Clive Cussler (5 page)

Floopy stood again and pushed with all his might. This time the creak came louder and the door moved an inch. Not knowing about such things, Floopy didn't realize that the bolt hadn't gone into the catch when the Boss's henchmen thought they locked the door. Again he pushed against the door, using all the strength he had. Slowly the big steel door's creak turned into a big squeak and it moved open another six inches, making an opening of seven inches. Although Floopy was hefty for a dog so close to the ground, seven inches was all he needed to squeeze between the opening and wiggle into the cell house.

Casey and Lacey set to work, taking turns at furiously pulling the ends of their string saws back and forth around one of the bars. The plan was working. The concrete powder glued to the strings cut into the old, rusty bar. But it was slow work, very slow work, and they went through each string saw after only a few minutes.

"How are we doing?" asked Lacey, making another string saw while Casey pulled the ends of the string one way and then the other.

"We're cutting a groove, but we have a ways to go," he answered between breaths.

Just then they heard barking down below on the bottom floor of the cell house.

"Floopy!" Lacey burst out. "That can only be Floopy!"

It was true—Floopy had a very distinctive woof, low and almost musical.

"Here, Floopy!" Casey shouted. "Up here!"

"Hurry, Floopy!" cried Lacey.

Floopy's tail began wagging wildly at the sound of his beloved friends' voices. He sniffed their trail up the stairs and down the catwalk to their cell. He arrived, his tongue hanging out and panting from his run through the prison yard.

"Oh, Floopy," cried Lacey. "How did you ever get here across the bay?"

Not being able to answer, Floopy frantically licked the twins' faces, he was so glad to see them.

"He must have been carried over the water by Hotsy Totsy," reasoned Casey. "She must be waiting at the ferry building."

Lacey reached through the bars and hugged her dog. Then she noticed something in Floopy's mouth. She pulled it away and saw that it was a piece of cloth. "What's this?" she asked, looking into Floopy's big brown eyes.

"Looks like a piece of the Boss's pants," Casey said with a big smile growing across his lips.

Lacey threw the piece of torn pants on the bed as she scratched Floopy's long ears. "That means the Boss knows Floopy is on the island looking for us. He must be crazy mad after being bitten."

"Not the first time either," recalled Casey.

"The Boss will come to check on us as sure as there is a sun and moon," Lacey said, becoming fearful. "No telling what he'll do if he catches Floopy with us."

"We've got to get out of here quick." Casey took up a string file and began desperately rubbing it against the bar. "You cut on the top of the bar while I cut on the bottom."

For the next five minutes Casey and Lacey pulled the string files, filled with a sense of urgency. By now their hands were tired and sore.

"We'll never make it," Lacey said wearily.

Casey didn't look defeated. "We'll need another twenty minutes before we cut all the way through the bar," he said. "With Floopy's help we can try and force the bar to break off."

"How can Floopy help?" wondered Lacey.

"You keep cutting while I take a spring off the bed, stretch it out and wrap one end around the bar and the other around Floopy's collar."

Lacey saw the genius in her brother's thinking and clapped. "You're a wizard," she said.

He laughed. "I only wish I was a wizard."

Casey soon twisted a spring off the lower bed, wrapped it around the bar and attached the other end to Floopy's collar. "Okay," he said to his sister. "Lie down and we'll both kick the bar as hard as we can while Floopy pulls from his side."

Floopy knew what was expected of him and leaned forward, pulling with all his might.

On the other side of the bars, the twins kicked as hard as they could.

At first nothing happened. The bar seemed as solid as ever and didn't bend.

"Harder!" Casey called out. "We've got to try harder."

This time they gave it all they had while Floopy dug his paws into the concrete floor and pulled and pulled. Just as it seemed they were wasting their time, suddenly the top piece of the bar broke loose. Now they gained extra pressure by bending the top half of the bar outward. It snapped and fell to the floor with a loud twang. Casey helped Lacey through the opening in the bars and quickly followed.

"We're free!" Lacey said with great relief.

"We'll have to hurry if we want to reach the ferry house before the Boss and his henchmen find us," Casey urged his sister. "Hotsy Totsy will carry us back across the bay."

