The Creature of Black Water Lake (4 page)

“Okay. Tell you what. We’ll take a break from our list and go visit the Browns.”

“Now you’re talking.” Ryan waited for Larry to get on and then hopped on the back of the cycle. Larry popped the clutch and they flew down the road toward the other side of the lake.

Rita and her mom were in the front yard pulling weeds. When the motorcycle roared into the driveway Rita trotted over.

“This is Larry Carlson,” Ryan said. “He’s the guy I told you was gonna help us find the monster. He wants to ask you some questions about what you saw.”

“Hi, Larry,” Rita said. Then she ran into the house, calling over her shoulder, “Hang on a minute.”

Mrs. Brown came over to them. “Nice to
meet you, Mr. Carlson. Now, what’s this I hear about you helping these kids look for a lake monster?”

Larry sat on the edge of the porch and took out his tape recorder. “Have you ever seen the lake monster, Mrs. Brown?”

“Heavens no. My father claimed he saw it, though. He used to fish for catfish in the lake until the day he thought he saw the monster. After that he never took his boat out on the water again. Never let us go out there either. But I think he was seeing things. You know—hallucinations.”

Rita came back carrying a tattered book held together with a rubber band. “Here’s my granddad’s diary. The places where he talks about the monster are marked.”

Larry snapped off the rubber band and opened the yellowed pages of the diary to a bookmark. He read aloud:

Larry closed the book. “This is great. Thank you, Rita. I’m sure your grandfather’s observations will be very helpful.”

“You still want to interview me, don’t you?” Rita asked.

“You bet.” Larry turned on the tape recorder. “For the record, state your name and age and then in your own words tell us what happened and what you saw.”

The boat’s motor sputtered and then roared to life. Larry shifted into reverse and slowly backed away from the dock. “Here, Rita, take over while I check the computer screen.” He stood and waited for her to move up. “Are you both sure it’s all right for you to be out here?”

Rita slid into the driver’s seat, pushed the throttle forward, and expertly steered the boat toward the middle of Black Water Lake.

Ryan cleared his throat. “Uh, Rita and I are allowed to come as long as we … uh …”

“As long as we’re with you.” Rita smiled
innocently up at Larry. “Our parents trust you.”

Ryan stepped back to give Larry room to work. The biology student flipped a switch, which caused an immediate low steady beeping. “Sonar,” he explained. He pointed at the screen. “This shows the topography on the bottom of the lake and registers the depth.”

Ryan could see the outlines of valleys, hills, and gulleys underwater. He watched Larry turn on the tracking device. “What are you going to do with the monster once we find it?”

“Try to capture it, of course, before the big shots at the university have a chance. That’s what that tranquilizer gun and the weighted net are for.” He pointed at the box in the center of the boat. “If we can get the net over it, it’ll wear itself out trying to get loose. Then we’ll use the boat to drag it back to the corral we built at the shallow end of the lake. Hopefully the log poles and rails we used are strong enough to hold it.”

“Then what?”

“After that, it’s hard to say. Once we have the creature contained, it will be studied, perhaps
taken to an aquatic zoo.” Larry winked at Ryan. “But first we have to find it.”

The image on the screen was different now. “Stop the boat, Rita,” Larry said excitedly. “We’re over some caves. This could be it.”

The equipment the university had loaned Larry was amazing. The openings of the caves were almost as clear on the monitor as if they were on dry land.

Larry adjusted the volume on the sonar. Nothing happened. “The creature’s not in these caves or the sonar would register its movement. But I still want to go down and have a look. This area would be the perfect place for it to hide in.” He moved to the portable shark cage they had attached to the boat with a series of pulleys and a crank to make it easier to raise and lower. The cage was designed to protect shark photographers. The bars were just a few inches apart and made of hardened steel.

Larry checked his air tank and slid into the harness. For added protection he loaded an underwater speargun. “Hand me the video camera.”

Ryan helped Larry wrap the camera cord around his wrist. “Be careful down there.”

“I will. You guys just keep an eye on the monitor and you’ll be able to see everything I’m doing.” Larry stepped into the cage. “I’m ready. Lower away.”

Rita helped Ryan turn the crank that plunged the cage into the chilly water. They took turns until the cable went limp and the cage came to a stop on the bottom.

On the screen they could see the rough shape of Larry and the outline of the cage near the opening of the largest cave. Larry turned on the light mounted on top of the camera and began taping.

