The Canoe Trip Mystery (5 page)

Jessie told Matt and Bill about getting separated from the rest of their party.

“I wouldn't worry,” Matt said. “If your brother is an experienced canoeist, he should have been all right in this storm.”

“Luckily, we went over our camping plans before we got separated,” Aunt Jane said. “I think they probably went right on to the next campsite when the fog began to lift. We can find them tomorrow.”

“Where are you headed?” Matt asked. He seemed to do more talking than Bill.

“Down Catfish Lake toward White Pine,” Aunt Jane answered.

“Have you run into many people on these trails?” Matt asked.

“No, not too many,” Aunt Jane said. Matt asked several more questions, but Aunt Jane's answers were brief. She gave Jessie and Benny a warning look. With all the odd things that had been happening, they had agreed not to give strangers too much information.

“But they're forest rangers,” Jessie whispered when the two men had gone. After inviting the others to join them for dinner, Matt and Bill had left to get some food from their tent.

“Yes, I know,” Aunt Jane said. “But they asked a lot of questions. I don't see why they wanted to know so much about us.”

“They were very curious,” Jessie admitted. “But maybe they need to keep track of how many tourists are using these trails.”

“Well, yes, I did think of that.” Aunt Jane sounded doubtful. “Still, you never know.” Her voice trailed off as she heard Matt and Bill approach.

“Can't we at least tell them about the wolf calls?” Benny whispered to Jessie. Jessie nodded.

Matt and Bill brought canned spaghetti and a bag of marshmallows with them. The Aldens supplied juice, coffee, and some of Aunt Jane's lentil salad.

Matt and Bill seemed delighted when Jessie offered to build the campfire. Benny found sticks to roast marshmallows.

“Delicious,” Aunt Jane said later when she took a bite of spaghetti and tomato sauce. Anything would have tasted good to her after the storm.

“Listen, we don't mean to scare you,” Bill began. He toyed with his spaghetti. “But we were wondering if anything unusual had happened to you on your trip so far,” Bill continued.

“We thought we heard a wolf,” Benny said. He told the two forest rangers all about their first night on the trail, but he did not mention the riddle.

Jessie, after a nod from Aunt Jane, told them about meeting Lorenzo Espinosa andRob Wilson, and about the warnings they had received. Matt and Bill listened closely.

“I'm glad you're telling us all this,” Matt said. He stirred his coffee and cleared his throat. “You haven't met a woman on this trail, a well-dressed woman with long blonde hair?”

Aunt Jane, Jessie, and Benny all looked at one another. “No, not on the trail,” Jessie answered. “But that does sound like someone we saw in the store where we rented our canoes.”

“I don't think this woman would be renting a canoe,” Matt said. He reached for a stick and started toasting a marshmallow over the coals.

“Oh, she wasn't renting. She wanted a map,” Jessie explained.

Matt and Bill looked at one another and did not ask any more questions. Benny put a fresh marshmallow on his stick and went to sit by Matt.

“You know, I've never met a forest ranger before,” he told Matt. “How come you aren't in a uniform?”

Matt turned and smiled at Benny. “Oh, we don't wear them this early in the season. We'll wear them when more tourists start coming.”

“What color are your uniforms?” Benny asked.

“Green,” Matt answered abruptly.

“Brown,” Bill said at the same time.

Then Bill laughed, but he sounded nervous. “It depends on the season,” he explained.

“Oh, look, my marshmallow is burning!” Matt yelled. He blew on the stick until the flame went out. As he pulled the burnt gooey marshmallow off his stick, it stuck to his fingers.

“Ouch!” he yelled. “It's burning me!” He got up and waved his hand up and down.

Jessie rushed to get the first-aid kit.

“You should probably put your hand in cold water right away,” Aunt Jane suggested kindly. She pointed to the lake.

After Matt had soaked his finger in the lake, Jessie found ointment and a gauze bandage to put on the burn. “There,” she said, as she finished taping up Matt's finger. “It should be all right now.”

“Thank you,” Matt said a little sheepishly. “We didn't bring any first-aid equipment with us.”

Bill suddenly gave Matt a warning glance and put his fingers to his lips. Jessie was busy putting away the first-aid kit. Benny and Aunt Jane were putting up their tent. No one saw Matt and Bill signal one another.

“Good luck on the rest of your trip,” Matt called. “We're going back to our tent now. We need a good night's rest.”

“Yes, and we hope you meet up with the rest of your family tomorrow,” Bill added. They left the campfire for the Aldens.

“Do you think they really work for the forestry service?” Jessie asked as she laid the sleeping bags inside the tent.

“I don't know,” Aunt Jane answered. “But I must say, they didn't seem to know too much about campfires or treating burns.”

“They may just have been tired from the storm,” Jessie said. She rummaged in herbackpack for her red wool socks. It got much colder in the evenings.

“Maybe.” Aunt Jane sounded doubtful. “But I had a funny feeling about them. They didn't seem as if they were used to the outdoors.”

“You mean they may not really be forest rangers?” Benny sounded disappointed. He was busy unrolling his sleeping bag.

“They might be,” Aunt Jane said. “But I'm not sure.” She yawned and got into her sleeping bag. She was already sound asleep when Jessie tucked Benny into his.

In the middle of the night, Jessie stirred and was soon wide-awake. She heard something rustling outside. What if it's a bear? she thought to herself. Or maybe it's a raccoon. That thought was much more comforting.

Suddenly she saw a very bright light shining outside. At first she was frightened, but then she realized it was probably just Matt or Bill getting up in the middle of the night for some reason.

Just as suddenly as it had come on, thelight flickered and vanished. It took Jessie a long time to fall back to sleep.

