There could be more to our mission to find the camp. Returning with elderly Scouts who knew all about Camp Deer Path would be a big deal. The girls could interview the women, and the Council could use their stories for something.
I liked this plan. It was far easier. After a few deep breaths, I started to relax and close my eyes. This wasn't a bad trip. It was all about perspective. My biggest problems were Hilly's and Betty's pranks and convincing the ladies to come with us. Now that I thought about it, it made perfect sense.
There were a few scuffling noises in the woods, most likely deer walking around, raccoons plotting to raid our tents, or any of the dozens of animals of the forest. It was soothing to think of nature all around us, and I allowed myself to drift off.
Snap!
I ignored it. Sticks break all the time. Branches fall in the woods. Acorns and pinecones hit the rooftops. I opened my eyes and let them adjust to the darkness around me. There was no movement from the other sleeping bag, and I didn't hear girls stirring.
I felt good about the girls getting their Bronze Awards for mapping the camp. I pictured them at their ceremony, chests puffed up with pride as they got their award. The interview idea had a lot of merit, and I was happy I thought of it.
I tried to wrap my head around Troop 0014 being here for half a century. How was that possible? Okay, so I guess it was possible. I mean, they did it. How did they leave their friends and families behind? I couldn't remember any lore about six teenagers going into camp and never coming back. If I took the huge leap in thinking the women's families accepted this, why would the Council?
I'd done a little digging before we came here. Often when a Council closed a camp, they sold the land. And that's what they must've done here— to the Abbott Trust. I supposed if the girls decided to stay here forever, the trust might not know.
The Abbot Family had a farm in the area since the mid-nineteenth century, where they made a fortune and later moved to Des Moines. They kept the land in the family, which, over about one hundred years, turned into a vast woodland. The camp might've been adjacent to and purchased by the trust.
From my research I gathered that the family basically set up the trust to use as a sort of environmental gift, and they would, every now and then, invite one of the universities to do some research.
But did they know about the women? That was an interesting thought.
Camp Deer Path had at one time been a thriving camp. And the ladies had kept it up over the years too. Which was admirable. But it was time for them to come out of hiding. It just didn't seem right to leave them here. Especially after the boiled potato dinner and their excitement at having s'mores. Maybe I could lure them out with junk food. It would work for me.
What if only some of them wanted to come back? I had the feeling that Ada and the Sharons were interested. Where did that leave Betty, Laura, and Esme? I was pretty sure Betty didn't want to leave at all. And I had to admit that the idea of having dangerous, intergenerational Bettys was terrifying.
And then there was the fact that I'd blurted out an invitation for them to stay at my old house. I was always doing stuff like that—acting before thinking. On the one hand, it would provide the ladies with a place to live. On the other hand, they may end up there forever and I didn't know what the squatter laws were.
This would be complicated at best. And yet something told me I should do it. What would Kelly say if I'd gone into the woods with six girls and came out with twelve? What would Rex say? What about the Council? There was no way I was going to lie about the old girls being here. That just didn't seem right.
A light flickered over me. It must have been one of the girls in the other tent getting up to use the latrine. I waited to hear the screen door creak open. But it never did.
My eyes followed the light to see it was actually coming from the woods. Was Maria signaling me? Good. Because I had to talk to her. I wasn't going to put up with this any longer. She needed to talk to me face-to-face.
Very quietly I slipped out of my sleeping bag and put on my hiking boots. Tiptoeing out of the tent was a challenge, with every board creaking beneath my weight and the door making a horrific sound as it opened. I closed it carefully and looked around.
There it was again! Just in the trees behind my tent. I slipped between my tent and the girls' and very carefully stepped into the woods.
I couldn't do anything about the sound of my feet on underbrush. By now Maria must have realized I was on my way. The light had vanished, but I remembered where it had come from and slowly worked my way toward her.
