by Ron Roy
“I’m going to try to land over by that stand of trees,” Randy said. “I see my friend’s balloon near that stream.” He pointed to the red balloon, already on the ground.
The kids picked out Miguel’s balloon from a lot of others in the meadow. Trucks, vans, and cars were parked along the stream. Blue Meadow looked like a busy place.
“Get ready!” Randy yelled. “Hold on and bend your knees!”
The kids grabbed the sides of the basket. Dink felt his ears pop.
They felt a bump, and some guys ran over and grabbed the basket. Randy threw ropes out, and the helpers tied the basket to some small trees. Then Randy placed the steps on the ground.
“Everyone okay?” Randy asked the kids.
“That was so amazing!” Josh said. “I’ll never be nervous about floating in the sky again!”
“Nor will I!” Dink’s uncle said. “You’re an excellent pilot, Randy!”
Randy hopped over the edge of the basket onto the steps and helped Uncle Warren climb out. The kids clambered down and felt their feet touch the ground for the first time in an hour.
Randy’s friend Miguel ran over. “What took you so long?” he teased Randy. “I’ve been down here ten minutes!”
Randy lifted the rug and picnic cooler from the basket. “Who’s that in your party, Miguel?” he asked.
“The gentleman’s name is Maxwell Kurve,” Miguel said. “He’s a TV agent or something. The kid is an actor on some TV show. His name is Parker Stone, and he has a parrot with him!”
“I was right!” Ruth Rose said.
Miguel walked back to his balloon. The kids and Dink’s uncle unrolled the rug while Randy began taking food out of the cooler. Five minutes later, they were all sitting on the rug, eating sandwiches and cookies. They watched as the helpers let the air out of the yellow balloon. Randy poured them lemonade from a thermos. The grass around them was dotted with wildflowers. Butterflies floated among the blossoms.
A pickup truck with an orange rubber raft in the back roared past on the road. The tires blew dust into the air as the truck disappeared behind some trees.
“That guy must be going rafting on the river,” Randy told the kids. “He can drive his pickup down a trail straight to the water.”
Miguel came over again to chat. He and Randy walked a few yards away, talking and laughing. Parker Stone and Maxwell Kurve were a hundred feet away, having lunch on their rug.
“Why don’t you go say hi to Parker Stone?” Uncle Warren suggested.
“He’s a big TV star,” Josh said. “He’d never talk to us.”
“Sure he would,” Uncle Warren said. “I’m sure he’d love to know you’re fans of his show.”
“Okay,” Ruth Rose said. “I want to get his autograph.”
But before Ruth Rose could move, Parker and Maxwell Kurve began walking toward some trees. Tommy was perched on Parker’s shoulder. They entered the woods and were out of sight.
“Too late, Ruth Rose,” Josh said. “But you can have my autograph!” He whistled the way Roger did on the show. “I’m almost as good as Roger Good!”
Dink and Ruth Rose laughed.
A truck and van arrived and stopped near a balloon about ten yards away. Some guys got out, unhooked the balloon from the basket, and loaded both into the back of the truck. They rolled up the nearby picnic rug and slid it in. The balloon passengers climbed into the van, and both vehicles pulled away.
Soon more trucks and vans arrived. Crews loaded the deflated balloons and their baskets.
Randy strolled over. “Time to pack up and head back to the lodge,” he told the kids and Uncle Warren. “My partner will be here soon to load up our stuff. Fifteen minutes, okay?”
Just then, Maxwell Kurve ran out of the woods. His hair was mussed up, and his eyes looked wild. His nose, mouth, and chin were bright red, and his shirt was spattered with red stains.
He ran straight to Miguel, screaming, “Parker has been kidnapped!”
Dink realized the red stuff was blood.
Dink, his uncle, Josh, Ruth Rose, and a few others ran over to Maxwell. Miguel handed him a towel to wipe his face and shirt, then pulled out his cell phone.
Randy helped Maxwell sit on the grass and gave him a bottle of water. “What happened, man?” he asked. “Where are you cut?”
