Danger on Midnight River (4 page)

These guys are worse off than I thought. They don't even have enough sense to come in out of the rain
.

From the tree, the tracking became easier. The boys had walked in the mud and left a
good clean trail. Daniel followed it up a rocky slope. From there they had taken a ninetydegree turn and moved parallel with a rock cliff.

Daniel paused at the top of the cliff and looked out. Below him was a sheer drop. In front of him were miles and miles of forest. It was a forbidding sight.

The possible urgency of the boys' situation jarred him back to reality. It was getting late and he still hadn't been able to catch up with them. Which meant they would probably spend a cold, sleepless night without food or water.

Part of him felt as if they deserved it. But another part remembered the way Brandon had defended him in the van, and the look on Troy's face when he'd tried to thank Daniel for saving his lifeHe kept going.

Brandon was awake. He had dozed fitfully but had been awake most of the night. His T-shirt was still damp from yesterday's rain. And he still had no idea where they were. Slapping his arms to warm himself, Brandon looked at the sky. “Come on sun.”

Scotty squinted up at him. “You couldn't sleep either?”

Brandon shook his head. “Too cold. How're your eyes?”

“They still sting. But that's not what's keeping me awake. I'm starving. I've been trying to
get these stupid pinecones to open up, but they won't.”

“Daniel said you have to hold them over the fire. And since we don't have one …” Brandon looked around. “Where's Troy?”

Scotty rubbed his eyes. “He said he had to go to the John.”

“How long has he been gone?”

“Come to think of it, he's been gone a pretty long time.”

Brandon cupped his hands. “Troy!”

There was no answer, “Come on.” Brandon helped Scotty to his feet.

Scotty stumbled after him. “You don't think he's lost, do you?”

Brandon just looked at him.

“Right,” Scotty said.

Brandon moved along the cliff yelling Troy's name. “Wait.” Brandon stopped. “I think I hear some-thing.”

A muffled voice came from below the cliff edge. “Help me! I'm down here!”

Brandon ran to the edge and looked over. “Troy, what happened?”

Troy was sitting on a rock ledge a few feet below. His leg didn't look right. It was thrust out to his side at an odd an-gle.

“I stepped wrong and the whole world fell in. I think I busted my leg. Lucky for me this ledge was here or I'd be a goner.”

“Can you move it?”

Troy shook his head.

Brandon searched for a way down. Though the distance was only a few feet, there wasn't one. “Scotty, you hold my feet. I'm going to hang down there and try to pull him up.”

“Are you crazy? I can't hold both of you.”

“You got any better ideas?”

“I do.” Daniel stepped out onto the cliff.

The boys turned. Relief washed over Brandon. “If there was ever anybody I was glad to see, it's you.”

Scotty squinted at him. “Is that you, Danny boy? I thought you'd be halfway home by now.”

“And miss all the fun?” Daniel looked over the edge of the cliff. “How's the weather down there?”

Troy gave him a halfhearted grin. “Don't tell
me. You just happened to be in the neighborhood, right?”

“Something like that.” Daniel turned. “You guys hand me your belts.”

Daniel pulled his belt off, tied it to the other two, and jerked the slack out of them. He handed one end to Brandon. “Lie down and hang on to this. Scotty, you hook your foot around that bush and hold Brandon's feet.”

Holding one end of the belt rope, Daniel scooted to the edge of the cliff and lowered himself to the ledge below.

One look at the angle of Troy's leg told him it was broken. Daniel shook his head. “Some people will do anything for atten-tion.”

“I'd be real happy to share this kind of attention, believe me.”

Daniel moved around to stand behind Troy. “There's only one way to get you out of here. I'm going to help you stand on your good leg. Then grab the belt and Brandon and Scotty will pull you up. Ready?”

Troy nodded.

Daniel bent down, lifted Troy under the
arms, and helped him hop to the belt rope. “No matter how much it hurts, you have to hang on, okay?”

“You're the boss.” Troy took the end of the belt rope in both hands.

Daniel motioned with his thumb. “He's ready. Pull him up.”

Inch by inch Brandon pulled. The jagged rocks tore at Troy's flesh and ripped his clothes, but he hung on. When they got him to the edge, Brandon grabbed his arm and dragged him up and over the lip of the cliff.

“Okay, now me,” Daniel called. He was easier to pull up because he could help with his legs. When he reached the top he went over to Troy and felt his lower leg. “You really did a job on this. Hang on, I'll be right back.”

Troy's face was white from the pain. “I'll be here.”

Daniel moved off the rocky slab and found two sticks about the same length. He tore a strip off the bottom of his T-shirt and trotted back to where Troy was lying.

“This is going to hurt some.”

Troy gritted his teeth. “Do what you have to do.”
^*

Daniel straightened the leg as gently as he could. Troy winced and drew a sharp breath. Daniel put a stick on either side of the leg and wrapped them in place with the strip from his shirt.

“That's the best I can do for now.”

