Chapter 14 - Clue Hunting

Fast forward a few days. It is now the Wednesday after the Independence Day weekend.
The 4th July crowds have left Gulf Haven, although the festivities have opened the holiday season, and the first tourists enjoying the Gulf weather have started to arrive. The street decorations are gradually being removed, and some of the flags, tri-colour bunting and flowers are still visible around the streets.

Apparently the firework display was a real spectacle over the Pier, with the tri-colour beam from the Lighthouse on Heron Point sweeping the town for the occasion. Too bad the Hunters missed that.

Sheriff Finley has called the Hunters' families to say the Water Authority, who owns and manages the complex of the water tower, has examined the evidence of the trespass but decided not to press charges against the perpetrators. They however issued a stern warning against repeated trespasses, promising legal action in case of further infractions.

Logan, Johnny and Al have been grounded at home for a few days now, and getting bored out of their minds.
This Wednesday afternoon Al and Johnny have a planned shift at the Library, from 4 to 7, which their families have agreed to, the only outing they allowed so far.

Forgot to mention, Auntie Sandra has left, and Benny got a really cool water blaster from her, that he'd seen advertised in a comic book.



Ripper has been walked around mostly by Dad these past days, and Al is not allowed to walk her alone, yet.

The morning after the Fourth of July, Al woke up, expecting Ripper at the foot of her bed. Not that she'd ever been there but Al had imagined it so vividly so many times that to her, it felt like she'd slept there many times before. When she finds that spot empty and no Ripper in her room, she remembered her punishment...
After having cried herself to sleep the previous evening, she didn't really have any tears left, but she still felt horrible and gloomy and when she came down the stairs for breakfast, her family noticed her mood immediately. Her parents were intent on being strict however and didn't let her gloomy mood influence their punishment for her. They allowed her to pet Ripper and give her a single snack but after that, her dad took Ripper for a walk by himself and Al wasn't allowed to come.
Benny bragged over his new toy and was almost as excited to tease Al because she didn't have one like it as he was to have it himself. But when her reactions weren't what he was hoping for and he realized how bad she was feeling, he changed his tune and let her play with it as well. The siblings spent the day having fun with the water gun and Al felt better most of the time, except whenever she caught a glimpse of Ripper or heard her sad whine when she wasn't allowed to play with Al.

Over the next days, her punishment was lessened a bit. She was allowed to play with Ripper occasionally - she managed to convince her dad that Ripper needed to learn now that she was his human or else they would never be as close as they should be - and even to go on walks with her occasionally. But her dad always came along and he always held the leash.

When Al, on the second day, showed her parents the scratches from the barbed wire - she had originally wanted to keep them hidden so they wouldn't get mad at her again, but then they started itching so much that she needed some lotion - they are upset with her at first but then take care of them. Al's mother has a serious word with her about being more careful or otherwise, she'll end up with her whole body covered in scars. At Al's grin at that, she shakes her head and tells Al that while that might sound cool to her now, she won't like it as much when she's an adult. Al isn't convinced but promises to be more careful.

Finally, it's Wednesday. Not that Al is particularly looking forward to her shift at work but it's the first time she's allowed to leave the house by herself again since the incident. And also, Al's dad said he would pick her up afterwards and talk to the librarian. And if the librarian tells him that Al has been working extra hard and has been very productive, then he'll let her walk Ripper all by herself in the evening.
Because of that, she shows up early for her shift and immediately sprints inside. "I need to start working now!", she pretty much yells at whichever librarian is at the front desk. "I'm going to put a million books into the computer today!"

It had been a long week, but it was finally over and Logan was finally free. His mom had grounded him for the entire week, but it was no less than what Logan figured was going to happen.

While he had been allowed to leave the house, it was only if Anna was with him. Logan loved his sister, but she had enjoyed the time, she played warden, a little to much. So he pretty much had stayed home.

Granted, his imprisonment gave him plenty of time to work on his monster hunter books...a lot in fact. Which led him to a couple trips to Eddard's store. Anna was freaked out by it, so Logan happily was alone when he went inside. Eddard had happily given Logan various books to read copy notes from. Now instead of a single trapper keeper filled with files, Logan had 3...with several files in each filled with notes and information on creatures.

Getting up Logan wasn't sure what he'd actually do, now that he was free.

Johnny spent the next few days just trying to be invisible in the household. Staying out from under foot, leaving in the mornings to volunteer at Sunny Haven and returning for supper. The remainder of the time he spent in his room sketching some of the trio's adventures. Some of the lighthouse, some on the pier and some at the water tower. He sketched a layout of the tower from memory and as close to scale as he could in case they needed something to go by later.
In the lonely hours of the night he thought of ways to get to the clue magnetized to the water tower. Some were just plain fantasy but others he thought he might suggest to the others. Getting to that clue would be really risky for all three kids and not just physically. The water company threatened to press charges and then getting caught there again would make sure that happened. There had to be a way to get to that clue without going to juvvie...

At the Library, Yvonne is not in sight.



