McKenzie’s Oregon Operation (12 page)

“Who was that?” Alex asked, opening her eyes and yawning.

“Kate.” McKenzie snapped her phone shut. She glanced about at all the tourists and then said softly, “Biscuit has done it again. Finding that dog at Discovery Lake Camp is the best thing that ever happened to us—next to all of us meeting each other. I'm so glad Kate kept him. I'll tell you about it when we get home. We're almost back to the resort.”

After the bus had parked, the girls said good-bye to the woman and her children. The woman asked Alex her name and where she was staying. Then she hugged her once more.

“Okay, what was the call from Kate all about?” Alex asked as the girls walked to their beach house.

McKenzie relayed the message to Alex and said, “So, now I'm really confused. I thought for sure that strange woman I saw in Mr. C.'s cabin was the Frankses' daughter, Nina. And I'm sure she tucked something under her arm that night. When he told us his book was missing, I was positive she had stolen it. But why would she want it if her parents helped write it? It doesn't make any sense.”

“It is weird,” Alex said, trudging up the back steps.

“Kate wanted me to call her when I had a chance,” McKenzie said as she unlocked the door to the beach house.

“Why don't you do that now? I can't wait to get out of these wet clothes.” Alex headed down the hall. “I'm taking a shower.”

McKenzie grabbed her camera and settled in front of the computer while she called Kate. The line was busy, so McKenzie put down the phone to try again in a few minutes.

Mickey trotted over and laid his head on her lap while she downloaded snapshots from the tour. She glanced at each one quickly, stroking Mickey's head with her free hand. When she got to the one of Alex rescuing the little girl, she stopped and examined it.

I'm not the best photographer in the world, but this one is pretty good. At least, I think it's good enough for the contest.
She smiled as she unhooked the camera from the computer.

McKenzie glanced at the clock on the wall. She picked up her phone and clicked on Kate's name again.

“I'm so glad you called,” Kate said. “I've been thinking about this whole thing. Maybe the Frankses' daughter did steal the book on caves from Mr. C.”

“But why would she steal a copy? She must have one of her own. After all, her parents helped write it,” McKenzie said.

“I found a summary of the book online. It's supposed to be one of the best ever written on caves along the Oregon coast. I also read that the maps are thorough. Maybe Nina Franks didn't steal the book for herself,” Kate explained. “Maybe she doesn't want you to have the maps. Didn't you say you were talking about borrowing the book from Mr. C. the night you discovered someone was listening from the Frankses' back porch?”

McKenzie thought for a moment. Then her pulse began to quicken. “That's right. She and Mr. Franks know we're looking for Mario and Bianca. Do you think they've got the sea lions hidden in a cave somewhere, and they don't want us to find them?”

“That's what I'm wondering,” Kate answered. “I've contacted Sydney, Bailey, and Elizabeth. Everybody is searching the Internet trying to find a copy of those maps. So, check your e-mail often. If any of us finds anything, we'll let you know.”

McKenzie's mind whirled as she hung up the phone.
Could it really be that simple? Are the Frankses trying to hide the maps from us so we can't find the pups?

She looked up as Alex walked into the room drying her hair on a towel. McKenzie relayed everything she and Kate had discussed.

“So, what now?” Alex asked, pulling a brush through her damp hair. “We just can't sit and wait for them to find the maps. We could search the Internet, too.”

McKenzie drummed her fingers on the desk. “I agree. We need to actually be out
doing
something. We see the Frankses a lot, so they can't be going too far. We have to come up with a way to watch them and find out where they're going.”

“You mean spy on them?” Alex asked.

The back door banged, and the girls turned around. Aunt Becca stepped inside and set a pizza on the counter. McKenzie sniffed the cheese and Canadian bacon wafting across the room.

“How's the celebrity?” Aunt Becca asked, grinning at Alex.

“How did you find out?” Alex asked with a shocked expression.

“The whole resort knows. Everybody is talking about it. They're all saying, 'You should have seen that little girl jump in the water to save that preschooler from drowning.'” Aunt Becca's eyes sparkled.

Alex groaned. “They called me a ‘little girl'? That's disgusting. I'm twelve—almost a teenager.”

“Hey, I am so proud of you,” Aunt Becca said, giving Alex a hug. “That woman was so thankful that she wanted to do something for you. She wants you and McKenzie to take your pick of the tours the resort offers, and she will pay for both of you. You only need to decide what tour you want and pick your tickets up at the resort lobby.”

Alex looked at McKenzie, her eyes wide with surprise. “Really? We can go on any tour we want?”

“That's what she said. So, talk it over and decide what you want to do. Then we'll set it up.” Aunt Becca placed three paper plates around the table and poured two glasses of milk for the girls.

After saying the blessing, the girls each grabbed a slice of pizza. While eating, Aunt Becca talked about her day at work.

“I even learned a few things today,” she said, laying down her fork. “I took an older gentleman, Mr. Tagachi, up today for a Skyview tour. Years ago, before Emerald Bay Resort was built, he ran a fishing boat off the coast here. He told me about an old sea lion harbor just up the beach a little ways. People used to go there and watch the sea lions.”

“Yes, we went there the other day,” McKenzie said. “Remember? You picked us up.”

“No, not that one,” Aunt Becca said. “That's the tourist one. This is another one that sea lions hang out at. The fishermen used to refer to it as a sea lion harbor.”

“Where is it?” McKenzie asked with her mouth full of pizza.

“Just up the coast a little ways, but the sea lions no longer use it,” Aunt Becca said. “When the state blasted dynamite through the rock for a new highway, the ledge the sea lions used for nesting collapsed. That's when the sea lions migrated farther down the beach to the current Sea Lion Harbor.”

