The Sky Phantom

by Carolyn Keene

  “Now I’m ready for your big story,” she said. “Which one of you is going to tell me, or are both of you?”

  Bess and George looked at each other. Finally Bess said to her cousin, “You be the one.”

  “Okay.” George told about the meeting with Ben Rall and his denial of the theft. “Then he handed me this.” She pulled the ransom note from her pocket and gave it to Nancy.

  The cousins waited while she read the ransom demand a couple of times.

  Impatient for a comment, Bess asked, “What do you think of it? Is the note authentic?”

  “I’m inclined to think so,” the young detective replied. “I’ve been expecting something like this all along. But I must admit, having the note delivered to you by Ben Rall was unexpected. I wonder why.” Then Nancy asked, “Where is the Buffalo Spring?”

  George told her it was at the same spot where they had received the ransom note. “It may be a hiding place for Ben,” she suggested. “But he galloped away so fast on his pony that we don’t know where he went.”

  Nancy smiled. “Perhaps to Roger Paine’s abductor. Probably Ben works for the kidnapper. It’s too bad you didn’t have a chance to follow Ben, or at least see which direction he took.”

  George put in, “Nancy, who do you think is supposed to pay the four-thousand-dollar ransom? The only thing the note says is ‘To whom it may concern.’ ”

  Nancy admitted that from every angle the four-thousand-dollar demand puzzled her.

  “It’s a small sum for anyone to ask for a hostage and if the abductor has to share the money with Ben, and possibly others, this wouldn’t leave much for himself.”

  George agreed, then said Chuck had suggested that Ben and some pal might be planning to keep the money.

  Nancy replied they could not do much until Pop Hamilton or someone else who knew Roger Paine’s writing could identify it. “Possibly the manager at Excello can.”

  Suddenly Nancy changed the subject. She said she had almost forgotten to tell the girls an important bit of news. “I figured out the last word in the message on the medal!”

  “You did!” the cousins exclaimed together.

  They waited for Nancy to go on. She said, “It’s cloud.’

  In unison the three girls recited the whole sentence : “Revolution bomb site under great cloud.”

  George added, “Now at least we know where the bomb site is. But what does the message mean?”

  “It means,” Nancy replied, “that we’ll have to do a lot more searching before we fully understand what we’re after.”

  Optimistically Bess asked, “Nancy, when you’ve been out in that area with Bruce, have you ever seen anything that would give you a clue?”

  “Not a thing,” the girl detective replied. She said a new thought had just come to her, however. “As soon as Ned, Burt, and Dave arrive at the ranch, let’s go out there, where the big cloud is, and make a thorough search.”

  At once George was enthusiastic about the idea. “I’m all for that!” she replied.

  Bess, on the other hand, became very quiet. Nancy looked in her direction for some comment on the proposed trip. Tears were trickling down Bess’s cheeks, and she was trying hard not to cry.

  George asked her, “What’s the matter? You’re not afraid to go, are you?”

  “No—oh no,” Bess replied. “It’s not that. It’s just that—”

  Bess could not go on. She burst into tears.

  Nancy and George were puzzled. Bess lifted her tear-stained face. “It’s just that—” Her voice became very emotional. “It’s just that I don’t want Chuck and Dave to meet!”

  Nancy and George were stunned. Both of them had figured that the friendship between Bess and Chuck would come to a natural end when the girls were ready to leave the ranch. Apparently she was still thinking of marriage!

  Finally Nancy went over to Bess and stroked her hair. “I had no idea you were so serious about Chuck,” she said. Bess did not reply, but she did stop sobbing.

  Nancy glanced at her watch. “Soon it will be time for dinner,” she said kindly. “I’ll get dressed, then let’s talk this over. In the meantime, honey, why don’t you and George try to find Pop and show him the ransom note? I’m sure he’s finished his work with the boys out on the range and is back by this time.”

  Bess got up, and though she said nothing, the worried girl went into the bathroom to splash cold water on her face. Then she daubed powder on her nose and brushed her hair again before she and George left the room.

