Fall Thievery

Disclaimer: I do not own the Hardy Boys or any of the book characters. I do have some OCs though that are mine.

Rating/Setting: Rating is K+. Setting is pre-Blue Spine as the boys are in 5th and 6th grades. Don't worry, I'll have them grow up eventually. ;-D

Author's Notes: This story follows "Cheaters Never Prosper." While it isn't necessary to read that story to understand this one, events from that story will be referenced. And I really couldn't come up with a good title, so please forgive this very bland title. Also, this story will be pretty short – 3 chapters. I try my hand at a touch of mystery, but I admit it's not my strong suit. This story is to build on the characters and their interactions for future stories. Hope you like it in spite of the title!

And for those of you who say there needs to be more 'Joe stories'... well here you go. ;-)

Chapter One

While 5th grade didn't start off the best for Joe, things had settled down by the time the first six weeks' grading period ended. They were now in the second six weeks and his testing for the academically gifted class was complete. Now it was a matter of paperwork being completed, forms signed, and approval of placement. Joe had no idea that teachers did that much paperwork. He wondered what else they did that students usually had no idea about.

It was Friday afternoon and he was in the section of his trip home where he walked alone. His mind left thoughts of school and returned to the upcoming Halloween holiday. This year, Halloween fell on a Friday and the Mortons were throwing a huge party at the farm. He had decided on his costume and had ordered it online. It was going to be here in just a couple of days and he couldn't wait to try it on. He and Frank were keeping their costumes a secret from each other until the party. He couldn't wait… but as usual he would have to.

However, his thoughts could happily be turned to upcoming night's event. Before they had the big party at the Morton's in two weeks, there was the outdoor hayride and haunted house. To say that Hampton's Haunted Hollow was just a hayride or just a simple haunted house would be a gross understatement of gigantic proportions. Triple H drew visitors from over an hour away. The hayride portion of the event was the most sedate part of the experience, but even it had its frights as monsters, zombies and lunatics would come out of the lantern-lit rutted trail that went through part of the forest on the property. The ride set you up to get off and walk through part of the forest to an old house that was originally on the property and now served a different purpose than housing a family. What was super cool about this section was that you weren't stuck with only one route to follow. When you got off the hayride, there were at least five marked pathways that you could take and each led you somewhere different or took you to different room in the house or the old barn behind it. During the day, the owners changed up the routes so even if you went back the next night and did all the routes, you'd still have a slightly different experience. The many different people that the Hampton's hired to 'work' as the monsters/lunatics/zombies had great costumes and make-up. While Joe freely admitted that they creeped him out and even scared him on occasion, he wasn't scared of them as it was well-publicized that they all had background checks and were not to touch the guests at any time.

Joe picked up his pace and jogged toward the waiting figure of his brother at the end of the driveway. Tonight was going to be great.

Joe and Frank waved to their mom as they climbed into their dad's sedan later that evening. Joe couldn't help but frown once again as Frank got to ride shotgun up front with their father. 'Perk of being the older brother,' Frank always told him. That was Frank… older by a year and four months and taller than his younger sibling by several envied inches. Joe thought about it yet again as he buckled his seatbelt. Joe was on the short side for his age, while Frank was close to 5' and on the taller side for his peers. Joe took a little consolation that he would have a growth spurt like Frank and maybe get close to his brother's height as there wasn't any way for him to beat him in the age category. Joe's thoughts about their height left his mind as he heard his father start talking.

"Just as we planned, we'll pick up Chet and Iola. Biff, Tony, and Phil will be coming with Mr. Prito."

Joe almost wanted to roll his eyes but knew that if his father caught sight of it in the mirror he'd be in big trouble. He just felt that his parents went a little overboard in the protective area sometimes. His dad especially liked to go over all the details. It was obvious to Joe that Frank took after their father in that regard.

"Joe? Are you listening?" Fenton said when he saw Joe looking out the window.

"Yeah, Dad, of course I'm listening." Joe thought he heard Frank snicker, but since his dad didn't say anything, neither would he.

"Okay. It's just important that you know the plan," Fenton said as he glanced in the rearview mirror. Seeing Joe nod, he continued. "The two of you are to stay together. Frank will have the cell phone in case you need it."

"Because he's older." Joe couldn't help but add with yet another frown.

"Because he more careful."

"Whatever," Joe said under his breath as he once again turned to the window. It just seemed that Frank got special treatment for his age.

"Did you say something, Joe?"

"No, sir. Not at all." Joe replied without a trace of sarcasm.

