Mystery on Blizzard Mountain (2 page)

Soon an old blue van came bouncing down the dirt road that led to Maris’s cabin.

A tall woman with a wiry build and thick blond and gray hair got out.

“Thanks for coming,” Maris said. “Sorry to call so early.”

“I’m always up early,” Carola said crisply. “And I have an appointment over in the county seat today anyway. You’re right on the way.”

Maris introduced all the Aldens. Carola gave them a quick nod. She said to Maris, “Battery again? Maybe it’s time for a new truck.”

“Ha,” said Maris. Carola got some jumper cables and attached them to her truck’s battery and the battery of Maris’s truck.

Maris got in her red truck and turned the key. Her truck started.

“It’s fixed! Now we can go to Blizzard Mountain!” said Benny.

“Blizzard Mountain?” Carola asked.

“We’re going to help Maris start work on a new trail,” Jessie explained.

“I told you, remember?” Maris reminded her.

Carola raised her eyebrows. “So soon after those bear sightings, Maris? Do you think that’s safe?” she asked.

“Carola, you’re the only person who’s reported bear sightings,” Maris reminded her. “And we all know you don’t want any people on Blizzard Mountain.”

“No people? Why not?” Henry asked.

Carola shook her head, frowning fiercely. “That’s not true! I just think we need to limit the number of people who use it every year. That protects the animals and where they live. Too many people tear up a park. In fact, too many people make it more like, well, a city.”

“Every time we open a new trail, it’s only because we’ve closed another one. You know that,” Maris said.

“We should be closing more trails and
not
opening new trails at all. There are too many trails as it is,” Carola argued.

Maris started to speak, but Carola kept talking. “If people want to go off the trails, they can hire guides to show them the way. Guides will make sure that they take care of the forest. And that they don’t get lost!”

“If we put a real trail on Blizzard Mountain, at least we won’t have to rescue lost hikers up there so much,” said Maris with a smile.

“Hmmph,” said Carola. “If you’re hiking on Blizzard Mountain, I’d watch out for bears.”

Carola climbed back into her van, slammed the door, leaned out the window, and added, “And just for the record—I’m more worried about the bears than I am about you.” She drove away in a cloud of dust.

“Wow,” said Benny. “I don’t think she likes us.”

“She’s got a quick temper,” Maris admitted. “And she loves these mountains more than she likes most people.”

“Did she really see bears on Blizzard Mountain?” asked Violet.

“If she did, she’s the only one. The bears avoid the people around here. If you see a bear, it’s usually because it didn’t see you first and have a chance to run away,” Maris said. “I know I haven’t seen any fresh sign of a bear near the trail. No tree markings.”

“Tree markings? What are those?” asked Benny.

“Those are places where bears sharpened their claws or pulled dead trees and logs apart looking for insects. Insects and berries are a big part of a bear’s diet,” Maris told him.

“Insects. Yuck,” said Violet, wrinkling her nose.

“It’s funny that Carola forgot I was headed up to Blizzard Mountain today,” Maris said. “We talked about it just a couple of days ago, when she reported the bear sightings. Oh, well, let’s get started.”

Once more, the Aldens and Maris piled into the truck.

“Is Blizzard Gap far?” asked Benny as they drove away.

“Not too far,” Maris answered. “But we have to make another stop first.”

“Where?” Violet wanted to know.

“To get Bobcat,” Maris said.

“A bobcat!” Violet gasped.

“Not a real bobcat, Violet,” Maris reassured her. “Bobcat. Bob Leeds. Everyone calls him Bobcat. He’s a park ranger and an expert on bobcats, too. That’s why he’s called Bobcat,” Maris said.

She turned down a long, bumpy road, which led to a stone house not much bigger than Maris’s cabin. A round man with round glasses came out. He waved, closed the door of his cabin, and lifted a large backpack from the porch. He walked to the back of Maris’s truck and tossed the pack in.

Then he came around to join the Aldens and Maris.

“Hi there. I heard you were coming,” said Bobcat with a grin.

“I like your hat,” Jessie said. It had a paw-print design on the front. “Is that a bobcat track on it?”

“Yep,” he said. “Not actual size, of course.”

“How big is a bobcat?” asked Violet.

“Oh, the average is about the size of a medium-to-small dog,” he told them.

“And they don’t eat people?” Violet asked, just to make sure.

“Nope. Too small. They’re also very shy. My job is to gather more information on them so we’ll be able to do a better job of protecting them.”

“Protecting them? From bears?” asked Benny.

“People, mostly,” Bobcat answered.

“Don’t you want trails in the park, either?” asked Jessie. “Are you like Carola?”

“I agree with Carola and I disagree with her,” Bobcat said. “The park belongs to everybody, but that means that everybody has to help take care of it, too. Part of taking care of it is staying on the trails and not tramping through important habitat.”

“What’s a habit ... habit ... ?” Benny asked. He’d never heard that word before.

“Habitat,” Bobcat repeated. “All it means is home. Where the animals live. You could say that your hometown is your habitat, Benny. And I guess you wouldn’t much like it if someone took a walk right through your front door.”

“No way!” said Benny.

“Well, neither would a bobcat. So part of my job is to make sure park trails don’t go through a bobcat’s front door, either.”

Just then, Maris slowed the truck down. “Blizzard Gap,” she announced. “This is Main Street.”

Blizzard Gap was much smaller than Greenfield. Maris drove by a gas station with a sign that said LULU’S GAS ’N’ GO, a building with a general store on one side and a diner on the other, and a neat white house with a post office sign out front.

Above the general store, a sign advertised GROCERIES AND EVERYTHING ELSE.

Maris parked in front of the diner.

“Why don’t you kids get some hot chocolate in the diner while Bobcat and I get some camping supplies at the general store,” Maris said.

