“Yes. I want to get some background on them,” Nancy said. “And while I do that, you two can check on the other guests and Elsa Parker. We might as well see who has alibis for all of these incidents.”
“I guess you were right when you said we’d need to be rested for tomorrow,” Bess said, as she pulled on pajamas. “With all the investigating we’ve got planned, we’d better get to sleep.”
“Agreed,” George said. “That bunk is looking pretty good to me.”
Bess and George fell asleep quickly. Nancy tried, without success, to guess who was out to destroy the retreat. But there were too many possible culprits, and she finally dozed off.
• • •
When morning came, Nancy, Bess, and George headed over to the lodge for breakfast. They had agreed that Bess would wait there for the Smythes, and George would try to link up with the Kauffmans when they came in for breakfast. George would talk to Elsa, too.
“Could you use some help in here? I’d love to see firsthand where that wonderful smell is coming from,” George said cheerfully as she stuck her head into the kitchen.
Rachel accepted her offer before Elsa had a chance to object.
Nancy and Bess ate jam-filled Danish pastries and finished several glasses of orange juice, which George served with a wink.
“I think George is enjoying her detective work,” Bess whispered to Nancy.
“It looks as if you’re about to get your turn,” Nancy said to Bess as the Smythes walked in the front door of the lodge.
“I’m thinking of taking a walk later,” Bess said to Todd and Beth after they had joined the girls at the table. “I have no idea what part of the retreat is best. Do you know a good place to go?” Her friendly show of interest got her an instant invitation from Beth to hear about all of their adventures at Highland Retreat.
Nancy finished her pastry and asked Rachel if she could use the phone in Charlie’s office while he was doing errands in town. She pulled the preservation group’s letter from her pocket and tried the number printed at the top.
“You’ve reached the Nature Preservation League,” said a man’s voice at the other end. Nancy knew immediately that it was a recording, and not a very clear one at that.
“Please leave your name, phone number, and the nature of your business,” the voice said.
Nancy hung up quickly and called directory assistance. When she put the receiver down a minute later, her curiosity had been raised. There was no listing for the Nature Preservation League.
Nancy took a few moments to gather her thoughts, then dialed the number on the letterhead a second time. She waited for the beep at the end of the recorded message.
“I’d like to make a rather large donation to your very important cause,” Nancy said into the phone. She knew that if the league was legitimate, they would be eager to talk to her. “Please call me to discuss the details.”
She gave the phone number of her father’s office in River Heights, and then quickly called Garson Drew himself.
“Nancy! How are you? And how are Charlie and Rachel?” her father asked when he heard her voice.
“They’re having some problems with the sale, I’m afraid,” Nancy told him. “That’s why I called. I need your help with something.”
“Am I getting in on a mystery?” Carson asked with a chuckle.
“Yes, but you’ll have to wait for all the details,” Nancy said. She told him quickly about the Nature Preservation League and her phone call to them.
“I need to know right away if they return my call,” she said. “Oh, and Dad, do you know a Senator John P. Callihan, or his aide, Tyler Nelson?”
“Sorry, I’m no help there. Washington State is a long way from River Heights,” Carson said. “I suppose you want me to check on them, too.”
“Thanks, Dad. You’re the best.” Nancy said goodbye and hung up the phone. Then she replaced the preservation group’s letter in the desk. She was deep in thought when George tapped on the door and stepped into Charlie’s office.
“Elsa said she was in the kitchen all day yesterday,” George told Nancy in a low voice. “And I believe her. She made those rolls from scratch. Plus three blueberry pies for dinner tonight, and homemade croutons for the salad.”
“You’re right. That probably wouldn’t leave Elsa much time to rig a jeep or blow up a dam,” Nancy said. “What about the Kauffmans?”
“They went into town after their early breakfast,” George reported. “Aaron told me they got back just in time to hear ‘the big boom.’ ” George used her hands to show how Aaron had described the sound of the dam blowing up.
