Those 70ish Girls

While preparing to write today’s Arf and Annie story, I realized I had written that Annie had gone back to the ranch and Arf had stayed at the house with the old woman. It was Arf who went back and Annie who stayed. She discovered the old woman was on fact, really a man.

Arf had been exhausted by the time he got back to the ranch. When Grandma Helen called for Steve and Brad, the two dads, they had decided Steve would follow Arf and hope that he took him to find Annie and possibly, the two dogs would know where the woman was.

Annie was doing a great job of detaining the man who had been disguised as a woman. She had dragged his overalls, with the truck keys in the pocket, down the stairs and buried them in the yard.

When Clark went to get Arf with the intention of going back to the house where he had seen his mother’s jam, Grandma Helen told him Steve and Arf had already gone.

“I’m going, too,” Clark told Grandma Helen. “When you see Brad, tell him I took the truck and went back over to the house. I think that’s where Arf and Steve were going.”

Annie: I saw Steve and Arf drive up and ran out to stop them so they wouldn’t wake the man up. (They didn’t know that I had discovered the person was really a man disguised as a woman.)

“There’s Annie,” Steve said. “It looks like she wants us to stop right here.”

When Arf and Steve got out of the truck , Annie showed them where the man had hidden his pickup and where she had buried his overalls and keys.

“I’m really confused,” Steve said. “What do these coveralls have to do with anything? Look, Arf and Annie! Here comes Clark. Run out and see if you can stop him. Someone is obviously inside that house and we don’t want to disturb them, yet.”

Steve, Clark and the two dogs, quietly entered the house through the back door. What they saw next, was confusing to Arf and Steve… and a big shock to Clark.

“Do you think this woman somehow knows your mother? Your family lives miles away. Is there not another reason someone you don’t know would have a jar of your mother’s jam? Maybe a relative gave it to an acquaintance or something?”

“I don’t know, but I think I’ll call home and make sure everything is okay.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Brad said. “I’ve got to relieve Jamie, so I’ll be in Jake ‘s room if you need me and I think Steve is around here someplace too. I feel sure that woman is far from here by now”

Annie: I was really surprised when I found out that the woman was not really a grandma at all. she was only wearing a costume to look like one. Instead of being a plump grandma, she’s a skinny man. I tried to be really quiet and try to see what he was doing at the same time.

After he ate his supper, he sat in a chair in the living room for a while and stared out the window. He didn’t turn a light on, probably because the human didn’t want anyone to know he was there. I took a chance and went upstairs to see what I could find.

All I found was the little bag he had brought with him from the pickup. I nosed around inside and guess what I found? A picture of Clark. He was younger than he is now and he was sitting by an older man. Then I noticed the older man was playing Clark’s guitar. They were both smiling and happy.

I knew I was taking a chance staying upstairs for so long, so I went back down the stairs and stayed in the coat closet until I heard the man human go back up the stairs. After that, I went to the front door to see if there was a way I could fix it so the man human couldn’t get out. It locked from the inside, so that wouldn’t work.

*************************************

Annie instinctively knew she was going to have to keep the human from leaving until someone came and found him. Maybe he would lie down and go to sleep.

About an hour later, Annie heard him snore, so she creeped up the stairs and grabbed his coveralls that were lying on the floor. She dragged them down and buried them outside. She was feeling quite proud of herself when she got an added bonus. The keys to the pickup were in his pockets.

********************************************

“Mama,” It’s Butch. I just called to see how everyone is doing. Is everything okay?”

“Sure, honey…why wouldn’t it be? The kids are getting ready to start school and your daddy is busy making furniture. He’s got more work than he can say grace over.”

Clark felt better after talking to his mama. When he asked her about the jam, she said it must have just looked like hers and wanted to know if he had tasted it.

Something was still nagging at Clark. Brad and Steve were busy with their kids. Maybe he should ask Brad if he could borrow his truck. He wanted to take Arf and go back over to that house.

The old woman sat in her rocking chair until the sun was setting and she could no longer see to carve. She picked up some of her things and took them inside the house. She had her tool box and binoculars which she would put away in the bedroom and then come back for her carving. The picnic basket was still sitting by the door. There was nothing in there she wanted except the fresh loaf of bread. She would make herself some bacon and eggs for supper. She couldn’t remember if there was a toaster. If not, she would just have some bread and that good chokecherry jam that Martha made.

