White Water Terror

Chapter Ten

Paula grabbed the radio away from Max. “What do you mean, it’s not working? Didn’t you check the batteries before we left?”

For a moment, Max looked confused. “Yeah,” he mumbled. “I even put new ones in. The radio was working just fine.”

Paula fiddled with the power switch. “Well, it’s not working now,” she said disgustedly. “Great. That’s all we need, to be stranded out here without an operating radio.”

“Here, let me see,” Mike said, reaching for it. He took the batteries out and then put them back in again-that didn’t help. Then he took the back off.

“Check the crystal,” Nancy said suddenly.

Mike looked up. “You know something about radios?”

“Not much,” she admitted. “But I had a case once where a crystal was stolen from a radio. Does this one need a crystal?”

“A tiny one,” Mike said. Intently, he bent over the radio. “Hey! The crystal’s gone!”

Linda pointed at Max. “You were the one who put the radio in the raft,” she said accusingly. “I saw you. You were the last one to touch it. You must have taken the crystal!”

“You have no right to make accusations like that,” Bess retorted. “The person who sabotaged the raft could just as easily have removed the crystal. Right, Nancy?”

Nancy nodded. “Actually, it could have been taken at any time.” She examined the radio case. Even if she had brought her fingerprint kit along, it would have been a hopeless job. The case was made of a roughly grained vinyl that wouldn’t hold a print. And there didn’t seem to be any other clues.

Mike closed up the radio again. “Well, that’s that,” he said.

Nancy looked at him. Whoever had done this had to know what the crystal was and where to look for it. Maybe Mike had destroyed the radio and Tod had destroyed the raft-all as part of some silly prank.

She shook her head. Surely not. But the whole thing was beginning to seem like a hopeless muddle.

Paula glanced at Nancy. “I don’t suppose our girl detective has any ideas about who did it,” she remarked sarcastically.

Nancy shook her head. “Afraid not,” she replied. Then she noticed that Max was staring at Paula, dumbfounded, as if he had suddenly thought of something but wasn’t quite sure whether he ought to believe it.

“So?” Sammy demanded. “Do we just sit here and wait for somebody to raft downriver and spot us?”

“I don’t think anybody will be coming down until the middle of next week,” Paula said. “I checked the schedule board yesterday, just before we left. The next trip downriver doesn’t leave until a week from Wednesday.”

“By that time we could starve to death!” Linda exclaimed.

“Well, we have got another alternative,” Paula said.

Everybody looked at her. “What’s that?” George asked.

Paula pointed to the top of the cliff. “We can hike out,” she replied. “It’s a tough climb, as Ned said, but we could make it. Once we get to the top, there’s a trail, maybe five or six miles back in the woods, that leads to the ranger station, which is another eight or nine miles away. I think I could find the trail.”

“Yes, but that means a fourteen-mile hike!” Sammy exclaimed. She looked at Max. “What do you think?”

Max gave an uncertain shrug. “I’m a good woodsman, but I don’t know anything about the trails in this particular area. We’ll have to rely on Paula.”

Paula’s amber eyes were narrowed to slits. “Maybe some of you don’t want to rely on me,” she said, turning to Nancy. “You’re not afraid of a little walking, are you, Nancy?”

Nancy caught the unpleasant undertone, but answered quietly, “No, I’m not afraid of walking-as long as we’re sure of where we’re going. At least on the river, we know where we are. Once we’re in the wilderness, we could get lost pretty easily.” She sneaked a glance at Max, who was still staring at Paula.

“Well, I can’t guarantee anything,” Paula said crossly. “But I don’t see that we’ve got any alternative.”

“Well, then,” Ned spoke up quickly, “maybe we ought to take an inventory and figure out how much food we’ve got. How long will this hike take us?”

“We’ll probably get to the ranger station late tomorrow,” Paula said.

“And we’ve got only enough food for today?” Ned asked.

“Looks like we’ll be going on half-rations,” George said glumly.

“Yes, but that means we won’t have to carry so much,” Paula pointed out. “Just our sleeping gear and whatever jackets and sweaters you have. It’s going to get pretty cold up there tonight.” She looked around. “Ned, will you and Max inventory the food and distribute it among the packs so that we all have an equal load to carry? Max!”

“Huh?” Max seemed to be jerked away from his thoughts. “What did you say?”

Paula put her hands on her hips. “If you’d been listening,” she said, “you’d know. I asked you and Ned to inventory the food. Mercedes, there’s a tarp in the raft. Better get it out-Tod will give you a hand. The tarp might come in handy if it rains tonight. Ralph, get the flashlight and the lantern.” She fished in her pocket. “Bess?”

