The Invisible Island (4 page)

“Well, you were right about one thing,” Ruth Rose whispered to Josh. “Mr. Pinkowski
does
have big feet!”

“Yeah, but they still don’t look as big as those footprints we saw,” Dink whispered back.

The kids were hiding behind the bushes near Ron’s Bait Shop. Ron was standing in his yard, rubbing a cloth over a small green rowboat.

“Look at that boat!” Josh said. “It
could be the one we saw out at the island!”

“But I don’t see any calamine lotion on him,” Dink said. “And he’s not scratching!”

Just then, a black car pulled into the driveway. Ron waved as a man in a dark suit stepped out of the car.

The man waved back, then leaned into the car and pulled out a box. On its side were written four words: HAPPY HEART DOG FOOD!

Josh gasped. “Do you see…”

“Shhh!” whispered Ruth Rose.

The kids watched as the man handed Ron the box. Ron turned and carried it into his shed.

When Ron came out, he handed the box back to the stranger. The man put it on the seat of his car, then took out a checkbook. Quickly, he scribbled out a check and handed it to Ron.

Finally, he climbed back in his car and drove away.

“Check out the license plate!” Ruth Rose said.

Dink read the plate, “B, E, N, T. BENT? What’s that mean?” he asked.

“Who cares?” Josh said. “Mr. P just sold that guy a boxful of counterfeit money! Let’s go tell Officer Fallon!”

“Josh, that box could have been full of dog food,” Dink said.

“Dinkus, think!” Josh said. “Someone hid fake money in those same dog food boxes on Squaw Island. I say one of those two guys is the counterfeiter!”

“Josh could be right,” Ruth Rose pointed out. “But before we go see Officer Fallon, maybe we can find out who that other man is.”

“How?” Dink asked.

“Let’s ask at the gas station,” Ruth Rose said. “Mr. Holly might know who drives a black car with BENT on the license plate.”

When the kids reached the gas station, Mr. Holly was nowhere in sight.

Then Dink heard someone whistling. The tune was coming from under a banged-up red pickup truck.

“Mr. Holly?” Dink said. “Is that you?”

A round, grease-smudged face popped out from under the truck.

“Howdy,” Mr. Holly said, grinning
at the kids. “You got car trouble?”

“Sort of,” Ruth Rose said. “Do you know who owns a car with BENT on the license plate?”

Mr. Holly stood up and wiped his hands on a rag. “Why, is the car bent?” he said, winking at Dink.

Dink laughed. “No, but we need to find the driver,” he said.

“I found some money,” Ruth Rose said. “We think it might be his.”

“Sounds like those new folks,” Mr. Holly said, “Mr. and Mrs. Warden Bent. Few weeks ago, they rented a small house on Fox Lane. I put a set of spark plugs in that snazzy Lincoln of theirs.”

“Fox Lane!” Dink said, giving Josh a look. “That’s over by the river!”

“Right-o,” Mr. Holly said. “Nice view of the water. Now if you’ll excuse me, this old truck needs my help!”

The kids thanked Mr. Holly and left the gas station.

“We know who the guy is now,” Dink said, “but we still can’t prove he or Mr. P is a counterfeiter.”

“But the box—” Josh started to say.

“We don’t know what was in it,” Dink reminded him.

“Right,” Ruth Rose said. “Why don’t we go to Mr. Bent’s house and wait for him to come home? Maybe we can get a peek at the box when he goes in his house.”

“Okay, but let’s be careful,” Dink said. “I don’t want to end up locked in that vault on Squaw Island!”

The kids crossed Thistle Court and headed toward Fox Lane.

There were only three small houses on the narrow lane. The last one was a cottage nearly hidden in trees and thick bushes. Somewhere, a bird let out a single chirp.

Josh nudged Dink. “The car!” he whispered, pointing.

The same black car was parked under a tree. The license plate said BENT.

The kids snuck up to the car. All three peered through a rear window.

There was no Happy Heart Dog Food box on the car’s seats or floor.

“He must’ve taken it into the house,” Dink said, crouching down next to Josh and Ruth Rose.

“Now what do we do?” Josh asked.

“We could try getting inside the house,” Ruth Rose said.

Josh looked at her. “How?”

“What if we ring the bell and say we’re selling Girl Scout cookies?”

Josh rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right, two boys selling Girl Scout cookies!”

“Okay then I’ll do it alone,” Ruth Rose said.