“Okay,” said Benny cheerfully. “I like hot chocolate.”

As the Aldens walked into the diner, people turned to look at them. Violet blushed a little. She was shy.

But Benny smiled at everyone. “Hi,” he said. He even waved at a man with curly black hair as they passed his table on the way to the counter.

The man looked surprised. “Hello,” he said in a gruff voice. He smiled a little. His teeth were big and white against his beard.

A tall, thin waitress with silver hair came over to take their order. The name embroidered on her shirt said RAYANNE.

“Menu’s on the wall,” Rayanne said. She nodded toward a big blackboard at the back of the diner. “Regular items on the left, specials on the right.”

“Hot chocolate, please,” said Benny. The others ordered hot chocolate, too.

“And I don’t suppose you would want whipped cream with it?” Rayanne asked.

“Yes! Please!” Benny said loudly.

One side of the waitress’s mouth turned up a little and her eyes crinkled in amusement. “I’ll see what I can do,” she said.

Henry took a map out of his jacket pocket. He unfolded it and spread it on the counter so Benny, Jessie, and Violet could see it. “Here’s where we are now,” he said. “And here’s where Maris’s cabin is.”

“There’s Blizzard Mountain,” Violet said. “That’s where we’re going.”

“If we don’t have any more bad luck today,” agreed Jessie.

Henry frowned. “I sort of wonder if someone didn’t make that bad luck for Maris,” he said in a low voice.

“What do you mean, Henry?” asked Violet.

“Carola made it pretty clear she doesn’t want anyone building new trails. Maybe she’s been fixing Maris’s truck so it wouldn’t start, to try to discourage her,” Henry said.

“It didn’t work,” Violet pointed out.

“No. We’re still headed for Blizzard Mountain,” Jessie said.

“And she helped fix Maris’s truck both times,” Benny said.

Just then, Rayanne returned with their drinks.

“Blizzard Mountain?” asked Rayanne as she set the four cups of hot chocolate in front of the Aldens. “You kids headed up that old mountain?”

“Yes,” said Henry.

“I hear it’s a bad luck mountain,” said Rayanne. “Haunted, too.”

“We know all about Stagecoach George,” said Jessie. “We’re not afraid of ghosts.”

The man with black hair spoke up from the next table. “I wasn’t afraid of ghosts, either, until this happened,” he said. He leaned over and thumped his leg. “It broke my ankle for me.”

“Ah, Chuck, everybody knows you saw your shadow and thought it was a ghost and that’s how you broke your ankle,” one of the other waitresses teased.

“Ha-ha,” Chuck retorted. “I know what I saw up on that mountain. I say if it looks like a ghost and sounds like a ghost, it’s a ghost.”

“You saw the ghost of Stagecoach George?” Benny said. He almost spilled his hot chocolate, he was so excited.

“That’s right, young man,” Chuck said. He flashed his teeth in another big smile. “That’s what made me fall down the mountain and break my ankle.”

“Stop telling tall tales, Chuck Larson,” Rayanne said. “You know there’s no such thing as a ghost. And you a history teacher!”

“That’s how I know so much about it,” Chuck said. “It’s a history teacher’s job to know the history of a place he’s visiting. And Stagecoach George is known to haunt Blizzard Mountain.”

As Chuck finished speaking, Bobcat came in and sat down next to Benny.

“Mr. Larson says he saw the ghost of Stagecoach George,” Benny reported excitedly.

“I know,” said Bobcat. “I was part of the group that rescued Chuck. A hiker found him and got us, and we carried him down off the mountain. Chuck told us and everybody else to stay off Blizzard Mountain because he’d seen a ghost.”

Jessie turned toward Chuck Larson’s table. “If you saw Stagecoach George’s ghost, you must have been near the treasure, right?” she asked Chuck.

“I don’t know about that,” Chuck said. “I think the ghost is still looking for the treasure, not guarding it. He doesn’t want anyone to find it before him, so he haunts the whole mountain. But you know what else I think?”

Rayanne rolled her eyes. “
Of course
I know what you think. You think that the avalanche swept the stagecoach gold down the mountain and it’s somewhere near the bottom and the ghost is haunting the wrong place,” she said.

Chuck blushed a little. “I guess I’ve said it all before. It’s been a few months now. But I’ll never forget seeing that ghost. White and misty and floating through the trees,” Chuck said. “And howling. When it started to howl, that’s when I tripped and broke my ankle.”

Bobcat said, “You’re lucky that hiker found you when he did. You could have been stuck up on the mountain for a long time.”

Again Chuck’s teeth flashed in a smile. “I got pretty lost. I thought I was hiking up Pam’s Peak. I guess I’m not much of a woodsman.”

“If it’s been so long since you broke your ankle, why are you still on crutches?” Jessie asked.

“I stumbled and reinjured it, that’s all,” Chuck said. “But now even a busted ankle can’t keep me away from these mountains. I’m doing a history project on Blizzard Gap and this park. And according to my research, it has been a bad luck mountain ever since Stagecoach George. Look at everything that’s happened up there. Floods. Lost hikers. Rock slides.”

“There hasn’t been an avalanche in these mountains in over sixty years,” Rayanne said. “And floods happen all over these parts when the spring snow melts and it rains.”

“How do you know that?” asked Bobcat. “You must like these mountains better than you think, to know all that about ’em, especially since you’ve only been here since the summer.”

Rayanne shrugged. “I’m not a big hiker, but the mountains are pretty to look at,” she said.

Chuck stood up and reached for a pair of crutches propped on a chair next to him. His chair fell over with a crash. When Chuck made a grab for the chair, he overturned the sugar bowl. Packets of sugar slid across the table.