Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 "I hope we don't have to go far off the road," Abbi said. "My chair can't drive over anything too rough!" "Or too soft," Lydia said. "Remember when you tried to follow that seagull at the beach and got stuck in the sand?" "I didn't know the sand was that loose!" Abbi said, laughing. "Uncle Walker made the funniest noises trying to pull me out." "He squawked more than the seagulls did!" Lydia imitated the sound. Daniel nudged her shoulder, laughing. "Hey, he was doing his best!"

"I should have recorded him for my sound collection instead," Abbi said. They reached the edge of the woods. Soft grass turned into hard dirt and tree roots. "Don't worry," Lydia said, serious now. "We'll make sure you don't get stuck this time." The three friends made their way through the trees carefully. The ground was definitely bumpier here. Lydia and Daniel moved the bigger rocks and fallen branches that occasionally blocked Abbi's way. But mostly it was smooth sailing. Soon the trees opened up into a little clearing. "Look!" Lydia cried. She ran over to a pile of fabric and started rummaging through it. She held up an alpaca-size pirate hat.

"Think it would look good on Barkley?" she asked. He gave a sharp bark as if to say "Don't even think about it." "These are the costumes, all right," Daniel said. He fished a sparkly rainbow ribbon from

the pile. Abbi held up her wrist expectantly and smiled as he tied the ribbon on to her. "So what do we know?" Abbi asked. "Someone used lettuce to lead away all the alpacas—" "Except Alpaca in Wonderland!" Lydia clarified. "All the alpacas except him," Abbi confirmed. "They probably loaded them up in some sort of truck and drove a little ways down the road." "Then they must have taken off all the costumes and left them here," Daniel said. He gestured to the oversized baby bonnet his sister

had tied on to her head. "You think the alpacas waited in the truck?" Abbi nodded. "There's no way the kidnappers would have made eleven alpacas trek through the woods. Why bother?" "Okaaaaay, so…what now?" Lydia asked. "Where would they go next?" Abbi bit her lip. The trail had gone cold.—

The walk out of the woods seemed even longer than before. Abbi couldn't shake the feeling of failure. Lydia looked as down as Abbi felt. "We did everything we could," Daniel said. "And hey! Maybe someone found them while we were gone!" Abbi tried to smile. "Maybe." They were nearly back to the road when Barkley jerked his head upward. His ears pricked up, too. "What's wrong, buddy?" Abbi asked. Just then, a loud, strange sound echoed through the woods. "What was that?" Lydia asked. Abbi cocked her head, listening intently. The sound came again. Loud, like a chimpanzee. But melodic, like a bird.