“No way,” Dink said. “No one’s going into that house. If the Bents are the counterfeiters, they’re dangerous!”

“So what do we do?” Josh asked. “I sure could use a sandwich!”

Suddenly, the front door opened. A short-legged hound dog with floppy ears waddled out onto the porch. The dog was brown and white, with big, sad eyes.

“Stay near the house, Shorty,” a voice said.

“Uh-oh,” Josh whispered.

“Let’s get out of here before he smells us!” Ruth Rose said.

The kids melted into the thick shrubbery growing wild on both sides of the cottage. They crept toward the backyard, trying to be as quiet as possible.

“Look,” Dink said, pointing to a small garage at the very back of the property. Except for the door, the garage was surrounded by bushes. “We can hide there!”

Just then, the dog let out a howl.

Ruth Rose looked over her shoulder. “Oh, no! He’s after us!”

The kids sprinted behind the garage. Dink found a low window.

“In here!” he said, shoving the window sash up.

The dog came loping around the corner with its nose to the ground.

“Nice doggie,” Josh whispered.

The hound looked at Josh and let out another howl.

“Quick, inside!” Dink said. He dove through the open window.

Josh and Ruth Rose piled into the garage on top of Dink. Outside, the dog started barking. Dink saw its black snout and eyes peeking over the sill. He shoved Josh off him and closed the window.

The dog was still barking. It scratched at the window with its big feet.

“We have to hide!” Dink said. “The Bents are bound to hear all that noise!”

The kids quickly looked around.

Against one wall, a workbench was piled with junk. Dink noticed a tarp-covered mound opposite the bench.

Josh and Ruth Rose dove under the bench. Dink headed for the tarp. He lifted one edge, crawled underneath, and let the tarp drop over his back.

It was dark under the tarp. Dink couldn’t see a thing. He found himself sprawled on top of several hard boxes with sharp edges.

Suddenly, the dog stopped barking. Dink thought he heard a human voice.

He lifted a corner of the tarp and peeked toward the window. Through the dirty glass, Dink saw a woman’s legs. She bent down, picked up the dog, and carried him out of sight.

Barely breathing, Dink waited until he felt sure the woman wasn’t coming back. Then he crawled out from under the tarp. On the other side of the
garage, Josh and Ruth Rose came out from under the bench.

“That was close!” Ruth Rose said.

Dink looked around. They were standing on a cement floor. The air was cool and dry. In one corner stood gardening tools and a few fishing poles.

Then Dink spotted something. “Look!” he said.

On top of the workbench sat a Happy Heart Dog Food box.

“Maybe it’s the one Mr. Bent had in his car!” Dink said. He yanked open the box flaps. Inside, he found only a paint can with green smears on its sides.

Dink thought for a minute. “Guys, remember that boat Mr. P was working on? It was green, right?”

He held up the paint can. “Maybe the boat belongs to Mr. Bent, and Ron painted it for him. This could be the leftover paint.”

“Then the check Mr. Bent gave him was to pay for the paint job!” Ruth Rose said.

She reached into the box and pulled out a wadded ball of paper. She flattened it on the workbench.

“It’s a receipt from the pharmacy,” Ruth Rose said. “For three bottles of calamine lotion!”

Dink stared at the receipt. It was from a credit card. Neatly printed on the bottom of the piece of paper was the name Ronald W. Pinkowski.

“Hey, guys, check this out!”

Josh had been poking around the other side of the garage. Hanging on wall pegs were two pairs of long green wading boots.

Josh unhooked one pair and took it down. “Look at the size of this foot!” he said.

Dink walked over for a closer look.

“
These
must be what made those big footprints!” he said.

Ruth Rose examined the bottom of one of the boots. Wedged into the treads were tiny pebbles and sand.

The kids stared at each other.

“Now what do we do?” Josh asked.

“Now we go tell Officer Fallon what we found,” Dink said.

He tiptoed over to the garage door and peeked through a crack.

“Uh-oh,” Dink said. “We’re in trouble, guys. Mrs. Bent just brought out some food. She’s lighting the grill!”

“Great,” Josh muttered. “And I’m stuck in here, starving to death!”

He and Ruth Rose joined Dink at the crack.

“Look!” Ruth Rose said.

A tall man walked up to the grill. It was the man they’d seen at Ron’s Bait Shop. But now he was wearing shorts and a T-shirt.

His long arms and legs were blotched with calamine lotion.