The blue-stone mystery (4 page)

A New Enemy

Looking in the direction of the sounds, Chip saw some of the ranch guests cHmbing among the rocks. "It's hke having a balcony seat at the movies," he whispered.

"Yes," Karen agreed in a low voice. "How far we can see! There is Mr. Brownlee and his wife. My, how his bald head shines in the sun!" she giggled, and then quickly put her hand over her mouth.

Pedro gestured toward a horse and rider emerging from a patch of alders below them and to one side. "Now, watch!" he urged. "The other day I was standing here looking for a stray horse. That man did something peculiar. Maybe he will again."

When the rider drew closer. Chip and Karen saw that it was Mr. Crowe. His fluorescent yellow cap glowed as if it were a lamp. They watched curiously as he halted, looked over his shoulder, and reached into the pocket of his jacket. Pulling out a stone, he dropped it in the middle of the path, where anyone following him would be sure to see it. A few yards farther on he placed another rock on top of a boulder close to the trail.

Now he was almost under the children's hiding place. Trying to be absolutely still. Chip tightened

A ISlew Enemy

his grip on a small bush. To his horror, it pulled loose from the soft dirt. Chip, rolHng over and over, tumbled down the bank, still clutching the shrub in his hand. He landed on the path, directly in front of a startled and instantly angry Mr. Crowe.

As the horse shied away from him, Chip instictive-ly threw up an arm to shield his face. He heard the hiss of a leather riding whip, and the bush flew out of his hand. He caught a glimpse of Mr. Crowe's furious red face and an uplifted whip. Chip yelled. But before the man could strike again, his horse gave a great leap and bolted up the canyon, forcing its rider to hold on to the saddle horn to keep from being thrown.

"Quick, Chip!" Pedro called, "Climb the bank! Grab my hand!"

Chip scrambled to his feet. In a few seconds, with Pedro's help, he was safely on the mesa. "We'd better get away from here," he gasped. "He was awful mad."

The three ran to their horses and, mounting, rode quickly toward the stables. When Chip caught his breath, he asked, "What happened back there, Pedro? Why didn't he hit me? I thought sure he was going to."

The Blue-Stone Mystery

"So did I," Pedro said. "When he first whipped down at you, he hit the bush in your hand. I had to do something quick. So I grabbed a rock and threw it hard at the horse's flank. That's why he jumped and ran away. Too bad I hurt the horse, but it was lucky I did not miss, was it not?"

"It sure was, Pedro. Thanks! Criminy, wasn't he mad? What do you suppose he was so mad for?"

"I don't know for sure. But he doesn't really like kids at all. I heard him say so once. And I don't think he's dropping those rocks just for fun. I'm sorry about what happened just now. I should not have brought you here."

"How could you have known I'd be so stupid as to fall down in front of him? Wasn't your fault." Chip snorted.

Karen asked, "But what was he doing before that? Why do you think he put those rocks down by the path?"

"Right after I saw him do that the other time, Mr. Brownlee picked one up and yelled that he had found a piece of turquoise ore." Pedro frowned thoughtfully. "You must not let Mr. Crowe know you saw him drop these stones. If you don't say anything about it, he cannot be sure. Honestly, I think it

A New Enemy

would be dangerous for you if he knew. I do not like that man/'

"After this, I don't either," Chip agreed. "Golly, ril never forget his face and that whip."

"He gives me the shakes," Karen admitted. "Funny .. . Clover doesn't like him either. She always snarls when he's near. I don't think we'd better tell Mom and Dad about this. They would be awfully upset."

"Okay," Chip said. "Let's just not talk about it to anyone else. That would be safest."

They made their pact of secrecy and thankfully rode into the corral.

"What do you do in the evening after dinner, Pedro?" Chip asked, as he lifted his saddle off his pony.

"Help my father feed and curry the horses, and clean the stalls. After that I can play."

"We'll come down and help you, won't we, Karen?" Chip offered. His sister nodded. "Then we can tell you if anything happened at the lodge. Do you suppose Mr. Crowe will say or do anything to me?" he asked worried.

"He wouldn't dare do anything with Mom and Dad there," Karen said sensibly. "And he surely isn't

The Blue-Stone Mystery

going to go around telling people that he tried to whip a boy!"

"That's right," Chip agreed, sighing with relief. "We'll come on down after we eat."

"Bueno; fine," their new friend replied. "I am curious. But be careful of Seiior Crowe."

When Chip and Karen arrived at their cabin, their father was whistling jubilantly. He had caught a half dozen large trout, which the agreeable ranch cook had promised to broil for the family's dinner.

"Hurry and get washed up," Mr. Trainor urged the children. "I can hardly wait to taste those fish."

At the dining hall Chip looked hurriedly around for Mr. Crowe, but the big man was not at his usual table. He found out why when he heard Mr. Brown-lee explain, "Josh is eating in his cabin tonight. He got a little shaken up this afternoon when his horse ran away with him."

"He wasn't hurt, was he?" Mrs. Trainor asked with quick concern.

"No, but he thought he would feel better if he rested this evening," Mrs. Brownlee answered. Chip and Karen, relieved that they would not have to face

A New Enemy

the big man for a while, smiled at each other. The little woman went on breathlessly, "Did you hear the news?"

"No. What is it?" Chip's father asked.

"Mrs. Border found a piece of turquoise this afternoon, and so did Mr. Jeddy. In the same canyon! We're quite excited."

"Well, well! That is interesting," Mr. Trainor said. "How about Mr. Crowe? Did he find any?"

