A second man stepped into the clearing, his slim figure striped by shadows. He clasped a plastic box with a short antenna in both hands. He was younger than the other man and his hair was blond and straight.
Benny stared at the two men. The bushy-haired man also had a plastic box. The men glared at each other.
“I bet you’re Andrew Beldon,” Benny said to the younger man.
The blond man grinned. “You’re right! And who might you be?”
“I’m Benny Alden,” he replied. “We came to find you.”
As Grandfather came forward, Andrew’s face lit up. “Mr. Alden!” he cried. “What are you doing here in the Everglades?”
“Just what my grandson said,” Grandfather answered. “Your father called me. He said he hadn’t heard from you and he was worried. So he asked me to come down and look around. These are my grandchildren. You’ve already met Benny. This is Henry, Violet, and Jessie.”
“We thought something had happened to you,” Jessie said. “Melanie Harper wouldn’t tell us anything.”
Andrew wrinkled his nose. “That’s a long story. Didn’t think I’d notice you, did you?” he said to the bushy-haired man.
The other man tried to slip away, but tripped over a mangrove root. He fell, dropping his plastic box in the muck. Andrew crossed the clearing and picked up the box.
“It’s almost like yours,” Benny commented. “How come you both are out here with those boxes?”
Henry knew. “Those are electronic receivers. Andrew and this other guy were tracking a panther.”
“Cat Number Twenty-seven,” Violet finished.
Andrew stared at her in astonishment. “That’s right, but how did you know?”
“Gus Hummer gave us the paper with the numbers on it,” Violet said. “The one that listed the cats and their signals. You had circled Number Twenty-seven in red.”
“Good old Gus. I told him, if I didn’t come back in a week, to take the paper to the park authorities,” Andrew said. “But why would he take it to you kids instead?”
“Melanie kept giving us the runaround,” Jessie said. “So we found out where you lived and met Gus.”
“Obviously Gus trusted you kids. But how did you know about the signal collars?” Andrew was clearly impressed.
Jessie replied, “We talked to your partner, Nelda Pearson. She told us how you felt about the panthers.”
“Your grandchildren are very smart,” Andrew said to Grandfather.
“Yes, they’ve solved quite a few mysteries,” Grandfather said. “But I wish you had called your father, Andy. He’s been very worried.”
“I know and I’m sorry. I was away longer than I intended.” The ranger kept one foot on the bushy-haired man’s leg so he couldn’t get up and run away.
“Because of this man?” Benny asked.
“Yes, we were both tracking the signals of Cat Number Twenty-seven,” said Andrew. “Twenty-seven — I call him Runner because he’s fast — is a healthy male cat. I started to worry about him a few weeks ago, when I noticed his movements were becoming erratic.”
“Err-what?” Benny asked.
Andrew explained. “The cats wander within their own territories. Those territories can cover up to two hundred square miles. Runner kept invading other panthers’ areas. He acted like he was lost. Or like something was after him. I figured he was in some sort of trouble. So I decided to track him and make sure he was okay.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” asked Henry.
“I didn’t have time,” said Andrew. “And I had a suspicion I wanted to keep to myself until I had proof.”
“What were you suspicious of?” Violet wanted to know.
“I believed Runner was being hunted — and not by another animal.” Andrew frowned at the bushy-haired man. “Soon I was tracking both the cat and a man. It wasn’t hard, since this guy has a similar receiving device. Plus he left footprints all over the place.”
“Like this one!” Benny proudly showed Andrew the plaster cast of the boot mark.
“Boy you kids are real pros!” Andrew said admiringly.
“We’ve been seeing this guy everywhere,” Jessie told Andrew. “He followed us up on the observation tower at Shark Valley. And we’ve seen him in the snack shop at the Miccosukee Village.”
Irene scowled at the man on the ground. “I’ve seen you hanging around, too. Who are you?”
Sighing, the man sat up. “My name is Ned Fry. I work for a rich man who owns a private zoo. He wanted a Florida panther in his zoo. So he hired me to catch one.”
“That’s terrible!” Violet exclaimed. “There are so few cats left in the wild. And you were going to steal one!”
“It’s called poaching,” Andrew said. “Ned Fry isn’t the first to poach in the Everglades. Some people will pay lots of money to have an alligator, a crocodile, even a Florida panther in their personal collections.”
“I’m also a radio operator. It wasn’t hard to find the radio frequencies on the cats’ collars,” Ned said. “Soon I began tracking Cat Number Twenty-seven.”
“But we kept seeing you at the visitors’ center,” said Benny. “You were hiding behind the postcard rack!”
Ned went on, realizing the jig was up. “I’m not that familiar with the Glades and had to keep going back into town for supplies and to the visitors’ centers for maps. One day I heard you kids talking about Andrew Beldon.”
“You looked like a tourist,” Violet said accusingly.
“I knew Andrew was in the Glades,” said Ned. His brow was sweating. “I had to keep using disguises so the park people and you Aldens wouldn’t recognize me. Once I figured you kids were looking for Andrew, I had to watch out for him and keep my eye on you, too!”
“Busy man,” Irene commented. She tilted her head toward a sound.
“I don’t think Ned will be so busy in the future,” said Andrew. “That’s your father’s airboat, isn’t it, Irene?”
