Four Miles to Pinecone — Jon Hassler

He was an eyewitness to a crime that his best friend committed. . . . 

“It all started the day school ended”

That was when my English teacher decided not to flunk me -- if I wrote a long story during my summer vacation. My name's Tom Barry. I'm sixteen, and I really do want to be a junior next year at the high school in St. Paul where I live. But with my full-time job at Mr. Kerr's grocery store, I didn't think I'd have enough time to do it.

But by the end of the week, the paper seemed small potatoes. You see, Mr. Kerr's store was broken into -- and my best friend Mouse was involved. I saw him, but I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to be a fink.

I kept mum because it was right about then that I was invited to stay at my uncle's resort near Pinecone. It's a real neat place in the Minnesota woods, and I figured I would cool out there. And then I found that they have crime just like in St. Paul -- but this time the stakes were much higher. Suddenly, my life was on the line. . . .