OOC: The following is the result of the successful combine roll in the previous thread.


It didn't take long for Kevin and Pesky to get everyone's attention and remind them of the importance of the investigation. Jimmy was eager to hear what Kevin had learned inside of Ralph's house. And Bart and Houston were both shocked and intrigued that Pesky was actually inside Ralph's house with the old woman, alone for more than 2 seconds.

As they made their way back to the tree house. Kevin and Pesky observed Edith and how she interacted. How she talked to the other kids while they were trying to 'round them up.' It was at this moment that they realized something:

She wasn't making it up.

She really did believe that she had thought of many of the ideas she claimed credit for. It wasn't some malicious intent to steal Peksy's idea about keeping the investigation secret. Nor was Edith attempting to falsely claim credit for stealing Jimmy's idea of skipping to avoid the cracks on the pavement as they made their way from the sidewalk to the grass.

It was as if Edith was blind to the fact that these weren't her ideas. As if he ego was so big that she didn't even realize that they weren't her ideas.

As they walk back to the treehouse, Kevin watches Edith thoughtfully, almost like he's calculating. In the end, he just gives a bit of a grin to Pesky and doesn't challenge the girl. At least, not yet. He just plays along, for the moment.

After making that decision, his interest turns to the treehouse that they are approaching, and he asks, curiously, as the thought pops into his head, "Do we have a name? Something like 'Rodeo Drive Investigations'? Naw, that's kind of boring. And obvious. And takes too long to say."

Pesky returned Kevin's grin and gave his head a slight shake.  Edith was nuts.  The more he was around her, the more he was convinced of it.  He continued smiling to himself.

As they neared the treehouse, he thought about Kevin's question.  "No name yet, but that's a cool idea."  He added quietly, so only Kevin could hear, "Maybe Edith can come up with a name all by herself."

He smiled and approached the ladder, waiting for Edith to climb up first.

Kevin, Pesky and the rest of the kids climbed up into the tree house. The smell of pine wood filled their nostrils. Corey immediately went over to the pulley system and started to tinker with it. The rest of the kids naturally formed a circle in the center around the hatch where they just had emerged climbing the ladder moments before. Edith seated herself Indian style, her huge head both illuminated by the sunlight while at the same time blocking the sun. There was banter and jokes, but eventually everyone naturally quieted down and soon the only think that could be heard was the squeaky tinkering of Corey adjusting the pulley system.

The rest of the kids stared with giddy anticipation at Pesky and Kevin. It was clear that they wanted to know. They wanted to know what they had seen and heard in the creepy house. They wanted to know about the old woman and Ralph. They wanted he whole story and all of the details.

Kevin giggles a bit at Pesky's comment, before climbing into the tree after the others.

Finding himself at the centre of attention with Pesky a few moments later, he starts to talk nervously. Which, for him and his hyperactive brain, means continuously. "Ralph seemed pretty normal, except for he stuttered, but that isn't that weird. Ralph's house was… Have you ever been to your grandma's place? With that weird old people smell and lots of boring decorations and stuff? It was like that. Didn't look like a kid lived there. I asked Ralph if he lived with his grandma, but he said she wasn't his real grandma. He even had a real mom that he could remember but he could remember this mom at the same time. He said he just woke up at the beginning of summer living with her. He wanted our help to find his real mom."

Then, he adds, "His mom — the 'mom' we met, I mean — was really really nice, but… It didn't feel right. First she offered us some food, and Ralph shook his head like he was trying to warn us. So we said no, but Ralph seemed okay when she asked if we wanted hot cocoa so we said yes. Then she said Ralph had to do extra stuff at school because there weren't many kids around, which doesn't make any sense!" He says this almost as if adults not making logical sense messed up the whole world order.

"Then she said she was going to give Ralph chocolate milk, and I asked why couldn't Ralph have hot cocoa too, except I called it hot chocolate because that's what my family always calls it, and she said she was being silly and forgetful and that it was hot chocolate. But, she gave us chocolate milk anyway. It was really good chocolate milk, and it made me want to trust her, so I told her why we were there. That's when Ralph started going," and here he does an imitation of Ralph's silent warning to get away from there. "That's when we ran."

Finally he seems to realize that Pesky has a perspective to share as well, and he says, sheepishly, "Sorry. Always talk too much."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:39, Fri 28 Feb 2020.

Pesky listened as Kevin filled everyone in, nodding at appropriate times.  When Kevin finished, he cleared his throat and took out his notebook.

