The Wrong Track (6 page)

N
ANCY WATCHED
in horror as Bess flailed her arms, trying to get a grip in the snow with her poles. At the rate Bess was going she would soon land headfirst in the icy stream. Nancy's mind raced for a solution.

“Let yourself fall, Bess!” Nancy shouted at her friend.

Bess chose not to or couldn't make herself fall. Instead she dragged her poles, trying to slow herself down. She was less than fifty feet from the stream.

Nancy knew she had to do something. Jabbing her poles in the snow, she hurled herself forward behind Bess.

The slope was incredibly steep, but Nancy managed to keep her balance and gain on Bess. Finally, when Nancy was right behind her friend, she reached out and grabbed the back of Bess's
jacket and yanked—hard. The two girls fell, tumbling to the ground. When they came to a halt, Nancy saw the cold, rocky stream less than ten feet in front of them.

“That was close!” Bess said, breathing heavily. “If you hadn't pulled me down—” She stopped, and her eyes grew large with fear.

“Don't think about it,” Nancy urged. She stood up on her skis and gave Bess a hand up. “Come on. I think we've had enough skiing for today.”

Slowly Nancy and Bess made their way down the rest of the trail toward the head area. All the while Nancy tried to figure out what had happened. The trail she and Bess had ended up on was obviously not for novices. That meant that Ben had given them the wrong directions, or someone had switched the markers. Either way, she and Bess had been in danger.

“George!” Nancy heard Bess cry out when they finally made their way back to the trail head. “Oh, George, you'll never believe what just happened.”

Nancy was surprised to see George at Tall Pines. She was supposed to have gone to Watson's for the day.

When Bess told her cousin what had happened, George let out a low whistle. “Sounds like more trouble for Tall Pines,” she said.

Nancy nodded her agreement. Making sure that no one was around to overhear their conversation, Nancy said, “I want to check out what just happened. Do you have a trail map?”

George pulled one out of her jacket pocket and opened it up. “Here's where Aerie meets Cascade.” Her fingers traced the trails back to the trail head. “I see how to get back there. Can you get back to the room by yourself, Bess?”

“Sure,” Bess said. “It's time for my lunch date anyway,” she said. Nancy and George waved and skied off. After a few minutes they were heading up Aerie. “What do you think happened, Nan?” George asked when they were alone.

Nancy slowed her pace. “I don't know, but I don't think it was an accident,” she told George. “Especially after what happened in the sauna. Either Bess and I wandered into a trap set for somebody else, or someone's after me or Bess.”

“But why?” George asked, panting slightly as they made an uphill climb.

“I'm beginning to wonder if my cover's been blown,” Nancy said. “Maybe someone knows I'm a detective and wants to scare me off.”

“Don't jump to conclusions,” George warned. “You've always told me that's a sign of bad detective work.”

Nancy laughed. “Okay. You're right. But what other reason could there be?”

“First we have to find out if the signs were switched, then who switched them. Then we'll have our reason for why the person did it,” George said, pleased with herself.

Nancy was quiet as they took a slow downhill glide. At a flat part in the trail she stopped and said, “Ben knew where we were going. He could
have told Jody, too. I saw them talking together before Bess and I skied off.”

“Ben seems to admire Rob Watson. What if they're working together to cause trouble at Tall Pines?” George asked. Then she shook her head. “What am I saying? He's too nice a guy to do anything like that.”

“Hey,” Nancy said, stopping short. “I nearly forgot. Did you go to Watson's this morning?”

“You bet I did,” George replied. “I almost didn't recognize the place. Major construction. They're expanding the snack bar and upgrading the trails.”

“It sounds like Rob's spending a lot of money,” Nancy said.

“That's what I thought,” George agreed. “He could have gotten a bank loan, or—”

“He could be behind the Tall Pines theft,” Nancy finished. Nancy and George climbed the incline to the hut that marked the point where Aerie met Cascades. “Let's stop here,” Nancy said. “I want to check something.” She pulled George's trail map from her pocket to study it. It confirmed what she had guessed.

“According to the map, Aerie turns right, but the sign is pointing left.” Someone had switched “Aerie” with “Cascades.” Nancy carefully turned the signs so they pointed to the right trails.

“I can't believe Ben would do something like that,” George said, frowning. “It must have been someone else.”

Nancy didn't say anything. As George was speaking, she noticed something glinting in the snow. She bent closer, picked up the object, and whistled softly. It was a thermometer just like the one she'd seen attached to Ben's zipper. Silently she handed the tiny thermometer over to her friend.

George's expression was serious. “It does look like Ben's thermometer,” she said, her voice a bit defensive. “But I'm sure there's a logical explanation. Ben wouldn't try to hurt you or anyone. Also, when would he have done it?”

Nancy put the thermometer in her pocket. “I hope you're right” was all she said.

The girls skied silently for several minutes, moving across a snow-covered meadow. The real Aerie trail skirted the edge of the man-made hill and went through a meadow rather than through the forest.

“That must be the ice-skating pond,” George said as they approached a large open area. A half-finished building stood at the far end of the secluded frozen pond. Construction tape surrounded the pond to keep people out. Nancy remembered that the outdoor rink wasn't ready for guests yet.

