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something.
    â€œBurner,” I repeated to myself out loud.
    â€œYeah, burner,” Luke said, thinking I had asked a question. “They need to heat the air to fill the balloon. That was the cool part, watching the balloon fill until it lifted thebasket into the air. If they hadn’t tied it down with ropes, it would have just floated away without us.”
    â€œRopes.” Sure. There had been ropes tied to the basket. Why was that bugging me?
    â€œWhat a noise, though,” Luke said. “That burner really roars. The balloon ride is quiet, except when the pilot turns the burner on to lift it some more.”
    â€œNoise,” I said. That was bugging me too.
    â€œLots of noise. I was watching the burner, thinking it would be great to roast some hot dogs over the flame.”
    â€œFlame.” I must have sounded like an idiot to Luke.
    Then I put it together: rope, burner, noise, flame.
    Without warning, I swung the truck’s steering wheel hard. We bounced off the road, down through a small ditch and up the other side.
    â€œWhat are you doing?!” Luke said.
    I ignored him. I wrestled the steering wheel and managed to get the truck betweenthe trees. I drove a little farther until we were well off the road.
    I put the truck in park, turned off the ignition and shut off the headlights.
    â€œI’m going to ask you again,” Luke said. “What are you doing?”
    â€œBroomsticks,” I told him. I reached across him to the glove box. Ranchers always carried flashlights. I would need mine. “We have to go back to the ranch. On foot.”
    â€œTry making sense,” he said.
    I grabbed the flashlight from the glove box and stepped out of the truck. Luke got out too. We stood in the darkness. The truck engine ticked as it cooled.
    â€œBroomsticks,” I repeated. I was about to explain when I heard a sound.
    â€œListen,” I said. “What’s that?”
    Luke listened. “Sounds like a car or truck. It’s coming from the ranch.”
    â€œMaybe it’s Stephanie.” I began to walk among the trees toward the road, using the flashlight to show me a path. Luke followed.
    The sound of the vehicle got louder. I shut the flashlight off and stood beside atree. I didn’t have a good feeling about this. Especially since I didn’t see headlights.
    A minute later, I understood why. The truck was traveling without its lights on. As it passed us, I saw the outline of Jim Cowle, the big foreman, behind the steering wheel. He was hunched forward, peering at the road ahead of him.
    â€œSpooky,” Luke said. “Why not use headlights?”
    â€œMaybe because he doesn’t want to be seen.”
    â€œBy who?” Luke asked. “The only other people on the road would be us. They know that because we just left.”
    â€œExactly,” I told him. “Let me ask you something. If you and I were in the truck right now, on that road, would we see him coming up behind us?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œDoes that tell you anything?”
    â€œYes,” Luke said after a couple of seconds. “And I don’t like it. What is going on here?”
    â€œWe’re going to find out,” I said, “by going back to the ranch. On foot. Remember?”

Chapter Nineteen
    As we got closer, I whispered to Luke that I wanted to go to the barn first. Of all the buildings, it would be the easiest one to get inside. We were looking for Stephanie or her Bronco 4x4. After that, I hoped to find something that would help me figure out more of this puzzle. If Stephanie wasn’t in the barn, we’d go to the house next.
    We circled the house, stopping in a stand of trees to listen for any signs that someone knew we were there.
    â€œWe’ll have to come up to the barn from behind,” I whispered to Luke. “In front, there’s a security light.”
    Luke pointed in the direction of the barn. Our eyes had adjusted to