“Perhaps we should go and talk to the sheriff, Heather,” Nancy suggested. “Maybe if we explain about what happened to me last night ...”
“We can’t go anywhere till Chuck gets back with the station wagon,” Heather said. “He’d already left for town before the sheriff came.”
“What about the jeep?” Nancy asked.
“Ward and Maria were out with it getting supplies, so they weren’t here when the sheriff came, either. Ward took the jeep and went after the sheriff and Ngyun as soon as I told him what had happened.”
“Could we call the sheriffs office?” Nancy suggested.
“They weren’t going there, I don’t think,” Heather said. “The sheriff wanted to take Ngyun to see the people who were robbed. So they could identify him and the belt buckle, I suppose.”
“They’ll have to say it wasn’t him,” Maria said from the doorway. “They’ll tell the sheriff he’s mistaken. It wasn’t Ngyun.”
“We know that, Maria,” Nancy assured the woman.
Maria began to cry again. “I should have gone with Ward,” she wailed. “I should be with Ngyun. He gets so frightened sometimes when he doesn’t understand things. People think that just because he speaks English he understands everything, but he doesn’t, and ...”
“You were too upset,” Heather reminded her. “You said yourself that you’d just frighten him more.”
Maria collapsed into a chair again and Bess went to the stove to heat a kettle of water to brew the poor woman some of her own soothing tea. “What am I going to do? Maria sobbed.
“We’re going to clear him, Maria,” Nancy told her firmly. “Just as soon as the sheriff comes back, I’ll talk to him and perhaps we can get everything straightened out.”
The words calmed Maria enough that she was soon up and bustling around making preparations for lunch. While she worked, Nancy questioned Heather about the neighbors’ horses. “Several have pintos,” was Heather’s answer, “and no one admits to riding one last night.”
Nancy sighed. “Well, I really didn’t expect a confession,” she admitted. “Still, it would be easier if there weren’t so many. ”
Heather shook her head. “I just don’t understand any of it,” she said. “Why would anyone go to such lengths just to get a harmless boy sent away?”
“When we have the answer to that question, we’ll know who is doing it,” Nancy assured her.
Maria set the table with places for Chuck, Ward, and Ngyun, but when the food was ready, the men hadn’t returned, so they ate without them. Though the food was excellent, no one had much of an appetite, and they were all relieved when they could busy themselves with clearing the dishes and tidying the kitchen. It helped the minutes drag by.
It was mid-afternoon before Ward drove up in the jeep. A moment later, he came in alone. Maria ran to meet him. “Where is he?” she demanded. “Where is Ngyun? Why didn’t you bring him home?”
Ward’s face was grim and stony, the pain showing only in his dark eyes. “The sheriff is coming with him,” he replied. “He told me to go on ahead and talk to you.”
“What happened? Maria asked, the relief she’d showed before draining away.“He didn’t do it, Ward, you have to believe that. ”
“It’s not up to me to believe or disbelieve,” Ward replied. “They identified him, Maria. The people said he was the one they saw riding near their trailer just before they missed their jewelry.”
“But he admitted that he was in the area,” Maria protested. “Heather told us that. He was on his way into the hills. Just because he rode by their mobile home doesn’t mean that he did anything else.”
“He had the belt buckle!”
Maria pulled away from him. “Do you believe it?” she demanded. “Do you believe that he took the jewelry?”
For a moment, Ward glared at her, then his dark eyes dropped. “I don’t want to,” he said, “but, Maria, what else can we believe?
Before anything else could be said, the sheriff drove up, and in a moment Ngyun was clinging to his aunt while he tried hard not to cry.
The sheriff looked sad but stern. “Ngyun refused to tell us where the rest of the stuff is hidden,” he began. “The Bascombs won’t press charges if they get all their jewelry back. They had planned to leave tomorrow, so they don’t want to make a big thing out of it.”
“I not tell, Aunt Maria,” Ngyun protested. “I not know!”