  Nancy stood lost in thought. The arrival of their Emerson College friends might turn out to be a problem. She hoped fervently there would be no confrontation between Chuck and Dave.

  CHAPTER XVI

  Buffalo Spring

  WHEN Bess and George arrived at Pop Hamilton’s office, they found that the rancher had just come in. He smiled genially at the cousins.

  “Hello girls,” he said. “Do you have a problem I can help you with? You look pretty excited.”

  “Something serious and scary has happened,” Bess replied. “We came to tell you about it.”

  “Is it about the revolution bomb site?” Pop asked.

  “No,” George said. “But we did figure out the rest of the message.”

  “What is it?” Pop asked.

  When the girls recited together, “Revolution bomb site under great cloud,” the rancher frowned.

  He looked down at the floor. “This is more serious than I thought,” he admitted. “I must think about the best way to look into the situation.”

  He now changed the subject. “You said you had something to talk to me about?”

  The cousins nodded and Bess said, “It concerns Ben Rall.”

  “You saw him?”

  George spoke up, saying that the former Hamilton cowboy had come to the masquerade party uninvited and they were sure he had intended to kidnap Nancy.

  Pop Hamilton scowled. “Why wasn’t I told about this?” he demanded.

  The girls informed him of the quick action of several guests at the party, who had hustled Ben outdoors and ordered him never to return.

  “But today,” said George, “while Bess and I were having a picnic lunch with Chuck and Range near Buffalo Spring, Ben Rall suddenly appeared out of the woods. He denied being a thief, then handed this note to me.”

  She took the envelope from a pocket and gave it to the rancher. “We wondered if you could identify the handwriting as Roger Paine’s?”

  Pop Hamilton stared at the envelope for several seconds, then he took out the note. As he read it, his mouth fell open, then his lips set in a grim line.

  “I don’t recognize this writing,” he said. “Definitely, it is not Roger Paine’s, and by the way, it is not Ben Rall’s either. And this message is preposterous.”

  “More complications,” George said.

  At this moment Nancy walked into the office. Pop greeted her and repeated what he had just told Bess and George. “I wish I knew who did write this ransom note,” he concluded. “Even a little hint would help.”

  Nancy asked Pop if he thought the writer could be the person who had kidnapped Roger Paine and perhaps taken his plane.

  “That’s a logical guess,” Pop replied, “but I’m afraid that’s all it is. Right now the only way I know how to get at this whole situation is to take Ben Rail into custody and get the truth out of him.

  Nancy remarked that Ben had seemed very frightened of the person who had given him the note to deliver. She wondered if the cowboy would be too scared to divulge any secrets.

  “He kept insisting he didn’t know the person’s name or anything about him or where Roger Paine is,” she said.

  Pop smiled. “Ben may be telling the truth, but I can still arrest him on the charge of being an accomplice in a kidnap case.”

  Nancy suggested that the deputy sheriff take someone with him to meet Ben. “He may have pals in hiding,” she said.

  After a few moments of thought, Pop said
, “I’ll take Chuck and Range with me. I can carry a package that will look as if it contains money. Now don’t you three worry your pretty heads over a thing. Just have a good time. I know you’re excellent sleuths, but keep away from danger.”

  At this moment the dinner gong rang. The girls wished Pop good luck on Thursday, then went off to the dining room.

  They lined up at the buffet and when they sat down at their table, Nancy’s and George’s plates were heaped with delicious food. Bess had only some soup, a roll, and a cup of tea.

  Nancy asked kindly, “Don’t you feel well, Bess?”

  “I guess I’ll be all right, but not for days and days,” the girl replied. “To tell the truth, I’m too nervous to eat.”

  “About Dave?” George asked.

  Her cousin confessed that she was apprehensive for two reasons. First, she was fearful that something would happen to Chuck while he, Pop, and Range were trying to capture Ben Rall. Second, her chest tightened and she felt a twinge of pain every time she thought of the moment when Chuck and Dave would meet.

  George asked, “What do you think will happen ? You don’t believe that silly dream you had about the boys having a duel?”

