Max & Me Mysteries Set

by Patricia H. Rushford

  Looking me square in the eye, Josh asked, “What’s with the third degree?”

  “I—well, I was up late Friday night and saw a boat heading this way. I just wondered if it might have been you.”

  “Probably.” Kevin stretched and yawned. “We got back to camp around two.” Kevin was shorter and stockier than his friend.

  “Hey, what say we eat?” Josh ducked into the tent and opened a large cooler. “Kevin and I have been at the dig site all morning.”

  “You kids want a sandwich, something to drink?”

  “We have stuff,” Max said. “We could share. Mrs. T packed a bunch of fried chicken. Plus we’ve got chips and carrot sticks and lots of cookies.”

  “Cookies? Chicken?” Kevin all of a sudden didn’t seem so tired. “I like the sound of that.”

  We sat on the blanket in the shade of some trees and set out the food. Mrs. Truesdale had packed enough for all of us. Kevin and Josh seemed happy to have company, and I don’t think it was just for the food. They asked about us—what we liked, where we lived. Josh wanted to know about my bald head—I’d taken off my hat in the shade—so I told them about the leukemia.

  “I have a cousin with leukemia,” Kevin said. “She just turned twenty and has been in remission for like ten years.”

  “Jessie had a bone marrow transplant.” Max pried the lid off the plastic container full of chocolate crinkle cookies and passed them around. “She should be good for another million miles.”

  I laughed. “You make me sound like a car.”

  Josh bit into his cookie and smiled. “Ah, heaven.”

  Max seemed pleased. “Good. I made them last night.”

  “I’m glad you kids came by,” Josh said. “It’s nice having company.”

  Kevin didn’t seem quite as enthusiastic, but his mood was much better than it had been.

  Cooper passed on the cookies. “You said you’ve been out here for a week?”

  “More or less.” Josh snatched another cookie.

  “Are you the only ones on the island?”

  Kevin raised an eyebrow. “As far as I know.”

  “So all the time you’ve been here you haven’t had any other kids come by?”

  Josh pulled off his hat and wiped the sweat off his forehead. “Should we have?”

  “Naw.” Cooper brushed some sand off the blanket. “I was just wondering.”

  “We haven’t seen any indication that there’s anybody on the island but us,” Josh said. “You know it’s a restricted area, don’t you? In fact, you guys shouldn’t even be here.”

  “Yeah, we know,” I said as I picked up the napkins and stuffed them into a plastic bag.

  “Kevin and I have special permits through the university. Professor Logan is supervising the dig.”

  “Where is your professor?” I asked.

  “He had to go back to Seattle to take care of some business. He’ll be back in two or three days.” Josh grinned. “Hey, I get it. You’re playing some kind of game and these other kids are hiding from you, right?”

  “Not exactly,” Cooper said, “but we are looking for someone. We thought we’d row around the island just to make sure.”

  “Whatever.” Josh turned serious. “You’d better hope your friends aren’t here. Not only is it against the law; there’s at least one cougar sharing the island with us.”

  “A cougar?” Ghost Island, like most of the others, was part of the national forest, but the island seemed too small for cougars. And I doubted a cougar could swim all the way from the mainland.

  “Right—the forestry service isn’t sure how he got out here. They’re thinking maybe he was a pet and someone turned him loose. Or maybe he rode over on a log. Fortunately, there are plenty of deer and rabbits here for him to eat. One thing for sure—you kids don’t want to go wandering around out here by yourself.”

  I put my hat back on. “We won’t.”

  “What about you?” Max asked. “Aren’t you afraid the cougar will attack while you’re digging?”

  “We have guns in case there’s trouble.” Kevin shrugged. “But I’m not worried. He’s probably more scared of us than we are of him.”

  “Well, Kev, we should get back to work.”

  “That’s what we’re here for.”

  Josh drained his can of Coke. “Did you kids want to see what we’ve unearthed before you leave?”

  “Sure.” Max started to follow them.

  Their finds weren’t all that exciting, though they acted like they’d unearthed some national treasures. They had a table in their tent and on top of it lay several broken pieces of pottery, some arrowheads, and a lot of what looked like chunks of dirt. “Wow,” Max said, “this is all you have from the whole week?”

  Josh smiled down at her. “Well, we did find an intact necklace last week, but that’s unusual. Archeology is a science, Max. It’s painstaking and precise. We spend most of our time sifting through dirt. It’s like digging a ditch with a spoon. Sometimes it takes us an hour to dig down an inch. Some people have come out here and found nothing at all.”

  I congratulated the guys and tried to hurry Max and Cooper along. It was already two, and we hadn’t even begun to search for Enrique and his sisters. Josh walked down to the dock with us, carrying the picnic basket and blanket. Once he’d helped us into the boat, he released the rope and tossed it to Cooper. “Off you go. Come back and see us again.” Josh waved. “And bring cookies.”

  “We will!” Max rocked the boat with her enthusiastic wave.

  “What now?” Cooper asked when we’d gotten well away from the dock. “Want to keep looking here? You heard the guys. They haven’t seen anyone.”

