by Ron Roy
“How do we get there?” Dink asked.
Abbi pointed toward a slight clearing in the woods behind the cabin. “I think there’s a sort of trail there,” she said. “If you follow it uphill, it should go pretty close to where the wolves live.”
“But what if the trail stops or leads somewhere else?” Josh said. “We could get lost out there.”
Abbi made room for Josh at the telescope. “See that big dead tree behind the rocks?” she asked.
“Yeah, I see it,” said Josh.
“If you get lost, just look up and find the tree,” Abbi said. “Coming back, look for our flagpole.”
“I say let’s do it,” Ruth Rose said. She looked at Dink and Josh.
Dink nodded.
Josh gulped. “Okay, let’s hit the trail!” he said.
The kids left the deck, passed Wallis’s van and the flagpole, and walked into the trees. They turned and waved to Abbi, who waved back.
“This looks like a trail,” Dink said, looking down.
The kids kept their eyes on the ground as they moved deeper into the trees. Soon Abbi and the cabin were out of sight.
The land was level for the first few minutes, then it angled sharply upward. The kids hiked in single file, with Josh leading and Dink last in line.
Fallen trees, roots poking out of the ground, and jagged rocks made walking difficult.
“I don’t see any trail at all!” Josh wailed when they stopped to look around. High above their heads, tall trees blocked out the sky.
“I think we should just keep going up,” Ruth Rose said. “If we get out of these trees, we might be able to see that dead one Abbi showed us.”
They kept climbing. Dink could hear Josh and Ruth Rose taking deep breaths. He was sweating and swatting at mosquitoes.
After about twenty minutes, Josh stopped. “It better not be much farther,” he panted.
“It’s not. Look!” Ruth Rose said. She pointed uphill behind Josh.
“It’s the dead tree!” Dink said. “We’re almost there!”
It took them ten more minutes of climbing before they were standing at the base of the tree. Josh turned and waved his arms high in the air in case Abbi was watching.
Near the dead tree stood a pile of giant boulders. Behind the tree, the land sloped downward toward a cliff.
“It’s beautiful up here,” Dink said.
“You can see for miles!” Ruth Rose said. “Look how blue the water is.”
“And look how dark those clouds are,” Josh said nervously. “I sure don’t want to be up here in a thunderstorm.”
The kids split up and walked among the rocks and boulders. It took only a few seconds for Dink to find animal tracks in the sand.
“Guys, over here!” he called.
Josh and Ruth Rose found him on his knees. “Look, are these wolf tracks?”
Josh and Ruth Rose knelt next to Dink.
“They do look like pawprints,” Ruth Rose said, studying the sandy ground.
Josh put his own hand next to a pawprint. “Look how big these tracks are!” he said.
Ruth Rose pointed to some shoe-prints. “Do you think these are the kidnappers’ prints?” she asked.
“Maybe,” Dink said. “But other people must come up here, too.”
The kids prowled among the rocks. They found animal tracks, but no more from humans.
Josh stopped in front of two rock slabs leaning against each other. Beneath the rocks, a burrow had been dug, leaving a mound of loose dirt.
“Guys, I think I found the den!” Josh whispered.
The kids knelt and peered down into the dark lair.
“What if the mother wolf is down there right now?” Josh asked.
Suddenly they heard a wolf howl. All three kids jumped back.
“Run!” yelled Josh.
“She’s not down there,” Ruth Rose said. “Look!”
The mother wolf was standing on top of a pile of boulders about one hundred yards away. She was watching the kids with her ears standing straight up.
While the kids looked at her, she let out another howl, then leaped off the rocks and disappeared.
“What should we do?” asked Josh.
“Nothing,” Dink said. “I think she’s just looking for her babies.”
“Let’s move away from her lair in case she comes,” Ruth Rose said.
Dink and Josh followed Ruth Rose. They walked toward the cliff and stood looking down at the ocean.
The ground there was too rocky to show any kind of prints.