There were no fish in the area, so the only movement on the screen was Larry. The minutes ticked by and nothing disturbed the sonar.

Ryan watched as Larry unhooked the cage door and stepped out.

Rita’s jaw went slack. “I can’t believe this. He’s going inside the cave.”

Ryan’s eyes widened. He swallowed and reached for the spare tank of air, quickly wiggling into the harness.

Rita grabbed his arm. “Are you crazy? What do you think you’re doing?”

“Larry’s down there because of me. He’s taking chances because he hasn’t seen the thing like we have. I’m gonna try to convince him to come back up.”

Hunting was poor. The Ancient One had been away from its lair for hours and had nothing to show for its time except the already forgotten taste of a few small fish
.

That would have to do. The water up here was too warm and made it uneasy
.

Down in the caves it would sleep—until the hunger drove it to the top
.

The Ancient One headed back
.

Larry pointed toward the surface and motioned angrily for Ryan to go back up.

Ryan shook his head, gesturing for both of them to enter the shark cage.

Larry hesitated and then turned into the cave.

Ryan had no choice but to follow. The cave was large and dark. The only light came from the video camera, and it was just a narrow beam.

At the back of the cave, tunnels led in several directions. Larry headed toward the first
one. Ryan tapped his shoulder. The opening was only a few feet wide. From what he’d seen, the monster wouldn’t be able to fit its head through, much less its giant body.

Ryan motioned toward the other side. Larry swung the light around, nodded, and swam to a larger tunnel. A few feet inside, the tunnel made a sharp turn and then opened into a large round cavity that dead-ended into solid rock.

Larry pointed the light at the floor. A mangled diving tank lay on a pile of other strange objects that included tin cans, fishing poles … and bones.

A lump of fear rose in Ryan’s throat. It was true! The monster had eaten that diver. It would eat them too if it caught them in its den.

Larry turned and pointed the light back toward the tunnel. Ryan nodded and wasted no time following him out of the cave.

He was glad to see the shark cage, and he felt even better when they were inside and it jerked upward as Rita cranked it to the surface.

“So?” Rita helped Ryan out of the tank harness. “What did you find down there?”

“It lives there, Rita!” Ryan exclaimed. “We found its den.”

“Wow!” Rita leaned against the steering wheel. “You guys are lucky it didn’t get you. What do we do now?”

Larry made some quick notes in a logbook. “There are very few fish of any size left in the lake. The creature probably would never leave the caves except for the fact that food is getting harder and harder for it to find.”

“Okay, so the thing is out looking for food.”
Rita scratched her head. “Then how are we supposed to find it?”

“I don’t think the creature likes going up to the warmer layers of water. It probably stays as close to the caves as possible.”

“So all we have to do is wait around until it comes home.” Ryan sighed.

“Hopefully we won’t have long to wait.” Larry reached into a large ice chest and pulled out two good-sized fish. “Let’s see if we can persuade it to come to dinner.”

“I’m not so sure about this.” Ryan chewed his lip. “You haven’t seen the monster—it’s awfully big.”

“Quit worrying. By the end of the day we’re going to have enough evidence to bring an army of scientists down here.”

“Or die trying,” Rita muttered.

Larry strapped on the camera, grabbed the fish, and stepped back into the cage. “If this works, as soon as you spot the creature, give me a few minutes to tape, then get me back up here quick so I can help with the net.”

“You got it.” Ryan lowered the cage, and
then he and Rita watched the screens. Larry was clearly visible near the entrance of the caves. They could see him waving the two fish in the water.

For several minutes nothing happened. Then suddenly the sonar alarm started squealing. Ryan jumped and stared at the screen. Something very large was speeding toward the cage.

“There it is, Ryan!” Rita yelled. “It’s taking the bait!”

Larry dropped the dead fish on the muddy lake bottom and began taping. The creature bumped the cage, searching for the food. It couldn’t find the fish, so it turned around and bumped the cage again, harder.

“We’d better bring him up, Rita!” Ryan tried to turn the crank. “Oh no. It’s stuck!”

Rita ran to help. They both pulled with all their might, but the mechanism refused to turn.

“The cable must be twisted.” Ryan glanced at the computer screen. The monster continued to ram the cage again and again with its massive head.

“Why doesn’t he shoot it?” Rita watched the screen nervously.

“Uh-oh.” Ryan spun around. “That’s why.”

Lying next to the open ice chest on the deck of the boat was Larry’s speargun.