WELCOME TO ROSEWOOD MANOR

3

Then, as I took a few reluctant steps toward Adam, watching him bend low, then change directions, his arms outstretched as he ran, I realized I was all wrong about what was happening.
Adam wasn't being chased. He was chasing. Chasing after Rio.
Okay, okay. So sometimes my imagination runs away with me. Running through an old graveyard like this—even in bright daylight—it's only natural that a person might start to have weird thoughts. Especially for an imaginative.. quite observant person like me.
I called out to Adam again, and this time he heard me and turned around. He looked worried. "Spencer—come help me!" he cried.
"Adam, what's the matter?" I ran as fast as I could to catch up with him, but he kept darting through the gravestones, moving from row to row.
"Help!"
"Adam—what's wrong!? Tell me , will you !? I turned and saw that Mom and Dad were right behind me.
"It's Rio," Adam explained, out of breath. "I can't get him to stop. I caught him once, but he pulled away from me."
"Rio! Hey- Rio!" Dad started calling the dog. But Rio was moving from stone to stone, sniffing each one, then running to the next.
"How did you get all the way over here?" Dad asked as he caught up with my brother.
"I had to follow Rio." Adam explained, still looking very worried. "He just took off. One second he was sniffing around that dead flower bed in our front yard. The next second, he just started to run. He wouldn't stop when I called. Wouldn't even look back. He kept running till he got here. I had to follow. I was afraid he'd get lost."
Adam stopped and gratefully let Dad take over the chase. "I don't know what that dumb dog's problem is," he said to me. "He's just weird."
It took Dad a few tries, but he finally managed to grab Rio and pick him up off the ground. Our little terrier gave a halfhearted scream of protest, then allowed himself to be carried away.
We all got back to the car on the side of the road. Mr. Thomson was waiting by the car. "Maybe you'd better get a leash for that dog," he said, looking very concerned.
"Rio's never been on a leash," Adam protested, wearily climbing into the
backseat. What do you know about Rio , you old man ?
"Adam...." Mom gave him the "glare" enough to make him shut up.

"Well, we might have to try one for a while," Dad said quietly. "Especially if he keeps running away." Dad tossed Rio into the backseat. The dog eagerly curled up in Adam's arms.
The rest of us piled into the car, and Mr. Thomson drove us back to his office, a tiny, white, flat-roofed building at the end of a row of small offices. As we rode, I reached over and stroked the back of Rio's head.
Why did the dog run away like that? I wondered. Rio had never done that
before. I guessed that Rio was also upset about our moving. After all, Rio had spent his whole life in our old house. He probably felt a lot like Adam and I did about having to pack up and move and never see the old neighborhood again. The new house, the new streets, and all the new smells must have freaked the poor dog out. Adam wanted to run away from the whole idea. And so did Rio.
Anyway, that was my theory.
Mr. Thomson parked the car in front of his tiny office, shook Dad's hand, and gave him a business card. "You can come by next week," he told Mom and Dad. "I'll have all the legal work done by then. After you sign the papers, you can move in anytime." He pushed open the car door and, giving us all a final smile, prepared to climb out.
"Harold Thomson," Mom said, reading the white business card over Dad's
shoulder. "That's an unusual name. Is Harold an old family name?"
Mr. Thomson shook his head. "No," he said, "I'm the only Harold in my family. I have no idea where the name comes from. No idea at all. Maybe my parents didn't know how to spell Charlie!"

Wait... Charlie ? Wasn't that the name in the letter dad received? I thought as my suspicions ..very bad suspicions raised of him. Could he have written that letter and trapped us in this weird place?  

Chuckling at his terrible joke, he climbed out of the car, lowered the wide black hat on his head, pulled his blazer from the trunk, and disappeared into the small white building.
Dad climbed behind the wheel, moving the seat back to make room for his big stomach. Mom got up front, and we started the long drive home. "I guess you and Rio had quite an adventure today," Mom said to Adam,rolling up her window because Dad had turned on the air conditioner.
"I guess," Adam said without enthusiasm. Rio was sound asleep in his lap,
snoring quietly.
"You're going to love your room," I told Adam. "The whole house is great.
Really."
Adam stared at me thoughtfully, but didn't answer.
I poked him in the ribs with my elbow. "Say something. Did you hear what I
said?" But the weird, thoughtful look didn't fade from Adam's face.