“Of course you don’t, Ngyun,” Maria said, hugging him for a moment. Then she held him at arm’s length and said, “You must be hungry. Did you have lunch?”
The boy shook his head, and in a moment he and Maria disappeared through the archway toward the kitchen. Once they were gone, Nancy stepped forward and introduced herself to the sheriff.
With the help of George and Bess, she described her recent discoveries to him, including a full account of all that had happened to her since her arrival at the resort. She even showed him the letter she’d received before she left River Heights.
The sheriff was dubious at first, but with both George and Bess speaking up and listing some of Nancy’s past accomplishments, and Heather explaining that she and her brother had invited Nancy to solve their strange case, he had to take her seriously. Maria joined them and the hope returned to her face as she listened.
“You seriously believe that someone has done all this just to frame the boy?” the sheriff asked when the young detective had finished.
Nancy nodded. “The person who rode away from the stable last night could have been there planting the belt buckle, Sheriff. Maybe my seeing him and following him was just a lucky coincidence.”
“But why would anyone frame Ngyun?” The sheriff repeated his question.
Nancy swallowed a sigh. “I can’t answer that question till I discover who is responsible for all the things that have happened,” she admitted.
The sheriff shook his head. “Well, your theory seems sound enough, Miss Drew, but until you can offer some proof, I’m afraid I can’t change my mind about the boy. If he doesn’t produce the jewelry by tomorrow morning, charges will have to be instituted.”
The young sleuth longed to plead further, but without proof she knew that she couldn’t convince the sheriff of Ngyun’s innocence. He talked for a few minutes with Ward and Maria, then the Tomiches and Heather saw him out the front door.
Nancy, sure that Ngyun must be feeling miserable, excused herself and went to the kitchen to tell him what she’d learned last night and this morning. However, when she reached the kitchen, she found it empty, the sandwich and glass of milk untouched on the table. Curious, Nancy walked to the back window and looked out across the garden just in time to see Ngyun heading toward the stable.
It took her only a moment to make a decision. She scribbled a quick note on the pad Maria kept beside the telephone, then ran out into the warm, sunny afternoon. By the time she reached the stable, Ngyun was already leading Cochise out the other side. Nancy didn’t try to stop him, preferring instead to follow him.
If the sheriff wanted proof, the answer had to lie with Ngyun, she reasoned. Since he didn’t seem able to explain what was happening to him, it was up to her to find the clues. Following him on one of his excursions seemed the best place to start. Nancy saddled Pepper Pot once again and set off in pursuit of the rapidly disappearing pinto.
The young detective rode for nearly an hour, catching only occasional glimpses of Ngyun and his hurrying mount. The boy never seemed to look back as he guided the pinto further and further into the low hills that marked the area of the resort closest to the Superstition Mountains.
They were practically in the shadows of the mountains when the boy finally stopped and slipped off Cochise. Leaving the pinto to graze in a small hollow, his trailing reins “ground-hitching” him so he wouldn’t run away, Ngyun began to climb up a nearby, rocky outcropping.
Nancy stopped Pepper Pot at the edge of the same small patch of grass, trying to decide what to do. She meant to talk t
o the boy, but she didn’t want him to think she was chasing him. With that in mind, she dismounted and let Pepper Pot join the pinto while she strolled across the grass and halted at the base of the rocky rise.
Ngyun turned to look at her when the horses snorted their greetings to each other, and Nancy could see the quick flash of fear in his dark, almond eyes. Then, to her surprise, he lifted a finger to his lips, cautioning her not to make any noise. When she nodded her understanding, he signalled her to climb up beside him. Curious, Nancy made her way up the steep incline, being careful not to create a landslide.
As they neared the top of the rugged hill, Ngyun again signalled caution, but this time Nancy had already heard the sounds coming from below. There were people somewhere beyond the rim above them, and it sounded very much as though they were pounding or digging!
15
Caught!
For a moment, Nancy stood stock-still. Then she moved the last few feet and peered over the rim.