Meanwhile, Henry, Violet, and Rob had given up trying to find the other canoe in the fog. They went ashore until the fog lifted. Then they decided to go to the next campsite.

Henry guided the canoe across the lake. Before long, Henry and Violet spotted a low building in the distance.

“I'm sure that's the bunkhouse,” Henry said happily. He had been worried they would never find it in the storm. “Now, we can just wait here for the others.”

“Are you sure Jessie and Aunt Jane know where this campsite is?” Violet asked.

“Yes, I pointed it out to them on the map,” Henry answered. “And Jessie has her compass.”

“They're probably waiting out the storm onshore somewhere,” Rob suggested. He slowly limped toward the building they had seen from the water and disappeared inside.

Henry and Violet followed with some food and their backpacks.

“Oh, no,” Henry suddenly said, more to himself than anyone else. Outside the bunkhouse was a wooden canoe with the name
Angela
carved in big red letters on both sides.

“It can't be the same Angela we met in the store,” Violet said. “She had nothing good to say about this canoe trail.”

“I hope you're right,” Henry said grimly, opening the door to the bunkhouse.

Violet looked around and smiled. The bunkhouse had a fireplace in the main room. A soft rug covered the wooden floor. All the bedrooms had wooden bunk beds built into the walls.

“It will be fun to wait for the others in a place like this.” Violet adjusted her purple hair ribbon.

“Yes,” Henry agreed. “It is a nice bunkhouse.”

“Well, I thought I'd have the place to myself this evening,” a familiar voice interrupted.

“Angela,” Henry said. “We thought you didn't like to canoe on this lake.”

Angela had just entered. She wore fancy waterproof shorts, gold jewelry, and a red sweater with white canoes all over it. Violet noticed the color of her watchband matched the red in her sweater.

“I had some business up here,” Angela said, “or don't worry, I wouldn't be anywhere near this awful place.” She put her enormous backpack on the ground with a thud.

Rob came out of one of the bedrooms to see who Violet and Henry were talking to. Violet thought he turned very pale when he saw Angela.

“Hello, I'm Rob Wilson.” He held out his hand.

“You're staying here, too?” Angela asked rudely. She ignored his outstretched hand.

“I could ask you the same question,” Rob answered.

Angela glared.

“Will you be staying here tonight?” Henry asked politely.

“Well, yes,” Angela said. “In case you haven't noticed, it's a miserable night out.”

She turned back to Rob. “So who are you?” she demanded.

“I'm a tourist,” Rob answered.

“From England?” Angela asked.

“Yes.” Rob looked more and more nervous.

“How would you have heard about Timberwolf Lake or Catfish Lake in England? This is a very isolated part of the country,” Angela remarked.

“I live here now,” Rob said. He seemed eager to end the conversation.

“You're all canoeing together?” Angela wanted to know.

“Yes,” Violet said shyly. “We met Rob at a campsite a couple of days ago.”

“They very kindly invited me to join them when they saw I'd twisted my ankle,” Rob said with a grateful look at Henry and Violet.

Angela suddenly noticed there were fewer children. “Where's the rest of your family?”

“We got separated in the storm,” Henry explained.

Rob cleared his throat. “So, what sort of business are you doing?” he asked Angela.

“I'd rather not talk about it,” she snapped. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go rest.” She struggled with her backpack and strode out of the room.

When Henry and Violet looked at Rob, he was staring down at the floor. He looked as if he'd just seen a ghost. Without a word, he went back to his room.

Henry and Violet changed out of their wet clothes and had some lunch. Then they walked down to the lake to see if they could spot Aunt Jane's canoe. Now that the fog had lifted, the lake shone in the late afternoon sun. A small rainbow appeared in the distance.

“What do you think is the matter with Rob?” Violet asked as they walked along the shore.

“I don't know.” Henry sighed. “He seemed so nervous after seeing Angela.”

“It's too bad he won't talk to us,” Violet said.

“I really wish Angela wasn't at this campsite,” Henry said. “There's something very suspicious about her. If the others were here, I'd move on.”

He reached their canoe and bent down to see if it needed bailing. “Oh no!” he groaned.

“What's the matter?” Violet asked. She looked down at the canoe and gasped. Everything in it was gone, even the paddles!

CHAPTER 8

A Discovery

“V
iolet, look!” Henry called to his sister the next morning. “It's Aunt Jane's canoe!” Henry and Violet ran down to the lake. It was early, and the sky was a little pink.

“Henry, Violet, we found you!” Benny called. He tumbled out of the canoe when it reached shore. Henry held the canoe steady while Aunt Jane and Jessie climbed out.

“Oh, I'm so happy to see you,” Aunt Jane exclaimed. She gave Violet and Henry a big hug. So did Jessie. Benny hopped up and down excitedly.

After they'd unloaded the canoe, the Aldens and Aunt Jane sat down on a log for a snack of graham crackers and peanut butter.

Henry and Violet told the others about their things being stolen.

“It was lucky we'd taken most of our food and clothes out of the canoe,” Violet explained.

“You really think it was Angela who took everything?” Jessie asked.

“She was gone when we got back to the bunkhouse,” Violet said.

“So was her canoe,” Henry added. “She just disappeared.”

Henry didn't say so, but he suspected Rob, too. Rob hadn't been in his room the night before, when Henry and Violet got back from their walk. Henry hadn't seen him all morning either.

“Well, at least we're all together and safe.” Aunt Jane said, interrupting Henry's thoughts. She hugged Violet and Henry for perhaps the fourth time that morning. “I really was worried when we got separated,” she admitted.

“I don't know how Angela did it,” Violet said, still puzzled. She shook her head. “She had so many things with her already. She took our tent, our sleeping bags, our life jackets…”

“I brought extra inflatable life preservers in my backpack,” Jessie reminded her. “We'll be all right.”