While the old woman was upstairs, Arf and Annie came inside through the door she had left open. They decided to hide in a big downstairs coat closet and keep an eye on her for a while. If it looked like she was going to stay the night, they would go to the ranch and get Brad and Steve. It wasn’t that far away.

Upstairs, the woman couldn’t wait to get out of the getup she had on. First she took off the dress and put on an old bathrobe. Next, she removed the gray wig. Then, very carefully, she pulled off the silicone mask. Surely no one would come there tonight.

Arf and Annie didn’t recognize the person who came down the stairs, went into the kitchen and proceeded to fry eggs.

They decided this person had on a bathrobe so would most likely stay the night.

• 

Arf: You go to the ranch, Annie. I don’t know who this person is, but we need to get Steve and Brad over here. Annie walked slowly past the kitchen and out the same door they had come in.

*******************************

While Jamie was watching Jake, Brad went to his study and made another call to the Sheriff. He was only able to spare one officer and so far, he hadn’t located the old woman or her truck.

While Brad was talking, Clark walked in. He wanted to talk to Brad, but it didn’t look like this was a good time. Before he could leave, Brad covered the mouthpiece of the phone and told him to take a seat. He soon ended his conversation with the Sheriff.

“Are you okay, Clark?” Brad asked. “You look a little pale.”

“I should have told you this earlier, but I was trying to figure things out first. The thing is, I can’t. I can’t figure it out.

“What can’t you figure out, Clark?”

“When Steve and I were over at the house the woman took the kids to, we looked around some to see if she had left anything behind that might tell us who she is.”

“You and Steve both said you didn’t find anything.”

“Brad…why would that woman have my mom’s homemade chokecherry jam in her refrigerator? And there’s something else that’s been bothering me. Steve and I didn’t look upstairs.”

“Brad and Steve!” Grandma Helen yelled. “Annie is here. She looks like she has been running for miles.”

Next…Arf investigates

Arf was hoping grandma human would either slow down enough so that he could jump into the back of the pickup where Annie was, or stop. Either would have to be soon because a dog can only run so far and he didn’t want to lose them.

On the other hand, Annie didn’t know what to do, either. Now that the old woman was no longer a threat to the kids, did it even matter if they stayed with her?

Soon the pickup started to sputter and grandma human stopped and got out. Annie was hiding under the tarp so the woman didn’t see her when she reached into the truck bed to grab a tool. She lifted up the hood of the truck and began to work on something. While she couldn’t see him, Arf jumped in and hid under the tarp with Annie.

Soon they were on their way again.

******************************************************

When Steve and Clark got to the house where the old woman had taken the kids, Steve intended to show Clark the picnic basket he and Tom had found when they were there earlier. “It’s right inside the front door, he said. “They must have forgotten it, or at least the kids were hoping it would be left behind or Katie wouldn’t have put her hair ribbon in the bottom of it. I know she put it there so we would find it and know that they were here.”

“Or maybe the old woman put it there and purposely left the basket here,” Clark suggested.

When Steve was there earlier, he had been able to get inside the house through the back door, which is how he and Clark came in this time. On the way to the living room, they stopped to look the kitchen over.

They started looking through empty cupboards and then Clark opened the refrigerator door. Inside they found eggs, bacon, butter, a can of biscuits, and some jam. Clark took a second look at the jam and then put it back where he had found it.

When they got to the living room they found the picnic basket right where it was when Steve and Tom had been there.

“We looked through it earlier,” Steve said. “There is plenty of food in there to feed three people a couple of meals. It does tell us one thing, though. It doesn’t look like she’s come back here…at least not yet.”

They went out the front door, walked around to the truck, and headed back to the ranch.

****************************

Just as Arf and Annie were considering giving up, the grandma human pulled over and shut the pickup off.

Arf: She’s getting out of the pickup again, and it’s not even making a noise. Where do you think she’s going?

Annie: I don’t know but I think we should follow her. Maybe she’ll lead us to where she lives and we can show Steve and Brad, later

Arf: Ten four!

Annie: What?

Arf: Ten four… That’s detective speak for okay. But if we want her to take us to where she lives, we still can’t let her see us.

Annie: Ten four!

The woman human got her cane and a small bag out of the backseat of the truck and proceeded to walk along a path that, judging from the way it was overgrown, hadn’t been used in a while.

Arf: How did we get back here? She drove off from town and she didn’t take the turn that takes us here.

