Alberta Alibi Read Online Free

Sheila stomped back toward the barn. This was the worst day of her life. No, it wasn’t. It was the second worst. The worst was two years ago.
    She should never have come back here, and for sure she shouldn’t have brought Katie. That girl always meddled in everyone else’s business, and right now Sheila had no idea why she had ever thought of Katie as her best friend. Well, not anymore. She was tired of Katie’s nosiness and tired of trying to keep Katie out of trouble.
    Sheila had to get out of here. She would march right into the barn, saddle Silver and take off into the hills. No telling when she might come back. Maybe she would ride all the way home to Victoria. Wouldn’t that surprise them all?
    She stormed around the corner of the barn.
    And stopped in her tracks. Katie came up beside her. They both stared at the white SUV parked next to the blue pickup truck. It had a yellow, red and blue stripe along its side, a crest on the door and a small blue silhouette of a horse and rider on the back fender. Across its roof was a row of lights. The RCMP.
    â€œThey must be in the house,” Katie whispered.
    Sheila thought that was fairly obvious, since no one was in sight, but she didn’t say a word. She only stared at the SUV and thought about her mom. Police cars often stopped in front of their little house in Victoria. On-duty officers sometimes came by for coffee when her mom wasn’t working, because they were friends.
    Mom was a police officer too. Dad wasn’t. And Sheila had a feeling the Mounties were not here for a cup of coffee and a home-baked muffin.
    â€œI wonder if they have searched the truck yet,” Katie mused.
    â€œNot without a search warrant,” Sheila informed her. She thought that was right, that police needed a search warrant before they could touch private property, but she wasn’t sure. She wished Mom were here so she could ask her.
    â€œIf they do, they’ll find the mud and the rest of that tree branch. I just broke a piece off, I didn’t take it all.”
    â€œSo?”
    â€œSo nothing. I’m just saying…”
    â€œLet’s go see what’s happening.”
    â€œOkay.” Katie walked over to the chair, tucked the two plastic bags inside her notebook and picked up her pen from the ground. She carried everything with her toward the door.
    Sheila didn’t object. She had to admit that Katie was pretty good at figuring things out. After all, she had solved the mystery at the old house in Victoria and figured out where the gold was hidden at Barkerville. Of course, Katie couldn’t have done it without her help, and Rusty’s too, but if her dad was in trouble, maybe it was a good thing to have Katie on the job. Unless he was guilty…but she wouldn’t even think about that.
    The two girls walked side by side toward the house. “Just don’t annoy them by asking questions, okay?”
    â€œOf course not.”
    â€œI mean it!” Sheila whispered fiercely as they stepped onto the front porch.
    â€œYou know me,” Katie replied.
    â€œThat’s the problem.”
    Sheila tried not to look at the ugly red door as she pushed it open. And she tried not to worry about what Katie might do next.
    Inside was a square entrance hall with a dark plank floor worn to a wide groove down the center by the passing of many feet. On the wall to the right of the door, a row of wooden pegs stood empty except for a couple of black cowboy hats hanging side by side. The larger one had a long, pure white feather sticking out from a white, braided-leather hatband. On the floor below the hats were two pairs of brown leather cowboy boots, one large enough for a man, the other pair much smaller. Sheila scowled down at them.
    Beyond the pegs, through a wide post-and-beam entrance, she could see most of the living room, with ancient black leather couches and chairs arranged in front of a huge stone fireplace that