Time after time, my shin connected with a fallen log or a branch scraped my face. I cursed under my breath but continued on until I came to a very small clearing. On the ground in the middle was a flashlight standing on end. I looked around me but didn't see or hear anyone.
At least this was proof that there had been a light. Was there a message stuffed inside the flashlight or on the ground beneath it? It could be a trap. Looking around, I picked up a stick and tossed it at the flashlight. It bounced off and landed next to it. No net went up. No trap was triggered.
Carefully, I skirted the perimeter, peering into the trees, but I couldn't make out anything or anyone. Someone was here. I could feel their eyes on my back. If it was Maria, why wasn't she making her presence known?
I walked over to the flashlight and nudged it with my shoe. It fell over, but nothing else happened. It seemed like a strange thing to leave behind. You'd need a flashlight in this place. Maybe Maria had two?
I picked it up, and as my fingers touched the barrel, I heard footsteps racing up behind me. I didn't even have time to straighten up before a hood was thrown over my head and I was shoved onto the ground. By the time I tore the hood off, I heard footsteps running away and the flashlight was gone.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Oh for crying out loud! This was really annoying. I was getting sick and tired of these games. I should just turn back, go to the tent, and forget this ever happened. It would serve Maria right to be ignored. After looking around I allowed myself to jump up and down in a mini tantrum. Then, remembering I was an adult and supposed to set an example, I stopped.
I wished I hadn't chased that light into the woods. However, since I was already here, I pulled out my own flashlight and studied the ground where the other light had been. There were scuffmarks in the dirt where I'd fallen, but nothing else. I turned my attention to the hood. It seemed to be a canvas sack, which I picked up and stuffed into my back pocket.
Calling out for Maria didn't seem particularly wise right now. Hilly could hear and come running, and Maria might not answer me anyway. I was kind of mad for being treated this way. What was she doing? She'd invited me. She wanted to talk to me. Granted, she didn't think Hilly would show up, but neither do I most of the time.
What if it was one of the older women? Was it possible that one of them could run like that? I wasn't sure. They'd complained a bit about arthritis and said they were too slow to outrun Old Eisenhower, but maybe that was a ruse. After all, for fifty years those women had literally been the unknowing posterchildren for clean living.
I knew it wasn't Riley or the girls, and I was pretty sure it wasn't Hilly. Unless…unless Hilly spotted the light too and followed me. If she was here to find Maria, maybe she took off after her, throwing the hood over my face to keep me from seeing what she was doing.
The idea had merit. I didn't like it, but it had merit. What if Hilly really was chasing Maria right now? I aimed the flashlight at the direction I thought my attacker had run off in and strained to listen. Nothing. No light. No sounds whatsoever.
What should I do? On the off chance that Maria was being hunted, I started working my way in that direction. With the flashlight aimed at the ground, I headed to where I'd seen trampled undergrowth. There was a bit of a trail, and I followed it as best I could. I must've gone maybe ten minutes before I hit the backside of one of those camouflage curtains.
Reaching up, I pulled it
back and stepped through to the rest of the woods. There wasn't so much as a footprint, crushed leaves, or broken twigs. Whoever it was must've skirted it or stayed within the boundary. I looked left and right but found no trace of evidence that someone had come this way.
Where had my attacker gone? For a moment I shined my light up into the trees, but I didn't see anyone there.
"Mrs. Wrath!" Betty Jr.'s voice called out.
Uh-oh. I'd better get back.
"Here!" I called out. "Stay there. I'll come to you!"
The last thing I needed was for the girls to venture out this far. With my luck, my troop would run amok in the woods all night, every night if they thought they could. I worked my way back until I found them in the clearing where I'd been hit. Betty was with her usual partner in crime, Lauren, and they were examining something with their backs to me.
"What is it?" I asked.
The girls turned around. "Where did you go?" Lauren asked.
"And why?" Betty grilled.
"I thought I saw a deer," I said quickly.
