Valley of the Scarecrow by Gord Rollo

with this girl too. Dan didn’t want to lie to Kelly but there was no way he could tell her about this. He’d just have to lie low and hope she didn’t find out. This was the absolute last thing he needed today. He was under enough stress, what with the business going into the tank lately. He was seriously starting to wonder what he’d done to deserve all this recent chaos in his life.
    “Hey, Pat,” Dan said when he met them at the end of the driveway. He said excuse me to Kim and walked his friend back toward the parked car. “Who’s your friend? She isn’t coming with us, is she?”
    “What? Of course she’s coming. Her name’s Kim. We met a few weeks back at the pub. I ended up having dinner with her last night and mentioned we were going camping today. Don’t worry, man, I didn’t say nothing about the treasure…well, not much anyway.”
    “Dammit, Pat. What’s the matter with you? Can’t you keep your trap shut for even one night? Who else did you tell?”
    “No one, I swear. Gimme a break, Dan. I like her, okay. She’s a hottie if you hadn’t noticed. And you guys are gonna like her. Even the girls. Kim’s a lot of fun.”
    “I’m sure she is, but Christ, you didn’t have to bring her with us on this trip.”
    “Why, what’s the problem? You and Rich have yourgirlfriends with you. Why should I go without? You think I wanna sit and listen to you guys making monkey noises in your tents all night? Screw that, man.”
    It was hard to argue with that logic, Dan thought. Besides, he knew when he was beat. Kim was already here. She wouldn’t be going anywhere so he may as well get used to the idea. “Fine, but you’re going to have to drive your own car. Rich’s car is packed to the rafters already with just the four of us.”
    “No problem. It’s only a few hours, right?”
    “I guess. You better go introduce her to the gang then.”
    Pat clapped Dan on the back and ran off to go talk to Rich, Liz, and Kelly. Dan seized the opportunity to walk over and talk quietly to Kim.
    “You and Pat an item now, Kim? Good to see. I’m happy for you.”
    “Not sure yet, Danny. Maybe we are…maybe we aren’t. Have to see how the trip goes. Why? You jealous?”
    “Nope. Terrified though. You better be cool, you hear me? I’m trying to get back together with Kelly and you damn well know it. I’d appreciate if you didn’t mention nothing about us…not that there’s anything to tell.”
    Kim laughed, tossing her hair to the side in a way she knew was sexy, licking her lips as she moved in close to Dan’s ear. “Don’t worry, lover boy. I’ll be good. In fact, I’ll be anything you want me to be.”
    With that, she giggled and moved up the driveway to be introduced to the gang. Dan watched in horror as she and Kelly shook hands. The seconds ticked by slowly but Kelly soon smiled and laughed at something Kim had said and the disaster Dan had been expecting didn’t happen. Everyone was getting along just fine, in fact, so maybe he had nothing to worry about after all. Time would tell, he guessed.
    Behind him, another car pulled to a stop out on the road.
    Now who’s here? Dan wondered, turning just in time to see a little old man climbing out of the backseat of a blue and white city cab. It was Kelly’s grandfather, Malcolm Tucker, oddly dressed in track pants and dress shoes, wearing a big brown bomber jacket over the top of everything. The day was getting stranger by the minute. What the heck was Malcolm doing here at Rich’s house?
    The cabdriver shut off the engine, obviously intending to wait for the old man to get back in whenever he was ready to return home.
    “Kelly,” Dan shouted, but she was already way ahead of him, heading toward her grandfather with a concerned look on her face. He hoped there was nothing wrong, but just in case, he decided to give them some space and left them alone. Dan went up to talk to Rich and see how Pat’s “surprise” was fitting in.
    Kelly saw her