Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 "I didn't know stakeouts were so boring," Lydia whispered to Abbi. They had spent most of the day inside. It had rained pretty hard that afternoon, so Abbi and her friends had hung out at Moose Manor while the crew did a bunch of behind-the- scenes technical stuff in preparation for the night's activities. The rain had stopped well before sunset, though. And as soon as the sun had gone down, Arthur and his crew set off into the woods. They left Abbi, Lydia, and Daniel to manage the command center at the campsite. If

the kids saw anything on the trail cams, they were supposed to walkie-talkie Arthur right away. Uncle Walker brought them hot cocoa, blankets, and freshly baked cookies. He handed them the night-vision binoculars he used when fishing after dark, too. Then he curled up in a cozy camping chair under his own blanket and started to read. Abbi was sad that Barkley wasn't there, but the ground was still damp, and he hated being wet! And if there was a cougar around, Abbi didn't want Barkley to be in any danger. He might think the wild cat was a new friend and try to play! That would be bad. Three hours later, around half past seven, the snacks were long gone, and they were still just waiting and watching. Whether on the screen or through the binoculars, they hadn't seen so much as a large squirrel, let alone a

cougar! Abbi didn't want to admit it, but Lydia was right. It was kind of boring. "It might be boring, but it's an important part of the process!" Daniel insisted. He held the walkie-talkie, ready to report if needed. "How long does it usually take on the show to find something?" Lydia asked. Abbi and Daniel looked at each other. "Well…," Abbi said. "Define find something," Daniel said. Lydia looked at her brother and her friend. "He doesn't even find anything most of the time?!" Uncle Walker shifted in his sleep as Lydia raised her voice. "He finds plenty of stuff!" Daniel said, upset. "Just not always what he's looking for." Abbi worried that her friends were getting too loud. She didn't want to ruin the stakeout by alerting any nearby cougars!

"Focus, please!" she said in a harsh whisper. "We still have a job to do." Abbi pointed to the computer screen. Lydia rolled her eyes. "There's nothing there! Why don't we call it a night and head back to your house, where it's actually warm." "We just need to be patient," Abbi said. "If we wait, we might be able to—" "Um, hey, Abbi? Lydia?" Daniel whispered. The two girls saw he was holding Uncle Walker's night-vision binoculars to his eyes. "I think I see something."

"What is it?" Abbi asked eagerly. His voice shook slightly when he answered, as if he was scared. "I don't know. Not a cougar, but…it's big. Hunched over. It's moving weird." Lydia tried to snatch the binoculars from his hands, but he dodged her. He didn't want to take his eyes off whatever was in the woods! "Is it a bear? A wolf? A dinosaur? What is it?" Lydia said, her voice impatient. She wanted all the details! "And what's it doing? Where is it? Tell us something." Daniel looked into the trees for a few moments. Abbi tried to spot it herself, but the forest was too dark to see anything without the neon-green night-vision binoculars! Just then, Daniel screeched! He dropped the binoculars on the table. Uncle Walker startled in his sleep but didn't wake up. "What's wrong?" Abbi asked. "What happened?" Abbi put a calming hand on Daniel's arm.

He turned to face her and Lydia. "I don't think it's a cougar in these woods. I think it's Bigfoot."