“I wonder how that man and woman got the baby wolves out of here,” Dink said.
“In a cage,” Josh reminded him. “Remember what Abbi said?”
“I know, but what did they do with the cage?” Dink asked. “Cars can’t drive up here, so how did they get the cage away?”
“By boat, maybe,” Ruth Rose said, pointing down at the ground. “Look!”
Not five feet away from where they stood, a narrow path led down toward the water.
“Let’s check it out,” Dink said, moving toward the path.
Josh and Ruth Rose followed him. The narrow track was steep, but rocks and roots provided footholds.
“Stop!” Josh shouted after they’d gone down about fifty feet.
“What?” asked Ruth Rose. She was directly behind Josh and nearly collided with his back.
“Blueberries!” Josh said. The bushes on both sides of the trail were loaded with clusters of dark blue berries. Josh reached for a branch and began picking.
“Eat some, guys,” he told Dink and Ruth Rose. “They’re excellent!”
But Dink was looking at the ground under their feet. Dozens of blueberries had been crushed in the dirt.
“These berries are fresh,” Dink said. “Someone walked on them recently!”
“Someone like the wolf kidnappers!” Ruth Rose said. “They must have carried the cage down this way!”
“Let’s keep going,” Dink said.
Three minutes later, they were standing on a small beach. “A boat could land here,” Dink said.
Ruth Rose looked back up at the path they’d just come down. “It would be easy,” she said. “Just drag your boat up here, carry the cage up that path, and steal the puppies.”
“Just about everybody out here must have a fishing boat or sailboat,” Josh said.
Dink sat on the sand and gazed out at the water. “I still don’t understand why anyone would want those wolves,” he said.
Josh sat on one side of Dink, and Ruth Rose sat on the other. Josh’s fingertips and lips were stained dark blue.
“Are wolves valuable?” Ruth Rose asked. “I mean, can you get money for them?”
Dink shrugged. “Maybe, but who would buy a baby wolf?” he asked.
Josh glanced up at the darkening sky. “We’d better head back,” he said.
The kids climbed back up the trail to the clifftop. They looked around but didn’t see the mother wolf again.
With dark clouds hiding the sun, the kids headed into the woods. They started walking downhill.
“Is this the right way?” Josh asked after a few minutes. “All these trees look alike.”
Ruth Rose turned back around and squinted her eyes. “I can still see the dead tree,” she said. She turned to face downhill. “So the flagpole should be down there somewhere.”
They looked, but their eyes couldn’t penetrate the thick shrubbery.
“We’re lost,” Josh said. “We’ll be out here forever! I’ll have to eat bark and twigs!”
“Maybe you will,” Ruth Rose said. “But not me!” She picked out a tall tree and started climbing nimbly up it.
“Where are you going?” Josh asked.
“To get a hamburger and a milkshake,” Ruth Rose said over her shoulder.
When all Dink and Josh could see were the bottoms of Ruth Rose’s sneakers, she stopped climbing.
“We’re not lost! I can see Wallis’s flagpole!” Ruth Rose yelled d
own.
When Ruth Rose was back on the ground, she led them to the original trail.
Ten minutes later, they all saw the back of Wallis’s cabin.
Raindrops splashed on the kids as they bounded up the cabin steps. They found Walker, Wallis, and Abbi sitting at the kitchen table.
“Hey, guys,” Walker said. “Abbi told us you went to the scene of the crime.”
“Without telling us,” Wallis added.
“Sorry,” Dink said. “But you weren’t here and—”
“It’s okay this time,” Wallis said. “Abbi explained why you left so suddenly.”
“Did you see the mother wolf?” Abbi asked.
“Yes! She was standing on some rocks howling at us, then she took off!” Josh said. “I still have goose bumps!”
The kids explained what else they’d seen.
“We think the people Abbi saw carried the cage down to the ocean. There was a little path, and blueberries that were crushed by their feet. They must have had a boat waiting!” Ruth Rose said.