"Well, somebody's rather eager today..." Donna comments, seeing Al's impatience to start filing books. "Don't rush it, Missy. I found a couple of mistakes in last week's entries," she admonishes.

When Johnny arrives, he hardly recognises Alana, immersed in inputting books like she's trying to beat a world record. He sits down at the second terminal, next to her.

Logan walks all the way to Cody's trailer park, remembering the way from when Cody led them there to investigate Mother Ruth's appearance in the nearby woods.
With a little difficulty due to the trailers all looking the same, he finds Cody's place.



He knocks and is let inside by Cody's brother Jake. The trailer is a bit messy and smells of fried eggs.
He finds Cody propped up in bed reading some comic books, both legs in a cast.

"Logan!" he beams, happy to see him, "So glad you came! Tell me what's happening out there, man - I'm going insane, in here!"

"Psst, Johnny, sit down and start working!", Al tells him when he arrives, barely looking up at him. "I need to do the best job I can so I will get Ripper back!"

Johnny convinced Charlene to drive him to the library on his first day back to help deliver the load of books Ramon had left behind. He probably could have made it to the library with them on his skateboard, the same way he got the home, but the box had deteriorated significant from the initial trip from Sunny Haven and being packed & repacked as the Monster Hunters rifled through them for clues.

He dropped the box of books off at the front desk, waving to a furiously working Alana. He scooted the heavy box back behind the desk before approaching Ms. Donna and Alana at the workstations. One of the Sunny Haven residents passed away a few days ago and left some books behind. I thought the library would be a good place for them. I left the box back behind the desk for you to go through, Ms. Donna. He sat at the other terminal opposite from Alana and picked up a stack of cards. Sunny Haven does need a receipt for them tho to show I dropped them off...

He waited on Donna to pass before whispering back to Alana, They took Ripper back??

"I'm only allowed to play with her a few minutes a day and my mom doesn't let me walk her by myself. But if I work really, really well today, then I'll be allowed to go for a walk with her again all by myself afterwards!", Al explains, starting out glum but ending with an excited tone.

In the previous days, the grounded hunters had time to mull over Ramon's strange clues, and where they led them to...But the first thing now seems to be to regain some sort of freedom from the sanctions their families imposed, so they can pursue this treasure hunt as they wish...

Johnny and Al get hard at work on the terminals.

Logan hands over his gifts and sits down as Cody looks through them. I figured you could use those. I also cut out the article they printed about us finding Davey. As Cody opens and starts to drink the Coke, Logan starts to tell him about everything that's happened since he's been laid up.

Fast forward to the end of Al's and Johnny's shift at the Library. Both have entered a lot of books in the terminal system today.

Alana's father comes to pick her up, and gets positive feedback from Donna, the Librarian. As promised, she is allowed 1-to-1 time with Ripper that evening, provided she stays around the house.

Donna gives Johnny a donation receipt for the books. One or two were too old for library use, but the bulk of them can enter the Gulf Haven Library collection.

---

As they all get home, they are relieved to hear that their families agree for their grounded status to be over the next day - but curfew is at 8pm every night, and Alana is still not allowed to have Ripper with her when out and about by herself. Just the occasional dog walk around home.

The Hunters arrange by phone to meet the next morning, and regroup at Shake-a-Licious around 10.

---

After a short walk with Ripper in the evening, Al feels really excited. Excited enough that she dares to address the other issue that has been bothering her.
"Dad, I need a new skateboard," she tells him. He seems more likely to agree than her mother. "You know, my old one is still shrunken down."

He of course doesn't believe her fantastical story and simply reminds her that her last skateboard was a really expensive gift from her grandma and that they couldn't just replace it just because she lost it somewhere. He does agree to a compromise, though, even if when Al hears what that compromise is, part of her wishes she had never brought it up in the first place.

Together, she and her dad head into the small storage space under the roof of the house and find Al's old bicycle. It's a bit small for her and it's bright green with a cartoon duck painted on the side. It's probably the most embarrassing bike in all of Gulf Haven. Together, she and her dad spend a few hours slowly getting it back in working order, pumping the tires, replacing broken spokes, making sure the light and brakes are working. It's actually really fun and Al gets to use a bunch of her dad's tools under his supervision. By the end, it's still a horribly childish bike, worse than Benny's even, but it's in full working order. And Al even manages to convince her dad to go to the hardware store and buy some spray paint to make it look less horrible. But that's going to take a few days...

---

The next morning, Al gives Ripper a thorough cuddling. Even though she gets to spend less time with the puppy now and even though Ripper doesn't understand why, Ripper still loves Al the best out of everyone. Maybe it's because of their adventure the first day they met. Or maybe it's because of the barbecue food Al gave her.

Then she heads into town and to Shake-a-licious to meet the others, always glancing around to make sure nobody she knows sees her on the small, childish bike. She's been thinking a lot about how to get the treasure without getting trouble but hasn't had any solid ideas yet. Maybe one of the others will have one.