Final brainstorm for NaNo 2021

Okay, so here’s the brainstorming. 15 minutes.
Keith is exploring the old slaughterhouse, which everyone in town calls the O’Leary slaughterhouse. So he thinks is was Bryant’s. In reality it is on Bernard’s land. The place is falling down and dangerous, but Keith believes there is money hidden in the slaughterhouse somewhere. People in town keep talking about money hidden around there somewhere.
Trent and Diane will not let Keith look for the money. Diane keeps rambling on about the curse and how finding that money will bring death to them all, etc. So Keith goes out at night while everyone else is sleeping.
He is exploring the slaughterhouse when he starts hearing noises. He tells himself he’s hearing things. It’s a mouse. It’s a squirrel. It’s a racoon. He keeps telling himself all of these things. It will start to get to him eventually, though. He will shine his light in the direction of a noise and see a raccoon. As he is laughing at himself he could swear he feels a hand on his shoulder. Suddenly he is propelled off his perch into the slaughterhouse drain system, breaking his leg.
He will wind up in the slaughterhouse until the next morning when Trent comes to find him. He will not tell anyone about the hand on his shoulder. He chocks it up to being nervous and tired in the middle of the night.
Keith will heal up, of course, getting a walking boot within a couple of weeks. He goes back to exploring the property but tells Diane he will stay away from the slaughterhouse. He tells her he found some other outbuildings and wants to go check them out.
Diane has never been to the very back of the property in the woods. She knows Dale told her of some old buildings back there, but he also said they were not very safe and would rather not have her back there. She tries to tell Keith not to explore back there, but he does anyway.
He probably finds some cool stuff, and brings Trent out the next day to check out one building full of old farming tools and equipment – yolks, tack and other animal supplies. They find some cool old clothing, boots and the like. They decide this is a cool way to spend some time before Diane turns the property over to them.
Little did they know they were being watched.
This is when there will be a fire in the horse barn. There will be a “logical” explanation, of course. It will look like maybe rodents chewed through the wires in the barn, causing an electrical fire. That will not be the true cause – it will be arson. Keith can feel it, but he cannot prove it. Diane, obviously, will chock it up, once again, to the curse. She will say it was the ghost of Bryant. She is sure she saw him near the barn the night of the fire.
Near the end of the story the reader will meet Bernard. Keith will get far enough to the back of the property to see Bernard’s farmhouse. The dwelling is huge, as a farmhouse would be, but Keith has no idea it is on another piece of property. Bernard has not kept it up, so it looks as if it could be abandoned.
Maybe Bernard now lives in a smaller building or guest house on the property. That would make sense – and give Keith time to explore the old farm house at least once before running into Bernard.
Keith will find a bunch of things worth money and start to take them back to Diane’s property.
The only issue is Keith is now in a walking cast, but it is still winter or at least early spring. He will have to figure out how to get a regular boot on that foot to go exploring like this. But he is very motivated by money, so he will do whatever it takes. He feels like there is money there for the taking – more than he can get out of Diane’s land when he takes it over.
Eventually Bernard will be waiting for Keith at the house. He will take a bat to Keith, not killing him, but disabling him enough for Bernard to tie him up. He intends to get a ransom for Keith – he knows the family is wealthy.
In the end, Trent will save Keith, turning the tables finally after years of Trent feeling like a far second to his cousin.