“What else did this guy tell you?” McKenzie asked as she flicked a piece of cheese at Mickey. He snapped it between his jaws and stared at her, waiting for more.

“All sorts of stuff. He was quite the history buff.” Aunt Becca picked up her empty paper plate and stuffed it in the trash. “He knows all about sea lions and their habitats. I'd introduce him to you girls, but he's heading back to his home in Texas in the morning.”

Aunt Becca grabbed the leash from the hook by the back door. “Will you girls finish cleaning up? I need a good long walk before dark. I'll take Mickey with me.”

The girls agreed. Aunt Becca stepped outside with the dog dancing and yipping about her feet.

McKenzie sighed as she sat in silence with Alex.

“Maybe this guy would know where someone might hide sea lions, but now we can't ask him,” she said. She popped a cookie in her mouth and thought for a moment. She pushed her chair back, propping her legs on the corner of the table. Then she glanced at Alex, and their eyes met.

“Are you thinking what I'm thinking?” Alex asked after downing her last swig of milk.

McKenzie grinned. “I'm thinking we need to use our free tour and go up with Aunt Becca in the Skyview. If we can't talk to that guy, she can at least show us the old sea lion harbor!”

“Are you sure you want to take the Skyview for your free trip?” Aunt Becca asked after breakfast the next morning. “I might be able to arrange a free trip if the plane isn't already full and the other tourists agree.”

“We know,” McKenzie said, “but then we'll have to fly the regular routine. We just want you to fly us along the coast and look for caves. You can do that, can't you?”

“Sure, all flights are paid by the hour. So we can fly anywhere you want to go as long as we're back in one hour. I can take you up later this morning.” Aunt Becca glanced at the clock. “But right now I need to run to the grocery store. Anyone want to ride along?”

“Not me,” Alex said, sitting at the kitchen table in her pajamas. “I want to take pictures this morning while the light is good. I'm still not sure what picture I'm going to enter in the contest.”

“I'll go,” McKenzie announced, thinking of the picture she wanted to print as a surprise for Alex.

“Okay,” Aunt Becca said as she cleared the table. “When you're dressed, we'll go.”

Twenty minutes later, McKenzie entered the supermarket and headed for the customer service department. While Aunt Becca shopped, McKenzie stuck her camera card in the machine and printed off a large picture. She quickly chose a mat frame from the rack and paid the cashier for both items.

When she and Aunt Becca arrived back home, Alex was standing on the dock taking nature pictures. After hiding the framed photo under her bed, McKenzie joined her friend on the beach.

Later that morning, Aunt Becca took the girls to the airport as promised. Within minutes the Skyview took off into the clear morning sky. The plane skimmed the treetops, and Aunt Becca circled above the resort before heading north along the beach.

“Okay, look to your right,” Aunt Becca said as she managed the controls. “It's high tide, but you can still see the cave in the side of the cliff that Mr. Tagachi told me about.”

McKenzie peered out the window. At first she couldn't see the cave, but then she spotted a dark hole in the rocks. Water from the cove rushed through the entrance, disappearing into darkness.

“Doesn't that look like the cave we found the other day?” McKenzie asked quietly, so her aunt wouldn't hear. “Right after the Frankses about ran us over.”

“Yeah, I think you're right,” Alex answered, lifting her camera and snapping a picture.

“So there used to be a ledge there for sea lions?” McKenzie asked. She tried to imagine what the cove might have looked like years ago.

“That's what Mr. Tagachi told me,” Aunt Becca answered from the front seat. “When the ledge was destroyed, the sea lions moved farther south.”

McKenzie thought for a moment.
If sea lions used to live in the cave, maybe the Frankses could be hiding Mario and Bianca there. We thought maybe there were clues hidden in the cave, but maybe it's the sea lions. That would make sense. The Frankses really were trying to scare us away that day when they tipped our sailboat over.

McKenzie's mind wandered as she tried to put the pieces of the mystery together. When she and Alex had entered the cave the other day, she had heard no sea lions barking.
Surely we would have heard them echoing in the cave,
she thought.
Unless there's another entrance! That must be it! But where?

The roar of the plane made it difficult to talk, so McKenzie decided to wait until the plane landed to discuss her ideas with Alex. The hour passed quickly, and soon the Skyview touched down at the airport.

“I have another tour going up shortly,” Aunt Becca announced when they climbed out of the plane. “These tourists are from our resort, so you two can catch their shuttle bus back to Emerald Bay. Okay?”

As the girls rode to the resort, McKenzie's cell phone rang, signaling a new text message. “It's from Sydney. She said she sent us an important e-mail message.”

McKenzie couldn't wait to get back to the beach house.
What in the world is so important? Could it be something about the maps?
she wondered.

The girls hurried home from the resort, stopping at the mailbox. McKenzie pulled out a thick, brown padded envelope addressed to her.

Ripping it open, she cried, “The video sunglasses are finally here!”

Alex snatched them from her, and they raced inside to the computer. Two messages waited for them—one from Sydney and one from Elizabeth. Eager to see their messages, McKenzie opened Sydney's first.

The moment McKenzie opened the attachment, her jaw dropped open. “Look, Alex! She found maps of caves in this area!”

After printing the maps, McKenzie laid them out on the desk. She quickly located the old sea lion harbor. She traced the dark line that represented the underground cave. It curved and then branched off into two different directions. One tunnel appeared to stop at a dead end. The other one ended near the north end of the Emerald Bay Resort.

“There's the other entrance.” Alex jabbed her finger at a dark spot on the map. “Isn't that up by the Hideaway?”