"That about covers it," he said, looking at his notes.  "The only thing missing is, when we first got there we met a girl named Penelope who lives on Main.  She told us something about a carnival, but I never really understood what all she meant.  She's also the one that pointed us to Ralph.  I thought we'd have time to talk to her again after Ralph's house, but it was too late and we had to get home."

"Maybe we can catch up with her again tomorrow?" he added as he tucked his notebook back into his pack.

"So," he said, turning to Edith.  "What do you think?"

Corey sat down, joining the circle as Kevin summed up in what sounded like a fast and furious, and hyperactive story. After Pesky's more deliberate explanation and reading of the notes, Corey chimed in. "It was really weird. I mean really weird." He looked towards both Kevin and Pesky for affirmation.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:29, Sat 29 Feb 2020.

Edith didn't say anything for a second. She looked up at the ceiling as if the answer could be found there. She had an annoyed look on her face as if she wasn't satisfied or as if she was angry at Kevin or at Pesky or maybe even Corey.

"Good work." She said, face still looking annoyed as always. "This gives us something to work with." She rubbed her hands on the side of her large head near her temples as if she was trying to soothe a headache.

"We've got to find out more from Penelope." She announced. "I've seen here come into the neighborhood. So that means she'll probably be here soon again. Someone needs to find her. We need to ask her more questions. That's probably the safest mission."

Corey gave his own frown looking at Edith as he said "I bet that's not the only thing, is it?"

Edith ignored Corey and looked first at Kevin and then at Pesky.

"Someone has to conduct surveillance at Ralph's house." She said in a serious tone. "Someone has to hide and watch Ralph's house to see what's going on. Who comes in and who goes out. And to see if anything suspicious is happening. We have to see if the old woman ever leaves and when she does, what she does. We also need to see if Ralph is safe. First at a distance, and then maybe take a quick peek through the windows, maybe check out the back yard."

"But only if the coast is clear."

"I knew it. I knew there was something else! Oh great. Just when we all got out of there, now there's this part." He complained, genuinely disliking Edith's idea.

Kevin looks surprised for just a moment, as Edith actually comes up with ideas on her own, but then nods quickly. Unlike Corey, he seems excited at the idea, though he probably hasn't realized yet how much sitting and waiting will be involved. "Good ideas! But the grownups there are really really nosy about kids being out on the street. So gotta pick a really good hiding place. And, probably need a big distraction to get their attention while we get in place. And if we can talk to Ralph again safely we should because we gotta find out both his moms' names. So we can find his real one and so we can check the phone book to see if the fake one actually lives there or is, like, totally fake."

"Of course its a good plan. When we're all planning together, its usually a good...." Edith's sentence was cut short, the words overcome by a loud, thunderous

CRACK!!!!!!!


Something huge had hit the outside of the tree house. It made a really loud noise, like brick had fallen from the sky and fell onto the roof or the side of the structure. Gary braced his hands on the floor and Corey gave a little jump.

Edith's huge head turned towards the source of the noise.

Something had hit the tree house from outside.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:19, Fri 13 Mar 2020.

"Oh great. Just great! We already did this. Why do we have to go back and keep prodding at that stupid house. I think we're headed towards trouble. Its so creepy and stupid. We should just stay here and play Red Light, Green Light or something else." He complained, but clearly not thinking anyone would join in his bellyaching.

Kevin looks surprised, but then smiles, "Okay!" He looks around the others, and asks, "Does anybody want to help?"

"Alright. That sounds like a plan." Gary said. "Good on you Kevin. I'll join Kevin's group. There's strength in numbers. That's something my Uncle Sonny always says." Gary said.

Kevin smiles brightly as Gary joins the team, and nods quickly in agreement, "Yeah! Exactly!"

Considering for a moment after that, he says, "We gotta scout and find a hiding spot for next time to do like a full stakeout but don't wanna look like we're looking for a spot. So we should go pretending to just be playing near the house, maybe?"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:14, Sat 21 Mar 2020.

CRACK!!!!!!!

SLAM!!!

BANG!!!

THUD!!!

Now many things were hitting the outside of the tree house. Loud noises. Like bricks or rocks.

It was evident by the look on everyone's faces that something was happening.

"What in the world..." Edith's voice trailed off.

The noises kept coming.

"It sounds like...." Gary ventured.

BANG!!!

THUD!!!!

SLAM!!

"We're under attack!!!!!!!!!" Corey confirmed, standing up and shouting the alarm. "SOMEONE'S ATTACKING THE TREE HOUSE WITH ROCKS!!!!"

Pesky inched toward the entrance and tried to look down the ladder.