Page 9

I chuckle under my breath as Colson, Ronny, and I creep along Mr. James’ fence.

“Shh!” Colson spits over his shoulder.

“Why are we doing this again?” Ronny whispers.

“Because we’re idiots who listen to Sarah and go along with her crazy ideas,” Colson replies, but sends a wink my way.

“You could have said no.” I shrug before climbing the fence and landing on the other side with a muted thud. They hop the fence and land on either side of me.

Ronny pushes his long brown hair back before he straightens and faces me. “And let you have all the fun? I don’t think so.”

“Good, because you’re gonna be the one to get it.” I beam.

All the amusement falls from his face, causing Colson to snicker.

“Why the fuck do I have to do it?” he grumbles.

“Because it was my idea and Colson knew which way to go so Mr. James doesn’t see us.”

“Yeah, you gotta pull your weight, Ronny,” Colson says, reaching over my shoulder and pulling a strand of Ronny’s hair.

“Fuck you.” They start pushing each other and I jostle back and forth between their bodies.

“Knock it off!” I whisper-shout. I roll my eyes when they shove each other one final time before turning toward the chicken coop.

“Where is the dog?” Ronny asks nervously, glancing from side to side.

“It’s in the barn.”

“We might not be professionals at this, but I’d say we’re doing a damn good job moving around undetected.”

I snort at Colson’s proud comment.

My heart pounds excitedly against my chest. My hands tremble from the intensity of the adrenaline swimming in my blood. I love going on adventures with my siblings. Even if some of them tend to be questionable.

The clucking of the chickens begins to increase in volume the closer we step toward their coop.

Colson and I stop just outside the chain-link gate. Ronny frowns at us before reaching to flip the lock. We turn into statues the second the creak of the gate echoes into the night.

When Mr. James doesn’t come hollering and the dog doesn’t race toward us, I nod for Ronny to continue. Colson grimaces with each screech and groan of the metal. Ronny steps inside the fencing and slowly walks toward the hen house.

“Doesn’t Mr. James have a rooster?” I ask, wrapping my hand around Colson’s wrist. My eyes flick throughout the space inside the encloser but it’s too dark for me to see anything other than Ronny’s tall silhouette.

“I think so, but I don’t see or hear it,” Colson mutters, his head on a swivel.

The tension in the air coils around us making the palpitations of my heart the only sounds drumming through my ears.

An unbelievably loud ‘Pucaaak!’ reverberates through the air followed by Ronny’s curses. A split-second passes and Ronny dashes out of the hen house with a brown hen in his grasp.

Feathers go flying everywhere.

“Run! Run! Run!” He shouts just as a huge rooster rounds the corner with his wings flapping wildly. His deafening crows send me and Colson into motion. Our bodies bounce off each other like cartoon characters as we try to figure out what to do and what direction to go.

My eyes widen, meeting Colson’s panicked ones when we hear the sound of Mr. James’s dog, Moe, barking and making his way toward us. Ronny sprints past like his ass is on fire, which, it might as well be with the big ass raptor on his heels. I can’t help but let out a boisterous cackle at the ridiculousness of this entire situation.

“Hey, you kids! What are you doing?!”

“Shit! It’s Mr. James!”

Colson grips my arm and hauls me with him as we make a break to the fence we jumped to get here.

“Get back here with my chicken!” Mr. James shouts.

Ronny clears the fence in one leap just as the rooster closes in on him. The rooster continues to crow loudly at Ronny before finally giving up.

The mud beneath our feet makes Colson and I slide to a halt when we see it spin toward us.

“Pucaaak!” it shrieks just before racing at us with wings spread wide, feathers flying.

We scramble and take off in opposite directions. Our laughs fill the night sky. My shoes dig into the wet soil with each step I take. I don’t bother checking if the crazy bird is even following me. I just run.

I hurdle my body over an area of the fence that is slightly bowed and land with a loud thump. The wind is knocked out of me when I meet the ground and I groan from the impact.

A bright light blinds me, and I squint up at whoever towers over me.

“Evening, Miss Wilkson.”

Ah, shit.

“Hi, Officer Richards,” I croak.

“Eventful night?” There is a slight amusement in his tone but I’m too busy trying to catch my breath to even comment on it.

When he moves the blinding light from my vision, I blink away the spots. My head drops, landing on the wet grass when I see an angry Xander standing with his arms folded across his chest and a deep scowl marred on his face.

Behind him stands a panting Colson and Ronny. Mr. James stands to the left of Officer Richards with the hen in his arms.

Once I’ve regained the breath in my lungs, I push to a stand and brush off my arms and legs.

I glance at each person in front of me and smile sheepishly.

“Oops?” I say with a small wince when the movement of my shoulders sends a sharp pain down my arm.

With a shake of his head, Xander turns and apologizes to both Mr. James and Officer Richards before dragging the three of us to his truck.

We sit silently as we drive toward our house. Xander hasn’t uttered a word since we climbed in and drove off Mr. James’s property.

“When are you morons going to stop following whatever Sarah says?” he finally asks.

“How do you know it was even my idea?” I sneer, crossing my arms and leaning against the back seat.

His eyes meet mine through the rearview mirror. He gives me a pointed look before returning his gaze to the road.

Neither Colson nor Ronny utters a word.

“Nothing to say?” he asks, then glances at the pair.

He rolls his eyes and then shakes his head again.

“You guys could have at least avoided getting caught.”

My heads whips to Colson and Ronny who both look at dumbfounded as I am.

“Come again?” Ronny says, his voice filled with confusion.

Xander chuckles lightly. “I said, you guys could have at least avoided getting caught.”

“That fucking rooster was huge man! My life was flashing before my eyes.”

The remainder of the drive is overflowing with laughter as we recount the entire quest of ‘steal Mr. James’ chicken’.