They ran down the catwalk, ran down the stairs, ran through the cell block and out the big steel door. Although there were no lights except from the moon and the streets of San Francisco, they followed the white tip of Floopy's tail, knowing he would lead them straight to Hotsy Totsy. They darted across the parade grounds and dashed down the steps into the ferry house. It was almost completely black inside, but they could make out their beloved speedboat tied to the dock where Floopy had left her.

The Boss and his henchmen couldn't find Floopy. Finally, the Boss sat down, catching his breath from running all over the prison grounds.

"We've looked everywhere," he said. "Where could that stupid dog be?"

"He must have been looking for them kids," said the Beard.

"Nay," mumbled Wrinkle Face. "You locked the main door to the cell house."

"I didn't lock it. You did."

"Did not. You did."

"Not."

"Did."

"Are you idiots telling me you forgot to lock the main door?" yelled the Boss.

The Beard shrugged. "No big deal. Those kids can never escape from Al Capone's old cell."

"That's true," the Boss agreed. "But we'd better check on them just to be sure."

It didn't take long for them to find an empty cell and a rusted steel bar lying on the floor.

"They've—they've become invisible," stammered Wrinkle Face.

"Fools, they sawed through the bar and escaped. That stupid dog must have helped them."

The Beard shook his head dumbly. "Where could they go?"

Wrinkle Face shook his head dumbly too. "They can't swim across the bay at night."

"The dog must have somehow come over on their boat," said the Boss. "Quick! We've got to hightail it to the ferry house before they can escape."

Lacey and Floopy untied the lines and jumped from the dock into the cockpit of Hotsy Totsy, but Casey didn't follow them. He stood quietly studying the phantom black boat that was tied up on the opposite side of the dock.

"Aren't you coming?" Lacey demanded, expecting the Boss and his henchmen to come running into the ferry boathouse at any moment.

Casey made no reply. He jumped down into the black phantom boat, opened the cowling and disappeared into the engine compartment. Lacey could hear sounds of metal clinking on metal and then all was silent. Then came a loud clunk followed by Casey, who closed the cowling and leaped into Hotsy Totsy.

As he settled behind the wheel, the magical boat started its own engine and began moving slowly out of the ferry boathouse. They had only gone about ten feet from the dock when the Boss and his henchmen came running through the door.

"They're getting away!" shouted the Boss, stopping at the edge of the dock and shaking his fist. "Get our boat started. We've got to stop them before they give us away to the police."

Casey didn't waste a second. As soon as they were clear of the building and out in the bay, he pushed the fuel pedal to the floor and sent Hotsy Totsy speeding over the inky water toward the lights of San Francisco.

Seconds later, the Boss, the Beard and Wrinkle Face jumped into the black phantom speedboat. Imagine their surprise when they found themselves splashing into water that was rising above the front seat.

"Our boat is sinking," said the Beard, stunned.

"Check the engine!" commanded the Boss, his anger mounting.

The henchmen threw back the engine cowling and shined flashlights inside.

"The water is already two feet deep in the engine compartment," came back Wrinkle Face. "No way we can start it."

"Those rotten brats opened the drain plugs!" the Boss bawled out. "Shut them off and turn on the bilge pumps. They'll be sorry for this. I'll make their lives miserable for messing with the Boss."

Out in the bay, Lacey kept turning around, looking for the Boss's black phantom boat. They would have to run with lights, she reasoned, if they were to find and catch Hotsy Totsy. Amazed that she saw no sign of the evil men and their boat, she looked at Casey.

"They don't seem to be following us," she said thankfully. "Do you know why?"

Casey smiled from ear to ear. "They never left the ferry house. I opened their drain plugs. It will take them a good ten minutes to pump enough water out of the boat to start the engine."

"So that's why you jumped into the black boat," said Lacey, proud of her brother.

"Soon as we dock, we'll call the police and tell them where to find the thieves and the stolen bank money. I wish I could see their faces when they're caught," said Casey.

Lacey grinned. "I'm only glad we weren't there when they found their boat sinking at the dock," she said.