“That seems to leave them in the clear,” Nancy said. “I wonder what Bess found out.”
As if on cue, Bess walked through the front door of the lodge. She pulled up a chair beside Nancy and George and began to rub her legs.
“Todd and Beth are in awfully good shape,” she said. “I would have been better off helping in the kitchen than trying to keep up with them.”
Bess reported that she had invited herself on the Smythes’ morning jog through the meadow, but she had made only one short loop before giving up.
“I did see the hawk’s nest that Rachel told us about at dinner last night,” she explained. “Apparently Rachel had told Todd and Beth about it yesterday morning. They watched the nest all day. They even showed me the small blind they built so the mother hawk couldn’t see them.”
“It sounds as if we’ve narrowed down our list of suspects,” Nancy said. “And I’ve got a call in to the Nature Preservation League.”
She told Bess and George about her phone calls to the league and to her father, finishing up just as the retreat’s big triangle gong sounded.
“That’s the signal for our ride up Miner’s Creek,” George said.
The three girls walked to the barn, where they found a group of horses saddled and waiting. Rachel had just finished tying saddlebags full of lunches on her big brown mare. She directed Nancy toward a palomino named Heather. George took the reins of a black-and-white pinto, and Bess climbed aboard a calm, all-black mount.
Todd and Beth Smythe were already sitting on matching bays. Pete helped Shirley and Frank Kauffman onto their horses, then slid Aaron onto a gentle pony that he guaranteed was “a hundred percent safe.”
“Tyler isn’t coming?” Nancy asked.
“No, he’s busy researching,” Rachel explained. “And Charlie doesn’t like to ride that much anymore.”
“Move ’em out,” Pete called when everyone was ready. He stood by the barn and watched as the horses headed up the retreat driveway toward Miner’s Creek.
Rachel led the way to a shallow place in the stream, where the horses stopped to take a drink, then waded across. Within minutes the group was climbing into the hills toward Prospector’s Canyon, where Jeremiah had found the gold-laced quartz.
Nancy’s horse quickly passed the others, except for Rachel’s mare.
“Heather likes to lead,” Rachel said.
They rode side-by-side until the trail narrowed. Then Nancy went in front. Nancy was enjoying the spectacular view as the trail wound around the side of a steep cliff when she suddenly heard a strange buzzing sound. At the same moment she felt her horse tense. The palomino snorted and reared. Nancy found the saddle horn just as the mare’s front legs came back to the ground. Heather jumped sideways, almost losing Nancy, and her back legs slid off the side of the trail. Fighting down panic, Nancy looked down and saw Heather’s back hooves scrambling in the loose dirt and rocks of the steep bank. Below them the mountainside dropped away to rocky cliffs. Nancy knew she had to stay in the saddle and hope that Heather could fight her way back onto the trail. If the mare failed, they would both tumble over the cliffs!
10
A Mystery in the Bag
Nancy leaned forward, close to her horse’s neck. The shift in her weight was just the help that Heather needed. The mare scrambled back onto the trail, but Nancy quickly realized the da
nger was not yet over.
On the trail behind her the other horses were close to panic. The buzzing sound seemed to grow louder. Then, with a scream, Bess pointed to the trail ahead.
A burlap bag was lying on its side in the middle of the trail. It was moving and writhing like a living thing, inching its way down the trail toward them. The top of the bag had been tied shut, but a small opening remained. A large snake was halfway out of the bag, wriggling to free itself.
“It’s full of snakes!” Bess screamed.
“Rattlesnakes,” Rachel said grimly.
Nancy’s horse was prancing and jumping, once again coming dangerously close to the cliff.
Calmly Rachel ordered everyone to turn their horses around. The group started back down the trail.
Finally Nancy steered a frightened and shaky Heather to a safe clearing at the base of the cliffs.
“Rachel, I’d like to know what’s going on here,” Frank Kauffman demanded angrily when they had all settled their horses. “That was a very dangerous stunt someone pulled.”
