The wait turned out to be longer than Jan liked. It was still raining hard next morning. Every few minutes she went to the window and looked out. Then with a sigh she would wander away for awhile. But soon she was back looking up again at the sky.
Finally Julie said, “Jan, can’t you do something besides look out the windows? I’m trying to count this money and you’re mixing me up.”
“Sorry,” Jan said in a huff.
The girls were upstairs in their bedroom. Julie, who was treasurer for the FACT Club, was counting the money from the carnival. Jan could not settle down to anything though. She tried to read a library book, but her mind kept wandering. Then she worked a line or two of a crossword puzzle. Finally she gave up.
“It’s no use, Julie,” she sighed. “All I can think of this morning is the barn. I wish it would stop raining,” and with this she went again to look out the window.
“Wishing won’t make it stop,” Julie snapped. “Guess I feel a bit cross myself,” she added.
Jan went over to where Julie had the coins neatly stacked in piles. “How much did we make, Julie?” she asked.
“If I’ve counted right, there is more than eleven dollars here.”
“Wow, that’s great. We ought to be able to buy two Walkie-Talkies with that much money,” Jan said.
“Don’t forget we owe Dad and Mr. Baker some money for art materials and things,” Julie reminded her.
The children had not had quite enough to buy everything they needed for the carnival. So they had borrowed a little from both parents. Still Jan and Julie were very happy with what was left.
“Jan, Julie,” Mom was calling. “Lunch.”
The sky began to brighten while they were eating. And by the time lunch dishes were done the sun had come out.
They lost no time in going for Fred and Susan. Fred brought out an armload of tools. There were two lanterns, a crow bar, and a couple of screw drivers.
“We’ll need this stuff if we’re going to find a trap door,” he explained.
Today the grass and weeds on the path to the barn were squeaky wet. It felt good to Jan to have cool, wet feet after the heat of the past days.
The sky was clear blue after the rain. And the air smelled fresh and clean. Jan breathed deeply. She was happy and excited.
When they reached the barn, they were shocked to see the large blackened part of the field. The fire had come very close to the barn indeed.
“Wow, I’ll bet that fire upset Gramps,” Julie said.
Jan remembered Gramps saying how much fires worried him. “I’ll bet you are right, Julie,” she said. “I had no idea it had spread so far.”
“I wonder what started it?” Susan asked of no one in particular.
Again Jan was aware of a nagging worry. But she soon forgot it as the children all went into the barn.
Each person took the same section of the barn floor as before. But with the strong camp lanterns, they could see much better.
It wasn’t long before Susan yelled for the others to come. She had found several boards that had a fine cross-line in them.
“Now Suzy, don’t be too excited. It could be just the ends of the boards,” Fred said.
Susan opened her mouth as if to say something when Fred called her ‘Suzy’. Then she seemed to change her mind. Jan was surprised. She knew how Susan disliked that nickname.
They got the screw drivers and began to hunt for a fingerhold which could be used to open a trap door. Time had worn the boards smooth. Even with the lantern it was several minutes before Jan saw the dents. They were along the side of one of the boards. So cleverly were they cut that they looked like part of the board.
Fred got the crow bar and put it under the cut-out part of the board.
He leaned with all his weight. There was a great deal of creaking. At last it began to give.
They were all very intent on what Fred was doing. Jan found herself holding her breath. No one noticed Mrs. Ray enter the barn until she spoke, “How dare you children come here!”
At the sound of her voice everyone jumped. “Why it’s Mrs. Ray,” said Julie who managed to find her voice first. “Hello, you surprised us a bit. You see we’ve....”
But Mrs. Ray cut her short, “Ha! I’ll bet I surprised you. So nice with your talk. Well, you have some nerve to come here after what happened.”
Her face was flushed with her anger. It was so unexpected that Jan could only stare. No one else could find anything to say to her either.
“Put those things down and get along up to the house with you,” Mrs. Ray commanded.
No one moved. They were too shocked by the turn of events. “Come on, now. Mr. Hinkle wants to see you right away.”
She wasn’t taking ‘no’ for an answer. Slowly the children laid down their tools. Fred turned off the lanterns. Then they followed the short, angry figure of Mrs. Ray to Gramp’s house.
No one said anything on the way. Jan felt dazed by Mrs. Ray’s angry words. What’s going on? she wondered.
Then they were all in Gramp’s living room. The old man sat as before in his rocking chair. But this time he had no smile for them.
“I find myself very disappointed in you young people,” Gramps said. Jan thought he sounded both angry and sad.
“I suppose you recall my rule about starting fires?” he asked sternly. All at once Jan knew why the fire had bothered her. Gramps next words made her certain that she was right.
“The firemen tell me that brush fire was set,” Gramps went on. “They found a box of partly burned matches.”
Jan could feel the shock of surprise that went through her friends. They all began to talk at once. Only she was quiet. Quang, she thought. He said he would pay us back. Such hatred for him poured through her that it frightened her a little.
“....and we watched from our kitchen window,” Julie was saying earnestly. “Honest Gramps, we’ve never even had a match near the barn.”
Fred and Susan both denied having anything to do with the fire. “If I had set it, I sure wouldn’t have come to watch,” Fred declared.
Gramps was silent for a minute. Then he said slowly, “I guess I believe you. I really hated to think you young people had anything to do with it. But when they told me it was set, I couldn’t think well. I haven’t had anything upset me so much in years.”
It was quiet for a few minutes. Only Mrs. Ray sniffed from the kitchen. She thinks we did it, thought Jan. Again hate burned in her heart toward Quang. It was all his fault.
“I guess I will have to ask that you stay away from the barn for awhile. At least a week or two until the fire department has a chance to find out who did set the fire,” Gramps said at last.
Jan opened her mouth to tell him about the trap door. Then she closed it again. What’s the use, she thought. He probably would say it could wait a week or two.
It was a quiet group of children that finally left Gramps’ house and headed for home. No one felt like talking. Even Fred for once was silent. They reached the Davidson’s yard and sat down at the picnic table.
“It was Quang, you know,” Jan said suddenly.
“Jan,” Julie gasped, “how can you even think such a thing?”
Jan turned on Julie. “You’re such a goody-goody, Julie, you can’t see what’s as plain as the nose on your face. He said he would get us back.”
There was a shocked silence. Everyone was remembering the scene at the barn.
“Poor Quang,” said Julie softly.
“‘Poor Quang’ my foot,” Jan said hotly. “Poor us! We get blamed for what he did. Not only that, but we’re about to get into that hidden cellar. What about that? And you say, ‘Poor Quang.’ You make me sick!” With that she ran into the house and slammed the door.