“Your boots!” shouted Benny. “Look!”
Henry’s brown hiking boots were sitting on the cabin roof, right above the door!
Henry walked up to the cabin and stepped onto a stump next to the cabin door. He reached up and took down the boots.
“These are my boots for sure,” he said. “And I don’t think they’ve been here long. There’s hardly any snow on them.”
“But where did they come from?” Violet cried.
“Maybe it’s a joke,” Benny said.
“I don’t think so, Benny,” said Henry. “And I don’t think it was a ghost.”
“Do you think it was whoever was making all that noise?” asked Violet.
“It had to be,” said Jessie. She frowned. “But why? Why would anyone take your boots and then bring them back?”
“Maybe the thief realized that Henry couldn’t hike back down without his boots,” said Benny.
“Oh, no!” gasped Violet. “What if the boot thief took something else?”
They all pushed quickly into the cabin. But nothing had been touched. The cabin was just as they had left it.
“I don’t care who took the boots! I’ve had it,” Maris declared. “We’re going home tomorrow.”
“But what about the trail?” asked Jessie.
“We’ve done as much on the trail as we need to do before the winter snow sets in. And from the looks of things, if we don’t head down the trail soon, winter could trap us here,” said Maris.
“But we haven’t caught the ghost ... or the thief yet,” said Benny. “We will,” said Jessie.
Maris woke the Aldens before the sun was up the next morning. “It looks like it has been snowing off and on all night,” she told them. “We need to get down the mountain while we can.”
They ate quickly then loaded their packs and headed out.
“All the footprints from last night are gone,” said Benny.
“Yep. Whoever’s been bothering us got lucky,” said Henry.
The snow fell and fell as the little group slipped and slid down the side of the mountain. Drifts of snow soon covered the trail and Maris stopped often to make sure that they hadn’t lost their way.
Halfway down, Benny sank onto a rock. “My legs are tired,”he said. “They don’t want to walk anymore.”
“I could carry you,” Henry said.
But Maris shook her head. “Benny’s too heavy for you to carry on this slippery trail,” she said. As she spoke, she pulled out the lightweight ax she carried and began to hack at a small tree by the trail.
“What are you doing?” Jessie asked.
“Building a sort of sled to pull Benny on,” Maris said. Swiftly she cut another tree. “Trim the branches off that tree and I’ll trim this one.”
When the branches were trimmed off both trees, Maris cut one trunk exactly in half. Then she cut the other trunk into four pieces. She laid the two long pieces of wood side by side. She tied the four shorter pieces across the two long pieces, in the middle.
“It looks like a ladder,” said Benny.
“It does,” said Maris. “But it’s your new sled.”
Quickly Maris wove some of the branches in and out of the rungs of the ladder-sled. Last of all, she lashed her waterproof tarp over the branches.
“Hop on,” she told Benny. “And let’s go.”
Benny climbed onto the sled and grabbed each side. Maris picked up the two poles on the end of the sled facing down the trail and started forward.
“Hold on tight,” she said. Benny and the sled slid over the snow.
Henry and Maris took turns pulling Benny. With Benny in the sled, they could all travel much faster.
They reached the bottom of the trail in the late afternoon. They were all very tired.
“Looks like we’re the last ones out,” said Maris. “Carola’s truck is gone and so’s Rayanne’s car. They must have come out even earlier than we did. I guess the snow buried their footprints.”
“Bobcat’s truck is gone, too,” said Violet.
“At least we know he’s not up on the mountain somewhere,” said Jessie.
“We’ll check in town,” said Maris. “I’m sure Bobcat is fine and there’s a logical reason why he didn’t come back.”
“Whew,” said Henry, helping Benny climb off the sled. “I was getting worried for a while there that we were going to get stuck on Blizzard Mountain.”
“It’s a good thing you built me a sled,” said Benny to Maris. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Benny,” said Maris. “It’s a good way to move something heavy, isn’t it? Especially when it snows.”
“Sort of like a dogsled,” said Jessie.
“Yes,” agreed Maris. She smiled tiredly. “It’s also a good thing you got your boots back, though, Henry. You would have been a lot heavier to pull!”
They climbed into the truck.
“I’m hungry,” Benny announced.
Maris nodded. “Next stop, the diner,” she said. “We can get something to eat. And we can ask about Bobcat.”
Benny pushed the diner door open. “It smells good!” he said. He raced to the counter to sit down.
“Rayanne!” said Jessie in surprise, as she and the others followed Benny. “Did you hike down Blizzard Mountain this morning and then come to work?”
The silver-haired waitress shook her head. “Nope. We hiked back down last night. Carola didn’t like the way the weather looked. Hiking at night. Ha!”
“I guess you didn’t like it,” said Benny.
“You guessed that right,” said the waitress. “What can I get you?”
“Anything but beans,” said Benny.
“Has anyone seen Bobcat?” Maris asked abruptly.
“I haven’t,” said Rayanne. “No one I’ve talked to has.”
“I’m going to go check at the general store and see what I can find out,” said Maris. She slid off her counter stool and walked briskly out.
Jessie fixed Rayanne with a solemn look. “You hiked down the mountain last night?” she asked.
“If I go hiking again, it’s going to be in the summer,” declared Rayanne.
“Next time, you can take that purple opera cape,” said Benny.
“What did you say?” Jessie asked.