Annie: This is the same house we came to when we were following her this morning. But look! There must be a back way. That’s the back of the house.

The old woman went in the back door and up the stairs. She put her bag on a table in one of the bedrooms and then she went back down the stairs and walked back to the pickup. When she got there, she reached in the truck bed and grabbed the tool box that Arf and Annie had seen. Both dogs were hiding close by in the grass. They followed her back to the house but that’s as far as they could go.

Arf: Who is this grandma human and why is she here?

Annie: Hide Arf she’s coming out onto the porch.

They watched as the grandma human sat down in a rocking chair and put her tool box beside her. She opened it and reached inside to get a pair of binoculars. She began to look through them in the direction of the road. After watching for a while, she reached inside the tool box again and pulled out a piece of wood and some sort of wood carving tool. She began to work on the wood as she rocked.

Back at the ranch Jamie and Dina were hovering over the children while they were feeding them dinner. They had decided since the woman who took them was still out there somewhere, the moms and dads would take turns watching over Katie and Jake in their rooms all during the night.

When Steve was saying goodnight to Katie, he casually asked her a couple of questions.

“What did the woman that said she was your grandma look like, Katie? You said that she was old.”

“I don’t know what she looked like. I never saw her face. I know she was old because she used a cane.”

• 

• 

• 

I just spent an hour writing the latest chapter in the story of Arf and Annie. I hit the wrong something on my laptop and lost it all. Did you hear me? I lost every word…and they were good words. I liked them a lot. They really added to the story. The story was exciting and full of adventure. I can probably manage to rewrite some of it, but there is no way it will be as good as it was before I lost it.

Let’s see if I can remember what was going on.

Steve and Tom had discovered the kids and the old woman had been to the house that Steve and Dina lived in when Katie was a baby. After that discovery, they went back to the ranch where Steve gave the information to the Sheriff.

Brad and Mark were together,  checking with all of the ranchers and finally decided to drive into town before going back to the ranch.

Arf spotted Brad’s truck and ran to catch up and take them to the hot dog stand where Jake and Katie were. The old woman who said she was their grandma was waiting for them in her truck. Annie was still hidden in the truck bed.

When Arf caught up with Brad and Mark and got them to head back to town, they got stuck waiting for a train to go by. In the meantime, Grandma saw them and took off… leaving the kids sitting at a picnic table by the hot dog stand.

(I don’t like how this is going. I didn’t do a recap the first time I wrote this.)

Arf barked and Mark let him out so he could take them to the children. It wasn’t long before they reached the hot dog stand.

They could see Jake sobbing and Katie was holding on to him tightly. “Grandma left us,” he said. “I just saw her drive away.”

“There’s Uncle Brad and Uncle Mark!” Katie said excitedly. “Arf is with them, too.”

“Daddy.” Jake shouted as he ran to Brad’s open arms. Brad couldn’t believe he and Jamie had been given this beautiful little boy to raise as their own.

“Daddy, Grandma left us here.”

“She did? You two are going to have to tell Uncle Mark and me all about it.”

“Brad, I’ll go over to the General Store and call the ranch to tell everyone we found the kids. Where is Arf? Katie, were Arf and Annie with you two?”

“Nope. They weren’t with us.”

Both Brad and Mark were puzzled. Arf had seen them  and took them to the kids and now he was gone.

When Mark called the ranch, he talked to Steve who told them about finding Katie’s hair ribbon. “We went to the house Dina and I lived in when Katie was born. No one is currently living there, but when we found the ribbon, we knew they must have been there earlier.”

“Maybe that’s where she went, now,” Mark said. “I think we should go take a look.”

I can’t imagine who this person is,” Steve said. “I’m just grateful that Katie and Jake are alright. What about Arf and Annie? Are they doing okay?”

“Arf led us to the kids and then took off while we were distracted. We haven’t seen Annie at all.”

Mark handed the phone to Brad and turned to ask Katie what the old woman had been driving.

“It was an old pickup truck. It was kind of rickety. Jake and I put our seat belts on Uncle Mark. We went on some bumpy roads.”

“Steve and Clark are going to head over to the house and see if the woman is there and if by chance Arf and Annie have found her,” Brad told Steve. “Katie said the woman was driving a rickety pickup truck. Arf and Annie must have hidden in the back. We had better get these kids home. Their mothers are having fits.”

