Castle Rock looked sinister in the darkness, hanging over the trail like a black shadow in the starlit sky. Occasionally Nancy motioned to the others for quiet, and for a few moments no one moved. Nancy listened for the rattle of rocks being kicked on the trail, or the swish of a tree branch that would tell her another person was in the canyon. She heard only the eerie call of an owl piercing the still night air.
“How long till dawn?” Nancy whispered to Rachel.
“Maybe an hour,” Rachel answered.
“Let’s make the most of the darkness while we can,” Nancy said.
They followed Miner’s Creek up the canyon until they reached the open hillside, where Nancy, George, and Rachel had found the signs of digging earlier. Nancy and Rachel shined their flashlights up toward the cliffs. The beams revealed a field mouse scampering over the rocks. It froze for a moment, then made a dash for the bushes.
“I don’t think anyone is here,” Rachel said.
The girls and Charlie followed Rachel up to the cliffs, and Nancy pulled out her map. Using Rachel’s flashlight, they studied the rocks all along the edge of the cliffs.
“There isn’t anything like what’s shown on the map,” Rachel said.
“Could we be in the wrong place?” George asked.
“I don’t think so,” Rachel said slowly. “I know this canyon, and there isn’t any other place with the open hillside and the cliffs like this. This has to be the spot.”
“Even if the mine had been buried, I don’t know how we’d ever find it,” Charlie said. “The last person who tried didn’t seem to have much luck.” He gestured to the empty holes on the hillside. “I guess Jeremiah’s gold mine is going to stay a mystery.”
Rachel sighed. “If we can catch whoever’s been trying to destroy the retreat, I’ll be happy,” she said, but her voice sounded discouraged.
Nancy was disappointed, too. If a mine did exist, it had been well covered. Perhaps in the light it would show up. Or maybe it was all just a story. But the map was convincing. It looked old, the paper yellowed with time. And why would Jeremiah go to the trouble of hiding the map if it weren’t the key to the mother lode? Nancy wondered.
“Rachel’s right,” she said at last. “We can still make this a success by catching our culprit. Let’s find a place to hide.”
Charlie and the girls followed the cliffs to a spot overgrown with heavy brush and trees. They settled down there and waited for morning.
Time seemed to drag by. After nearly an hour of staying still in their rocky hideaway, Nancy wished she could stretch her legs. She knew the others were probably feeling the same way, but no one complained. Nancy closed her eyes, trying to imagine herself in a big pool of warm water, but the image did little to soothe the cramps in her legs. When Nancy opened her eyes, Rachel was pointing down the hill. A figure in light-colored clothes and a cowboy hat had just come into view on the trail.
Nancy was instantly alert. She looked around and saw that George and Charlie were also intently watching the figure below them. Nancy could see that the person was carrying some sort of bag over one shoulder. Her eyes were riveted to the figure.
To the east, the sky had turned a bright violet as the sun rose over the horizon. A few gray-edged clouds floated through the sunrise, and the canyon took on a cheery, pink tone. The silhouette climbing the hill cast the only dark shadow on the otherwise beautiful summer morning.
Nancy could tell from the figure’s height and build that they were watching a man. She was relieved, for Rachel’s sake, that it wasn’t Maddie climbing the hill. She wished that the person would take off the cowboy hat so they could see his face. They would just have to wait.
The man climbed to the small clump of bushes where Nancy had found the tools and pouch on their earlier visit. He leaned over and pulled out the shovel and pick, then opened the duffel bag. He stopped and looked down into the bag he’d been carrying, as though considering what to do next. With his right hand he pulled a handkerchief from his hip pocket. His left hand reached to the brim of his hat, and as he slipped it off his head, Nancy’s eyes widened in surprise. She looked over at the others, who appeared equally shocked.
“It’s B.D. Eastham,” Rachel whispered. “I don’t believe it.”
