Alberta Alibi Read Online Free Page A

soared up to a vaulted ceiling.
    To the girls’ left, a steep staircase of battered wood steps led straight up to the second floor. A wooden handrail, painted white, ran up one side. Sheila gazed up the stairway. Her room was up there at the end of the hall, the room she had slept in almost every night for ten years. She didn’t remember it looking so gloomy up there before.
    Straight ahead was a bright, wide hallway that led to the kitchen. Neither girl spoke. They stood silent, listening. But they heard nothing. No voices. The only sound was a gentle tick-tock , tick-tock of the tall grandfather clock that stood below the stairs.
    â€œWhere is everyone?” Katie whispered.
    â€œWho knows? Follow me.” Sheila started to walk, one slow step at a time, down the hall, trying not to make a sound. Katie was so quiet Sheila wasn’t sure she was still there and glanced over her shoulder. Katie was creeping along, almost stepping on her heels. They tiptoed into the big, old-fashioned kitchen.
    Sunlight streamed through wide windows that overlooked the patio and vegetable garden behind the house. White countertops were cluttered with bags of hamburger and hot-dog buns, a package of wieners, jars of relish and mustard, and a couple of paper grocery bags, filled to bursting. A toaster with dry crumbs scattered around it; a coffeemaker containing an inch of coffee, black as grease; a dirty pot on the stove with a wooden spoon sticking out of it; a soggy-looking dishtowel crumpled up near a sink full of dishes. The kitchen smelled like grease, burnt toast and rotten bananas. It never looked, or smelled, like this when Mom was here.
    Katie looked at her with a question in her eyes. Sheila shook her head. She had no idea where everyone was. And then she heard the whisper of a sound. Katie heard it too. Sheila nodded in the direction of her father’s office, at the end of a short hallway.
    Side by side the girls tiptoed toward it.
    The two boys stood at the end of the hall, slightly bent at the waist, their ears pressed tight against a closed office door. Sheila and Katie crept toward the boys, who were listening so intently they didn’t notice.
    Suddenly both boys leapt away from the door and bolted down the hall. Huntley darted between them, but Rusty smashed so hard into Katie she fell over backward, and he crashed to the floor beside her. Her notebook fell open and the two little plastic bags tumbled out just as the office door opened.

5
    B y the time Sheila’s father stepped into the hall, Huntley had reached the kitchen and stood by the counter, calmly removing groceries from a paper bag. Sheila bent over the two cousins, sprawled on the floor at her feet. She scooped up the two little evidence bags and handed them to Katie.
    â€œWhat’s going on here?” her dad demanded. Tall and muscular, he towered over them. He pushed back a tuft of sandy hair that fell across his forehead.
    Sheila leaned over Rusty, her arm stretched out in an effort to hide Katie’s attempt to stuff the two plastic bags back inside her notebook.
    â€œIt’s only Rusty.” Sheila grabbed Rusty by the wrist and helped him to his feet. “He bumped into Katie and they both fell over. Did I mention he’s a bit accident prone?”
    For a moment her dad just looked confused. He watched Katie and Rusty walk into the kitchen, Katie shielding her notebook in front of her. Then he scratched his head and turned his attention to Sheila. She was sure he would ask what they were doing outside his office, but all he said was, “Then you’ll need to keep him out of trouble. I’ve got enough to worry about right now without your friends falling off horses or getting run over by cattle.”
    There were footsteps behind them and two RCMP officers, wearing dark pants with a wide yellow stripe down the sides and beige short-sleeved shirts, emerged from the office. One was as tall as Sheila’s dad,