In this spot, the cliffs of the Superstitions had formed the walls of what appeared to be a small canyon, well concealed by brush and rocky outcrop-pings.
Two men, one tall and blond, the other short, wiry, and dark, appeared to be digging in the cliff at the end of the canyon! A small, rough cabin had been erected in the center clear area, and there was a corral next to it.
What brought a gasp from Nancy, however, was one of the horses that stood in the corral. It was a pinto and looked almost exactly like Cochise!
Nancy looked at Ngyun, who had silently crept up next to her. Together, they watched the men for several minutes, then Nancy let herself slip and slide back down the rocky rise to the grass. The boy followed at once.
“Who are those men, Ngyun?” she asked, keeping her voice low so the sound wouldn’t carry.
Ngyun shrugged. “Prospectors, I think.”
“On the resort land?” Nancy frowned. “Chuck and Heather never mentioned it.”
“This belong to resort?” Ngyun seemed surprised.
Nancy looked around, trying to recognize the landmarks that Chuck and Heather had pointed out to her during their first days with the McGuires. Finally, she was sure. “The boundary of their land is supposed to be along that purple cliff there,” she said, pointing off to the right. “The men must be on the resort land.”
“Maybe they find gold,” Ngyun suggested with a timid smile that was quickly gone. “Make everybody happy.”
“Have you seen those men around here before?” Nancy asked.
The boy moved nervously, not meeting her gaze. “I watch here sometimes.”
“Have they seen you?” Nancy asked, sensing that there was more to the story, something that he wasn’t telling her.
For a moment, he didn’t answer. Then he sighed. “One time. Not here. They out in wash that go from canyon. I ride up. See what they do. They get angry. Big one shoot at me. I not come this way a while. ”
“They shot at you?” Nancy gasped, unable to believe her ears.
Ngyun nodded. “I not do anything. I just ride up to look, honest.”
“I believe you,” Nancy assured him. “Do you think they were prospecting for gold in that wash?”
Ngyun nodded. “They do same thing prospectors do in mountains. I watch a lot. I see plenty.”
Nancy considered his words for a moment, then changed the subject. “Where were you going today?” she asked. “Why did you leave the resort without telling anyone?”
The thin face closed and the boy’s eyes skittered away from hers once again. “I go for ride.”
Nancy said nothing, sure that the boy would tell her more if she waited. He quickly proved her correct.
“I run away,” Ngyun admitted at last. “I no go back. ”
“But you can’t do that,” Nancy protested. “Your aunt and uncle love you, they’d never let you leave them.”
“They send me away. They think I steal. The sheriff tell them I bad. I not take jewelry, so I no can give back. They take Cochise away.” Tears filled the sad, dark eyes. “He mine, I not steal him.”
Understanding the boy’s feelings, but sure that she couldn’t let him go, Nancy took a deep breath and began to tell him what had happened to her the night before. She described how she’d followed the pinto horse into the wash and nearly died for it.
As she talked, Ngyun nodded. “Horse like one in canyon,” he said when she finished. “Maybe he ride that horse?”
Nancy smiled at him. “That’s what I think,” she confirmed.
“What you do?” Ngyun asked. “How you find out?”
“Do they ever leave the canyon?” Nancy inquired instead of answering.
Ngyun thought for a moment, then nodded. “Sometimes. Why?”
“I want to search that cabin,” Nancy answered. “If they are the ones causing all the trouble that has happened to you, there should be some clues down there. Something that will tell me why they are trying to frame you.”
Ngyun grinned at her. “I make them chase me,” he told her. “You go down cliff.”
Nancy shook her head. “That’s too dangerous. If they shot at you before, they might . . .” She was given no chance to finish, as the boy raced across to Cochise and jumped into the saddle. Ngyun waved to her, smiling as he rode away.
The young detective hesitated, afraid for the boy, yet longing for the chance to prove him innocent of the charges that the sheriff would be bringing against him. Finally, she sighed and made her way to the top of the rocky cliff. She stretched out on her stomach again so she could look down into the huge ravine.