For a moment Nancy didn’t believe it, either, but then the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. On the day she and her friends had arrived, B.D. had heard them talk about stopping in town on the way from the airport, so he had had time to set the fire. He had even suggested the place to eat. B.D. had also been at the retreat on the day of the explosion and the runaway jeep, and on the night the lodge was ransacked. He even knew what time they had planned their trail ride to Prospector’s Canyon on the day the rattlesnakes were put on the trail. Getting around the retreat would have been easy for B.D., too, Nancy realized. The forest provided good cover, and if anyone did see him, B.D. could just play the part of a visiting friend.
“This has to be a mistake,” Charlie whispered. “We’ve caught a friend instead of a fiend.”
Nancy knew she would have to get something concrete on B.D. to convince Charlie and Rachel that their friend had tried to destroy the retreat. Thinking quickly, she motioned for the others to stay hidden. She had just one chance to prove the truth.
Nancy stepped out of the trees and started down the hill toward B.D.
“Beat me to it, I see,” she said when she was about twenty feet from him.
B.D. whirled around to face Nancy, and she saw the surprise on his face. Then his expression turned to anger.
“Why did you follow me? I’m in no mood for games today,” he said, reaching for his duffel bag.
“I didn’t follow you. I followed this map.” Nancy pulled her copy of Jeremiah’s map from her pocket. “You’ve got one, too, right?”
B.D. hesitated. “It was nice of you to find the map for me,” he said with a shrug. “I didn’t have much luck going through that display myself.”
“It looks to me as if the best plan now is to share the gold,” Nancy said. “I suspect there’s plenty for both of us, anyway.”
“Not a chance,” B.D. said. His eyes had hardened, and an evil grin came over his face. “Not with you or anybody. I’ve been working on this for years. I’m sick of flying tourists in and out of that dusty airport. The land sale almost ruined everything, but it won’t matter now. All I have to do is find the mine, get what I can carry, and fly straight out of here. There are plenty of sunny beaches in South America where they’ll never find me. It looks like you’re my only problem.”
“I don’t think so,” Nancy said, deciding to try another angle. “I already looked for the mine. It’s not where the map shows it. You’ve done all this work for nothing—unless you know something I don’t.”
“Now, how could that be, when you’re such a big detective?” B.D. said sarcastically. “You found my assay report in the meadow. Couldn’t you figure out that a rock slide buried the old mine years ago?”
“So you did start the fire?” Nancy asked.
“That’s right,” B.D. said casually. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black cigarette lighter, smiling at Nancy as he flicked a flame to life. “Nothing to it,” he said. “The dry grass lights easily, and this handy lighter leaves no evidence behind.”
“What did you have assayed, anyway?” Nancy asked. She knew she would have to keep B.D. talking.
B.D. shrugged. “A piece of ore, just like Charlie’s. I found it about where you’re standing,” he said. “It was full of gold.”
Nancy took a step closer. “If you know I found the assay report, you must have been the one who broke into our cabin and sent Bess to the hospital,” she said boldly. Her anger was building, but she knew she had to stay in control of her emotions.
“She got in my way. That’s a dangerous thing to do,” B.D. said.
Nancy understood his threat but pressed on with her questions.
“Have you ever heard of the Nature Pre
servation League?” she asked.
B.D. gave a grim laugh. “I’m its only member,” he said. “I was hoping Charlie would stop negotiating with the government so I’d have time.”
“And were you the mail carrier who lost Charlie’s letters to Senator Callihan?” Nancy asked.
“You are clever,” B.D. said, looking surprised. “I couldn’t believe my luck when Charlie asked me to take those letters to town. It was so easy to drop them in the wrong box—you know, the garbage can.”
Just then Charlie marched down the hill. “How could you throw away our friendship for a bunch of rocks?” he bellowed, his face red with anger. His strides were long and quick, even over the rocky ground. Rachel and George had come out of hiding, too, and they had to hurry to keep up with Charlie as the three of them approached B.D.
B.D.’s evil smile vanished when he saw Charlie. For a moment Nancy thought she saw a hint of sorrow in his eyes, but then the glint of greed returned.
“Not rocks—gold,” B.D. said. “And our friendship was nothing compared to being rich.”
