“In your excitement, you must have locked that door yourself.”
“I never did!” Dan denied. “I haven’t been near this door since we came in and toted the freezers downstairs.”
“Then how’d it get locked from the inside? I know I didn’t do it.”
As the full realization of what could have happened, dawned upon the two, they stared at each other an instant. Neither voiced the thought that someone might be in the building with them, but Dan involuntarily raised his eyes toward the darkening belfry steps. Those creaking sounds he had heard now seemed to have significance.
“Let’s see if we can get out of here,” Brad said gruffly.
The bolt stuck. He struck it sharply with his fist, and it flew back. The door opened readily.
“That’s a relief!” Dan exclaimed, drawing a natural breath again. “And how!”
The two cubs hurriedly left the building. Having no key, they could not lock the church door from the outside.
“Anyway, we’re leaving it just as we found it,” Brad said. “Dan, you’re sure you didn’t slip that bolt in an absent-minded moment?”
“Positive.”