Shirley had dismounted and was helping Aaron from his horse. The little boy was frightened, and he looked as if he might burst into tears.
“You can’t blame Rachel for this,” Nancy told Frank. “Why would she sabotage her own trail ride?”
“You know that’s right, Frank,” Shirley said gently. “She couldn’t have known those snakes were there.”
“I guess not,” Frank said, frowning. “But I’d like to get my hands on whoever did this.”
“So would I,” Rachel agreed in a weak voice. Her face was pale, and Nancy could see her hands shaking as she toyed with the bridle reins.
Nancy guided her horse next to Rachel’s. “I think someone’s trying to keep us out of Prospector’s Canyon,” Nancy whispered.
Rachel looked startled. She had been too concerned about her guests to consider the reasons for the prank. “But why?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Nancy said grimly. “But there’s only one way to find out. Is there another route into Prospector’s Canyon?”
“Yes, but it’s longer. The trail isn’t kept up very well, but the horses have been on it before.” As she spoke, a look of determination came over Rachel’s face. “I’m sure we can make it, Nancy,” she added. “Let’s get to the bottom of this.”
Nancy and George nodded, but Bess seemed reluctant to face any more danger. She listened hopefully as the Kauffmans and the Smythes announced that they were heading back to the barn.
“Maybe you should go back to the retreat, too, Bess. If you don’t mind, I mean,” Nancy said. “Maybe you can find out who might have gotten up here this morning and planted those snakes.”
“I guess I could do some more detecting,” Bess said, sounding relieved. She turned her horse back toward the retreat.
“And tell Pete and Granddad about the snakes,” Rachel called after Bess.
The trail that Rachel, George, and Nancy followed wound through the forest. The girls had to duck under low-hanging branches of trees that grew close to the trail. The horses trotted along an old logging road for part of the distance. Rachel pointed out a side road that led past Maddie’s hospital, then back to the road leading to town.
The trail wound back to Miner’s Creek, and the rushing water made it difficult for the girls to hear one another talk. Nancy was surprised that the same stream that flowed gently through the meadow could have so much power in the mountains.
Finally the trail turned away from the stream and passed through a quiet clearing.
“This is a good place for lunch,” Rachel announced, jumping off her horse. “We have one more steep climb before we get to the canyon.”
Nancy and George dismounted, and the three girls quickly ate a lunch of roast beef sandwiches, corn chips, and lemonade.
“Eat all you want,” Rachel told them. “Elsa and I fixed enough for the whole camp, and I didn’t think of sending any of it back with the others. I guess I made more work for Elsa. She’ll probably fix a second lunch for everyone now.”
“I’m sure she’ll understand, if we can solve this mystery and end all the problems at the retreat,” Nancy said. She hoped they’d find something in the canyon to make their trip worthwhile.
The girls hurried through lunch and mounted their horses again. After a short, rocky climb the trail wound back to the stream and the mouth of a narrow canyon.
Below them the stream cascaded down a rocky slope in a series of small waterfalls. At the top of the falls a large, rocky crag stretched skyward.
“That rock looks like a sand castle,” George said, shielding her eyes against the sun as she looked up. “It even has little points at the top.”
“That’s exactly what I think it looks like,” Rachel agreed. “I call it Castle Rock. It guards the entrance to Prospector’s Canyon.”
The canyon had high, steep sides covered with trees and mountain grasses. At the bottom the stream was once again calm and peaceful. Twisted trees stood like sentries next to small, quiet pools.
Near the creek was a broken chute. Rachel explained that the chute had once been used by prospectors to wash sand.
“It’s called a sluice box,” Rachel told Nancy and Bess. “It works just like a pan, but it can wash more sand at a time. The miners put sand in one end and let the water wash it down. Black sand and gold would catch behind the ridges on the floor of the chute. Then the miners could collect it easily.”
“Is this how Jeremiah mined?” George asked.
