White Water Terror

Chapter Fourteen

The rattler’s tail was buzzing like a swarm of angry bees. What could Nancy do? Even though her feet weren’t trapped under it, if she moved a muscle-or if George or Bess turned over-the snake was bound to strike.

“Ned,” Nancy whispered urgently. “Ned, wake up!”

Ned stirred sleepily on the other side of the fire. “What?” he mumbled.

“Ned,” she said again, in a low voice. “There’s a huge snake on the foot of my blanket.”

“A snake?” Ned exclaimed, throwing off his blanket. “Stay put, Nancy. Don’t move!”

“Don’t you move too fast, either,” she whispered.

“What’s going on?” Ralph sat up beside the cold fire, rubbing his eyes. “Is it Max? Where is he?”

“No, it’s a snake,” Ned replied softly, pulling on his shoes and signaling for Ralph to stay still.

The snake’s head began to weave back and forth and its tongue flicked nervously. Beside Nancy, George mumbled something in her sleep. Oh, please, George, Nancy thought, don’t turn over! Aloud, she said, “Hurry, Ned! I think it’s getting ready to strike!” The buzz of the rattles grew louder.

Noiselessly, Ned circled around behind the snake. He bent down, picked up a large flat rock, and raised it high above his head. Just as the snake coiled itself to strike, Ned brought the rock down hard on its head. For a moment the snake twisted and writhed, and then it lay still.

“Oh, Ned,” Nancy said.

“What’s going on?” George asked, sitting up. “Who’s throwing rocks?”

Bess stirred under the blanket and mumbled something.

George stared unbelievingly at the snake that Ned had stretched out across the foot of the blanket. “Nancy, it’s a monster! It’s big enough to have eaten both of us for breakfast-in one gulp!”

Bess burrowed deeper into the blanket. “A monster?” she quavered. “Not another bear!”

Nancy laughed and yanked the blanket off Bess’s head. “No, it’s not another bear,” she said teasingly, pulling her friend to a sitting position. “It’s only a snake. Wake up and see.”

“A snake!” Bess covered up her eyes. “I don’t want to see!” After a minute she peeked between her ringers. “Yikes!” she screeched. “It is a snake!”

“Must be about five feet long,” Ned said, hoisting the snake up on a stout stick. “And I count seven rattles and a button.” He shook his head. “It’s a good thing you woke up when you did, Nancy. This snake is packing a lot of venom. It could have killed you, or made you plenty sick.”

“It’s a good thing you were here to kill it, Ned,” George pointed out.

“George is right,” Nancy said. She looked up at Ned. “You know, that’s twice in two days,” she said soberly.

“Twice?” Ned asked.

“Last night you pulled me out of the path of the rock. This morning you killed the snake. That’s twice in two days that you’ve saved my life.”

Ned laughed. “Sounds like it’s getting to be a habit.”

Ned disposed of the snake under a large pile of rocks while the others got up and began to break camp. They shared the last of the dried fruit and beef jerky for breakfast and then made their way to a huckleberry patch that Mike had found near the spring the night before. They were careful to make lots of noise to ward off any bear that might be breakfasting there. Then they washed off the berry juice, filled their canteens at the spring, and gathered back at the campsite.

They were a ragtag bunch, Nancy thought, surveying the group. Linda’s ankle was so badly swollen she could barely hobble, even with the help of Ned’s crutch. Sammy’s arms were breaking out with long, red streaks of something that looked like poison ivy, and she was scratching ferociously. Mercedes was withdrawn and uncommunicative, and Mike and Tod seemed to have quarreled again about the direction they should be taking.

“How far away is the ranger station?” Sammy asked. “How long will it take us to get there?”

Tod shrugged. “I’d guess we walked two or three miles yesterday, after we found the trail. If Paula estimated right, we’ve got maybe five or six miles to go.”

“If we’re going in the right direction,” Mike said sullenly.

“There’s no point in going through all of that again,” Ned said sharply. “We agreed that we would go in this direction. Let’s give ourselves a break and stop quarreling.”

They set out, with Tod and Mike in front, followed by George and Bess, Mercedes, Sammy, Ralph and Linda, and Ned and Nancy. The trail was even more difficult than it had been the night before, a switchback that zigzagged up a mountain, through dense woods. The underbrush hung over the faint path like a thick green canopy, shutting out most of the sun, and even in the daylight the shadows seemed ominous. The day before, Nancy had developed a blister on her right heel, and it was rapidly getting worse, making walking even more difficult.

“Did you get a chance to talk to Mercedes last night?” Ned asked Nancy, helping her over a fallen log.

“Well, I tried,” Nancy said with a sigh. She bent over to adjust her tennis shoe, trying to relieve the pressure on her blister. “I didn’t get anywhere. She really clammed up. But she did say something interesting. When I asked her about Paula’s family, she said she didn’t want to drag up the past.”

Ned looked at her. “So she does know something.”

“Right. But whatever it is, she’s not going to tell me.”

“Do you suppose she’d tell me?”

“I don’t know. It’s worth a try.”

“I might be able to catch her off guard.” He grinned. “Or I might be able to use some of that charm that Sammy seemed to enjoy.” He ducked the playful punch Nancy threw at him.

“Listen, Ned,” Nancy said, “all joking aside, I think it’s a good idea. Why don’t you try to catch up to her now and see what you can find out?”

“Okay, I will.” Ned put his hand on Nancy’s shoulder. “But you’ve got to promise to catch up with Ralph and Linda and not hang around at the back of the group.”

“I promise,” Nancy said as Ned began to jog ahead. When he reached the curve in the path, he turned and waved, and Nancy waved back.

She wasn’t worried-Ralph and Linda were somewhere ahead, within calling distance. But her blister was really beginning to hurt her. Nancy sat down on a rock and unlaced her shoe. Maybe the blister was getting infected. Sure enough, her whole heel was red and inflamed. She would have to try to catch up to Mike, who was carrying the first-aid kit, and see if he had a bandage.

Nancy was lacing her shoe up when she felt that prickle between her shoulder blades-the prickle that always meant she was being watched. She turned around. No one was in sight-but had she heard a rustling in the dense leaves? She got up and began to hurry down the trail, suddenly feeling very vulnerable and wishing that she hadn’t let the others get so far ahead.

“Wait!” a rough voice commanded.

Nancy stopped, then turned, her heart in her mouth. There, lurching clumsily toward her through the thick underbrush, was Max! His shirt was ripped in several places, he wore a two-day stubble of beard, and there was an inch-long gash just above his right eye. He carried a heavy tree branch like a club, and his eyes were wild and staring.

Nancy started to run. She had to get away! Max was crazy. He would kill her!

“Don’t run!” he shouted, stumbling after her. “I have to talk-”

At that moment, Nancy tripped over a tree root and went sprawling. She struggled back to her feet just as Max reached her.

“You can’t get away,” he said, panting. “I won’t let you!” He swung the club around. That was the last thing Nancy saw before the world went black.