He tied the last knot, then moved upwind and sat on the rock slab. “I hate to mention this, but you guys really stink.”

Scotty stepped around Brandon. “We had a little run-in with a skunk last night.”

“Smells like the skunk won.”

Brandon rubbed the back of his neck. “We kinda made a mess of things. I don't suppose …”

Troy raised himself up on one elbow. “What he's trying to say is, since you left we haven't had anything to eat and we don't have a clue where we are.”

“How about it?” Scotty asked. “Want to get three hardheads out of the woods?”

Daniel stood up and brushed off the back of his jeans. “If we're going to get out of here, it's going to take all of us.” He looked at Troy. “Especially since Troy has de-cided he'd rather ride than walk.”

Daniel directed the building of a makeshift stretcher. They found two long branches and pulled the smaller limbs off. Using their belts, their shoelaces, and strips off their T-shirts, they tied shorter branches across the two longer ones.

Daniel filled in the cracks with pine boughs. He made a mock bow in front of Troy. “Your carriage awaits.” Scotty and Brandon lifted Troy from the ground and carefully placed him on the stretcher.

Daniel intended to stick to his original plan and cross the river at its slowest-moving
point. He checked the sun and started back in the right direction. The boys took turns carrying the stretcher throughout the day. Daniel gathered edible grasses and berries, and they ate as they walked.

When it was nearly dark, Daniel motioned for them to set the stretcher down under a tree. Troy's face was still white. His eyes were closed and he was obviously in pain.

“Sorry I can't offer you anything to drink.” Daniel cleared a place for a campfire. “But tomorrow we'll be at the river and you can drink your fill.”

Scotty lay back in the dirt. “I'm done. I don't think I can walk another step.”

“How long will it take us to get home after we get to the river?” Brandon asked.

Daniel blew on twigs and pine needles to start the fire. “It depends on how long it takes us to get across and how far it is back upriver to the washed-out bridge.”

“I heard something.” Scotty sat up. “It's coming from over there.” He pointed out into the gath-ering darkness. “There it is again. Something's in that brush.”

Brandon sat up. “Bears?”

Daniel moved behind the fire and picked up a sturdy round stick.

A large brown dog trotted out into the opening. He stopped when he saw the fire and the boys.

“Oh, it's just a mutt.” Scotty held out his hand. “Here, boy.”

“Don't call him.” Daniel eyed the dog. “Everyone stay perfectly still. Don't give him any reason to come this way.”

The dog lowered his head and growled. He took a step toward them and hesitated.

Brandon cautiously reached for a stick. The dog snarled and bared his teeth. White foam dripped from his mouth.

Troy felt around on the ground beside him. His hand rested on a large rock.

The dog pawed the ground like an angry bull. He shook his head and some of the white slobber flew off. For a minute it looked as if he was going to turn and go back into the bushes.

Suddenly he charged straight for them, lunging at Daniel. Daniel quickly sidestepped and brought the stick around. He nailed the
dog on the back of the head, knocking him to his knees.

Troy raised his rock and brought it down squarely on the dog's head. The dog didn't move. Daniel stepped closer, his stick still raised.

The dog wasn't breathing.

Daniel poked it with his stick. “You got him, Troy.”

“I don't understand.” Scotty looked bewildered. “Why did he act like that?”

Daniel moved back to the fire. “Rabies.”

Brandon pointed his stick at the dog. “He could have killed us.”

Daniel nodded. “If he had bitten one of us, we probably wouldn't have lasted more than a couple of days.”

Scotty was still staring at the dog. “I wonder what he's doing way out here?”

“No telling.” Daniel put a piece of wood on the fire. “He probably made it to this side before the bridge washed out, picked up the disease, and couldn't figure out how to get back.”

Scotty nervously looked out into the darkness. “What if he bit something else?”

“He probably did. That skunk you guys told me about, for instance. Skunks don't usually roam around in the daytime unless something's wrong.”

A shudder went through Scotty, “This place gives me the creeps. The sooner we get home the better.”

When they reached the river, Daniel made them boil the water be-fore he let them drink, to eliminate any possibility of contamination from diseased ani-mals. Then they drank until they thought they would burst.

After a short rest, they carried Troy downstream until Daniel found the place where he had wanted to cross.

Again Daniel sat and watched the water, searching for any telltale signs of drop-offs or other hidden dangers.

“What are you waiting for?” Brandon came up behind him. “It looks okay to me.”

“You're probably right, but it never hurts to check.” Daniel threw a rock into the water. “You and I will make sure Troy gets across and we'll let Scotty worry about the stretcher, okay?”

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

Daniel stood up. “Let's get started.”

Brandon and Daniel lifted Troy off the stretcher while Scotty slipped it out from under him. Scotty wrapped his arm around the first rung of the stretcher and stepped out into the water.

Daniel looked at Troy. “All you have to do is float. Bran-don and I will do the rest.”

Scotty shouted at them from the middle of the river. “I'm still standing. It's not that deep here.”