  “No, of course not,” Bess replied. “They’re both too intelligent for that. It’s just that I don’t want to hurt either one of them, and I don’t know how to avoid it.”

  Nancy looked intently at her friend. “I have a feeling that way down underneath, Bess, you can’t make up your mind whether or not you want to get married and give up your present way of life to stay out here.”

  Bess did not reply but Nancy felt certain she had hit upon the truth. She deliberately changed the subject and said, “Let’s eat.”

  At first Bess drank her soup listlessly, but finally she finished it and started on the roll.

  Nancy winked at George, then said, “I don’t know why I took all this food. I never could eat it all. Bess, won’t you please have some of my roast beef?”

  “Oh, all right,” she said.

  George took the cue. As soon as Bess had finished the meat, her cousin said, “I’m as bad as Nancy. I haven’t touched my salad, and it looks so good. Bess, please eat it for me.”

  Bess accepted the plate of fruit salad. With her appetite restored, she even went to the dessert table and picked out a large piece of blueberry pie.

  Nothing more was said about food. Nancy suggested that the girls take horses the next morning and go for a ride. “I’m not scheduled for a flying lesson, so I can join you.”

  Bess and George said they would like that, so the following morning they went to the corral to get their ponies.

  They learned from Pete that Pop, Chuck, and Range had left a couple of hours earlier. Pete added, “I’m sure hoping that by this time they’ve caught that mean rascal Ben Rall.”

  He helped the girls saddle their mounts. Once more Nancy chose Daisy D.

  As the three riders set off, George asked, “Where are we going?”

  Nancy replied, “I thought we might head for Buffalo Spring. We may be able to see the tail end of some excitement.”

  Bess could not make up her mind whether she wanted to go there or not. One moment she thought, “At least I could find out what happened to Chuck.” The next second she was telling herself that if something dreadful had happened to him, she did not want to see it!

  Nancy told her that since the men had had such a head start, the girls could never catch them. “What I’m hoping is that they’ll bring back Ben Rall as a prisoner and we’ll meet them.”

  Bess heaved a sigh. “I certainly hope you’re right,” she said, and followed as George led the way toward Buffalo Spring.

  The girls made good time but did not meet anyone. There were no other riders to be seen and none of the planes from the Excello Flying School were in the area.

  George remarked, “It’s sure lonesome out here.”

  Nancy nodded and suggested that the girls have a short race to give the horses a little extra exercise.

  “See that clump of yucca ahead?” she asked. “Let’s call that our goal.”

  The girls started out with Nancy in the middle lane. The ponies evidently enjoyed the sport, because in a few seconds they had put on top speed. Little by little Nancy and her mount edged ahead.

  Then suddenly she saw something only a few feet before her. A deep gopher hole! If Daisy D should step into it, she would certainly break a leg!

  Instinct told Nancy to turn her pony sharply to one side, but at this moment such a move would be disastrous. If she went to the left she would crash into Bess. If she turned to the right she would hit George!

  Nancy had only one choice. She yanked on the reins so hard that Daisy D reared up almost straight, and for a moment the girl thought both she and the pony would twist over backwards!

  But the animal’s natural sense of balance made her come down with all four feet on the ground. She was less than six inches from the gopher hole!

  “Oh, thank you, Daisy D!” Nancy murmured, and patted the horse’s neck. “You’re a great girl!”

  In the meantime Bess and George had reached the clump of yuccas in a photo finish, then slowed down their mounts. They turned swiftly and cantered back to Nancy.

  “What happened to you?” Bess asked.

  Nancy told her.

  “How awful!” Bess exclaimed. “I’m glad you weren’t hurt.”

  George added, “Thank goodness nothing happened to either you or Daisy D.”

  Nancy smiled wanly and sat still to rest. The other girls were also quiet for a few seconds. Suddenly all three ponies cocked their heads.

  “They must have heard something!” George remarked. “Listen!”

  “I hear it too!” said Nancy.

