“Benny? What are you doing up so early?” Jessie whispered the next morning.
“Are you awake?” asked Benny. He was dressed. Watch was standing beside Benny with his paws on the edge of Jessie’s bed. He was staring at Jessie, and she noticed that his leash was attached to his collar and that Benny was holding the other end of it.
Jessie yawned and rubbed her eyes. She said, “I guess I am now.”
“Good,” said Benny. “Grandfather left a little while ago to go fishing. That’s when Watch and I woke up. Let’s go down to the lake. We can see if we can find what Watch was barking at last night.”
In the bunk across from Jessie, Violet mumbled something in her sleep and rolled over, pulling her covers up over her head.
“Shhh,” said Jessie. She yawned again. “Whatever was out there is long gone, Benny . . . but okay. I’ll meet you on the steps of the cabin in five minutes.”
Jessie left a note saying where she and Benny had gone in case Violet and Henry woke up before they got back. She went outside and walked with Benny down the path that led from the cabin to the lake.
A faint mist rose from the water. The leaves were wet on the trail from the rain the night before. Drops of water rolled off the leaves they brushed against. The sun had not yet come up over the mountains to begin to dry up the puddles.
“Let’s whisper,” said Jessie. “Remember how sound carries? We don’t want to wake up everybody on the whole lake.”
Benny nodded. “Hear that, Watch?” he said.
Watch wagged his tail briefly and pulled on the leash. He was panting a little; he was excited.
The empty beach curved away from them. It was made of rocks and coarse sand. Benny Watch, and Jessie walked slowly up and down the beach, but they didn’t see any footprints. The rain had washed the shoreline clean.
“Maybe Watch heard a bird flying by,” said Jessie. She stifled a yawn.
Just then, Watch began tugging hard on the leash. “What is it, Watch?” asked Benny. He let Watch lead him down the beach toward the canoes. Suddenly Watch veered off and pulled Benny toward a thick clump of bushes.
“Whoa. Slow down,” said Benny.
Watch didn’t slow down. He stopped and stared at the low bushes.
“Look,” said Jessie. “Those bushes are all mashed and the branches are broken as if something big had crashed through them.” She started forward to examine them. But Benny stopped her.
“Look.” He gasped. “Look at those footprints!”
There was a trail of huge footprints on a smooth swath of sand just at the edge of the bushes.
Keeping a tight hold on Watch, Benny leaned cautiously forward. Jessie did, too.
The footprints weren’t human. They had four long toes with webbing between them. The toes ended in claw marks. The prints were huge, easily a foot long.
“These are Lucy’s footprints,” said Benny, forgetting to whisper. “I know it!”
“They could be, Benny,” said Jessie, forgetting to whisper, too.
“Then Lucy is real,” said Benny. “I knew it! That’s what Watch heard last night. It was Lucy!”
“We need to make a cast of a footprint as soon as possible,” said Jessie. “And take a picture. Watch and I will stay here to guard the footprints and you go get Henry and Violet — and the wax candles we saved in case we found footprints.”
“I’ll be right back!” Benny promised.
He ran back to the cabin. Benny threw open the cabin door with a loud crash.
“Wake up!” he cried. “We’ve found Lucy!”
Henry ran out of the bedroom in his pajamas. His hair was sticking out all over his head. “What? What’s wrong?” he asked Benny.
Violet ran out of her bedroom hopping on one foot and trying to pull a slipper onto the other. “What happened?” she said.
“Lucy,” said Benny.
Violet looked quickly around as if she expected to see the lake monster in the cabin.
“Where?” asked Henry.
“Down by the lake. Bring the candles! Hurry!” Benny said.
“They’re coming,” he reported to Jessie as soon as he ran back to join her. A few minutes later, Henry and Violet came running out onto the beach. Violet had her camera around her neck.
“What is it?” Henry called breathlessly.
“Look,” said Jessie. She stepped back and Benny pointed dramatically.
Violet and Henry stared. Then Violet said in a hushed voice, “Maybe there really is a lake monster.”
“Yes,” said Jessie, trying to sound calm.
Violet held the camera up and took a picture of one of the footprints. Then she took a photograph of the crushed bushes and broken twigs around it. Moving carefully, she took another photograph of the footprint from a different angle, and then another.
Jessie used a tape measure to measure one of the footprints. “This one’s thirteen inches long,” she said, “and seven and a half inches wide.”
“That’s big, isn’t it?” asked Benny.
“Yes,” answered Jessie.
Then Henry took the candles out and lit one. He used it to melt the other candles into the outline of a footprint. When he was finished, he had used up all the candles. Carefully he snuffed out the stub of the candle he’d been using. He dipped the end of the match into the lake and put the match and candle into his pocket. He didn’t want to start a fire — or be a litterbug.
“We have to let the wax harden now, before we lift the cast up,” said Jessie.
“Maybe we should look for more clues,” Violet suggested.
“Good idea,” said Henry.
The four Aldens spread out and looked around carefully. They didn’t see any more trampled bushes or broken limbs in the woods near the footprints.
“That means she didn’t come from the woods,” said Jessie.
They found several large rocks that had been knocked over and some sharp scratches in the sand that looked as if they had been made by claws. “She could have done that,” said Henry.
“Yes,” agreed Jessie. “But why did she come out of the water here? And why did she go back in?”
“Maybe when Watch growled, she heard him and it scared her,” suggested Benny.
“But if Watch was growling at Lucy, why was he facing in the other direction part of the time when he was growling?” Jessie went on. “Remember? He went to the other end of the porch.”
“Maybe Lucy was swimming away,” said Henry. He checked the cast of the footprint. The wax had hardened. Very carefully Henry lifted the wax out of the footprint. Sand and grit were embedded in the bottom of the cast. He held both hands under the enormous wax impression so that it wouldn’t break.
Violet pulled some branches over all the footprints. “We should show them to Dr. Lin,” she suggested.
“Yes,” Jessie said. “But first let’s take this cast up to the cabin and put it in a safe place,” said Jessie. “We don’t want anything to happen to it.”
They took the cast up to the cabin and Jessie put it in the lower drawer of the bureau in the room she and Violet were sharing. Then, although it was early, they went to Dr. Lin’s cabin.
But Dr. Lin wasn’t there.
“I wonder where she is so early in the morning,” said Violet.
Henry looked down at the wet grass in front of the cabin. “I don’t know. But I don’t think she’s been here all night.”
“Why?” asked Benny.
“Look at the wet grass,” said Henry. “We made a trail through it when we walked up to the cabin door. But there was no trail before we got here.”
“You’re right!” Jessie said. “Do you think she’s all right?”
“What if Lucy got her?” Violet said.
“Lucy wouldn’t do that,” said Benny.
“I’ll write a note and we can leave it on her door,” said Jessie. “I think we should talk to Dr. Lin before we do anything else. After all, she is a scientist.”
“Yes,” said Henry. “Maybe now that we have a cast of the footprint, she’ll listen to us and help us solve this mystery.” |