“One of the kidnappers slugged me in the nose,” Maxwell said, his voice shaky. “We were just walking and talking when they jumped us!”
His hands trembled as he tried to wipe the blood from his face with the towel.
“Parker’s producers are thinking about doing a show at the Grand Canyon,” Maxwell went on. “We were talking about it, not really looking where we were going. Next thing, two guys wearing masks grabbed us! Parker started karate-kicking one of the guys, so they tied him to a tree. I tried to help him, and they tied me to another tree and threw a pillowcase over my head. I fought as hard as I could, and that’s when one of them punched me in the face!”
Maxwell took some deep breaths. “I couldn’t see anything through the pillowcase, but I heard them leaving, and then I managed to get untied. When I yanked the pillowcase off my head, Parker was gone!”
“I called the sheriff,” Miguel said. “You want an ambulance?”
Maxwell shook his head. “I’m okay,” he said, touching his nose. “It’s stopped bleeding. I just can’t believe this is happening!”
Randy looked across the meadow toward the trees. “You figure the kidnappers took the boy in a car or truck?” he asked.
Maxwell just shook his head again. “It all happened so fast I didn’t see anything,” he said.
“Where’s Parker’s parrot?” Dink asked.
Maxwell looked at Dink. “Tommy? I…I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe the kidnappers got him, too!”
Five minutes later, a truck roared up to the group. FLAGSTAFF SHERIFF was painted on one side. A man and woman wearing brown uniforms got out. Everyone watched the officers help Maxwell into their truck.
People started packing away their picnic things. More trucks and vans showed up. Balloons, baskets, and picnic stuff were loaded and driven away. The meadow was emptying.
Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose kept an eye on the sheriff’s truck. The two officers and Maxwell stepped out after several minutes. “Show us where it happened, sir,” the female officer said. Maxwell led them toward the woods. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose followed while Randy and Uncle Warren cleaned up their picnic.
They went down a path next to the stream. It was cooler under the trees, and birds chattered over their heads.
Maxwell led the officers to a tree with yellow blossoms. Two empty plastic cups lay on the ground. “This is where they tied me,” he said.
The male officer picked up a plain white pillowcase.
“They put that over my head,” Maxwell said.
The officer examined the pillowcase, then slipped it inside a plastic bag.
The rope was still wrapped around the tree trunk. The female officer coiled it and slid it into another evidence pouch.
“Where was the boy?” she asked.
Maxwell pointed to a tree about fifty feet away. “I saw one guy drag him over there before the pillowcase went over my face,” he said. “That’s the tree they tied Parker to when he tried to punch and kick the guy.”
Dink spotted something pink under a bush. It was a mask like a pig’s face. “I found something!” he called. The male officer ran over and picked up the mask.
“The one who grabbed Parker was wearing that!” Maxwell said. “The guy who tied me up wore a pirate face—you know, black eye patch and earring.”
Maxwell pulled a cell phone out of his pocket. “I need to get back to the hotel,” he said. “I have calls to make. This is…this is terrible!”
The office
rs gathered up the rope, pillowcase, plastic cups, and pig mask. They left the woods, talking quietly with Maxwell.
The kids stayed behind. They walked over to the tree where Parker had been tied. “He must’ve been scared,” Ruth Rose said.
“I wonder where Tommy is,” Josh said.
Dink was looking at the ground near the tree. “Guys, check this out,” he said, pointing to some scrapes in the dirt. “What do you suppose those are?”
Josh knelt down and peered at the spot. “Some kind of weird marks,” he said. “Maybe it’s a code!”
Ruth Rose stood next to Dink and looked at the marks. She turned around with her back to the tree, then looked at them again. “They’re letters,” she said. “You were looking at them upside down.”
Dink and Josh moved to stand beside Ruth Rose. “You’re right!” Dink said. “They are letters: T, O, M, R, A, N.”
“Is that a word?” Josh asked.
“I think it’s two words,” Ruth Rose said. “There’s a space between TOM and RAN.”
The three kids stared at the letters in the dirt.
“Parker was tied to this tree,” Josh said. “So maybe he wrote the letters!”
