by Jean Fischer
“Now he’s lifting the tape on our note. I think he’s reading it,” Elizabeth continued. “Yeah, he is reading it. I knew yesterday that I didn’t like something about him.”
“He’s leaving,” Kate observed. “And he seems to be in a hurry. Did he take our box?”
“No, it’s still there,” replied Elizabeth.
“Let me have the binoculars,” Sydney said. She took them from Elizabeth and scanned the Wall from right to left. “Look over there, where the two walls meet. It’s Rusty and Moose!”
“We’ve Got Legs …”
“I’ll follow your uncle’s friend,” Kate announced. She stood and grabbed her backpack. “I’ll meet you guys at Union Station before my train leaves at two, at that little café on the upper level. If Moose takes our package, send a text message to the Camp Club Girls so they can track him online.”
Kate ran off to follow the guy named Al.
Sydney watched Moose and Rusty through her binoculars. The two men walked slowly, looking at all the items that visitors had left to honor the fallen soldiers. They worked their way, panel by panel, along the west part of the Wall, obviously looking for a clue.
“They’re getting closer,” Sydney reported to Elizabeth. “I don’t think they’ve seen the berries yet…. They’re almost there. Oh, Rusty sees them! There they go. They’re nearly to panel 52W now. Okay, they’ve stopped.”
Elizabeth could see the men in the distance, but she relied on Sydney to tell her what was happening. “What’s going on with our package?” she mused.
“Nothing yet,” Sydney answered. “It looks like they’re reading the names on the panel. At least Rusty is. Moose is bending over. Oh, wouldn’t you know it? He’s eating one of the strawberries.”
Moose had picked out the biggest and best strawberry of the bunch and popped the whole thing into his mouth.
As Moose reached for another berry, Sydney watched his focus land on the brown-paper-wrapped package.
“He’s reading our note, Elizabeth!” Sydney watched through the binoculars. “He’s turning sideways now so Rusty can’t see what he’s doing. Yeah, he’s reading it!”
“Can I have a turn, please?” Elizabeth asked.
Reluctantly, Sydney shared her binoculars.
Elizabeth peered at the men through the strong, thick lenses. “Oh, now he’s putting the package into the back pocket of his shorts. Yuck! He has the hairiest legs that I’ve ever seen.”
“Elizabeth!” Sydney said.
“Well, he does,” Elizabeth confirmed. “Rusty looks upset, and Moose is grinning. He’s probably thrilled that the boss gave him such an important job. Moose is picking up another strawberry now. He’s giving it to Rusty. Hey! Rusty just hit Moose on the arm. I wish we could hear what they’re saying,” she added.
“He just hit Moose again,” Elizabeth observed. “Just before that, Rusty wrote something on a piece of paper and stuck it on the little flag. Now they’re leaving.”
“Just like yesterday,” Sydney said. “They’ve left a note for The Professor. We have to go see what it says.”
Elizabeth gave the binoculars back to Sydney. “But shouldn’t we wait and watch for The Professor to come? I mean, at some point he or the suit guy is going to read it, right?”
“Probably,” Sydney answered. “But if The Professor is smart, he won’t take that note in broad daylight. If anything, he’ll just stroll by, looking like a tourist. He’ll take a quick look at it, like anyone else being curious. I think he does his dirty work at night, Elizabeth. That’s when the graffiti happened, and no one saw him do it.”
“I guess you’re right,” Elizabeth answered. “I’m going to send a text message to the girls.” She took her cell phone out of her pocket and typed: MOOSE HAS PHONE. TRACK HIM! BETH.
Then Elizabeth turned to Sydney and said, “So how do we go over there and look at the note without being seen?”
“Girl! You don’t see the forest for the trees,” Sydney exclaimed. “Look at that crowd. There are so many tourists that it’ll be easy for us to blend in. We’ll just get in line and go with the flow. Come on!”
The girls walked to the Vietnam Wall and joined the crowd. Surprisingly, though many people gathered there, the noise level was low. The Wall, that morning, reminded Sydney of being in church just before the service began. People talked, but in hushed voices.