********************************************************

All the woman who called herself Grandma was thinking about was getting home. She was unaware that Annie was hidden in the back of the truck.

Annie: I was able to see behind us and I was relieved when I saw Arf. He had caught up with us in good time. I just hoped wherever we were going wasn’t too far for him to run. I had been able to tell that Grandma human was in a weakened state. She didn’t appear to be feeling well at all.

Arf: It was a good thing I had caught up with them because Grandma human wasn’t going where I thought she would. She had gone in a completely different direction.

The old woman slowly walked to the truck as the kids, who were getting extremely hungry, rushed ahead and jumped in. Arf and Annie were already in their hiding place in the back. Eventually, the woman made it into the truck and began to drive the remainder of the way to town.

“Can we go to the hot dog stand on Main Street?” Katie asked. “You like hot dogs don’t you Jake?”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll find Main Street and you can tell me where the hot dog stand is, Kathy.”

“My name is Katie, Grandma. Don’t you even know?”

“Of course I do,” the old woman quickly said. “I’m getting tired and I just misspoke. I see the town up ahead. Help me look for Main Street.”

They were on the edge of town when unbeknownst to the woman and the two children, Arf bailed out of the truck. He had seen Brad’s truck and he was trying his hardest to catch up with it.

Meanwhile, the woman and the two children continued on to town with Annie still in the back of the truck. It would be her job to keep the kids safe.

“Hold up,” Mark said. “There’s Arf. He’s trying to catch up with us.”

Brad pulled over and both he and Mark got out of the truck and waited for Arf. When he got there, he barked and turned around. Time was of the essence and he wanted Brad and Mark to get back on the road. Arf got into the cab with them, and they headed back toward town.

“Where’s Annie, Boy?” Brad asked. “Are she and the kids okay?”

“Woof”

************************************************

The old woman and the children were able to find the hot dog stand on Main Street. By this time, the woman wasn’t feeling up to getting out of the truck, so she parked it in the closest parking spot to wait while the kids went to buy the food.

“Now, I’ll give you kids some money and you can buy the hot dogs. We’ll eat them in the truck and then I will take you home…Okay? How would that be?”

“Good, Grandma,” Jake said. “Are we far from there?”

“No Jim,” the old woman answered. “Home is much closer than you think.”

“I wonder why Grandma called me Jim?” Jake asked as he and Katie walked hand in hand to get the hot dogs.

The old woman watched as the children purchased the hot dogs and sodas. The town was small so even though it was Main Street, there wasn’t much traffic. She wished they would hurry as she was not feeling well and she was in a hurry to get going.

From her parking spot, she could see in all directions. She noticed a truck pull up to the train track that went through Main Street just as the light turned to warn that a train was coming. She knew that truck and also knew she couldn’t wait for the kids. She backed out and left. She would go home. Yes…She would have to leave the children and go home.

Annie knew what was happening and made the decision to stay where she was. She would stay with the old woman and somehow, make sure she would be found in the event she was able to hide out somewhere.

It was a very long train, and by the time Brad and Mark were able to cross the tracks, the old woman was long gone.

“Grandma is gone!” Jake began to cry. “How will we get home, Katie? Grandma left us.”

 

 

 

 

 

“So we know that the kidnapper was a woman, but that’s about all we know,” the Sheriff said. “We don’t know if she knew the kids, or since Katie was half asleep and no one heard the woman in Jake’s room, we don’t know if either of them recognized her.”

“Wouldn’t it seem that she had to be somewhat familiar with the house to know where the kid’s rooms were?” Dina asked.

The Sheriff pondered that for a minute.

“You mentioned you had a rodeo here, yesterday. How well do you know all of the people that attended?” Sheriff Thompson was still taking notes.

“No one but Brad has lived here a year yet,” Miss Bessie said. “Brad has owned the ranch for twenty years, but up until recently he hasn’t socialized much. If any of us know the neighboring ranchers at all, it would have to be a new acquaintance.”

The Sheriff was getting up to leave when Steve and Tom walked in. Tom said he had an airplane to catch and excused himself. Steve was interested in talking with the Sheriff.

“Please sit down, Sheriff Thompson,” Steve said. “I don’t know if this will help you much, but we know of one place that woman and the kids stopped. It’s a house that Dina and I owned seven years ago. Its about five miles from here. By the time Tom and I got there she and the kids were gone.”

“How do you know they were even there?” Sheriff Thompson asked.

