White Water Terror

Chapter Eleven

“Gone?” George gasped. “You lost the compass? I can’t believe it. Bess Marvin, you are so incredibly careless.”

“But I wasn’t careless!” Bess wailed, holding her jacket like a shield against her. “It was here. Somebody must have taken it!”

Nancy glanced at the others. Mike, Tod, and Ralph, were staring at Bess, grim faced. It was obvious that they agreed with George: Bess had lost the compass. Sammy, Linda, and Mercedes had their arms around one another, and Linda was sobbing. They seemed to think that George was right, too. But Max was watching Paula, and he wore the same odd look on his face that Nancy had seen earlier.

What was just as interesting was that Paula seemed to be aware of his gaze. She kept her head turned away from him, and her cheeks were flushed.

She looked darkly at Bess. “Without that compass, I don’t know if we will find the trail,” she said. “These woods are really confusing. We could walk around in circles for a week!”

“What’s going to happen?” Sammy whispered. “Are we going to die here?”

“Nancy Drew is supposed to be the expert in finding things out,” Paula said. “Why don’t you ask her?”

“Wait a minute!” George shouted. “Nancy doesn’t know anything about the woods. You’re supposed to be that expert!”

“Yeah, well, you can’t expect me to be much of an expert without a compass,” Paula growled.

“Nancy, I have to talk to you,” Ned said quietly, coming up behind her. He pulled her into the woods. “Bess didn’t lose the compass,” he said when they were out of earshot. “I saw who took it!”

Nancy waited expectantly.

“It was Paula,” said Ned, mystified. “She waited until she thought nobody was watching, and she took it out of Bess’s pocket.”

“Paula!” Nancy exclaimed. “Why would she do that?”

Ned shook his head. “I don’t know. But I wasn’t the only one who saw her take it. Max did, too. And it was funny: I was surprised, but I don’t think Max was. I think he half suspected that Paula might try something.”

“I saw him give her a strange look this morning, after we discovered the raft. Maybe he suspected then that she had wrecked it. I think he’s been keeping an eye on her all day.”

Ned’s face was tight. “Well, if that’s what he’s been doing, Paula knows,” he said. “She looked up and saw him watching her take the compass.”

“That really complicates things,” Nancy said.

Ned frowned. “Do you think Paula could have destroyed the raft?”

“It’s possible, although for the life of me I can’t think of a motive. I can’t think of a motive for her taking the compass, either. But I’m still disturbed by it-the broken radio, too. Right now, though, I want to find out what Max thinks.”

“Are you going to question him?”

Nancy hesitated. “I was going to. But instead, maybe we should keep our eye on the two of them for a while. We might learn more.” She laughed a little. “At least we’re not as lost as Paula wants us to think we are.”

Ned put his arms around Nancy’s shoulders. “Listen, Nan,” he said, turning her toward him as they walked back to face the group. “We’re in a tight spot right now, but whatever happens,” he went on, his voice getting tight, “I want you to know how much I love you.”

Nancy felt her arms go around his neck. “I love you, too, Ned,” she whispered, letting herself forget Paula, forget the river, forget everything but the kiss Ned bent down to give her.

“Nancy!” It was Bess calling. “Nancy, where are you?” Bess appeared behind Nancy and Ned, George right behind her.

“Here I am.” Reluctantly Nancy broke away from Ned’s arms.

“Nancy, you’ve got to get George off my back,” Bess begged, tears streaking down her dusty face.

“Get off your back?” George exploded. “The way I feel right now I’ll be on your back for thirty-five years-if we live that long.” George spun Bess around. “I’ve put up with lost car keys, lost plane tickets, even lost money-but this thing, Bess Marvin…”

“Knock it off!” Nancy held her hand up. She turned to George. “Bess didn’t lose the compass. Ned saw Paula take it out of Bess’s pocket.”

George’s eyes grew round. “Paula!” she exclaimed.

Bess stared at Nancy, consternation on her face. “Why would Paula do that? Is she trying to get us lost?”

“It’s beginning to look that way,” Nancy admitted. “Max saw her steal the compass, too, and I think he also suspects her of holing the raft.”