“No. Whoever built this chute was a ‘placer miner,’ ” Rachel answered. “Placer miners looked for bits of gold that had broken loose from the main deposit and washed down here. Jeremiah was a ‘hard rock’ miner. He would have searched the hillsides for the source of the gold—the mother lode.”
Nancy got off her horse and examined the chute carefully. “It doesn’t look as if it’s been used for years,” she said. “And I don’t see anything here that anyone would want to keep hidden.”
“Me, neither,” George agreed. “Why do you suppose someone was so determined to keep us from coming here?”
“There must be something,” Nancy said. “Let’s ride a little farther.”
After climbing back on her horse, Nancy let Heather lead the way along the creek. Soon the brush and trees gave way to a combination of rocks and gravel, with only a small tree growing here and there. The open hillside led up to a wall of rocky cliffs. Nancy immediately spotted several fresh holes in the graveled soil.
“Someone’s been digging!” Rachel exclaimed.
“Look how the holes seem to make a pattern on the hillside,” George added. “They make rows, both up and down and across.”
“As if someone’s looking for something and following a pattern to cover all the ground,” Nancy said.
She tied Heather’s reins to a tree and walked up the hillside. The holes were about two feet deep. She was soon joined by Rachel and George.
“Do you know what we’re looking for?” Rachel asked.
“No, but there’s got to be something more here,” Nancy replied. “I’m sure of it.”
She was searching through a thick growth of bushes near one of the holes when she caught a glint of metal. Carefully Nancy uncovered a large pick and shovel and a small leather pouch.
“I’ve found something!” she called to the other girls. Rachel and George gathered around as Nancy opened the pouch and removed a piece of notebook paper with an outline of the hillside drawn on it. Lines crisscrossed the picture, with X’s drawn where each pair of lines came together.
“I bet there’s an X for every hole dug on the hillside,” Nancy said.
Rachel took the picture and counted the holes in the row closest to them.
“I think you’re right,” she said.
“Someone must be looking for Jeremiah’s gold,” Nancy said.
“But who? And how are they getting out here without being noticed?” Rachel asked, handing the paper
back to Nancy. “The only trails that lead here are the two that we took today. They both start right by the lodge.”
“But what about the logging road we followed?” Nancy reminded her. “Didn’t you say it passed by Maddie’s bird hospital?”
“That’s right,” Rachel said. “And then it runs into the road to town. I guess that means anyone could have come up that way.”
Nancy and George exchanged glances.
“I hope you two don’t think Maddie’s in on this whole thing,” Rachel said, kicking a rock in frustration. “I’m telling you, she’s not like that.”
“I think we should talk to her, anyway,” Nancy said. “Maybe Maddie’s seen something.”
“I guess a visit would be a good idea,” Rachel said finally. “I can take you over tomorrow morning.”
“Good,” Nancy said. “Let’s leave things just as we found them. And not a word to anyone about our being here.”
Nancy replaced the pouch in the bushes, and the girls headed down the hillside. Neither the gravel of the hillside nor the hard, dry soil of the trail held any footprints. Nancy was sure that whoever had been mining in the canyon would not be able to tell they had been there.
When the girls cantered their horses up to the barn, they quickly dismounted, eager to get some dinner. Walking up to the lodge, they found Bess waiting on the porch. Nancy could tell from the way her friend was fidgeting that she had news.
“You won’t believe what I found out!” Bess said excitedly. “I think I’ve solved the mystery.”
11
A Rock-Solid Clue
“You mean, you know who’s been doing all the damage at the retreat?” Nancy asked in surprise.
“That’s right,” Bess said, grinning with satisfaction. “And one of them is in the lodge right now, talking to Charlie in his office.”
Nancy, Rachel, and George exchanged glances as they walked into the lodge. Charlie’s office opened onto the balcony, overlooking the main room where the girls were standing. Nancy considered leading everyone back to their cabin, where they could talk in private, but Rachel nodded for them to follow her to the kitchen.