The Bell Bandit

Jessie and Evan make their way home, climbing Lovell’s Hill again and staring once more at the empty crossbeam where the bell should be. Jessie admonishes herself because she has neither proof that the Sinclairs took the bell nor any further information about the bell’s whereabouts. She wonders where Maxwell ran off to, remembering how scared he was when he ran off “half out of his mind” (136). Jessie runs her flashlight over the numerous footprints in the snow and suggests to Evan that Grandma may have been there recently.

Evan tells Jessie to think of their grandma’s disappearance like a puzzle and asks her where Grandma would go. As it begins to snow, Jessie thinks about the possibilities. Jessie suspects Grandma is still on the 100-acre farm and suggests they return to the house to do a backward loop of Grandma’s favorite walk.

No one is home when they arrive, so Evan leaves a note for his mother, telling her that they are out looking for Grandma and that they will stick together. The siblings search for Grandma, and Jessie calls out to her as they illuminate the woods with flashlights.