“Inside the house sitting by the front door, there was a picnic basket packed with fresh food. At the very bottom of the basket was a pink hair ribbon.”

“Oh, Steve,” Dina said. “It was Katie’s wasn’t it? We didn’t take it out and brush her hair like we usually do because she was so tired from the rodeo. She must have put it in the basket hoping we would find it.”

“Any ideas about where they may have gone from there?” The Sheriff asked.

“None at all,” Steve answered. “I’m just hoping that Arf and Annie are still keeping them in their sights and will take a safe opportunity to get them away from whoever she is.”

********************

Annie: I’d give my right paw for some water right now. Where do you think she’s taking Katie and Jake and why did she kidnap them in the first place?”

Arf: It beats me. It looks like she’s going towards town, though. I hope she is, it will be easier for us to call attention to ourselves and get the kids away from her. Let’s look around the back of this truck and see if we can get any clues that might tell us who she is.

Annie: Be careful, Arf. If she sees us, she might panic and hurt the kids.

Arf: Yup, I know. All I can see back here is an open toolbox. It has some tools like Steve uses in it. He’s a handy human. I don’t think she’s a handy human do you? Wait…there’s a locked file box back here, too.

Annie: I don’t see a suitcase anywhere unless it’s up in the cab. You would think she would have packed some things if she plans to spend the night somewhere. Uh Oh, she pulled over. If she comes back here and sees us, shall we corner her?

Arf: Not if we don’t have to. We don’t know how far we are from town and this is an old country road. It could be a long time before anyone comes along. We’ll just have to play dumb if she sees us.

Brad and Mark had been to every ranch they knew about and no one knew anything about the kids. or the woman.

“Should we go back to the house?” Mark asked. “Maybe they’ve heard something.”

“I can’t go back and tell Jamie we couldn’t find little Jake and Katie. We can’t leave any stone unturned. Let’s drive into town and check around. We can call the ranch from there.”

“Okay, sounds good,” Mark said. “Its not that far and we can take the shortcut.”

The woman got out of the truck, but didn’t look in the back where Arf and Annie were. She had spotted a little roadside park and she felt the need to get out and walk.

“Come on kids. Grandma wants you to get out and go for a walk in the park with me. I’m feeling a little light headed. I guess I should have gone back to get the picnic basket. We’ll just enjoy the fresh air for a few minutes and then drive on into town and find us something good to eat.”

Arf and Annie spotted a little water fountain. They were too thirsty not to take the chance they could steel a drink without the woman seeing them. They couldn’t let the kids see them either. They would tell the woman and it wasn’t a good time to show themselves if they didn’t have to. That would put them in a position to keep her from taking off with the kids for who knows where.

Katie and Jake were starting to get homesick. They didn’t know this grandma and they decided she should take them home. She could stay and visit if she wanted to. They would tell her right after they got something to eat in town. Yes…that was a good idea.

**********************************

Brad and Mark were just a few miles from town when they saw an old truck sitting on the side of the road.

“Someone’s truck must have broken down,” Mark said. “Funny…you don’t usually see anyone on this road. Most people don’t know about it. Whoever was driving that truck was lucky someone came along to give them a lift…unless they walked all the way. Keep your eye out for someone walking to town.”

Brad and Mark didn’t see the park where Jake, Katie, and the woman who took them from their beds were about to return to the truck.

