6

   Peter thought about it for a moment and could not think of any other way that would work. He gave a nod and the three of them started forward again. They walked on the rest of the way in silence.
   Eventually they came to an area that was significantly thicker with brambles. Doug led them around a large tree and then ducked down and entered into a small hole in the bushes that could not be seen because of the angle of the bushes.
   Peter ducked into the brambles and found himself in what was almost a small passageway that had been made by the upper branches of trees and bushes growing thickly together. He could not quite stand up straight, and neither could Doug. Randy, on the other hand, walked uprightly without trouble. They followed the little tunnel along as it twisted and turned and then opened up into an overgrown runoff ditch bed.
   “How did you find this?” Peter asked.
   “Just messing around,” Randy said. “Just got lucky. The pumpkin patch is on the other side of this ditch and surrounded by hills and rocks and other stuff that makes it almost impossible to get to. We don’t know how whoever’s taking care of it gets there. But this is the way we found in.
   They continued through the brambles until they broke free of them, climbing out of the ditch through a small opening where they entered a small clearing where rows of pumpkin plants grew. The ground was carefully tilled and the soil looked rich and dark, though it could have been nothing more than the moonlight. Peter stopped and gaped at the size and quality of the pumpkins that grew there. Each one was huge and orange — perfect pumpkins for carving into jack-o’-lanterns.
   “This is the most orderly pumpkin patch I’ve ever seen,” Peter said. “How does he make the pumpkins all sit just the same? And they look like they’re all exactly the same size.”
   “Yeah,” Randy said. “The guy’s clearly a nut. Look, over on that side he’s got new pumpkins plants started. And over there are the less mature ones. He rotates them that way I guess. Like he never wants to run out of pumpkins.”
   “But, he’s got to run out, right?” Peter said. “Pumpkins don’t grow year ‘round do they?”
   “I don’t know,” Randy said.
   “They don’t,” Doug said. “The primary harvest time for them is, just like you’d think, fall. But they definitely won’t grow in the dead of winter. That’s what he’s got going on over there we think.”
   Peter looked where Doug pointed and saw a structure that looked like it was incomplete. “A greenhouse we think,” Randy said. “I mean, this guy really doesn’t want to run out of pumpkins. Wacko.”
   “So where’d you find the skull?” Peter asked.
   “Over there,” Doug pointed toward the middle of the patch. “Come on.” He led the way.

end of 6