831 Hickory

 

 

Miko and Tabitha and I screamed.

Brakes slammed.

Tires bit the road.

Birds flew from the trees.

Did we hit Leon? Everyone flew into a panic. Heart pounding, I opened my door. All three of us jumped out of the Uber. Scrambling to the front of Miko’s car, we sighed in unison. Leon’s nose was six inches from Miko’s purple bumper. My beloved, farty dog was perfectly fine. Looking up at me with big brown eyes, he smiled and wagged his tail.

I picked Leon up and nuzzled him. “Thank you, God.” Through my sunglasses, I saw joy and relief. Not on Leon, but on Miko and Tabitha. The three of us radiated happy colors as we cooed over Leon.

“What a little outlaw,” I said, giving Leon a good scratch. “How’d you bust out of your kennel?”

Miko said, “My sweet girls, I feel so guilty for nearly running over your dog. Please take more boxes of cookies. It’ll be on me, no charge. It’s the least I can do.”

I said, “You don’t have to do that, Leon is fine. But, if you insist, I will gladly take two boxes of S’mores, thank you.”

Meanwhile, the GPS voice in Miko’s car kept announcing: “831 Hickory Avenue. You have arrived at your destination.”

“Is this just a coincidence?” Tabitha whispered to me. “Leon somehow breaks out of his kennel, and ends up where my mother sent us at the exact same time.”

“Wait,” I said, eyes narrowing. “Where did she send us?”

“Good question,” Tabitha said.

We turned.

Our eyes widened.

We gasped in horror.

We had been here before.

This was the last place we wanted to be.

831 Hickory Avenue was the home of Creepy Axe Murderer Guy. Ghost Mom had dispatched her daughter and me to the spookiest address in Altoona.