Betty's right eyebrow went up. "You saw a deer, in total darkness, and ran after it?"
"Um, yes. Yes I did," I lied. "What are you doing out here?"
"We woke up, and you and Hilly were gone. We heard something in the woods and thought maybe you guys were fighting the commies without us." Betty looked around. "Where's Hilly?"
"She didn't go with me," I said. "I went out alone."
"Without a buddy?" Lauren gasped.
I had violated one of the most important rules of camping. You never went anywhere without your buddy. The girls usually even woke up their buddy to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
"Why would you do that?" Betty folded her arms across her chest.
My mind raced for an acceptable excuse. "Oh, I was, er, sleepwalking."
"You were sleepwalking after a deer you'd seen." She seemed skeptical.
"Makes sense to me." Lauren shrugged.
"See? Lauren believes me." I changed the subject. "What were you guys looking at earlier?"
Betty held out her hand. She was holding a black bandana. It was rolled up, like you would if you were going to gag someone.
I took it and shoved it into the pocket with the hood.
"We'd better get back." I nudged them forward until we returned to their tent—where I waited for them to get into bed.
Hilly was snoring quietly from her bunk. I got back into my sleeping bag, but I didn't sleep. I was too busy wondering why I had a hood and gag in my pocket. Was someone planning to kidnap Maria? Or were they after me?
"Where did you go last night?" I asked Hilly as we all munched on trail mix the next morning.
We didn't want to bother the older women, and they hadn't exactly invited us to breakfast last night. Besides, trail mix was a far better alternative to boiled potatoes.
"What do you mean?" Hilly studied me curiously.
"The girls said they woke up, came into our tent, and noticed you weren't in your bunk," I answered, leaving out the fact that I hadn't been in mine either.
"I wasn't?" Hilly stared at the tent. "Huh. I wonder where I went?"
If anyone else had said this, I'd treat this comment as snark, but with Hilly, you never really knew.
"Are you saying you were sleepwalking?" I asked.
Hilly smiled and snapped her fingers, "Yes! That's what I was doing! Sleepwalking!"
I narrowed my eyes. "I've never known you to do that before."
"Oh yeah." She waved me off. "It's a real problem. Took me years to stop. In the early days of my work with the CIA, I did a few jobs that way."
My jaw dropped. "You"—I looked around—"took out targets in your sleep?"
"Of course not," Hilly laughed. "We don't do that in the CIA because that would be wrong." And then she nodded and winked.
"Did you do the right job?" I hoped she got my meaning.
"Fortunately yes. Somehow I managed to spank the right lemurs, or I would really have been in trouble."
"You shouldn't spank lemurs," junior zookeeper Lauren said as she appeared at my right. "They don't like it."
"Good advice." I got to my feet. "We were talking about leaving this morning, remember?"
The girls stood in front of us, arms folded over their chests.
"We have to stay," Inez said. "We have to solve the murder of that Chad guy."
They knew that would work on me. Did they know I'd been thinking about staying? It wouldn't take much to convince me. Still, this was one of those rare times where I wasn't the suspect. And I had my girls to think about. We'd come here and done the job for the Bronze Award.
"No," I said slowly, "we don't."
"Then we have to do at least one more survey of the camp," Betty said. "Mr. Andrews said we could."
I looked at Riley. "Oh, he did, did he? Well, he's not the leader. I am."
"And you're mad drunk with power," Ava said. "When I'm mayor, I'm going to be mad drunk with power too."
"Do you even know what that means?" I asked.
She nodded. "You're the only leader here, and you're bossing us around."
"No, I'm not. I'm just making a decision. I'm the leader. It's my job."
One of the Kaitlyn's eyes grew wide. "It's a job? Do you get dental?"
"No, I don't mean it that way. It's not paid, and I don't get benefits."
"I say," Betty said, "we put it to a vote."
That caught me off guard. Kelly and I had been doing group decision making more and more lately, to encourage the girls to make decisions for the group.