“If he was tied, how could he write anything?” Ruth Rose asked.
“Easy peasy,” Josh said. He leaned his back against the tree trunk. “Okay, I’m tied up. I can’t use my hands. But I can move my feet!”
Pointing the toe of his sneaker, Josh drew the letters T, O, M in the dirt.
“Parker wrote it with his foot!” Ruth Rose cried. “You’re a genius!”
“I know, Moe,” Josh said.
“But who’s Tom?” Dink asked.
“Maybe one of the kidnappers?” Josh said. “What if this Tom dropped his mask and Parker saw his face and recognized him!”
“Okay, but why would Parker write TOM RAN?” Dink asked. “Why did Tom run? Where did he run?”
“Could TOM be short for Tommy?” Ruth Rose asked. “Maybe Parker was trying to tell Tommy to run away from the kidnappers!”
“That definitely says RAN,” Josh said. “That’s an A, not a U. Besides, wouldn’t Parker tell his parrot to fly away, not run away?”
“So where is Tommy?” Dink asked. He looked up into the tree. The leaves were thick, so he couldn’t see much up there. “Josh, do Roger Good’s whistle.”
Josh put two fingers in his mouth and whistled. The kids stared up into the branches. “Do it again,” Dink said.
Josh repeated the sound. Suddenly they heard a squawk. Something gray burst out of the leaves and landed on Josh’s shoulder. “Rescue Roger!”
It was Tommy!
“Good parrot!” Josh said. He stroked the bird’s feathers.
“Tommy looks really upset,” Ruth Rose said. “He must have seen the kidnappers grab Parker.”
The parrot flapped his wings and squawked, “Rescue Roger!”
“Tommy, who took Roger?” Dink asked.
Tommy didn’t say anything. He ruffled his feathers and made small clicking noises.
The kids headed back toward Blue Meadow with Tommy. They walked along the narrow stream, watching the water tumble over rocks.
“Wait a sec, guys,” Ruth Rose said. “I see litter.” She grabbed a white plastic bag that was caught on a tree branch. Then she picked up a paper plate and a plastic fork and dropped both into the bag.
Dink spotted a soda can and a piece of a foam cup and added them to the bag. Josh picked up a plastic sandwich container and a hunk of aluminum foil.
As they stepped out from under the trees, Ruth Rose found a small bottle at the edge of the stream. It was heart-shaped and had a twist cap. The little container was half-filled with red liquid, and the label said REALLY RED!
“It’s nail polish,” Ruth Rose said. “What a pretty bottle!” She slipped it into her pocket as they walked back to Blue Meadow.
Randy and Uncle Warren were waiting for them.
“Hey, you found the kid’s parrot!” Randy said.
“He was up in the tree where the kidnappers tied Parker,” Josh said. “I’ll bet he saw everything!”
“Does he talk?” Uncle Warren asked.
“Tommy, who took your friend away?” Dink asked. “Who took Roger?”
Tommy flapped his wings and said, “Rescue Roger!”
“Miguel is really bummed out,” Randy said. “I’ve never seen him so upset.”
Dink looked around. He didn’t see the red hot-air balloon. “Did Miguel leave?” he asked.
Randy nodded. “Yup. He followed the officers into town,” he said. “They wanted to question him after they dropped off Mr. Kurve at his hotel.”
The kids and Dink’s uncle climbed into the van, and Randy drove across the meadow, following tire marks from the other vehicles. Josh held Tommy on his lap, smoothing his feathers.
They told Randy and Uncle Warren how the officers had found the white pillowcase the kidnappers put over Maxwell’s head.
“One of the kidnappers dropped his mask,” Ruth Rose said. “It was a pig’s face.”
“And we think Parker wrote a message in the dirt,” Josh added. He described the six letters they’d seen.
“Maybe someone else wrote that yesterday or last week,” Randy suggested. “A lot of people picnic by the stream under those trees.”
Dink thought about the puddle he’d almost stepped in, back at the lodge. “It rained last night,” he said. “If those letters had been there before today, wouldn’t they have washed away?”