"Not this time, either. Isn't that fate, though?" Mrs. Brownlee bubbled on. "He was right near there, too. But after his horse ran away with him, he rested a bit and came on back to the ranch. We decided to look a few minutes longer. That was when they found the ore. My, are you people having trout tonight?"

The conversation shifted to fishing. Before the meal was over, Mr. Trainor had promised to take several of the men out with him the next day. Their wives decided to accompany them with a picnic lunch. They would visit together while the men fished.

"Of course, you children will come, too," Mrs. Trainor said.

The Blue-Stone Mystery

"But, Mom," Chip objected. "Pedro was going to take us exploring."

His mother considered this for a moment. "Well, perhaps it would be all right if you stayed with your friend," she replied thoughtfully, "but I think Karen had better come with us."

"I really don't care, Chip," Karen said, stopping further protests from her brother. "I'd like to try some fishing, too, if Dad will show me how."

"Fine," her father agreed. "We need another fisherman in the family." And so it was settled.

chapter Five

Puzzles and Plans

"What did Senor Crowe say?'' Pedro asked. He and Chip and Karen were sitting on top of a Uttle hill behind the barn, and Clover was lying quietly beside them. The work was finished. They were watching the sunset dye the clouds crimson and edge them with gold. The hill was shadowed by the higher mountains behind it, but sunlight still bright-

The Blue-Stone Mystery

ened the ranch buildings below and glistened on the stream.

"Oh, he wasn t in the dining room," Karen said, laughing. "Mrs. Brownlee said he got *a little shaken up* this afternoon when his horse ran away, so he was resting."

Pedro laughed, too, his white teeth gleaming against his dark skin. "I would like to see him get bumped clear off. But he is a good rider — better than most of the ranch guests. He acts like a dude, but I don't think he really is one. What's the matter. Chip? Cold? You shivered just then."

Chip shook his head. "Not really. It is getting chilly, but I was thinking of that whip and the expression on Mr. Crowe's face. I don't mind saying that I was scared." He wrinkled his forehead.

"Oh, Pedro, we forgot to tell you," Karen said, hoping to take Chip's mind off his fall. "Two people did find turquoise ore. You thought they would, didn't you? Isn't that odd? Why would Mr. Crowe want to make everyone think there was a lost mine if there wasn't?"

"^jQuien sabe? Who knows?" Pedro shrugged his shoulders. He suddenly straightened up and looked

Puzzles and Plans

intently at the stables below. "Speaking of Senor Crowe, I think he is down there now."

Chip and Karen watched a man climb into the corral. Even at this distance they recognized Josh Crowe's yellow hunting cap and his gaudy plaid shirt.

"That's the silliest hat I ever saw," Karen said. "I wonder why he wears it."

"I thought he was in bed," Chip said, lowering his voice, although they were at least three hundred yards from the man they were discussing. "What's he doing down there?" Clover growled deep in her throat, and the boy put his hand on her to keep her quiet.

The big man disappeared into the stable and came out a few minutes later leading a horse. The children watched curiously as he took off his bright cap and stuffed it into his pocket. Then, swinging into the saddle, Mr. Crowe rode away from the corral. At the junction of two paths he halted, looked searchingly around him, and then quickly took the south trail. Soon he was lost to sight among the trees.

"Huh!" Chip said. "He doesn't look shaken up to me.

The Blue-Stone Mystery

"I would like to know why he is going in that direction," Pedro said thoughtfully.

"Where does that path lead?" Karen asked.

"There are many side trails branching from it, but the main one goes on into our sacred land — the place I was telling you about this afternoon. There is a point on that trail that we can see from here." He pointed. "Halfway up on that next mountain. See that bare knob of rock sticking out, with a cliff behind it? The path goes right over that knob. That is inside Indian land, and the boundary is well marked. If we watch, maybe we can tell if he is riding there."

The three children sat forward, straining to see the bare spot in the darkening evening. It was Pedro's sharp eyes that first saw what they were watching for.

"Ay! There he is!" he exclaimed.

"Oh, I see him now. Do you, Karen?" asked Chip. Unmistakably, a horse and rider were silhouetted against the rock for a few moments before they faded again into the shadows of the forest.

The puzzled youngsters walked slowly down the hill with Clover. There were so many questions for which they had no answers. Karen spoke for the three

Puzzles and Plans

of them when she said, "That Mr. Crowe — he's certainly a mystery!"

During the night one of the sudden storms that Mr. Allen had mentioned blew in across the mountains. A tremendous clap of thunder woke Chip. As more thunder rumbled and rebounded among the peaks, the sleepy boy wandered out into the Hving room.

A hurrying figure colUded with him, and his mother gasped, "Oh, Chip! You startled me. See if your windows are shut, will you, dear? I think it's going to rain."

More awake. Chip shut the windows and watched the lightning play in streaks and flashes on the underside of huge banks of clouds. The wind whipping the pines back and forth made a noise like waves crashing against the breakwater at home. He heard a louder roar as rain moved closer across the forest. A few minutes later it slashed in a torrent against the windowpanes.

Chip crawled back into his bunk, warming his feet on Clover, who had burrowed under the blankets with him. The storm kept him awake, and he

went over in his mind the events of their first day at the ranch. Suddenly he sat up straight. He felt like shouting. He was sure he knew why Mr. Crowe had "planted" the turquoise ore in the canyon.

Clover whined at being disturbed. Chip laughed softly and petted her. "Never mind, Clover," he soothed. "iVe just solved the puzzle. I wish morning would come so I could tell Karen and Pedro about it."