“But any hiker could have crushed the berries,” Wallis said. “It didn’t have to be the wolf-nappers.”
“How else would they get away from there with the wolves?” Abbi asked. “Are there roads up there for cars?”
“No, but there are other trails that lead to roads,” Wallis said.
“And even if the thieves did use that path to get the cage to a boat, we’d never be able to prove it,” Walker said. “There are hundreds of boats around these islands every day.”
Walker looked at Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose. “After I got Sis’s message, I took my plane up for a look,” he said. “I saw plenty of people in boats, but no cages holding baby wolves.”
He put his hand over Abbi’s. “I’m sorry I can’t tell you more, Abbi.”
Just then, they heard a toot from down by the water.
Wallis leaned over toward the sliding glass doors and waved. “That’s Morris,” she said. “He runs the mail boat, even in the rain.”
“May I be excused?” Abbi asked. “And would someone help me move my telescope?”
“We’ll help,” Dink said. He, Josh, and Ruth Rose followed Abbi out to the deck. She wheeled up to the telescope.
“Where do you want it?” Ruth Rose asked.
“Out front,” Abbi said. “Where I can watch the water.”
She gazed up at the three kids. “Walker is right. There are zillions of boats around here,” Abbi said. “But if the people who took the wolf puppies have a boat, I’ll find them!”
It took them only a few minutes to carry the telescope to the front section of the deck. Abbi showed them where to position it.
The rain drummed steadily on the tin roof over the porch.
Josh put his eye to the lens. “I can hardly see anything through the rain,” he said.
“I’ll have to wait till it stops,” Abbi said.
Dink knew Abbi was disappointed that she couldn’t use her telescope. “Do you have Monopoly?” he asked. “We could play till the rain stops.”
Abbi nodded. “Sure, it’s on the shelf by the fireplace.”
Josh rubbed his hands together and grinned. “How about we make teams? Boys against girls?”
Abbi and Ruth Rose exchanged glances.
“You’re doomed,” Ruth Rose said.
The kids set up a table in the living room. Wallis and Walker joined the teams. Thunder boomed and lightning lit up the ocean as they played late into the evening.
The rain finally stopped, but the game still wasn’t over when Wallis yawned and declared it bedtime.
Dink picked up a flashlight, and he and Josh walked out onto the deck. They stood for a minute and stared toward the ocean. They could hear waves hitting rocks, and the smell was sweet and salty.
“I wonder where those poor baby wolves could possibly be,” Josh said.
“And the mother,” Dink added. “Gee, maybe she came down here and crawled into your bed.”
Josh laughed. “Grandmother, what big teeth you have!” he said like Little Red Riding Hood.
The boys made their way around the deck and slipped inside their tent.
After they were undressed and beneath their blankets, Dink reached out and shut off the lamp. He was almost asleep when Josh grabbed his shoulder.
“Dink!” Josh whispered. “Something’s moving around outside the tent!”
Dink opened his eyes. “What? All I hear is you keeping me awake.”
“Shhh! Listen!” Josh hissed.
Dink yawned. “Josh, if you’re …” Then Dink heard a slithery noise, like something scratching against canvas.
Dink gulped. Josh was right-something was outside their tent!
A moment later, he heard a wolf howling.
“Oh, gosh!” Josh cried. “The mother wolf came after us. She’s on the deck!”
When the wolf howl stopped, Dink heard another strange noise—rubber wheels squeaking on the wooden deck. He also heard two girls giggling.
Dink smiled. “That wasn’t a wolf,” he told Josh.
“It wasn’t?” Josh whispered. “What was it?”
“Something much worse than a wolf,” Dink whispered in return, holding back a giggle.
“What could be worse?” Josh asked. “A bear?”
“Even worse,” Dink said. “That’s Ruth Rose and Abbi out there, trying to scare you with Abbi’s wolf recording. And they did!”
“Did not,” Josh said.
“Did too,” Dink said, just before he fell asleep.