“Remember that old purple velvet opera cape that got stolen?” he said. “And people were talking about it here and joking that you could use it to fly down the mountain like a superhero?” Benny flapped his arms. “I just remembered that!” He laughed.
“That’s it,” Jessie whispered. “That’s it!”
“What?” asked Violet.
But before Jessie could answer, the door to the diner opened.
Chuck limped in on his crutches.
“You’re back,” he said to the Aldens. “Did you have a good trip? See any ghosts?”
“Yes,” said Benny.
“No,” said Henry firmly.
“Not exactly,” Jessie added.
“Well, at least you didn’t get trapped in all this snow,” Chuck said. He bent and knocked snow from his boots. “But I guess a little snow won’t hurt these old boots of mine.”
“Maybe you should get new boots,” said Benny, “to go with all your new hiking stuff.”
“New hiking stuff?” Chuck looked at Benny.
“Carola told us when you got lost, it was because you had all new stuff,” Benny said.
Chuck laughed and said, “I think I know what Carola said, and she’s right. New gear isn’t what makes you a good hiker. You have to learn that, just like lessons in school.”
Rayanne put a menu in front of Chuck. He glanced down, then glanced up again. “Where’s your friend Bobcat?” he asked the Aldens.
“He’s missing,” said Jessie. She had a very odd expression on her face.
“Missing?” asked Chuck. He raised his eyebrows. “That’s strange. I just saw him a couple of days ago.”
“You did?” Violet said, her voice going up in surprise.
“Sure. Outside the general store. He was loading supplies into his truck. Said he was on his way back up the mountain to bring them to you,” Chuck said.
“He never hiked back up to bring us those supplies,” Henry said.
Chuck stroked his beard as if trying to remember something. Then he said, “You know, now that I think about it, I did wonder why Bobcat did what he did.”
“What did Bobcat do?” Violet asked.
“He drove in the wrong direction when he left here,” said Chuck. “The opposite direction from Blizzard Mountain.”
Jessie jumped up. “Thanks,” she said. “Come on, everyone. We have to find Maris.” She raced out of the diner.
The other Aldens exchanged surprised looks. Then they followed their sister. They met Maris just outside the door. “Bobcat’s okay,” Jessie said.
“What? How do you know that?” Maris asked.
“How do you know?” asked Henry at the same time.
“Jessie?” Violet said.
“Do you know where Bobcat is?” asked Benny.
“Not exactly, but I’m sure he’s okay. Come on! And I have a plan to catch the ghost that’s been trying to scare us all off Blizzard Mountain,” Jessie said. “This is what we need to do—and why.”
The Aldens walked back into the diner a few minutes later. “Back so soon?” Rayanne asked.
“We’re going to call Grandfather. He’s at Maris’s cabin. We hope he can drive into Blizzard Gap to meet us for dinner,” explained Henry.
“The phone booth is in the hall. I’ll be right back,” said Maris.
The Aldens settled down at a table.
Chuck chewed the hamburger he had ordered. He nodded to the Aldens, then said, “Did you find Bobcat yet?”
“We will. Tomorrow,” said Jessie. “But we can’t look for him now. It’s too dark.”
“I’m sure he’s okay,” Chuck said. “Maybe he had an emergency and had to leave in a hurry.”
“Yes. That’s what probably happened,” agreed Jessie. She turned to Violet and said in a loud voice, “Show me that piece of cloth you found at the cabin, Violet.”
Violet reached into her pocket and pulled out the small scrap of purple cloth.
“Velvet,” said Jessie. “Purple velvet.”
“It looks old,” said Benny.
“Probably been stuck up in the cabin for years,” said Henry. He made sure the others in the diner could hear their conversation.
“Velvet’s a funny thing to find in an old cabin in the woods, don’t you think, Violet?” Jessie asked.
“You’re right,” said Violet.
“Maybe it’s a clue,” said Benny. “To buried treasure.”
Rayanne was standing behind the counter, motionless. Her eyes were fixed on the scrap of velvet Violet held. “Where did you find that?” she demanded.
“Up at the cabin,” said Violet. “Isn’t it pretty?”
Rayanne came around the counter and snatched up the bit of velvet. She stared at it, then slapped it down on the table. She went back to work without another word.
But the Aldens felt her sharp eyes watching them.
Chuck dropped his hamburger and ketchup splashed on his shirt. He grabbed a napkin and began to poke at the stain.
“Yes, it is a clue,” Benny said, in a louder voice than before. “I bet it’s a clue to where Stagecoach George hid his treasure.”
“In the cabin? Oh, Benny, do you think so?” said Violet.
“I do,” said Benny.
“Well, we should go up there and look,” said Henry. “Maybe Maris will take us up tomorrow.”
Now Chuck dropped the napkin. He bent over to pick it up and straightened. He hit his head on the table. “Ow!” he said.
“Tomorrow. First thing. We go on a treasure hunt,” said Jessie.
“But ... but ... what about Bobcat?” asked Chuck.
“We’ll find the treasure. And maybe Bobcat, too,” said Benny, smiling. “We’re very good at finding things. Ask anybody back in Greenfield.”
Maris came back into the diner. “Your grandfather’s on his way,” she said.
“Good,” said Henry. “We can tell him about this clue we found.”
Violet held up the piece of velvet and nodded. “And about the ghost and how he tried to scare us away and didn’t,” she said. “And about how we’re going to hike right back up Blizzard Mountain to that cabin and look for treasure.” |