Sydney and the Wisconsin Whispering Woods

“Look out!” Sydney Lincoln screamed.
Screeeeeeech!

The wailing of tires sliding on concrete echoed in her ears. A chill raced down Sydney’s spine as Aunt Dee pulled the SUV onto the shoulder of the road.

“You almost hit that thing,” Sydney gasped. “What was it?”

Alexis Howell sat in the backseat. Her hands gripped Sydney’s headrest.

“It ran so fast I didn’t get a good look at it. I saw something big and brown. A bear, maybe?” she said.

“A deer,” said Aunt Dee. “It was a huge buck. Is everyone

all right?”

Alexis checked on Biscuit, also known as Biscuit the Wonder Dog. He stood in his kennel cage in the back of the SUV. “Biscuit looks a little scared, but he’s fine,” she said.

Aunt Dee took a deep breath and pulled back onto the narrow woodland road.

Sydney had never seen a darker summer night. The moon and the stars were trapped under clouds behind hundreds of towering pine trees. As the three—and Biscuit—traveled along, they saw animal eyes peering out at them from the forest, reflected in the beams of the headlights.

“I think we’re lost,” Aunt Dee announced.

“Wonderful!” Sydney sighed. “It’s almost midnight, and we’re lost in the middle of a national forest.”

“We’re not in the
middle
of the forest,” said Aunt Dee. “We’re barely on the edge of it. And we’re not
lost
lost. I know the resort is on this road, but in the dark I’m not sure exactly where it is.”

Sydney put her window down. “You can turn off the air conditioning. It’s nice outside.”

Aunt Dee flipped a switch on the dashboard, and the cool air stopped rushing from the vents. Just then, an awful smell filled the car.

“Skunk!” Sydney cried, quickly putting up the window.

“Eeeewwwww!” Alexis complained. “That’s nasty. Did you see it?”

Sydney held her nose and flipped on the AC.

“I saw it lying dead on the road back there”, said Aunt Dee.

“The poor little thing,” Alexis said. “It died just trying to cross the street.”

Sydney’s aunt eased her foot off the accelerator, and the SUV slowed to a crawl. “Look for a long driveway to the right with a sign that says M
ILLER’S
R
ESORT
. It leads to the cabins and the lake.”

“I think we passed it,” Sydney said in a muffled voice.

She still had her hands cupped over her face to block the skunk smell.

“What?” Aunt Dee said.

“About a half an hour ago,” Sydney answered. “I saw a sign that said M
ILLER’S
R
ESORT
with an arrow pointing to the right. I would have said something, but I didn’t know we were going there.”

Aunt Dee pulled the SUV to the side of the road. “How in the world did I miss it?” She made a U-turn and headed in the opposite direction. “I guess we’re all tired.”

The long trip was almost over. The day before, Aunt Dee and Sydney had driven eleven hours from Washington DC to Chicago, Illinois. They had dinner there with Bailey Chang and her family, who came from Peoria to see them.

Then they spent the night in a motel and, this morning, they went to the Chicago Airport to pick up Alexis. Her plane, due to arrive at one, was three hours late. They didn’t leave Chicago until almost five, and for the last six hours, they had been on the road driving from Chicago to northern Wisconsin.

“I can’t wait to climb into bed and go to sleep,” said Sydney. “Yesterday morning, I thought a road trip was a cool idea. Now, I can’t think of anything I’d like better than to get out of this SUV. “

Ruff!

“Biscuit agrees,” said Alexis. “He’s
such
a good boy. Aren’t you, Biscuit?”

The little dog perked up his ears and stuck one front paw through the bars of his kennel. Alexis reached back and held it. “It’s probably not safe to walk in the forest at night. I mean, with bears and stuff around here.”

After they backtracked several miles, Aunt Dee slowed down to make sure they wouldn’t miss the sign again. “It should be on the left,” she said.

“Oh my goodness!”
Aunt Dee slammed on the brakes sending the girls flying against their seatbelts.

Sydney gasped. “A wolf!”

“No. That’s a coyote,” Aunt Dee said.

A large dog-like animal stood in the road in front of the SUV. It had big pointed ears, long legs, and a silver-brown coat. Frozen like a statue, it stared at them.

Ruff! Ruff!Ar-roof! Ruff! Ruff!Ar-roof!
Biscuit barked wildly.

When the coyote heard Biscuit bark, the corners of its mouth turned up in a sneer. It showed its fangs, daring the SUV to come any closer.

“Biscuit, be quiet!” both girls exclaimed.

“Are all the windows shut?” Aunt Dee asked.

“They are,” said Alexis, double-checking. She reached back and made sure Biscuit’s kennel was latched.

“Look!” said Sydney, pointing to the side of the road.

Three coyote pups came out of the woods. Their mother yipped at them, and they quickly ran to her side. With a firm nudge of her nose, she sent them running. Then she trotted after them across the road.

“I’ve seen more wild animals in the last half hour than I have in my whole entire life,” said Alexis.

“Isn’t it cool?” Sydney asked.

“Way cool,” her friend answered. “But, as much as I like animals, I’m afraid of bears. That’s about the only thing we haven’t seen so far, and I hope we don’t run into any.”

A soft, little
Ruff!
came from inside the kennel cage.

They drove another quarter of a mile before they saw the sign:

“We’re here,” said Aunt Dee. She turned the SUV onto the long, winding driveway. “I can’t wait to get some sleep. I have to be at the ranger’s station at nine tomorrow morning.”

Sydney’s aunt was a forest ranger with the National Park Service in Washington DC. For as long as Sydney could remember, Aunt Dee had worked at the many landmarks and memorials in Washington. But now she wanted to try something new. She planned to interview for a ranger job at the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in Wisconsin, and she had invited Sydney and her friend, Alexis, to come along and spend a week with her in the Northwoods.

Though Sydney was from Washington DC and Alexis was from California, the two girls had met at camp. The six girls in their cabin had solved a mystery together. Dubbing themselves the Camp Club Girls, though all of the six lived in different parts of the country and were different ages, they were all great friends. And they all worked together to solve mysteries.

“We need to check in at the resort office,” said Aunt Dee. “Mrs. Miller promised to stay there until we arrive.” She parked the SUV in front of a two-story, white cottage and shut off the engine. A red fluorescent sign above the door flickered O
FFICE
, and several bright outdoor lights lit the grounds. When they opened the car doors, they felt a blast of cool, woodland air.

“I’ll let Biscuit out,” said Sydney.

“Wait,” Aunt Dee told her. “It’s not safe for him to run around here in the dark.”

Biscuit lay down in his cage and sighed.

“It’ll only take a minute,” said Aunt Dee as they walked up the steps and onto the wide front porch. A ragged, old note was taped above the doorbell. R
ING
A
FTER
9
PM
. Aunt Dee pressed the button and waited.

After a few seconds, the door swung open. A short, round lady greeted them with a smile. She wore faded blue jeans, a white tee shirt, and a yellow baseball cap that said G
REEN
B
AY
P
ACKERS
. “Miss Powers?” she asked.

“Yes,” Aunt Dee agreed, stepping inside. “We’re so glad to finally be here.”

“You had a long drive,” said Mrs. Miller. She walked toward the registration desk. “Come inside, girls, and shut the door behind you.”

Sydney and Alexis entered the office and closed the door. A small television on a shelf behind the desk was tuned to a home shopping station.

“This is my niece, Sydney Lincoln,” said Aunt Dee, wrapping her arm around Sydney’s shoulder. “And her friend, Alexis Howell, from Sacramento, California.”