The next morning was bright and sunny. The only signs of the storm were a few puddles.
“What do you kids have planned?” Wallis asked at the breakfast table.
“I’m going to sit at my telescope until I find those people who took the wolf pups,” Abbi said.
“We’ll help her,” Dink said. “We can each take turns looking through the telescope.”
Wallis stood up and carried her plate to the counter. “Well, I’m going grocery-shopping. Food disappears fast in this house!”
“I’m going to work on my plane,” Walker said. He helped clear the table, then left through the back door.
Abbi, Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose took turns peering at the ocean through the telescope. They saw hundreds of boats, of all sizes and colors.
Ruth Rose pointed out a woman who was sailing a small boat. She had short blond hair.
Abbi shook her head. “No, the one I saw had a ponytail,” she said. “It was sticking out that little opening in the back of her baseball cap.”
It was Josh’s turn at the telescope. “Hey, Abbi, take a look,” he said. “A woman with long blond hair is going by in a blue motorboat.”
Abbi quickly took Josh’s place at the telescope. She put her eye to the lens. “That’s her!” she cried. “She’s even wearing the same baseball cap!”
Abbi pointed to the boat in the harbor. “Let’s watch where she goes!”
They watched as the boat moved away growing smaller in the distance.
“I’ve lost her,” Dink said. “There are too many small boats out there.”
“Well, I can still see her,” Abbi said, her eye still at the telescope.
A few seconds later, Abbi backed away from the telescope. “The woman went to one of the small islands,” she said. “She tied her boat up at a dock with a blue awning at the end.”
Each of the kids looked through the telescope. Each could see the dock and the blue canvas.
“Now what do we do?” Ruth Rose asked.
Abbi looked at Ruth Rose. “Someone has to check out that island,” she said.
“Who?” asked Josh.
“Us! We could look for more clues,” Ruth Rose said.
“How do we get out there?” Josh asked. “By swimming?”
“Morris usually comes by around nine-thirty” Abbi said. “You can hitch a ride with him. He brings hikers and bird-watchers out to the islands all the time.”
Fifteen minutes lat
er, Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose were sitting on Wallis’s dock waiting for the mail boat. Josh was carrying food in his backpack.
Ruth Rose wore a smaller pack holding Abbi’s tape recorder.
“Why are we bringing the tape recorder?” Dink asked.
“Abbi said we should ask Morris to go by those rocks where the seals live,” Ruth Rose said. “If we get close enough, I’m going to try to record their voices.”
“There’s Morris!” Dink said, standing and waving.
A white flat-bottomed boat chugged up to the dock. A man wearing a sea captain’s hat waved at the kids. “Need a lift?” he asked as he pulled his boat up to the dock.
“We’re friends of Abbi, sir,” Ruth Rose said. “She said you might take us out to one of those small islands.”
“Sure thing, and everyone hereabouts calls me Morris,” the man said. “But which island? There are about thirty of them.”
Dink pointed toward the island where they’d seen the woman tie her boat up to a dock. “It’s one of those,” he said. “The dock has a blue awning at the end.”
“Yep, I know that one,” Morris said. “Some rich gentleman lives out there. His estate takes up half the island!”
Morris looked at the kids. “I don’t think he welcomes visitors,” he said.
Josh held up his pack. “We’re just going to have a picnic,” he said.
“Great place for a picnic,” Morris said, “as long as you stay off private property. Come aboard!”
When the kids were zipped into life vests and seated on a bench, Morris pulled away from the dock. He directed his boat toward a cluster of three small islands. Each had a different-colored awning stretched over the water at the end of a dock.
“What are the awnings for?” Josh asked.
They protect the boats from the sun and rain,” Morris explained. “You step into your boat, you don’t want to sit on a hot seat, or a wet one!”
Morris headed toward the smallest of the three islands. He pulled up to the dock, and the kids stepped out of the mail boat. They dropped their packs in the shade under the blue awning. Tied to the dock was a motorboat painted the same blue.
