The Mystery of the Headless Horse (5 page)

The shrill whistle came again. The dogs stopped snarling and leaping, and lay down under the trees.

“Look!” Bob said. “Skinny and that ranch manager, Cody!”

Their thin enemy and the stocky cowboy were trotting across the dam. Skinny was grinning with delight at the sight of the boys high in the trees. When the two came up, Cody ordered the dogs back sharply. They lay at his heels, alert and quivering, as he looked up at the boys. His small eyes sparkled, and he smiled nastily at them.

“So we’ve got some trespassers, eh? These trees just happen to be on Norris land!”

“Your dogs chased us here, and you know it!” Diego cried.

“What were you and your dogs doing on Alvaro land!” Pete said hotly.

Cody laughed. “Now how you going to prove that, boy?”

“All I see,” Skinny said innocently, “is three trespassers up a tree on my dad’s land.”

“Like we told the sheriff,” Cody said with a smile, “We’ve been having trouble with trespassers.” He nodded towards the dirt road on the Norris side of the creek. A sheriff’s car was coming up it. “I guess he’ll believe us now.”

The sheriff’s car parked, and the sheriff himself got out with a deputy. They strode up to Skinny and Cody.

“What’s going on here?” the sheriff demanded.

“We’ve caught some trespassers, Sheriff,” Cody said. “The Alvaro kid and two buddies. I told you the Alvaros and their friends act like they think it’s still all their land! Running their horses on our land, breaking our fences, making illegal campfires. You know how bad a campfire is out here now.”

The sheriff looked up at the boys. “All right, you boys, climb down. Cody, hold those dogs back.”

The boys climbed down as Cody controlled the growling dogs. The sheriff looked closely at the two Investigators.

“I know you two, don’t I? Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews of The Three Investigators! From what Chief Reynolds has told me, you two should know better. Trespassing is a serious matter.”

“We weren’t trespassing, sir,” Bob said quietly. “We were on Alvaro land when those dogs chased us here.”

“Oh, sure.” Skinny sneered. “They’d have to lie, Sheriff.”

“You’re the liar, Skinny Norris!” Pete raged.

“Sheriff,” Bob went on, “if we were on Mr. Norris’s land when those dogs chased us, how come the dogs are soaking wet? It isn’t raining just now.”

“Wet?” The sheriff looked at the dogs.

“Yes,” Bob said firmly, “because they swam the reservoir to chase us, and that pond, and the whole creek above the dam, is on Alvaro land!”

Cody reddened and blustered. “You gonna listen to them kids, Sheriff? The dogs got wet earlier, yeah.”

“Well,” the sheriff said, looking hard at Cody, “those wet dogs make your story kind of shaky, Cody. I hope the evidence you got me out here to see is better.”

“It is,” Cody growled. “Come on, I’ve got it in my wagon down the road.”

“What evidence?” Bob asked as Cody and the sheriff walked away down the road.

“Wouldn’t you like to know!” Skinny sneered.

The boys and Skinny glared at each other as they waited under the oak trees for the sheriff. When he returned alone some fifteen minutes later, he was carrying a large brown paper bag. He nodded grimly to Diego and the Investigators.

“All right, you boys can go for now. I don’t know who’s telling the truth, but I’ve already warned Cody to keep his dogs on his own land, and now I’m warning you not to trespass.”

Diego and Pete opened their mouths to protest, but Bob spoke quickly first:

“Yes, sir, we’ll remember.”Then he added innocently, “Can you tell us what’s in that bag, sir?”

“That’s none of your business, Bob Andrews,” the sheriff snapped. “Now get out of here!”

Reluctantly, the three boys left. They circled the dogs warily, and went back across the dam to the road and their bikes. The rain began to fall heavily again as they rode down the Alvaro’s dirt road to the ruins of the hacienda a mile away.

As they passed the ruins, they saw Pico. He was walking slowly around among the burned rooms of the house as if searching for anything that might have been spared by the flames. “Find anything?” called Pete, as the boys rode up towards the burned-out hacienda.