As they neared panel 52W, Sydney and Elizabeth heard children laughing. When they got closer, they saw the reason. Two squirrels were busy eating the strawberries. Each squirrel sat with a berry in its tiny front paws and nibbled at it until it was gone. Soon, just one berry was left. Both squirrels lunged for it, but only one got it. The lucky squirrel raced away with the berry in its mouth. It ran across the grassy area toward the trees where the girls had been hiding. Then the second squirrel tore Rusty’s note off the little flag. Off it went, in pursuit of the first squirrel, with the precious note in its mouth.
“Oh my goodness!” Elizabeth gasped. Sydney sprinted across the grass, chasing the squirrel. She ran at lightning speed, almost catching up as the squirrel scampered for the trees.
By now, a crowd of people stood watching. Hurriedly, Elizabeth followed Sydney.
“Sydney! Where are you?” Elizabeth was annoyed by the time she got to the trees.
“Up here,” came a voice from overhead. Elizabeth looked up and saw Sydney sitting on a thick lower limb of the tree. Sydney grinned as she waved the note at Elizabeth. “The squirrel dropped it, and I caught it.”
Far up in the tree branches, the angry squirrel sat on a branch, shaking its tail and scolding.
“What does the note say?” Elizabeth asked.
Sydney unfolded the paper and read: “‘LIEUTENANT DAN, WE’VE GOT LEGS.’ In all capital letters—”
“Girls! What are you up to?” Aunt Dee stood behind Elizabeth, looking very official in her park ranger’s uniform.
“Hi, Aunt Dee,” Sydney said brightly. “We were just goofing off.” She slid down the tree trunk and brushed herself off. “We were in the neighborhood and decided that we’d visit the Wall again. How are things going?”
Aunt Dee stood with her hands on her hips. “Sydney Lincoln, did I just see you chasing a squirrel across the lawn by the Wall? With a whole bunch of people watching you?”
The smile disappeared from Sydney’s face. She had no idea that she’d made such a scene. “Yes, ma’am,” she answered.
“Girlfriend!” Aunt Dee said. “This is a national monument where people come to pay their respects. I’m glad that you and Elizabeth want to come here, but it’s not a place to play.”
As Elizabeth looked beyond Aunt Dee toward the Wall, she saw Moose and Rusty by panel 52W. They were too far away to tell what was going on, but Rusty was holding the little flag and pointing toward the trees. Had they seen Sydney run off after the squirrel?
“We’re sorry, Miss Powers,” Elizabeth said. “We were just about to leave. Sydney wants to take me to Union Station.” She shot Sydney a desperate look. Sydney had no idea why.
“That’s a good idea,” Aunt Dee said. Her voice was less stern when she spoke to Elizabeth. “I have some tour buses coming soon, so I’ll see you girls at supper. Have fun!”
As soon as Aunt Dee left, Elizabeth grabbed Sydney’s arm. “Look!” she said, pointing toward the Wall. Rusty and Moose were walking across the grass toward the trees. “I don’t think they see us yet. Drop the note on the ground, and let’s get out of here.”
“Why should I drop the note?” Sydney questioned.
“I’ll tell you later!” Elizabeth exclaimed as she tore the paper from Sydney’s hand and threw it to the ground. “Run!” she said.
They ran as fast as they could, through the trees and away from the Wall. They ran until they were almost to the Tidal Basin.
“Why did you leave the note behind?” Sydney asked.
“So they’d think the squirrel got it!” Elizabeth dropped to the ground and stretched ou
t on her back, trying to catch her breath. “What if they saw you chasing the squirrel, Syd? At least if they find the note, they might think you never saw it. What if Moose and Rusty were watching the whole time? We could be in big trouble.”
Sydney plopped on the grass and sat cross-legged with her head in her hands. “I didn’t stop to think,” she said. “When that squirrel took off with the note, I just started running. Did other people see me?”
Elizabeth sighed. “I can’t believe you just said that. Do you know how fast you can run? Everyone was watching you. You were amazing!”
Sydney looked at Elizabeth. “What if they did see? We’re not talking about some common thugs here, Elizabeth. These guys are out to get President Meade.”
Elizabeth sat up. “We’ll have to be extra careful now,” she said. “We’d better get going. Kate’s train leaves in an hour.”