"Good. I also wanted to let you fellas know that I'll be hanging around for bit and will probably go through a few times on my own." Catching sight of Frank's confused face, Fenton continued. "I've been hired by the Hamptons' to locate a thief. A pickpocket as it would seem. So, I want you to be on guard and if you notice anything, be sure to let me know."

Joe's eyes sparkled from the backseat. A mystery. No matter if he was irritated with Frank, Joe knew they'd be in this together as they both loved a mystery.

"What have they stolen?" Frank asked innocently enough.

"Oh, phones, tablets, wallets, that sort of thing," Fenton answered with a slight smile. His boys might think they were being low key but he knew that they would be trying to find the thief as well as he was. It seemed like a fairly safe thing for the boys to do a little legwork on. There hadn't been any attacks or weapons involved. So if the boys knew what to look for, then they might just be able to help him out a little.

"Have the owners seen any pattern as to where the thefts occur?" Joe asked with feigned disinterest as he looked out the window.

Fenton couldn't resist a full-blown smile as he turned to look out the driver's side window. Joe's question was one that most ten year olds wouldn't have asked or phrased in that manner. It seemed the boys were really picking up on his skills. "It is uncertain exactly where the thefts happen, but they have been discovered all through the park and since the employees move through the different areas, they can't pinpoint a zone or a suspect."

Silence took over the car as they neared the Morton farm and the boys began thinking about how to solve the mystery.

"Hi, Joe!" Iola said as she slid into the backseat of the sedan next to Joe and began to buckle.

Joe noted Chet's smile as he sat on Iola's other side. "Yeah. Hi, Joe. Hi, Frank." Chet enunciated his greeting to Frank as he looked at his sister.

"Oh yeah, hi, Frank," Iola said as blushed slightly.

"Hi, Iola. Hi, Chet." Frank and Joe chorused.

Talk then went to the week at school and the upcoming night. While the event had been open for a week, it was the first time for them this year. The excited chatter soon led to discussions of what would be different this year and what friends had already said about some changes. They were especially looking forward to the new so-called dark zones. As the friends piled out of the car, they saw their other group of friends waiting with Mr. Prito near the entrance. Seeing Al Prito, Fenton waved for the kids to run on ahead of him.

Soon the group had their tickets for three trips through the haunted event. Looking at the bill in his hand, Fenton could see why the Hamptons didn't want a lot of bad publicity. Obviously, this was a huge money maker and if people thought that pickpockets were on the prowl, profits might go down. Now he just had to see if he could figure out if it was an employee or a visitor that was doing the stealing….

Joe climbed up in the back of the trailer loaded with hay and sat next to Chet. Turning to speak to Frank who had been right behind him, he discovered that Iola had moved to sit in between them. His face colored a light pink as Iola linked her arm with his.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Iola said quietly to him.

Joe could see past Iola to the smirk on his brother's face. Disengaging his arm from hers, he grumpily said, "Sure." Turning back toward Chet, he felt a little bad as he had seen the hurt look on her face when he made a point of pulling his arm away. She's one of the guys, he thought. Why does she have to go messing up our friendship?

Frank had seen the callous way that Joe had treated Iola and he felt bad for her. Poking her in the side, he got her attention and pointed out some ghouls that were lurking in the edge of the trees.

Joe heard his brother talking to Iola and turned to see the ghouls he was talking about when the trailer lurched as the tractor started forward. Being off-balance on the hay, Iola had fallen into Frank. Joe watched as Frank helped Iola sit back up and discovered that he didn't like the way that Frank was still holding on to her or the soft giggles that came from Iola as Frank whispered to her. He worked to convince himself it didn't matter as he turned back around to talk to Chet.

Soon the group was disembarking from the wagon and choosing their paths. The group of friends quickly made their way to a trail with purple flickering solar lights that were either set into the ground. Or in cases where the grass was tall, posted on tall posts that wouldn't trip anyone.

Even though Frank and Joe were there to have fun, they looked at everyone on this particular path with them. Even though they didn't have to stay close together, they did have to move through the trail as a group. Noting how many were in their group and getting a feel for the faces, they began their trip through.

About twenty minutes later, the group reached the end point where more tractors with hay wagon waited to return them to the start. Everyone had stayed pretty close together and none of the actors in the event had made any move that they saw to touch anyone. They had gone through one dark zone that was in the woods, but being outside, it wasn't as dark as they heard some of the indoor sections were. However, they were all still excited by their first trip through. Climbing into the wagon, Joe noticed that Iola didn't sit next to him this time but had seated herself next to Frank. He didn't like it, but what could he say?