As the girls skied past the ice two people emerged from the building being constructed. Nancy recognized the tall, slender woman in the shocking pink ski outfit as Sheila Reismueller. The man was a stranger. Seeing the furtive way that Sheila glanced around, Nancy quickly
pulled George behind a bushy evergreen so Sheila wouldn't see them.

“He doesn't look like the normal Tall Pines visitor, does he?” George asked in a whisper. Instead of fashionable ski wear, the man was dressed in a black and white houndstooth suit, a black felt fedora, and an overcoat tossed casually over his shoulders. He would have looked more at home on a city street than at a ski resort.

Nancy nodded. “And Sheila looks like she doesn't want to be seen.”

“I wonder what's going on,” George murmured.

“Maybe he's a contractor,” Nancy suggested, shaking herself. “I'm probably being paranoid because of the case.” Perhaps Karl had asked Sheila to help with something, and that was why she hadn't gone to do her errands that day as she'd planned.

A few minutes later the girls resumed skiing and slid to a graceful stop at the end of the trail.

“I'm going to get some lunch,” George said. “Want to join me?”

Nancy shook her head. “I have an apple to eat. Then I have an appointment to talk to Dave Kendall,” she said. “Why don't you track Ben after your lunch? See what he's up to.”

“No problem,” George said. “He's the best instructor here. I wouldn't mind following him,” she added with a smile. “Nancy, I really don't think Ben's involved, but if you want me to keep an eye on him, I will.”

“Thanks, George,” Nancy said. “If you see her, would you tell Bess to meet me at the pool at three? I want to find out if she got anything out of Jody.”

“You got it,” George said. With that, she skied off toward the Tall Pines ski school.

After removing her skis Nancy dropped them off at the rental counter and made her way to Dave Kendall's office. Even if he'd taken a late lunch, she thought, he should be back in his office by now.

The receptionist was away from her desk, but the door to Dave's office was open a bit, so Nancy walked to the door and started to call to him. She stopped herself as soon as she realized the man in the office was not Dave Kendall.

Intrigued, Nancy remained at the door, peering in. She watched as the man slid some papers off Dave's desk and into his backpack. A moment later he picked up the backpack and turned around, holding it in front of him.

It was Ben Wrobley!

Nancy pushed the door open and stepped inside. “Well, hello, Ben,” Nancy said innocently.

“Nancy! What are you doing here?” There was no mistaking the nervous quaver in Ben's voice. It was obvious to Nancy that Ben hadn't wanted to get caught in Dave's office. What was the ski instructor up to? She was dying to ask him but knew it would totally blow her cover if she did.

“I wanted to interview Dave this afternoon,” she said instead. “Is he around?”

Ben gestured toward the empty office. “Dave was called away.”

“That's weird,” Nancy said, making a face. “He asked me to meet with him this afternoon.”

“It was an unexpected trip, he said.” Ben smiled—a little too brightly, in Nancy's opinion. “Maybe he left a message for you with the receptionist.” Ben must have noticed Nancy staring at his backpack because he mumbled, “Karl asked me to pick up a couple things from Dave's office for him.”

Ben might be telling the truth, Nancy thought, but that didn't explain his nervousness when he had first seen her. Besides, after the scene she'd witnessed the day before in the ski shop, Nancy doubted that Karl would ask Ben to help him.

Ben took another step toward the door. “Dave won't be back for another hour,” he told Nancy. It was obvious that he badly wanted to get out of Dave's office, but Nancy wasn't going to let him leave so soon. First there was something she had to check out. She moved forward quickly and pretended to stumble. Ben dropped his pack to help her steady herself. Nancy's eyes moved quickly to the front of his parka.

The thermometer that had been on Ben Wrobley's zipper pull was gone.

I
HAVE SOMETHING
of yours,” Nancy said. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the thermometer and held it out to him.

Ben's face broke into a smile. “Thanks!” he said, taking it. “Where'd you find it?”

“Right where the Aerie and Cascades trails meet,” she said, watching Ben's expression.

He shrugged, obviously unaware of the significance of what she had just said. “It must have fallen off this morning,” he told her.

“Oh, really,” Nancy said. “I remember that you looked at the temperature when we were out.”

Ben nodded as he clipped the thermometer back onto his jacket. “True. I must have lost it afterward. My ten o'clock student canceled, so I tried to find you and Bess up by the hut where the trails meet. I guess it fell off then.”

Ben's explanation sounded plausible, but Nancy still wasn't convinced. “Did you notice that the trail signs were switched?” she asked.

“What?” Ben's blue eyes widened in surprise. “That could have been dangerous.”

“You bet,” Nancy agreed. “The girl I was skiing with could hardly get down the trail.”

Ben seemed to be outraged. “I'm going to straighten this out. We can't risk anyone getting hurt.” His concern seemed genuine. Maybe George was right, and Ben wouldn't hurt anyone. But that didn't explain what he'd put into his backpack or why he'd been so secretive.

Ben zipped his jacket closed and slipped into the straps of his backpack. “Thanks for telling me about the trail signs being switched. I've got a class now, but afterward I'm going out to check
all
the signs.”

With that Ben left, taking whatever papers he had stuffed into his backpack with him. Nancy was frustrated that she couldn't ask him any more questions about what he was doing in Dave's office, but the last thing she wanted was to blow her cover—especially with him. He was still a prime suspect as far as she was concerned.