It seemed only a few moments before Ngyun appeared in the mouth of the canyon. When no one noticed him, he began to shout at the two men. His words were jumbled, but she could make out “thief” and “gold.”
The men hesitated only a few seconds before they dropped their picks and shovels and raced to the corral to get their horses. In no time, they had saddled up and ridden out of the corral.
Once they disappeared around the rocks at the mouth of the canyon in pursuit of Ngyun, Nancy cautiously edged over the lip of the outcropping. Her toes sought and found a narrow ledge, and in a second she was climbing down toward the canyon floor.
Since she slipped and slid a good part of the way, the climb took only a few minutes. Once she reached the base of the wall, she could see that the men had, indeed, been digging into the rocky soil of the cliffs. Still, she didn’t take time to study their prospecting, preferring to head immediately for the small cabin.
Once safely inside the squeaky door, she paused to look around and catch her breath. There was little to see. A table and two stools stood by the single window, and two unmade cots were pushed against the other walls. A single, rough shelf held meager supplies and utensils for cooking and eating. There was no sign of a stove, and provisions consisted mostly of canned goods and crackers.
Since there was not much to search, Nancy went immediately to the old, brass-bound trunk that stood beside the door. It creaked slightly as she opened it. Then she gasped. Beautiful pieces of jewelry were scattered on top of a jumble of clothing!
Silver and turquoise were spread out in lavish array. Semiprecious stones set in imaginatively worked, silver settings made two squash-blossom necklaces outstanding. The same delicate workmanship and design were repeated in a bracelet and in the setting around the single, large turquoise of a ring. Nancy nodded to herself, confident that she had found the Bascombs’ stolen property.
Carefully, she shifted the jewelry to look under it, hoping for some clue to the identity of the thieves. However, when the faded denims and torn, red flannel shirt were moved, she found only a battered old book. “Big Jake Harris’s journal,” she murmured. “So they took that, too, and probably set the cottage on fire to get it.”
Nancy sat back on her heels, frowning at the contents of the trunk. Should she leave everything here and go for the sheriff? Or should she take the shirt, the journal, and the jewelry with her? It was a hard decision.<
br />
It would be best if the sheriff saw the stolen items himself, she knew. But she was also afraid that Ngyun’s appearance might have been enough to frighten the men into leaving with the treasure. She suspected that they would come back and take the things away while she was riding to the resort for help.
Suddenly, she heard sounds from outside—hoofbeats coming closer and closer!
Nancy scrambled to her feet and moved to the window, peering through the dirty glass. To her horror, she recognized the riders as the returning prospectors. They were already so close she could hear their voices clearly.
“Did you see where he went, Sam?” the blond man asked his smaller companion.
“Little brat ducked into those rocks and just disappeared,” the darker man replied, riding into the corral. “What do you think we should do, Joe?”
The big man shrugged as he dismounted. “Maybe nobody will believe him,” he suggested hopefully. “I heard that the sheriff was at the resort today, so the kid is in a lot of trouble over the jewelry we stole.”
The men chuckled evilly as they closed the corral gate and stood in the shade of the cabin wall. “Mr. Henry isn’t going to like it, if the kid talks to anybody about us,” Sam observed.
Nancy gasped. Was the McGuires’ friendly neighbor her unknown enemy?
“So what do you want me to do?” Joe demanded. “Do you want to ride to the ranch and tell him the kid was out here again?”
Sam shook his head. “He’s coming out tonight, anyway. Said he wanted to look over what we’ve dug out so far. He doesn’t think we’re in the right place yet.”
“He’ll change his mind when he sees the nugget you found this afternoon,” Joe said. “This has to be where the gold washed out of the mountains in the flood last spring, ’cause this is the end of the ravine. We’ve prospected every other inch of it on his ranch and on this one.”
“Don’t tell me,” the little man said. “Let’s just see what else we can uncover before dark.”
“Whatever you say, Sam,” Joe replied with a sigh, “but I’m getting mighty hungry.”