The girls walked to the bus stop on 15th Street. They watched for Rusty and Moose. Before they paid the fare on the bus and walked to their seats, they looked around to be sure that the men weren’t on board. By the time they got to Union Station, they were reasonably sure that they hadn’t been followed.
Kate was waiting for them at a café on the upper level of the station. She sat at a small white table with three chairs, sipping a cold soda. Elizabeth and Sydney both noticed that Kate looked serious.
“Hi, you two,” she said. “You’d better sit down. I have a lot to tell you.”
“We have a lot to tell you too,” Elizabeth replied.
“I’ll buy some sodas,” Sydney told them. “They don’t like it if you sit without buying something.”
By the time Sydney returned, Elizabeth had told Kate about the new note that Rusty and Moose left on the little flag and what had happened with Sydney and the squirrel. Sydney placed two Cokes on the table and sat down. “We might be in big trouble,” she said.
“Maybe more trouble than you know,” Kate responded. “I followed that guy, Al, to a hotel on East Street Northwest.”
“That’s where the Vietnam Veterans’ Reunion is,” Elizabeth said. “My uncle is staying there.”
“I know,” Kate said. “I think I saw him. What does he look like, Elizabeth?”
“Well, he’s in a wheelchair …,” said Elizabeth.
“A flashy one with lots of chrome,” Sydney added.
“He has blond hair, a little on the longish side,” Elizabeth continued, “and big muscles on his arms, because he wheels himself around in the chair. He won’t use one of those motorized ones. And he usually wears khakis or camouflage, especially when he’s with his Vietnam friends. Oh, and I forgot, he has a bushy mustache.”
“That was him,” Kate said. She took a long drink of her soda. “You’re not going to like what I have to tell you.”
“What?” Elizabeth said cautiously.
“Well, I followed Al to the hotel. He got on an elevator, and I watched to see what floor he got off on. It was the third. So I ran up the stairs, and by the time I got there, he and your uncle were going into one of the rooms. When they shut the door, I went to the door and listened.”
“Kate! Are you out of your mind?” Sydney asked. “What if someone had seen you?”
“I was okay, because the room was next to a broom closet. If I had to, I could have hidden in there,” Kate said. “Beth, they were talking about the stuff at the Wall. Al told your uncle about every place that you’ve been. He knew about the ‘Meade me in St. Louis’ note and about your going to the Lincoln Memorial and that Sydney listened to those guys behind the pillar. He even knew that you met me at the station this morning, but he doesn’t know who I am. And, of course, he knew about the latest note. The one the squirrel got.”
Elizabeth said nothing.
Sydney remembered, “At the Lincoln Memorial you thought you were being followed, Elizabeth. I guess it wasn’t your imagination. It was your uncle’s friend. He’s been watching us!”
“I can’t believe that,” Elizabeth said. “Why would he do that? And why would Uncle Dan let him?”
“There’s more,” Kate said. “Your uncle said something about talking to a man named Phillips. He said Phillips was watching the situation closely. Then your uncle said, ‘If the girls get too involved in this, we might have to—.’ I didn’t hear the rest because someone around the corner turned on a vacuum cleaner.”
Elizabeth spilled her soda, and Sydney hurried to get napkins to wipe it up.
“Beth,” Kate said softly, “I think your Uncle Dan might be one of the terrorists.”
Suspicions
“My uncle is not a terrorist!” Elizabeth exploded.
Kate looked at her solemnly and handed her a sheet of folded-up notebook paper. “Stick this in your pocket,” she whispered. “Don’t lose it, and don’t open it until you get back to Sydney’s house.”
By three o’clock, Sydney and Elizabeth were back in Sydney’s bedroom. Elizabeth read Kate’s note aloud:
“Elizabeth,
I think a tracking device might be hidden in your backpack. That might be how Al knows where you are all the time. From now on, leave your backpack at Sydney’s house, but not in your room where a mic could pick up your discussions. Be careful what you say in public too. Someone might be listening.
Kate”
Elizabeth flopped down on her bed as Sydney booted up the computer. “I don’t care what anyone says. My uncle is not plotting to do something terrible to the president.”
