Allie Thinks That The Dude Ranch Is Haunted!

 Josh knew he was in so much trouble. The dumb dog wanted to play and lick him plus he was laying in a mess of poison ivy. He was already starting to itch. "Oh dog, why did you pick now to play? I have to wait here until the sheriff leaves or he'll probably arrest me for disobeying him. I feel like a kid being punished in school for somebody else's wrong doing. This is bad. Allie probably won't ever speak to me. No one will ever let me tell my side of things. They are presuming I'm a bad guy just because my dad is. Dad. Hmm. Wonder what's happening to him. Well, whatever does he probably deserves it. Oh this stuff itches. How did it get through  my shirt?" He started to crawl through the fence on his belly to make sure that the sheriff didn't see him when all of a sudden he heard the car turn around and head down the driveway. "What is going on I wonder. Go home, girl. I have to walk back to town and get something for this poison ivy thanks to you. I wish I had better shoes. I have just about worn these out. Go on now. Go home!" He couldn't believe it when the stray dog actually trotted up the hill and left Josh alone. 

The sheriff was about ready to get out of the squad car when he got a call from Haylee. "Arrest the bank president now. Urgent. Have K.R. in custody.

"Well I'll be. She is one of the best agents I've ever worked with." Fast and efficient. That's what she is. He sent a quick text back and said, " Okay, girl. I'm on my way. It should be done within the half hour."

Josh got back to town limping on his sore feet. He had walked over ten miles today. He was exhausted and was itching something terrible. He looked for a drug store and found one quite some distance away from the sheriff's office. He walked in and started looking for vinegar or anti itch cream. He didn't have a clue what to buy. He decided to ask the clerk or pharmacist.  At the end of the aisle there was another man with a bottle in his hand and was having difficulty hanging onto it because he was scratching his neck and his arms. "What do you have there? Josh asked. I'm looking for something that helps this terrible itching I got from getting into poison ivy. Got into it not long ago." The man said, "Me too. I'm going to try this Calamine lotion. Seems like I've heard it helps some. I personally think time helps mostly. It's down on the bottom shelf."

Both men stopped talking when they heard a familiar voice say, "Well, lookie here. Two men both itching from poison ivy. There isn't any poison ivy around here for miles. You see a couple of years ago the city council and the county commissioner decided to call in some county agents even though it cost the tax payers a lot of money. They sprayed for poison ivy and poison oak and similar plants. The only place they didn't spray was out at old Bill's Dude Ranch. The old boy didn't want any strangers messin' around his place. Old Bill had some strange ideas sometimes. Anyway seems to me that the two of you just might have both been out there at the same time and not long ago by the looks of things. So why don't the two of you take a walk with me down to my office. We'll have a nice little visit."

Allie had watched the news and had seen that K.R. had been arrested. "I guess that Haylee is good at her job, but she tricked me. Kind of hurt my feelings. I thought she was going to be my friend. I don't go for that. I think that for the next couple of hours I will go back upstairs and see if I can't find Uncle Bill's missing video will or maybe he also had a paper one. That would make my day. It's been a rough one, that's for sure. Things need to change for the better; a lot better."

Allie started by picking up all the pictures that had fallen out of the old journal when Haylee startled her earlier. Beside the desk there was a piece of furniture that she had never seen before. It had all kinds of drawers and some drawers had small individual compartments. If she recalled correctly her mother used to call furniture like this a chest of drawers. As she opened them she was disappointed. They were all empty. She so wished that she could find something that would legally prove that she was the owner of the ranch.

By the time she shut the last drawer she was tired and a little angry. Nothing seemed to be going her way. She hit the top of the old piece of furniture with her fist and walked away. But something stopped her. She heard the eeriest noise. It sounded like a creaky old spook movie noise. She chuckled and said to herself. "You've been spending too much time looking through all these old pictures. And that desk! That was ancient. She looked back at the old storage dresser and gasped. It had moved! It was turned around and was facing the wall. "Okay. I'm out of here. I think this place is haunted and I'm done!" She ran down the stairs trying to catch her breath. Her heart was beating so fast she thought she was going to faint; she could hardly swallow. She ran outside and saw two people riding horseback towards her. "That's weird. I wonder who they are. I didn't think I had any neighbors living from that direction. I hope they are nice. I need a break." She walked over to the fence and said, "Hi, I'm Aaliyah, but some folks call me Allie. Glad to meet you."

She was a bit taken aback when her neighbors didn't say hello. She thought, "Well, they probably didn't hear me." She walked even closer and said, "Hello! I'm Allie. I'm so glad to meet you." Still nothing. Allie looked over her shoulder thinking there must be something interesting or terrible behind her and looked back to her visitors and there was nothing. Nothing. No horses, no people. No dust. Nothing.

As Allie started running down the driveway to get to her Jeep she heard a loud wailing coming from her upstairs. The house was haunted! She jumped into her Jeep to go who knows where when she realized she was being silly. Halloween was only a few days away and she was making herself scared. Her house was not haunted. There is an explanation for everything. She sat for a minute to catch her breath. She got out of the Jeep and stood by the door and listened. Nothing. "See, you silly ninny. It was all your imagination. Now get yourself back in the house and get busy."

When she walked into the house she heard howling, wailing and water bubbling. "Oh no! I can't live here." Then she chuckled as she heard a voice say, "Happy Halloween from all of us at KHTV-3. Have a safe and happy trick or treat evening. The weather should be great for the kiddos." She had forgotten the old television was still on in the living room.