“But you hurt people!” Rachel yelled from behind Charlie. “You hit Bess, and that trick with the snakes was dangerous to everyone on the ride. And I can’t believe what you did to my salmon beds.” Rachel choked back a sob, and her grandfather put his arm around her.
“I’m calling the sheriff,” Charlie said.
“I don’t think so,” B.D. said calmly. He pulled a stick of dynamite from his duffel bag. Nancy could see it had an extra-short fuse. “This will stop you,” he said.
He waved the loaded dynamite stick in one hand and the lighter in the other.
Rachel and George stepped backward, closer to the cliffs. Nancy thought fast. There had to be a way to stop B.D.
“Go ahead, call the sheriff,” he said. “I’ll blow you all away and still have enough dynamite to blast the mine.”
Charlie hadn’t moved since B.D. had begun to wave the dynamite. Charlie’s face was locked in a determined frown as he said, “Sorry, B.D. I’m calling your bluff.” He switched on the walkie-talkie and contacted the sheriff.
“You’re wrong about that,” B.D. said. “Where there’s gold involved, I’ll do whatever I have to do.”
B.D. lit the fuse. It sparkled and smoked as Nancy and the others watched in horror.
“Run for cover!” Nancy hollered. She made a dash toward some rocks. George, Rachel, and Charlie were right behind her. They were still several yards away when B.D. tossed the dynamite. It lit right in front of Nancy, falling out of reach between two rocks. The fuse was growing shorter by the second!
16
A Golden Opportunity
“Hurry!” Nancy yelled. With flying steps she ran away from the dynamite and dived behind a huge boulder. Charlie and Rachel were close behind her, and George rolled to the ground beside them just as a huge blast rocked the canyon wall. Nancy, George, Rachel, and Charlie wrapped their arms over their heads and huddled close to the boulder as bits of dirt and rock rained down on them.
When the worst seemed to be past, Nancy looked over at her friends. They were covered with dirt, but otherwise seemed unhurt. She peeked over the rock in time to see B.D. running down the hill, carrying his duffel bag. Nancy hurdled over the rocks and ran after him. She had to keep him in sight until the deputies arrived.
The blast had given him a long head start. He was at the bottom of the hill and on the trail before she was halfway down. B.D. was making good time, and it looked to Nancy as if he might escape, despite all her efforts. She was still half-running, half-sliding down the hill when she heard the whir of a helicopter overhead.
She looked up. A four-man copter was coming over the ridge into Prospector’s Canyon. She could see a sheriff’s department symbol on the side.
As the copter hovered over the trail, the barrel of a rifle appeared from an open door. Another deputy produced a bullhorn.
From where she stood, Nancy had trouble making out the words. But she saw B.D. drop his duffel bag and raise his arms in the air. The helicopter began to descend, and Nancy felt a great sense of relief. She headed back up the hill to check on her friends.
“Come look at this!” George called down to her from the base of the cliffs.
Nancy hurried to George, Rachel, and Charlie, who were standing around a small opening in the rocks, at a spot where the dynamite had exploded.
“Do you think it’s the mine?” Rachel asked.
“It could be,” Nancy said. “Let’s find out.”
She grabbed B.D.’s shovel and began to remove the rest of the loose gravel and dirt. Charlie used the pick to loosen some large rocks, and George and Rachel helped to roll them out of the way. Soon they uncovered the opening to a cave large enough to walk through. The walls and ceiling were mostly dirt, with a few large boulders hanging down. They looked as though they might fall at any minute. The dirt was moist, and the air coming out of the cave smelled musty.
“It’s Jeremiah’s mine!” Rachel yelled.
Nancy took Rachel’s flashlight and shone it into the opening.
“No one goes in,” Charlie ordered. “It’s too dangerous.”
Nancy flashed the light onto the floor of the cave. Suddenly Rachel screamed and pointed.
Propped against a rock was a human skeleton, its clothes still clinging to its frame. Beside the skeleton was a set of leather saddlebags.
