Mystery on Blizzard Mountain (6 page)

Everyone was quiet for a moment. Then Rayanne said to Maris, “Is there any reason someone would be out to get you?” she asked.

“No,” said Maris firmly.

But Henry said, “We think someone might be trying to scare us away. Keep a trail from being built on Blizzard Mountain.”

All four Aldens looked hard at Carola.

“Well, that’s interesting,” she said.

Rayanne asked, “Did you find any clues? Footprints, for example? You can tell a lot from footprints. The soles of shoes can tell you almost as much as someone’s fingerprints, you know.”

“No. No footprints,” said Jessie regretfully.

Carola put down her coffee cup and stood up. “We’d better get a move on, Rayanne.”

To Maris and the Aldens she said, “And we’ll keep an eye out for anything suspicious. If someone is trying to scare you away and we find out anything, we’ll let you know.”

“Have a good hike,” Maris said. “I’ll walk you to the trail’s edge.” She and Rayanne headed toward the Blizzard Trail.

Carola stopped at the door to look back at the Aldens.

“If someone is trying to scare you off this mountain, maybe you should leave,” she said. “I know I would.”

Then she was gone, too.

“Wow,” said Henry. “Do you think that was a warning?”

“A warning,” said Jessie solemnly, “or a threat.”

“Then Carola is the one who’s trying to scare us off the mountain?” asked Violet.

“I’m not sure. She could be,” said Jessie.

“But she just hiked up here with Rayanne,” said Benny.

“That’s what she said, Benny. She could have been following us, though. And then hiked
down
to meet Rayanne this morning,” Jessie said.

“Unless it’s Bobcat who’s been trying to scare us,” said Henry.

“Or maybe Bobcat and Carola are working together,” said Jessie.

“What about Rayanne?” Violet suggested. “She asked a lot of questions.”

Benny nodded. “She sounded like one of us. Like a detective.”

“I wonder why she’s up here. She doesn’t even like mountains, remember?” said Henry.

“Maybe she’s pretending she doesn’t like mountains,” Violet said.

“I guess it’s possible, Violet,” Henry said.

Benny said, “I think it’s the treasure. The ghost is trying to keep us away from it.”

Henry frowned. “There’s no such thing as ghosts,” Henry said. “But you might have a point.”

“You think it’s Stagecoach George, too?” Benny asked, looking very surprised.

Jessie and Violet looked startled, too.

“Maybe not a ghost,” said Henry. “But what if someone has found the treasure, or a clue to the treasure? Maybe it’s not a ghost, but a person trying to keep us away.”

Jessie’s eyes sparkled with sudden excitement. “Maybe you’re right, Henry! Remember, in the diner people talked about hikers coming up here to look for the lost treasure. What if someone has found it?”

“But why haven’t they taken it?” asked Violet.

“Because it’s so heavy. Gold is heavy. Maybe they found it and now they have to come back to get it,” said Jessie.

Just then, Maris came back. “Let’s get to work,” she said. “I think this weather could turn bad any day now. We need to get finished up here and get back down the mountain.”

As she walked away, Jessie said to the others, “Maybe we shouldn’t tell Maris about what we talked about. We don’t want to worry her until we’ve figured out the mystery.”

“Oh,” Benny said. “Okay.”

“Who’s going to help me on the trail?” Maris called.

“I will,” said Jessie.

“Since I don’t have any shoes, I guess I’ll work around the cabin,” said Henry.

“Benny and I will stay with you, Henry,” said Violet. “And keep you company.”

“And look for treasure,” said Benny under his breath.

But by late afternoon, the only treasure that had been found was a penny wedged in the floorboards of the cabin and a scrap of purple cloth caught on a splinter of wood near the cabin door. Violet tucked the scrap of purple in her backpack to keep as a souvenir of the trip and Benny put the penny in his pocket.

When Jessie and Maris returned, they were both dusted with snow. Violet showed them the scrap of purple cloth she’d found and Benny told them about his new penny.

Then Jessie said, “I found something, too.” She reached in her pocket and pulled out a handful of small, shiny green leaves.

Benny knew what it was at once. “Wintergreen!” he said.

Maris smiled and said, “Right, Benny. We thought we’d use it to make some hot tea to go with dinner.”

“Dinner,” said Benny at once. “Good!”

After dinner and hot tea, Maris checked to make sure the cabin was locked up tight, windows and doors. Then it was time for bed.

In no time every one of the Aldens had scrambled into a sleeping bag. “I’m going to sleep like a log,” Jessie announced.

No one answered. Everyone had fallen fast asleep, just like that.

And a moment later, Jessie did, too.

But no one slept like a log that night.

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOH!” Something wailed right outside the cabin wall.

Jessie bolted up.

“OOOOOOOOOOOOH!”

“Hey! What’s that?” Benny said.

Across the room, Maris called out, “Is everyone okay?”

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOH!” The sound came from the other side of the cabin now.

“The ghost!” cried Benny, sounding scared and excited at the same time.

“A screech owl,” said Maris. But her voice was uncertain.

She scrambled out of her sleeping bag and lit one of the candles inside its glass lantern on the table.

Jessie had on one boot and was pulling the other on. Violet was sitting up in her sleeping bag, her eyes wide. Henry was struggling to pull on his thick wool socks.

“OOOOOOOH.” The sound came from the back of the cabin. But this time it wasn’t so loud. It sounded as if it were fading away.

“That’s no screech owl,” Jessie said.

“Let’s go out there! I want to catch the ghost,” Benny said excitedly.