George put her arms around Bess. “I’m sorry I blew up at you,” she said. “Really.”

“It’s okay, George,” Bess replied, patting her cousin on the shoulder. “Everybody is uptight right now. We’re in a real mess.”

“Bess is right,” Ned said soberly. “Some of those kids-Linda and Sammy especially-look as if they might go to pieces at any minute. If George can blow up this way, others are bound to.”

“That’s what worries me,” Nancy said. “We can’t tell the others just yet about Paula taking the compass, so they’re going to continue to accuse Bess.” She turned to her friend. “Can you stick it out for a little while?”

Bess smiled weakly. “As long as I know you guys believe me.”

“George, it might be a good idea if you continued to act angry at Bess,” Nancy said. “That’ll keep Paula from getting suspicious.”

“My pleasure,” George teased. She gave Bess a friendly poke.

“George!” Bess responded, trying not to laugh.

When Nancy and her friends rejoined the group, they found them quarreling about which direction to take. Nancy could see that the group spirit was beginning to deteriorate rapidly.

“This is all your fault,” Sammy told Bess bitterly as they began to make their way through the woods again. “We’re all going to die in this wilderness, and you’re responsible!”

“Sammy’s right,” George agreed, playing her part. “If you hadn’t lost the compass, at least we would know which direction we were heading in!”

Looking unhappy, Bess didn’t answer.

Except for the occasional angry quarrels that seemed to break out with greater frequency, the group walked in silence for the next two hours. The terrain became even rougher as they moved away from the river. Walking was very difficult, especially for Linda, who was limping along with her crutch, leaning heavily on Ralph and moaning every few minutes.

Nancy walked within hearing distance of Max and Paula, keeping a careful eye on them.

Suddenly she was aware of the noise of tumbling water. “What’s that?” she asked, catching up to Max and Paula. “Is it Lost River? Are we going in circles?”

“I don’t think so,” Paula said. She had tied the sleeves of her jacket around her waist, but now she pulled the jacket on. “If I’m right,” she continued, “that’s Little Horn Creek. The trail isn’t too far away.”

Little Horn Creek was in a deep ravine, full of rocks and tangled trees. The group, which was nearly exhausted, stopped to rest on a rocky ledge, partway up the cliff over the ravine.

“Thank goodness,” Sammy said with a sigh, sinking down against the rock. “I can’t walk another step.”

“You’ve got to,” Tod told her. “It’s either that or stay here and starve to death-or die of exposure.”

Sammy burst into tears. “Stop saying that! You’re just trying to scare me!”

“No,” Mike said quietly, “it’s the truth.”

Max seemed to have made up his mind about something. He looked up at the cliff and then at Paula. “The cliff top looks clear,” he said. “The climb is a little rough, Paula, but I think you and I can make it. Let’s climb up there and see if we can tell where we are.”

Paula considered his suggestion. “Good idea,” she said, after a moment. She raised her voice. “The rest of you stay here and rest. Max and I are going to climb to the top. We’ll be back in a few minutes.” The two of them began to scale the cliff, which rose up vertically behind the ledge.

“I wish we could climb up there and hear what they say,” Nancy said fretfully, watching them climb the sheer wall.

“No way, Drew,” Ned said, coming up behind her. “Climbing that rock is a job for experts. I have the feeling that Max picked the top of the cliff to talk to Paula because he knew we couldn’t follow up there, and he didn’t want any uninvited listeners.” He pulled Nancy down beside him. “Come on, relax. There’s nothing we can do but wait.”

They waited. In about fifteen minutes, Nancy began to stir worriedly. At that moment, she heard Paula’s voice, although the words were indistinguishable. A few small rocks showered down the cliff ten yards to their right. Then there was the sound of a violent scuffle and a loud, dull thump. “No, Max!” Paula cried clearly. Nancy could hear terror in her voice. “Don’t!”

“Max! Paula!” Ned shouted, looking up.

For a minute or two there was silence. Then, in a flash of red and black, a limp body hurtled spread-eagled through the air and down into the depths of the creek!