Randy nodded. “You’re right. It did rain last night.” He grinned. “That’s why my van looks so clean!”
“My nephew has an excellent memory!” Uncle Warren said.
When they reached Bright Angel Lodge, they thanked Randy for a great adventure.
“So you’re going down into the canyon on mules tomorrow?” he asked.
Dink’s uncle nodded. “Yes. Where I live, in New York City, I ride in taxis and subway trains,” he said. “I must take pictures so my friends can see me on a mule!”
“That’s awesome,” Randy said. “Wish I was going, but some schoolteachers have booked my balloon for the morning.”
Randy pulled away, and the kids followed Uncle Warren into the lobby. No one seemed to care that Josh had a parrot on his shoulder. In the elevator, Tommy nibbled on Josh’s ear.
“Stop that!” Josh said.
“Stop that!” Tommy repeated, sounding just like Josh.
“I’m going to read and have a nap,” Uncle Warren said when they reached his room. “How about pizza later on?”
“How about right now?” Josh said.
Uncle Warren laughed and stepped into his room. “Donny, will you order pizza for five o’clock?”
“Okay, Uncle Warren,” Dink said. He unlocked his and Josh’s room door, and the kids went in and dumped their stuff.
“I still can’t believe Parker Stone got kidnapped,” Ruth Rose said. “And we were there!”
Dink opened the mini fridge and took out three bottles of water. “I’ll bet the kidnapping was planned ahead of time,” he said.
Dink handed Josh and Ruth Rose each a water. “Those guys must’ve been waiting for Parker in the woods.”
Josh poured some of his water into a cup for Tommy. “But how did the kidnappers know he was riding in a hot-air balloon today?” he asked.
“Right, and how did they know he’d go for a walk in those woods?” Ruth Rose added. “There were a lot of other places to walk.”
“Somebody must have tipped them off,” Dink said. “Somebody who knew that Mr. Kurve and Parker would be in Blue Meadow today.”
“Like who?” Josh asked. Then he said, “Randy knew! Maybe RAN was short for Randy!”
Dink shook his head. “Ran
dy had never heard of Parker Stone before this morning,” he said.
“How about Miguel?” Josh asked. “He must have known, because he was their pilot!”
Dink and Ruth Rose stared at him.
“Guys, it makes sense,” Josh went on. “Mr. Kurve calls Miguel and orders the balloon, probably weeks ago. He tells Miguel about Parker’s TV show. Miguel figures Parker is worth a lot of money, so he hires those two guys to grab him!”
“I don’t know,” Dink said. “Maybe Miguel did find out Parker was famous, but that doesn’t mean he kidnapped him.”
“And we saw how upset Miguel was when Mr. Kurve told us what happened,” Ruth Rose added.
“Okay, so not Randy and not Miguel,” Josh said. “Who else knew that Parker Stone was going on a hot-air balloon ride?”
No one had an answer.
Tommy walked around the room, exploring everything he saw. His toenails made clicking noises on the wood floor.
Josh sprawled out on his bed. “Is it pizza time yet?” he asked.
Dink called the lobby.
“Hi, this is Taylor at the front desk,” a man said. “How can I help you, Mr. Duncan?”
Dink smiled at being called Mr. Duncan. He asked Taylor how to order pizzas.
Taylor said he would do it, and Dink asked for two large pizzas with everything.
Tommy flew up onto the bed and landed on Josh’s stomach. “Tommy loves pizza!” the bird said.
“Oh my gosh, I just thought of something!” Josh said. “What do we do with Tommy when we go down into the canyon tomorrow?”
“Maybe we can bring him with us,” Ruth Rose said.
“On a mule?” Josh said.
“Let’s go ask Taylor,” Dink said.
The kids went to the lobby. Tommy rode on Josh’s shoulder, nibbling on his hair.
“Cut it out,” Josh said. “I don’t need a haircut!”
“Haircut!” Tommy said.
They walked up to the desk.
Taylor smiled at the kids. “Hi there,” he said. “Rooms twelve, thirteen, and fourteen, right? Two large pizzas?”