Pico looked up, startled and then embarrassed. “I’m looking for the Cortés Sword,” he admitted. “It occurred to me that if Don Sebastián had hidden it, he might have hidden it in the hacienda. And with the house burned out, it might be revealed now. Metal does not burn in a wood fire, so the sword would be easy to find. But,” and he looked around at the skeletal walls remaining, “there is no sword here.” He kicked angrily at some roof tiles on the floor.

“But Condor Castle is here, Pico!” Diego cried. “We found it!”

The boys quickly reported their discovery of the old map and the location of Condor Castle, and their search of the ridge near the dam. Pico’s dark eyes gleamed at first, but slowly faded as the boys had to admit their failure to find any trace of a hiding place near the big rock on the ridge.

“Then what good is your location of Condor Castle? You found nothing! You’re no better off than you were.”

“No, that’s not true,” Bob declared. “Next to finding the sword, we’ve made the most important discovery of all.”

“What is that, Bob?” Pico demanded.

“That Don Sebastián did plan to hide the sword for his son José!” Bob said. “Condor Castle was only on the very oldest map. It had nothing to do with where Don Sebastián was or where he lived, so there was no reason to put it on that letter except as a clue. A clue to tell José where to look for something, and the only thing worth all that was the Cortés Sword!”

“Perhaps,” Pico acknowledged, “but you still — ”

Before Pico could continue, two cars came up the dirt road of the ranch and roared into the hacienda yard. The first was the Norris ranch wagon, and the second was the sheriff’s car. Cody and Skinny Norris jumped from the ranch wagon.

“There he is!” Cody cried.

“Don’t let him get away!” Skinny called.

The sheriff got out of his car. “I told you two to let me handle this,” he said. “He isn’t going to run away.”

The sheriff still carried the large brown paper bag the boys had seen earlier. He walked slowly up to Pico.

“Pico, I’ve got to ask where you were on the day of the brush fire.”

“Where I was?” Pico frowned. “I was at the fire, as you know. Earlier, I was with Diego at the central school in Rocky Beach.”

“Yes, you were seen then. That was around three p.m. Where before that?”

“Before? On the ranch. What is this about, Sheriff?”

“We found how the brush fire started. Someone built a campfire back on the Norris ranch, well before three p.m. That’s illegal this time of year, and it wasn’t properly put out. The Norris fence was broken — ”

Cody burst out, “And we found tracks of your horses!”

“You went after them and started that fire!” Skinny cried.

Pico’s voice was cold. “If your fence is broken, and our horses stray on to your land, we go to get them. Good neighbours do that. But I and my friends do not build fires illegally!”

The sheriff opened the paper bag and took out a flat, black sombrero banded with silver conchos.

“Do you recognize this hat, Pico?” the sheriff asked.

“Of course,” Pico said, “it is mine. I was afraid it had been burned in the fire. I am glad you — ”

“You mean you hoped it was burned!” Cody snarled.

“I mean, Mr. Cody, what I say. Is that clear?” Pico’s eyes blazed as he faced the burly ranch manager.

“Pico?” the sheriff said. “When did you lose the hat?”

“When?” Pico thought a moment. “At the fire, I suppose. I — ”

“No,” the sheriff said. “You had no hat at the fire. I remember that. So do firemen I’ve asked.”

“Then,” Pico said, “I do not know when I lost it.”

“Pico, this hat was found at the site of the campfire that started the brush fire.”

“Then why isn’t it burned?”

“The brush fire moved away from the campfire in just one direction. This hat was on unburned ground nearby.”

There was a silence. The sheriff sighed.

“I’m going to have to arrest you, Pico.”

Diego cried out, but Pico silenced the boy. He nodded to the sheriff.

“You must do your duty, Sheriff,” Pico said quietly, and walked towards the sheriff’s car. “Tell Don Emiliano at once!” he called back to Diego.

The sheriff turned to Cody and Skinny. “You two have to come and make your statements.”

“You bet we will,” Cody said.

“It’ll be a pleasure,” Skinny added. He laughed at the boys as he followed Cody to their ranch wagon.

Stunned, the Investigators and Diego watched the two cars drive away. There were tears in Diego’s eyes as he turned towards Bob and Pete.

“Pico couldn’t have started that fire!” he cried.

“No, of course not,” said Bob. “I know there’s something wrong with the sheriff’s story, but I can’t think just what. And I know I’ve seen that hat before. But when, and where? Oh, why couldn’t Jupiter have been here!”