"I'll bet the Boss was so mad he could spit." Casey laughed.

"Yuck, I wouldn't want to see that."

While the Beard and Wrinkle Face worked at pumping water out of the boat, the Boss ran back to the warden's mansion and retrieved the stolen bank money. He returned to the ferry boathouse as his henchmen finished fixing the drain plugs and pumped the water from the hull.

They looked pleased with themselves. "All ready to start her up and head after those kids," said the Beard.

"Forget those brats." The Boss snorted. "They must be across the bay by now and calling the cops."

Wrinkle Face asked, "Are we heading out to sea and down to Mexico?"

The Boss shook his head. "A change of plans. The cops will have every Coast Guard boat and helicopter searching the coast for us. Instead, we're going to join the powerboat race tomorrow."

The Beard and Wrinkle Face stared at each other, confused. "Won't that be like putting up a flag and saying come get us?" muttered the Beard.

The Boss grinned wickedly. "Not if we go up the Sacramento River tonight and hide out in the trees along the bank. Then, after the boats refuel at the city docks and continue on the return run down the river, we join the boats as they race past. Our boat is as fast as any of them, so we'll have little trouble catching the brats and smashing them, that dumb dog and their boat into teeny-tiny pieces."

"But they won't be in the race with their old wooden boat," said Wrinkle Face. "The officials will never let them enter."

"I know those brats," said the Boss. "They never do what they're told. Those twins and their stupid dog will be in the running, just you wait and see."

"Gee, the Boss is one smart boss," said Wrinkle Face.

"Good thinking, Boss," came back the Beard.

The Boss threw the suitcase with the stolen money into the cockpit. "Start the engine. I want to find a good place to hide along the river before the sun comes up."

After they docked, the twins told their story to the security guards, and the police were called to take them to the nearest station to fill out a report on their scrape with the Boss. Casey and Lacey were thrilled to ride through the city streets in a patrol car, its siren shrieking.

The chief detective, whose name was Mulroony, reminded Lacey of the giant who lived on the beanstalk. He was a tough-looking man, but a kindly one. He smiled and offered the twins candy as he read their report. Finally, he glanced up with a solemn look on his face.

"We sent a squad over to Alcatraz, but there was no sign of the Boss or his henchmen. They and their boat were gone. They're probably in the ocean, speeding toward Mexico."

"Did they really rob a bank?" asked Casey.

Mulroony nodded. "They got five hundred thousand dollars from the Nob Hill Bank."

"I'm sorry I couldn't have caused more damage to their boat," Casey said sadly.

"Don't feel bad," Mulroony said slowly. "You did your best." He stood up, leaned over and petted Floopy. "Now you kids run along and get some sleep. If we need any more information, we can call on you in Castroville."

The patrol car took the twins back to the dock. They went aboard Hotsy Totsy and were soon fast asleep.

They had slept only a few hours when they were awoken by the loudspeaker announcement instructing the drivers to start their engines. Casey yawned and lifted Floopy out of the coil of rope that had become his bed and handed him down to Lacey. Then he got busy untying the lines to the dock. Once behind the wheel, he started the engine and moved toward the Golden Gate Bridge and the sea.

Hotsy Totsy moved through the water slowly toward the sea as if they were leaving San Francisco. A fancy yacht with the officials passed them and took up station at the starting line. Lacey counted forty-two boats that moved around in circles as they lined up for the start of the race. At a signal from the officials on the yacht, the pilots would launch a vast free-for-all across the bay toward the entrance of the Sacramento River.

A sea of pleasure boats had already lined up along both sides of the course, which was marked by yellow buoys. A thousand spectators were in a festive mood, many dining on goodies from picnic baskets as they waited for the flare to shoot into the sky from the official yacht that would signal the start of the Gold Cup Grand National Race.

The brilliant colors of the powerboats caught the morning sun and sparkled like Christmas ornaments on the blue-green water. The thrill of excitement was in the air as the pilots revved their powerful engines, the exhaust sounds going from a muffled throb to a low gurgling growl. Now all the boats broke out of the circle and headed slowly toward the start line so they could sneak into a good position to get the jump on the other boats and make a clean getaway.