Jessie grabbed her flashlight. “We all do, Benny,” she said. “But you can’t catch anything but a cold if you go outside in the snow without shoes or a coat.”

“Oh, all right,” Benny said.

He ran back to his bunk and stuffed his feet into his boots. By the time he had his coat on, everyone was ready and had their flashlights on. The Aldens raced out of the cabin door into the dark and snowy night.

“Look! Tracks in the snow,” said Violet.

They followed the scramble of tracks around the cabin and all over the clearing as well as they could.

Suddenly Jessie pointed. “That way! The tracks go that way!” she said.

Being careful not to step on the tracks, the Aldens followed the tracks to the stream.

“I think I see more tracks on the other side. I’ll check,” said Jessie. She scrambled nimbly across the rocks while the others waited and watched.

Henry danced from one foot to the other. He could feel the cold snow through his socks. He didn’t dare try to follow the others across the icy-cold stream.

How would he ever get back down the trail?

“The tracks stop here,” Jessie called from the other side of the water.

“No more tracks?” Henry called back.

“Nope. It’s like whoever it was just disappeared,” Jessie reported.

Benny nodded wisely. “Ghosts can do that,” he said. “Stagecoach George probably just flew away.”

“Ghosts don’t leave footprints,” argued Violet. But she looked around nervously.

Maris shivered. “I agree. Even if there was such a thing as a ghost, no ghost made these tracks. Look at them.”

Five flashlights pointed down on the footprints. They were large and deep and smudged along one side.

“Something heavy, with big feet,” said Violet, remembering some of the tracking lessons Maris had given them.

“Right, Violet,” Maris said. “Heavy weight makes deep tracks. And big footprints mean big feet, which usually means a big person.”

Maris knelt and studied the prints some more. “Expensive hiking boots, but not brand-new,” she reported. “Someone’s been hiking in these for a long time.”

“Maybe it’s someone small wearing big boots,” said Jessie. “Someone small in disguise.”

“And it looks like whoever it is might be carrying something heavy” Henry said, forgetting about his own cold, bootless feet for a moment.

“Why?” asked Benny.

“Because the track is uneven,” Henry pointed out. “See how it is smudged and blurred on the left side?”

“Another good observation,” Maris said. “Someone who’s going to be sneaking around in the wilderness in the middle of the night could be carrying a heavy pack with emergency supplies in it.”

“And it’s either packed unevenly, or somehow it got thrown off balance,” Jessie said.

“Right again,” said Maris. Suddenly she shivered. “But let’s get back inside. I’m getting cold.”

Reluctantly, the Aldens returned to the cabin. As they approached, Henry swung his flashlight around the clearing. “The footprints lead into the clearing from the trail,” he noted. “And away from the clearing across the stream. And then they stop. How did he—or she—do that?”

“I know!” exclaimed Jessie. “Maybe the person walked backward in his own steps to the stream and then walked up the stream.”

“Good idea, Jessie,” Maris said. “We’ll check around farther up and downstream tomorrow.”

“If the snow hasn’t covered the tracks,” Henry said. “Or—”

But Henry didn’t finish what he was about to say. Violet’s flashlight beam had stopped on the roof of the cabin.

“Look at that!” Jessie exclaimed.

Henry just stared. He couldn’t believe his eyes!

“Your boots!” shouted Benny. “Look!”

Henry’s brown hiking boots were sitting on the cabin roof, right above the door!

Henry walked up to the cabin and stepped onto a stump next to the cabin door. He reached up and took down the boots.

“These are my boots for sure,” he said. “And I don’t think they’ve been here long. There’s hardly any snow on them.”

“But where did they come from?” Violet cried.

“Maybe it’s a joke,” Benny said.

“I don’t think so, Benny,” said Henry. “And I don’t think it was a ghost.”

“Do you think it was whoever was making all that noise?” asked Violet.

“It had to be,” said Jessie. She frowned. “But why? Why would anyone take your boots and then bring them back?”

“Maybe the thief realized that Henry couldn’t hike back down without his boots,” said Benny.

“Oh, no!” gasped Violet. “What if the boot thief took something else?”

They all pushed quickly into the cabin. But nothing had been touched. The cabin was just as they had left it.

“I don’t care who took the boots! I’ve had it,” Maris declared. “We’re going home tomorrow.”

“But what about the trail?” asked Jessie.

“We’ve done as much on the trail as we need to do before the winter snow sets in. And from the looks of things, if we don’t head down the trail soon, winter could trap us here,” said Maris.

“But we haven’t caught the ghost ... or the thief yet,” said Benny. “We will,” said Jessie.

Maris woke the Aldens before the sun was up the next morning. “It looks like it has been snowing off and on all night,” she told them. “We need to get down the mountain while we can.”

They ate quickly then loaded their packs and headed out.

“All the footprints from last night are gone,” said Benny.

“Yep. Whoever’s been bothering us got lucky,” said Henry.

The snow fell and fell as the little group slipped and slid down the side of the mountain. Drifts of snow soon covered the trail and Maris stopped often to make sure that they hadn’t lost their way.

Halfway down, Benny sank onto a rock. “My legs are
tired
,”he said. “They don’t want to walk anymore.”

“I could carry you,” Henry said.

But Maris shook her head. “Benny’s too heavy for you to carry on this slippery trail,” she said. As she spoke, she pulled out the lightweight ax she carried and began to hack at a small tree by the trail.

“What are you doing?” Jessie asked.

“Building a sort of sled to pull Benny on,” Maris said. Swiftly she cut another tree. “Trim the branches off that tree and I’ll trim this one.”