The slim Investigator sighed with frustration. “Well, now we have two problems to solve, fellows. We must find the Cortés Sword, and we must free Pico!”

Diego rode off to Emiliano Paz’s, and Bob and Pete hurried back to Rocky Beach. The two Investigators tried to call Jupiter for the rest of the day but got no answer at the Jones house. As Jupe had predicted, his great-uncle’s birthday party was keeping him away till late. Finally Bob and Pete gave up and went to bed.

As Bob came down the stairs to breakfast the next morning, his father looked up from the morning newspaper.

“I see that your friend Pico Alvaro has been arrested on suspicion of causing a brush fire,” Mr. Andrews said. “That’s a very serious charge, Bob, and I’m surprised. Alvaro is an experienced rancher. He shouldn’t make such a mistake.”

“He didn’t, Dad! We’re sure that the sheriff’s made a mistake, or someone is framing Pico, and we’re going to prove it!”

“I hope so, son,” Mr. Andrews said.

Bob gulped his breakfast and then called Jupiter to report what had happened. Jupiter took the news about Pico poorly.

“Of course Pico didn’t set that fire, and you should know why! You could have stopped the sheriff yourself, Bob. Can’t you remember anything? We saw Pico’s hat ourselves.” Jupiter was grumpy because he’d missed all the excitement.

“Well, thanks a lot,” replied Bob, stung. “I just don’t happen to have a photographic memory like you. So when did we see the hat?”

“Oh, I’ll tell you at school,” said Jupe maddeningly.

“Great,” said Bob and slammed down the phone, now in as bad a mood as Jupe.

But the Investigators were too busy at school all day to even talk. Bob and Jupiter both regained their good humour and by the end of school were friends again. Classes ended early, so the boys had most of the afternoon free to pursue their investigation.

“Did anyone see Diego today?” asked Jupiter as the boys cycled through more rain to the salvage yard.

“I looked for him, but I didn’t see him,” said Pete. “I don’t think he made it to school.”

Diego hadn’t. He’d spent the day with Emiliano Paz trying to arrange for a lawyer for Pico. The slim boy was waiting outside Headquarters when the Investigators arrived at the salvage yard. As soon as everyone slipped inside the hidden trailer, Diego filled in the detective team on what was happening.

“We can’t afford a private lawyer, so the Public Defender’s Office is helping,” Diego said. “They say that it doesn’t look good for Pico.”

“We know he didn’t do it, Diego,” Bob said angrily.

“But how do we prove it?” Diego said, tears in his eyes. “And how can we save our land now? With Pico in jail he can’t do anything. We don’t even have enough money for bail!”

“What is bail?” asked Pete.

“It’s money that you leave with the court as a guarantee that you’ll show up for your trial if you’re let out of jail beforehand,” said Jupiter. “If you can raise bail, you don’t have to wait in jail for hearings to take place or for your trial to start.”

“The judge set Pico’s bail at five thousand dollars,” said Diego.

“Five thousand dollars!” exclaimed Pete. “Hardly anybody has that kind of money!”

“You don’t have to put up the whole amount in cash,” explained Jupiter. “Only about ten per cent. For the rest, you can pledge property — your house, say. Then if you don’t show up when you’re wanted in court, the court keeps the money and property. If you do show up, you get your bail back. Most people do show up — they don’t want to get in even bigger trouble.”

Diego nodded. “Pico would show up. His pride would not let him run away. But we haven’t got the bail anyway — either the five hundred dollars cash that the judge demanded or the property to pledge for the rest.”

“What about your ranch?” asked Pete.

“That’s mortgaged to Don Emiliano, so we can’t promise it to the court. We are trying to borrow bail money from friends. But for now, Pico has to stay in jail!”

“I think,” Jupiter said grimly, “someone may have counted on that. I don’t think that this is an accident. That hat was stolen somehow and placed near the campfire.”

“But how do we prove it, Jupiter?” Diego wailed again.

“We don’t even know when Pico last had his hat,” Bob added.

“But we do know, fellows,” announced Jupiter, “that Pico had his hat around three o’clock last Thursday, the day of the brush fire. Don’t you remember? He was wearing it when we met him outside school!”

