could cover the same amount of space as two sets of human eyes and ears,” I explained. “Besides, I want to catch whoever is doing this quickly! The sooner we get this figured out, the sooner everything can go back to normal at Black Creek Farm.”
    â€œAnd with Sam,” Bess added quietly, her face drooping.
    â€œAnd Sam,” I confirmed. The kindly farmer had seemed sort of embarrassed when he’d learned that Bess and I knew he had cancer. He apologized for not telling us but repeated what Abby had said—he didn’t want anyone to treat him any differently. And he thought it was irrelevant to the case.
    But is it? I bit my lip now, remembering how upset Jack had seemed that morning, and even earlier, the night of the buffet. It had been perfectly clear that Jack didn’t support his father’s decision to become a farmer. Could he really care more about his inheritance than his father’s happiness? I wondered. Does he think if he ruins Black Creek’s reputation, Sam will close the farm and stop losing money by chasing his dream?
    Bess yawned loudly, cutting off my gloomy train of thought. I turned and found her stretched out on her sleeping bag.
    â€œHow are we doing this?” she asked, propping herself up on her elbow.
    â€œWe take shifts,” I explained. We’d discussed this over hot dogs, but I was getting the sense that Bess was pretty worn out. I should have been too, but I guessed adrenaline was keeping me going. The thrill of the chase. “Two hours each. I can take the first shift,” I offered. “You go to sleep. It’s ten now—I’ll wake you up at midnight. Okay?”
    â€œOkay,” Bess agreed. But her voice was muffled as she was already climbing into her sleeping bag. Abby had loaned us T-shirts and sweatpants to sleep in. It was slightly cool in the tent; perfect sleeping weather.
    â€œI’ll sit outside,” I said, climbing out the tent’szippered door. We’d set up the tent on a small hill that overlooked the fields of crops—as close to having a view of the whole farm as I could find.
    I settled myself on a rock next to a tree and turned to position an old camping lantern the Heyworths had lent me. I kept the lantern off so our campsite wouldn’t attract any attention; the moon was nearly full, casting plenty of light to see into the fields. It was totally quiet except for the occasional hoot of an owl