"After all," Ava said with a nod, "it's our Bronze Award. We should call the shots."
I hadn't thought of that either.
"And we have a lake!" Inez offered. "With canoes! We haven't been canoeing in like forever!"
"Wait, now we're canoeing?" I asked.
"We have to explore the lake." Betty nodded. "We need to measure it so we have accurate dimensions."
I put my hands on my hips in a weak attempt to control the conversation. "And that would involve canoeing?"
"I know, mostly we do kayaking and paddleboards," one of the Kaitlyns said.
"It would be fun to go all old-school," the other one finished.
Hilly was jumping up and down with glee. "I've never been canoeing before!"
"Then it's settled," Lauren said before I could respond with the fact that we weren't there for Hilly's recreation (even though I suspected she was getting up to stuff when we weren't looking, like hunting Maria and killing Chad).
"What about Adventureland?" I asked. "We were going to do a couple of days at the theme park."
Betty shrugged. "We can just do one day, then. No big."
The girls and Hilly turned to Riley, who seemed startled by the sudden attention.
"What do you think, Mr. Andrews?" Inez asked.
Riley shrugged. "I think that we need to consider that if you're going for accuracy."
I was outgunned. I pointed at him. "Just for that, you have to stay on shore and keep an eye on things."
"Whatever." Riley rolled his eyes.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
We left our belongings at Possum Pass and made our way to the lake. The girls partnered up and sang sea shanties, which Betty told me was really big right now on YouTube. Hilly joined in with a particularly touching solo about drowning at sea. Only she used "drowning in a bucket" and it sounded suspiciously like a past job because it ended with the victim in a dumpster, and I was pretty sure they didn't have dumpsters at sea.
"Thanks a lot," I said to Riley, who hung back to be my partner.
"I can't say no to them." He shrugged. "You can't even say no to them."
"Be that as it may"—I lowered my voice—"I don't think hanging around here is a good idea."
His right eyebrow went up. "Admit it, you don't want to go. You want to stay and solve this."
After blustering for a few seconds as my feeble mind struggled t
o find a good reason, I said, "I have to be an adult and make the Kelly decisions."
Like last night, when you let the girls run off into the woods with you…
"Did you hear anything last night?" I asked.
Riley shook his head. "Nothing. Why?"
I related the whole story, from heading into the clearing, until a hood was thrown over my head and I was knocked to the ground. I ended with meeting up with Betty and Lauren after—and how they told me Hilly had been missing from her bunk.
"I can't think of any reason why Maria would attack you." He thought for a moment. "But Hilly would, to throw you off."
I sighed. "You've never really gotten along with her, have you?"
Riley shook his head. "I wouldn't say that. I'd say it's more like a gut instinct. How can you trust a certifiable assassin?"
The girls were quiet as Hilly went off the rails singing about joining the Merchant Marines in a way that made me think she actually had. She always was good at knots. I guess there was a thing or two I didn't know about the woman. Hopefully that didn't include Chad's murder.
Riley might have had a point. How much did I really know about her? Sure, we'd spent a lot of time together over the last year. But I had no idea she knew so much about the Merchant Marines. Which meant I might not know other important things about her.
"What is happening?" I complained. "No Maria, Hilly shows up out of the blue, and Chad's murdered."
"I think Hilly is after Maria," Riley said confidently. "And I think Hilly kidnapped Chad, grilled him on Maria, and dumped him here."
My shoulders slumped. "While that would be very convenient and solve our mystery, the problem with that idea is why didn't she kill him earlier?"
"Because she didn't get what she wanted out of him." Riley pushed on. "She was hoping to find out more. And she probably did, which resulted in his death."
"Why not just drag him off and leave him in the woods and bury him then?" I asked. "Say he finally ran off? Why leave him for us to find in such an obvious manner? And since when do assassins handle interrogations too?"
Mosquito Bite Murder Page 11