“Of course, of course,” cried Bob, striking his forehead.

“And that means that Pico couldn’t have left the hat by the campfire! Before three o’clock, he had the hat. After three o’clock, he was with us, and then fighting the fire. If the sheriff is sure Pico didn’t have his hat at the fire, then it was lost — or stolen — some time between our leaving school that day and our arriving at the site of the brush fire!”

“Jupe?” Bob said slowly. “What if Pico lost his hat while we were on the way to the fire? He was riding in the back of the truck. What if the wind blew his hat off and carried it to the campfire?”

“Pico’s hat could not blow off,” Diego stated. “It has a draw-cord under the chin. Pico always pulls it tight for a ride.”

“And there was hardly any wind that day,” added Pete. “That’s what kept the brush fire from getting out of control.”

“Anyway,” Jupiter said, “that brush fire was certainly started before we arrived at the ranch. So if the hat blew off in the truck, it wouldn’t matter. It would mean that the hat got near the campfire after the brush fire started.”

“Except,” Bob went on in dismay, “we can’t really prove it, can we? I mean, we know Pico had the hat at three p.m., but it’s only our word against that of Cody and Skinny!”

“Well, our word is certainly worth something,” said Jupe huffily. “But you’re right. We don’t have any real proof. So we’ll have to find it! We have to discover exactly what did happen to the hat.”

“How do we do that, Jupe?” Pete asked.

“The first move, I think, is to talk to Pico and see if he can remember exactly when he last had his hat,” Jupiter decided. “But we must also continue our search for the Cortés Sword. I am convinced that Skinny and Cody know we’re looking for the sword, or for something valuable that will help the Alvaros keep their land, and that Pico’s arrest is an attempt to stop us!”

“So it’s back to the Historical Society to look for any other references to Don Sebastián,” Bob said.

Pete groaned. “That could take another hundred years!”

“It won’t be fast work, Second,” Jupiter conceded, “but not quite that bad. We have just two days to concentrate on — 15th and 16th September, 1846. Don Sebastián was a prisoner until he escaped on 15th September, and no one ever saw him again. And it was the very next day, 16th September, that those three soldiers were found to be missing. No one saw them again, either.”

“No one we know about, you mean,” Bob said. He leaned forward in his chair. “First, I’ve been thinking about Condor Castle. We’ve been assuming that it’s a clue to the hiding place of the sword. But maybe it’s just what it ought to be up at the top of a letter — Don Sebastián’s address!”

Jupiter shook his head. “Don Sebastián’s address was the Cabrillo house — or his hacienda.”

“Not necessarily,” Bob said. “Fellows, I remember reading about a man in the same kind of trouble as Don Sebastián. He was a Scotsman named Cluny MacPherson. When the English invaded the Scottish Highlands in 1745 and beat the Scots at the battle of Culloden, they tried to kill or imprison all the Highland chiefs. Most of the chiefs who escaped fled the country — but not Cluny, the chief of Clan MacPherson. Even though he knew the English were after him, he refused to leave.”

“What did he do, Bob?” Diego wondered.

“He lived in a cave right on his own land for almost eleven years!” Bob replied. “His whole clan helped to hide him. They gave him food and water and clothes, and the English never knew where he was until things were safe and he came out on his own!”

“You mean,” Pete exclaimed, “you think Condor Castle was a clue to where Don Sebastián himself was going to hide?”

Bob nodded. “You remember how Pico wondered why no one saw Don Sebastián again if he wasn’t shot and lost in the ocean? And where he went if he did escape? Well, I think he planned to hide right on his own ranch somewhere near Condor Castle!”

“And his friends would have had to feed him and help him!” Jupiter exclaimed. “You could be right, Records! I overlooked that possibility. If it’s true, it gives us something else to look for in old journals and diaries and letters — some mention of hiding food or clothing, of helping someone! But we’ll have to extend the period of our search then — say, through the rest of September 1846 for a start.”

“Oh, swell,” Pete moaned, “more work! Just what we need.”

“We need every clue we can find,” Jupiter said. “But most of the records will be in Spanish, so Diego and I will have to do the research.”

“What will Pete and I do, Jupe?” Bob asked.

“You and Pete will go to the jail and try to make Pico remember what happened to his hat!”