The girls and Charlie huddled around the entrance to the mine, gazing into the beam of light.
“Do you think it’s Jeremiah?” George asked.
“Dead in his own mine,” Charlie said, shaking his head. “I never would have guessed.”
“Look at the saddlebags,” Nancy said. “They look full, but of what?” Nancy looked at Charlie, remembering his warning. “I’ve got to get those saddlebags,” she said. “I won’t go any farther.”
Charlie shrugged. “Could I stop you if I wanted to?” he asked. “Just be careful.”
Nancy stepped carefully into the shaft. It took her only a few steps to get to the saddlebags. She lifted them up carefully. In the beam of her flashlight, she could see the initials J.B. stamped into the leather.
Nancy looked back at the skeleton and shook her head. They had found Jeremiah Benner!
Cautiously Nancy took the saddlebags back out into the open air. Charlie breathed a sigh of relief when Nancy stepped clear of the cave. Rachel clicked off her flashlight.
“Another mystery solved,” Nancy said, showing the others the initials.
“These are heavy,” George said, taking the saddlebags. “What’s inside?”
“Let’s find out,” Nancy said. She unbuckled the strap. Inside the bags she found several pieces of rich gold ore and one large nugget, with a small amount of quartz still clinging to it. The gold had a dull shine in the morning sun. Nancy picked up the nugget and turned it over in her hand, then gave it to Charlie.
“Fool’s gold?” she asked.
Charlie’s hand dropped as he took the stone. He measured the weight of it in his palm and smiled broadly. “Real gold,” he said at last. “It’s too heavy to be anything else.”
Rachel jumped into the air and shouted.
“I guess you’re rich,” George said, smiling broadly.
“We’re going to celebrate tonight!” Charlie said, throwing his arms around Rachel.
It seemed like a short walk back to the jeep. Everyone took turns carrying the heavy saddlebags, chattering excitedly.
Just outside the lodge the group was met by Bess. The doctor had given her a clean bill of health and released her from the hospital before breakfast. Elsa had brought her back to the retreat.
“I was hoping I wouldn’t miss anything,” Bess said. “But as soon as I realized you were gone, I knew it was too late.”
Nancy and George filled her in on the events of the day. Bess gasped in horror when George told about the dynamite and finding the skeleton. Nancy explained how B.D. had confessed to all of the incidents at the
retreat.
“I can’t believe it was B.D.,” she said. “I guess I’ll have to apologize to Pete for thinking he took the quartz.”
“What’s that?” a voice said behind her. Pete had just walked up the road toward the lodge.
“I’m afraid I almost got you into trouble,” Bess stammered. “I thought you took Charlie’s quartz.”
“Took it? I tried to return it,” Pete said in surprise. “Shirley Kauffman gave it to me when I got back from checking fences two days ago. I put it on a shelf in the barn, behind a grain can. Then Tyler asked me to come look at some gold flecks he’d panned in the creek. It was just fool’s gold, but it made me forget about Charlie’s quartz. When I got back to the barn later, it was gone.”
Rachel laughed. “Bess found the quartz. It’s safe in Granddad’s office,” she said. “Bess also saw you talking to Tyler.” Rachel explained why the girls had suspected Pete of stealing the ore and plotting to destroy the retreat, and how B.D. had finally been arrested for the crimes.
“B.D. Eastham—arrested?” Pete said, surprised. He pushed his cowboy hat back and shook his head. “Are you sure there hasn’t been some mistake?”
“Absolutely,” Rachel said. She told him about B.D.’s confession.
“So, where’s breakfast?” Bess asked as they headed into the lodge. “I bet Elsa has something delicious for us, and I’ve had enough of hospital food.”
“You were only there for one meal,” George teased.
“I know, but I couldn’t stop thinking of you eating that delicious barbecued beef,” she said.
Charlie met them at the door, saying he had just finished talking on the phone to the sheriff. B.D. was safely behind bars, Charlie reported, being held on suspicion of arson, attempted murder, and a number of other charges. He had already admitted everything to the sheriff.