The Hidden Valley Mystery Read Online Free Page B

back. Mike glared at his hard, unshaven face. Behind bobbed the head of a huge black dog.
    “The kid’s O.K.,” the man shouted, as if to defend himself.
    “No thanks to you!” Mike cried. “Can’t you even get out to look? I ought to call the police!”
    At the word “police” the man’s head jerked inside. With a squeal the van shot forward and roared down the parking lot to the empty incoming lane. At the stoplights, it skidded around the corner and sped south toward Highway 401.
    “The licence number!” Mike kicked himself. All he had caught were the last two letters: PJ.
    Shaking with anger, he limped toward his friends. Gunnar and Freddy had settled Tuan on The Beer Store bench. Except for a rip in his T shirt, and a bruise where his forearm had broken the fall, Tuan looked unhurt. Mike hobbled up and flopped beside him. “Are you O.K.?” he asked.
    “Yes, I am fine,” Tuan replied, “just a little shook up. My shirt’s not so good,” he held up the tail and waved it to show off a long rip.
    Freddy rested one foot on the bench. His face was still red from running. He shook his head. “It’s lucky you’re so quick,” he said. He looked at Mike. “How Tuan skipped back in time, I don’t know. That idiot in the van just missed him by centimetres.”
    Pacing behind the bench, Gunnar wiped his forehead. “That van sped by so fast, I was sure it spun Tuan off balance,” he muttered.
    “Can you believe that guy?” Mike fumed. “He didn’t even get out to look!” He glanced behind at Gunnar. “And when I said I’d call the police, he took off like crazy.”
    Freddy pounded his palm. “That really stinks,” he snorted. “What kind of guy would leave a kid lying on the ground?”
    Gunnar stared over Mike’s shoulder at the stoplights. “Mike, before the van drove away, did you hear a dog bark?” he asked.
    “Maybe,” Mike shuddered, “there was a dog in the van. A big one, black, sitting behind that guy. Why?”
    Gunnar looked Mike in the eye. He frowned. “Think about it.”
    Mike gulped and shook his head. He didn’t want to think about what happened near the mansion that morning. Or about what almost happened to Tuan. Not any more. He’d had enough adventure.
    CHAPTER 7 – New Neighbours
    On Sunday morning, the streets were cool and quiet as Mike slowly pedalled home. He still felt stiff from his fall down Dead Man’s Cliff, but his knees no longer stung.
    A block from his house, he stopped by the curb and leaned down. Gently he peeled off the gauze patches Gunnar had taped to each knee. He crumpled them into his shorts’ pocket. No need to upset his mother. She’d wring her hands and natter about blood and germs, then poke through the cupboard for more disinfectant and bandaids. Her fussing made him feel like a baby.
    With his bandages tucked out of sight, Mike slid back onto the bicycle seat and made his stiff legs pedal faster and faster. Past the neighbours’ houses, around the lilac bush, up his own driveway he swung. From across the street, he felt Mrs. Mallo’s eyes on his back. Everyone knew she watched the whole street through a crack in her living-room curtain. Could her x-ray vision see the scabs on his knees?
    He skidded out of sight by the garage. After locking his bike inside, he dashed to the side door. He eased it open and crept up the steps toward the kitchen. He would shower and change into long pants, ready to visit Theo Lazo, before his mother got home from church.
    “EEE!” his mother shrieked.
    Mike jumped back. “Hi, Mom,” he called from the landing.
    “Michael, you startled me. Don’t prowl like a cat.”
    Mike stuck his head through the door, keeping his knees out of sight. “I thought you were still at church.”
    “I didn’t go. I am too upset and tired from last night,” his mother wrung her hands. Up and down the kitchen she paced. Her blue bathrobe swirled as she turned, white slippers slapping the tile.
    Mike gulped. Had she glimpsed