  The three riders concentrated on the sound. From somewhere in the distance came a man’s pleading cry. “Help! Come here! Help me! Get me loose!”

  CHAPTER XVII

  Chilly Meeting

  “THAT is a cry for help!” George exclaimed.

  Nancy put a finger to her lips to indicate that the riders should be quiet and listen for another call. About ten seconds passed, then the faint plea came again.

  “Help me! Help me!”

  By this time the girls had figured out which direction the cries were coming from. Nancy and her friends started across the flat land, watching carefully for stones, gopher holes, and bushes with thorns. As they proceeded, the man’s cries became louder, so they knew they were getting closer. The riders finally reached the foot of a wooded slope. The person who wanted help was apparently at the top.

  “He must’ve had an accident,” Bess remarked.

  Nancy suggested that the girls leave their ponies behind and climb up. “In case this is a hoax of some kind,” she said, “we should stick together and stay near the trees for hiding places.”

  “Good idea,” George agreed.

  When the girls reached the top, they paused, and Nancy called out, “Where are you?”

  “Over here,” was the reply.

  She and her friends turned to the left and walked a few feet.

  “Oh!” Bess cried out.

  Before them, secured tightly to a tree with a lariat, stood Ben Rall! “Wal, thank goodness somebody showed up!” he said. “Come here and untie me!”

  “Not yet,” Nancy replied. “First, tell us who did this to you?”

  Ben’s answer was surprising. “It was Pop Hamilton!” the cowboy cried out angrily. “He’s got no right! Let me loose!”

  As Bess started to move toward him, Nancy grabbed her arm. “Not yet,” she said. “Ben, tell us why Pop did this.”

  The man’s eyes became like slits and he hissed, “Pop double-crossed me and left me here to starve!”

  The girls doubted this. Nancy took a step forward and said, “Now suppose you tell us the truth!”

  Ben Rall changed his attitude. Giving Nancy a sickening smile, he said, “I’ll make a bargain with you. If you’ll untie me, I’ll
give you the whole story straight.”

  Nancy did not believe him. She asked, “Where did you meet Pop?”

  “At the Buffalo Spring,” the cowboy replied. “But that’s when he double-crossed me and wouldn’t carry out the instructions in the note. He brought a package of money with him, but instead of handing it to me he got those fresh boys, Chuck and Range, to tie me up.”

  Nancy wondered if she should tell this man that she was sure Pop had told him that he was believed to be an accessory in a kidnapping. She decided not to, but was puzzled. If Ben’s story was true, why didn’t Pop return and take his prisoner into custody?

  Just then Ben Rall began to laugh uproariously. The girls looked at him in surprise. What had brought about this change of attitude?

  Finally, between chuckles and sighs, Ben Rall said, “Pop Hamilton thinks he’s the smartest rancher in the whole West. Well, I’m here to tell you he ain’t. He left me tied up while he and the boys went off to find the person who gave me that ransom note, but they don’t stand a ghost of a chance of doing that. What’s more’n likely to happen is they’ll get themselves killed!”

  Nancy was shocked by this announcement. Did Pop Hamilton know of the danger he was riding into?

  Bess, in the meantime, had begun to tremble. She asked, almost in a whisper, “Did Chuck and Range really go off with him?”

  “Sure they did. You may never see them again!”

  Bess sagged against Nancy and then settled to the ground. George too was horrified by the man’s statement. She said to Ben, “Just what do you mean?”

  Ben roared with laughter again. “The two of ’em will likely get hung!”

  This was too much for Bess, who screamed and then put her head in her hands. Burying her face between her knees she rocked back and forth in despair.

  “I can’t stand it!” she wailed.

  Nancy was upset but she managed to ask Ben, “Where did you send Pop, Chuck, and Range?”

  A sly look came to the man’s face. “Let me go and I’ll tell you!” he answered, his lips curling into a sneer.

  Nancy informed the cowboy that Pop Hamilton was a deputy sheriff and tying Ben up was the same as putting him in jail. “If I let you loose, I’d be breaking the law. I can’t do that.”