“Yes, he said he’d stay on the chickee with us tonight. We’re camping out.” She put her hands on her hips and looked at Andrew. “That was you Daddy saw, wasn’t it? Why didn’t you answer him?”
“I couldn’t,” Andrew explained. “I still hadn’t found Ned or Runner. I didn’t want to get Mr. Osceola involved in case I had trouble with Ned.”
The airboat roared into the clearing, then was quiet. Mr. Osceola waded through the shallow water to the mangrove hammock.
“Well,” he said. “I see our party is a little larger. Good to see you, Andrew. You could have called back to me.”
Andrew shook his head regretfully. “Sorry, but I couldn’t risk Runner’s life. I’m afraid I’ve caused people to worry and my boss to be upset with me, but the cats come first.”
Mr. Osceola nudged Ned Fry’s shoe. “I’ve seen you sneaking around. You were after that cat, weren’t you? You left a trail a mile wide — footprints, snapped branches.”
“What will happen now?” asked Jessie. It was getting late and the bugs were getting to be even more of a nuisance.
Andrew helped Ned Fry to his feet. “Ned will have to take a little trip back to the ranger station, where he will be charged for attempted poaching. That’s a very serious crime in this state. The Florida panther is the state animal.”
“What about our camp-out?” Benny didn’t want to skip the fun part. Not before he had a chance to have his second wish granted.
Grandfather had a plan. “Suppose the kids and I set up the camp. Andy and Mr. Osceola can escort Mr. Fry to the ranger station. Andy it would be great if you could come back. After you call your father.”
“I promise! I’ll come back in my own airboat and give Mr. Osceola a break.”
“And I’ll return for you all in the morning,” said Mr. Osceola. “It would be easier to return in two airboats.”
Andrew grasped one of Ned Fry’s arms above the elbow. Irene’s father did the same with Ned’s other arm. They led him out to the airboat. The engine roared to life and soon the men were gone.
“Well,” said Grandfather. “The mystery is solved. I suppose we should canoe over to our chickee and set up camp.”
Henry and Irene pushed their canoes into the water and everyone climbed aboard.
“Not all the mysteries,” said Jessie as she poled. “What about Melanie Harper? And Andrew’s landlady? There are still lots of questions.”
“Maybe we’ll get the answers when Andrew comes back,” said Henry. He was thinking of Andrew’s bravery, coming into the Everglades alone to protect a wildcat. Andrew had entered the private world of an animal people rarely saw.
It didn’t take the Aldens long to fix camp. Irene and Benny each strung hammocks across the poles. The others preferred sleeping bags, which they’d unroll when it was bedtime.
They were preparing supper when Andrew came roaring back in a different airboat. He crossed the island quickly and climbed up into the chickee.
“Was your boss mad?” Violet asked him.
“Yes,” Andrew said. “But when I brought in the poacher and told him about Runner, he decided not to fire me. I have my old job back.”
Jessie looked surprised. “Melanie was so sure she was going to get your job.”
Andrew opened a container of trail mix. “Melanie was sure of a lot of things. We used to date. At first I thought she was nice, but then I realized she only wanted to get a better job. So I stopped seeing her. It made her really mad.”
“Mad enough to lie about hearing from you,” Jessie said, popping a piece of peeled orange into her mouth.
Andrew nodded. “Melanie was always jealous of Nelda. Nelda is a real friend — she cares as much about the cats as I do.”
“How come you didn’t tell Nelda about your feeling about Runner?” asked Henry.
“I didn’t have any real proof,” said Andrew. “In fact, I didn’t have any proof until today, when Ned confessed in front of all of us. He told the same story at the ranger station.”
Jessie mentioned Old Lady Applegate, Andrew’s landlady. “We think she was stealing from your room.”
Andrew shrugged. “She probably was. Small change, little things she could sell at the flea market. I know she’s taken from Gus and the other people.”
“That’s terrible,” said Violet. “Stealing from people. Gus said he can’t afford to live anywhere else.”
“He can’t.” Andrew sighed. “I keep forgetting that people need looking after, too, not just panthers. When I go home, I’ll make sure things change at the boardinghouse.”
Night fell softly around them. After they ate, Andrew told them stories about the Everglades. Irene added tales from Miccosukee culture.
Henry asked Irene if he could write to her. Irene replied she’d be glad to be Henry’s pen pal.
Then it was time to go to bed. Henry, Grandfather, Jessie, Violet, and Andrew unrolled their sleeping bags. The girls slept on the sleeping platforms. Irene showed Benny how to scramble into his hammock. He nearly fell twice, but at last he was rocking gently. Everyone was swathed in mosquito netting.
It was anything but quiet. All kinds of insects made noises from the trees. Night-birds called. A bull alligator bellowed in the distance.
Then, suddenly, came a scream. It wasn’t a human scream nor was it a cry of distress.
Benny sat up, nearly spinning in his hammock. “What was that?” he cried.
“That,” answered Andrew Beldon from the darkness, “was a Florida panther.”
“Was it Runner?” Benny asked.
“It could be,” said Andrew.
Grandfather said, “People go for years without ever seeing or hearing a panther. This is a special moment.”
Benny settled back in his hammock. Grandfather was right. He’d gotten his second, even better wish.
He’d heard a panther. He didn’t think he’d ever see one, but at least he knew one was nearby.
The Aldens had solved another mystery. Tomorrow, if they were lucky, they’d be off on another great adventure! |