Sydney watched the monitor screen turn from black to blue. “You’re probably right, Beth, but we have to be careful until we find out what’s going on.”
“And do you know what else?” Elizabeth continued. “We need to pray. In 1 Timothy the Bible says to pray for those in authority. So we should be praying for President Meade. In Matthew scripture says we should pray for our enemies. We should be praying for Rusty and Moose, the suit guy, and The Professor. And most of all, we should be praying for ourselves that we’re doing the right thing.”
Sydney clicked on the icon to bring up her email program. “You’re right, Beth. We’ll form a Camp Club Girls prayer group. If we all join together to trust God, I know He’ll help us save the president.”
“If the president needs saving,” Elizabeth reminded her. “We don’t know what this is all about yet.”
Sydney clicked her mouse a couple of times to bring up a list of new mail messages. Only two waited: one from Bailey and the other from McKenzie. “Elizabeth, even before I agreed with you, you’d decided those guys were terrorists.”
“I know,” Elizabeth answered, “but now it’s getting personal.”
Sydney opened Bailey’s email.
I’ve been tracking Mr. Green since I got your text message. He went from the Wall a little bit south. Then he turned around and went north. He’s been a little northwest of the White House all afternoon. He hasn’t moved at all. I hope you guys are okay! Let me know what’s happening.
“I’m going to log on to Kate’s tracking site,” said Sydney. “My password’s Jones, and you’re Indiana, right?”
“Right,” Elizabeth said. She got up from the bed and walked across the room to sit with Sydney at the desk. Sydney typed the password into the log-in box. Soon a map appeared. A little off from the center of it was a small, glowing green dot. Sydney clicked the zoom icon. The map morphed into a bird’s-eye view of Washington, DC. You could see the tops of trees and buildings as if you were looking down at them from an airplane. All the important streets, highways, buildings, and monuments were labeled.
“This is so neat!” Elizabeth exclaimed. “Kate’s outdone herself this time.”
“And Bailey’s right with her directions,” said Sydney. “Moose is northwest of the White House, in Foggy Bottom. From this view, it looks like they’re in an apartment house.”
Elizabeth remembered that she and Sydney had gotten off the train in Foggy Bottom, but she had no idea that it was northwest of the White House.
“W
ell, now we know that Moose and Rusty didn’t follow us,” Sydney said. “According to Bailey’s email, they walked from the Wall a little bit south. That must have been when they were coming after us, just before we ran.”
Sydney minimized the map screen and brought up her email program. “Then if they turned and went north, they must not have seen that we ran to the Tidal Basin.”
Sydney typed her reply to Bailey:
Great work, Bailey! That area northwest of the White House is called Foggy Bottom. Keep watching, OK? In a little while, we’ll set up a schedule so we all can take turns watching Moose. We’re fine. More later. Syd.
“Did you notice that the blip didn’t go anywhere near where my uncle is staying?” Elizabeth asked. “I just know that he’s not a part of this.”
“You’re right, it didn’t,” Sydney replied. Then she opened McKenzie’s email.
Call me online as soon as you get this. Kate has texted me the whole time she’s been on the train. She told me everything that’s going on. Call me!
Before Sydney could respond, the videophone rang. It was McKenzie. Sydney turned on the webcam and picked up the call.
McKenzie sat at the computer desk in her bedroom. She wore a pink baseball cap with a picture of a racehorse embroidered on the front. Her orange tomcat, Andrew, lounged on the back of her desk chair.
“We were just going to call you,” Sydney said.
“I couldn’t wait,” McKenzie replied. She twisted a lock of her hair between her thumb and her index finger. “Do you realize what a big deal this is if you’ve uncovered a plot to assassinate the president? I couldn’t believe half the stuff that Kate told me.”
“Believe it,” Sydney said. “It’s all true.”
Elizabeth slid her chair closer to Sydney’s. “Hi, McKenzie,” she offered.
“Hi, Elizabeth,” McKenzie answered. “Listen, I’ve been thinking. That first note you found said ‘Meade me in St. Louis, July first,’ right?”
“Right,” Elizabeth confirmed.