The morning after the rodeo at the ranch, as each member of the household woke up, they thought about what a fun day it had been. There was a good turnout from the neighboring ranches and everyone enjoyed the activities, the delicious food, and getting to know each other a little better.Little Jake’s room was next to Jamie and Brad’s room, and there was an adjoining door that Jamie used to check on Jake or go to him if he had a bad dream. This particular morning, she woke up later than usual. She assumed Jake was still sleeping, but when she entered his room, she discovered he wasn’t in his bed. Thinking he must have gone downstairs by himself, Jamie and Brad rushed to the kitchen to see if Miss Bessie and Grandma Helen had seen him.As they searched, it became increasingly apparent that Jake was gone…and so was Katie.Arf and Annie had followed a truck they saw leave the ranch, to a house they recognized as being the one belonging to Steve and Dina when they were first married. They had lived there until after Katie was born and for a while after Dina left the family. She left because she was very sick and didn’t want to subject Steve to having to take care of her. He was doing well with Katie who was unable to walk and that was enough. Dina came back six years later.***********************************Arf and Annie decided to jump into the back of the truck in case whoever had the kids decided to leave again. From that vantage point, they could see through a window, until someone came and closed the curtains. That someone was a woman.Arf: Did you see Jake and Katie, Annie?Annie: Yes…they were sitting at a table. Have you ever seen that woman before, Arf?Arf: No. I don’t know who she is.************************************Dina and Jamie paced the floors until the Sheriff got there and started to question everyone.While all of this was going on, Miss Bessie went to help Barbie. She wasn’t quite used to the house and needed someone to help her find her way.”I see you’re all dressed and ready to go downstairs. You look lovely dear.””Thank Miss Bessie. I can do everything for myself except find my way around this rather large house.”There is something I need to tell you,” Miss Bessie said. “Little Jake and Katie are missing. They weren’t in their rooms this morning when their mothers went to check on them. The sheriff is here now questioning everyone.””Take me to him,” Barbie said. “I may be able to help. Tom hasn’t left for the airport has he?”“No, dear. He went with the other men to search for the kids. What if someone has taken them? I can’t believe they would run away. Besides, it’s too far to walk anywhere.”When they got to the kitchen, the Sheriff was questioning Grandma Helen who was sobbing so loudly he couldn’t hear a word she said.”Jamie…can you come here?” Barbie felt around and grabbed onto the back of a chair and pulled it out to sit on.”What is it, Barbie?” Jamie asked as she took the chair next to her new sister-in-law. “I’m trying to catch every word being said. I feel so helpless.””Bring the Sheriff to me, Jamie. I’m not sure, but I might be of some help.””It’s nice to meet you, Sheriff Thomas,” Barbie said. “I’ll get right to the point. I lost my sight in a fire twenty years ago and since that time, my other senses have become stronger. I heard something in the night, but not being used to this household, I didn’t think much about it until Miss Bessie told me the kids were missing.””Go on, Miss Humboldt,” the Sheriff said.”Katie’s room is across from mine and I think two doors to my left. In other words, if I were to stand in my doorway and walked across the hall, I would turn to my left and go down two doors and that would be katie’s room.”“I have no idea what time it was, but I thought I heard a door creak? Does Katie’s door creak?””Yes!” Dina said.! “Yes, it does. I’ve been trying to get Steve to fix it.”Barbie thought for a moment before she continued.”I heard a woman’s voice. She was talking in a loud whisper, so even if I knew her, I probably wouldn’t have recognized her voice.””Anyway, I heard her say, ‘Wake up honey. I brought you some cough syrup. You were coughing in your sleep. That’s a good girl. Now before you fall asleep again, get up and come with me so I can keep an eye on you.’ And then I heard them leave the room. I never did hear Katie say anything. I just assumed it was you, Dina and you were taking Katie to your room.”The Sheriff had been taking notes and when he looked up, everyone could tell he was happy to get the information, but at the same time, he was hoping for more.The guys had all split up and gone to the different ranch houses to ask if anyone had seen the kids and when the answer was no, as it had been so far, they asked the families if they would keep an eye out for them.Around two in the afternoon, Steve and Tom pulled up to a place Steve recognized.”Dina and I lived here a lifetime ago,” he told Tom. “A month ago, a man and his wife were living here, but I don’t see any signs that anyone lives here now.””Let’s go knock on the door and if no one answers, I’ll get us in. In my work as a firefighter, I have to know how to get into the securest of places.”************************************Arf and Annie were still hidden in the back of the truck when a woman came out with Katie and Jake.”I didn’t know I had another grandma,” Katie said. “Are you sure it’s okay for us to go on a picnic with you, today?””I don’t want to go,” Jake said. He was tired and very close to crying. “I want to go home to my mommy and daddy and take a nap.”“We won’t be late getting you back home,” the woman said. “I just love having grandchildren and I want to spoil you.”Arf: What do you think is going on, Annie?Annie: I’m trying to figure it out. I don’t think she is anybody’s grandma do you?Arf: No, but we have to come up with a plan. We have to get the kids away from her without giving her a chance to hurt them.Annie: Whatever we do, it will have to be at the next stop. She’s backing out.”Grandma,” Jake said. “You left the picnic basket inside.”“We’ll get another one. I wanted to put more candy in it anyway.”When Steve and Tom got into the house, they first thought it had been a while since anyone had occupied it…until they spotted the picnic basket.