“Yes?”

“Here’s a compass. I’m giving you the job of checking our direction so we don’t end up wandering in circles. When we get to the top of the cliff, I’ll show you how to read it. Okay?”

“Well, okay,” Bess said. “I mean, I’m not very good at things like that, but-”

“You’ll do fine,” Paula said shortly. She picked up her red-and-black plaid jacket and slung it over her shoulder. “Okay, everybody. Let’s break camp! Take what you need to keep warm and dry, but don’t take anything that you don’t want to carry for the next two days!”

The cliff wasn’t quite as steep as it had looked from below. Bushes and small trees grew in the rocky rubble, and the hikers found plenty of hand- and footholds.

“I want you to climb in front of me, Nancy,” Ned said as they got ready. “That way, if you slip, I’m right behind you.”

The climb took the group almost two hours. The rocks were soft and crumbling from exposure to the weather, and Nancy had to concentrate on where she put her feet. Above her, Bess and George moved up carefully, pressing close to the steep slope. Nobody said much.

They were almost at the top when Nancy heard a scream from below, then the sound of loose rock sliding and the babble of frantic voices.

“What’s happening?” Nancy called to Ned.

“I think it’s Linda,” he said anxiously, peering down. He pulled a coil of rope from his shoulder. “Hey, down there! Do you need a hand?”

It took three of them-Ralph, Max, and Ned-to hoist Linda to the top. The others were there already, sprawled on the rocky ground, breathless and weary from the climb.

“She’s going to be all right. It’s only a sprain,” Paula said brusquely, probing Linda’s ankle with her fingers. “Too bad we don’t have any ice for it.”

“It hurts,” Linda moaned. “I don’t think I can walk.”

“You’ll be okay,” Ralph comforted her. “I’ll help you.”

Ned came out of the woods with a long branch. “We can make a crutch out of “this,” he said.

After a few minutes, Linda’s crutch was ready and the group started out, following Paula. Bess, with the compass, was right behind her.

“We’re going northeast,” Paula told them, before they started. “Since there’s no trail, and the terrain is so rough, we’ll be moving slowly. We don’t want anybody getting lost.”

Nancy nodded, and she and the others set out through the woods. At every step, huge swarms of mosquitoes flew up, and Nancy had to keep swatting them. The sweat poured off her face in little rivers.

“Some vacation,” George grunted as she pushed up a vine and tried to crawl under it. “I’ll have to call our travel agent when we get home. I think we got into the wrong contest.”

“Either that,” Nancy said, half chuckling, “or we won the wrong prize.”

George swallowed a giggle. “Do you suppose Paula knows where’s she’s going?” she asked, peering through the tangle of underbrush. “I’d hate to walk through this stuff twice.”

“Hey!” Ned kidded. “How can you doubt her? After all, she’s got Bess right beside her, carrying our one and only compass.”

“That’s exactly what I’m worried about,” George said.

It was nearly noon by the time they stopped for lunch in a large clearing. The sun filtered through the dense trees, and Bess took off her jacket and tossed it on a nearby rock. She was eating a sandwich, her knees pulled up wearily, her back to a tree, when Nancy sat down beside her.

“Tired?” Nancy asked, taking a bite of her own sandwich. It was the last of the peanut butter, and there was only enough bread for one more meal.

“You know it.” Bess sighed. “Paula’s in good shape, and keeping up with her in these woods is tough.”

“I don’t suppose you’ve found out anything about her,” Nancy said, lowering her voice and looking around to be sure she wasn’t overheard.

Bess shook her head. “I’ve tried talking to her, but she won’t say a word. I did notice Max watching her in a funny way, though. It’s as if he knows something about her that the rest of us don’t.”

“Yeah, I noticed that, too,” Nancy said. She finished her sandwich and stood up, brushing herself off. “And maybe now is a good time to ask him about it.” But everybody else was finishing lunch, too, and Nancy didn’t have a chance.

“Will you get the compass?” Paula asked Bess just then. “I want to check our direction before we get started again.”

“Sure,” Bess said, reaching for her jacket, which was spread out on the rock. She felt in the pocket. Then her face went white. Frantically she began to search the other pockets as well.

“What’s wrong?” Paula snapped. “Where’s the compass?”

“I don’t know!” Bess exclaimed, sitting down limply on the rock. “It’s not in my pocket and I know it was there before lunch. The compass is gone-now we’ll never find our way out of here!”