Don't Tell Anyone by Peg Kehret Page A

these woods, the sooner I get out of here, the better.
    The path down the hill was hard to follow in the dark. Megan tried to stay in one of the two lines where Shane’s tires had flattened the grass.
    Smoke from the burned balloon stung her nostrils. Acrid with gasoline, it hung in the air. She hoped any grizzlybears or mountain lions would smell it, too, and stay away from this part of the forest.
    As she walked she listened for sounds in the woods around her. She heard only leaves rustling and a far-off hoot owl.
    A half-moon rose high enough to send a faint light through the woods. Megan walked faster.
    Light beamed through the distant trees; then Megan heard a motor. Someone was coming! Headlights flashed on the path below her.
    They’ve found me, Megan thought, but her gladness lasted only a second. It seemed too soon. Even if the fire had been spotted, a rescue car could not have discovered this little-used path so quickly.
    She stopped. What if it was Shane, coming back?
    Megan left the path and pushed through the underbrush. She passed a clump of trees and kept going.
    She came to a large fir tree and hid behind it.
    The car chugged closer, climbing the path. If it was a different car, she would rush out and call to the driver. If it was Shane, she would remain behind the fir tree and hope he couldn’t see her.
    The headlights came around a bend a short distance from where Megan had left the path. She pressed herself against the rough bark. The tree smelled like Christmas-time; Megan blinked back tears as she thought of Mom and Kylie.
    When the car passed her, she looked out and recognized Shane’s white Ford.
    She stayed behind the tree after the car passed. The lights faded from her sight, but in only a few minutes she heard Shane shout, “It’s mine! What have you done with it?”
    She realized he had come back to get the envelope. Curious, Megan removed the envelope from her pocket and tore it open. She tipped the contents toward the moonlight.
    â€œOh!” she whispered. No wonder he was so upset; the envelope that she had taken was full of money.
Lots
of money!
    As Megan put the envelope back in her pocket, she wondered who the money belonged to. Probably not Shane, she thought. If it was rightfully his, he would not have to stage a fake balloon accident and sneak away in the night.
    She heard him yell, “You won’t get away with this. I’ll find you! I’ll track you down! And when I do . . .” His voice trailed away, as if he could not think of any punishment terrible enough.
    Soon the headlights appeared again, going back down the hill. Megan crouched in the dirt behind the big tree. The car moved slowly; she knew he was searching for her as he drove.
    He had the window down now. Even though he did not see her, he continued to yell at her as he drove. “I’ll get you! I’ll get you!” He sounded wild and out of control, as if his rage had overcome his brain.
    The headlights zigzagged on the path. Megan wasn’t sure if he drove that way on purpose, trying to watch for her on both sides, or if he was so distraught that he couldn’t control the car.
    Would he be able to tell that the underbrush was bent down where she had left the path? Would he stop and follow the broken brush to where she was hiding?
    If he did, should she hide the envelope and pretend she had never seen it? Or should she give it to him as a way to squelch his anger?

15
    Megan decided to hide the money. Giving it back to him would be proof that she had taken it in the first place; that might make him even angrier.
    She dug into the dirt with her fingers, making a flat trench about six inches wide. She laid the envelope in the shallow hole, then shoved the loose dirt on top of it. Unless a person knew exactly where to look, the envelope would never be noticed.
    As the car drove closer, he screamed, “Your cats will be dead tomorrow morning, and you’ll