  “That doesn’t mean anything,” I said. “Ghost Island isn’t all that big, but there are a lot of trees and about 600 acres. Besides, the fire we smelled didn’t come from their fire pit.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I looked. It was totally cold. There hasn’t been a fire in it at all today.”

  “Which means someone else is here.” Max frowned. “Let’s go find them before the cougar does.”

  CHAPTER

  SEVEN

  WWe rowed all the way around the island and still saw no sign that Enrique or anyone other than the archeologists had been there. It was getting late, and on the way back home we finished up the leftover snacks. Josh and Kevin had cleaned us out of chicken and cookies, but we still had a bag of chips and some carrots. Nibbling on a carrot, Max said, “I’ll bet Enrique saw the archeologists’ camp and went to another island.”

  “I hope so,” Cooper said. “With that cougar on the island, they’re in even more danger than we thought.”

  “Maybe he’s not out here at all.” I was supertired and getting grumpy. “Face it, guys—we really don’t have a clue.”

  Cooper scowled and rowed a little harder. “What about the smoke you smelled?”

  “It could have drifted over from the mainland.”

  “I’ll bet anything he’s out here on the lake somewhere. There are just too many places to hide.”

  “So what do we do?” I asked.

  “We can check out some of the other islands.” Cooper settled the oars across his lap and massaged his shoulders. “But we’ll need a boat with a motor for sure.”

  I nodded. “We can probably use ours.”

  “Or Mrs. T’s,” Max added as she dug into the bag for some tortilla chips.

  “Do you want me to start the motor now?” Max asked. “Or I could row for a while?”

  “I’m okay. We’re almost to Jessie’s dock.” He dipped the oars into the water again. “Maybe we should go out to Bear Island. That’s where your boat drifted, Jessie, and where I broke my arm. I had a cool camp there, and I told Enrique about it. He said we should go there sometime. It’s a lot farther than Ghost Island, but …”

  “He’d never be able to row that far,” Max interrupted.

  “You’re probably right,” Cooper said, then mumbled somet
hing about Enrique having a motorboat.

  “That doesn’t make sense unless he stole it,” I said, then right away wished I hadn’t.

  “Maybe he had to, okay?” Cooper snarled at me. He looked down and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Jess. I didn’t mean to yell.”

  “It’s okay. If Enrique stole anything, it would be to protect his sisters.” I brushed away the tears gathering in my eyes. No one said anything as we approached the dock.

  Cooper had no sooner gotten out of the boat to tie up than my dad came running down the sloping yard. “It’s about time you kids showed up. I was getting ready to call out a search party.”

  “It’s not that late,” I said, looking down at my watch. Six thirty actually, which was late for me since I usually tire out by two and need a nap.

  Dad’s concerned gaze slid over my face. “Did you have fun?”

  “We did, sir,” Cooper answered. “Did you know there were archeologists out on Ghost Island?”

  “Actually, I did. There was an article in the paper about a week ago. You kids weren’t out there bothering them, were you?”

  “No.” I took Dad’s hand as he helped me out of the boat. “Kevin and Josh invited us to eat lunch with them, and they showed us the artifacts they’d found.”

  “It was pretty cool, Mr. Miller,” Max said. “I’ve never seen a dig before.”

  “Kevin and Josh, huh? Sounds like you made a couple of new friends.”

  “Yeah. They were cool.” Max grinned. “College students from the University of Washington.”

  Dad nodded. “Did you meet their professor?”

  I shook my head. “They were alone. Professor Logan went into Seattle. He’ll be back in a few days.”

  “It sounds like you had an interesting day.” Dad snatched up the picnic basket and walked up to the house with us. “Dinner’s about ready. You kids want to join us?”

  Both Max and Cooper said they had to call home.

  “Dad’s not home, so I left a message.” Cooper pocketed his cell phone. “He won’t mind.”

  Max used the kitchen phone to call Amelia. “Oh, right,” she said into the phone. “I forgot. I’ll be home in half an hour.” She hung up and waved at us as she headed out the back door.

  “Max!” I yelled after her. “What’s going on?”

  “I gotta get home.” She paused. “I promised Mrs. T that I’d help her make lavender sachets and wrap scones. I was supposed to be home by four.”

  “Is she mad at you?”

  “Mrs. T?” Max seemed surprised by the question. “Nope. She’s cool. I just don’t like to disappoint her, that’s all.”

  “Do you want me to help? We could get a lot more done.”

  “Sure. If it’s okay with your mom and dad.”

  Mom set the tossed salad on the table. “I’d rather you didn’t, Jessie. You need to rest. In fact, I want you to stay home for a couple of days. You have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow and …”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I felt like crying and throwing a fit, but I didn’t want to embarrass my friends. I also didn’t want to argue with Mom and Dad in front of Max and Cooper.

  “I’ll call you later, Jess.” Max waved as she went out the patio door.

  “Wait up, Max.” Cooper mumbled something about needing to go back with Max to Lakeside Farm so he could pick up his bike.

  I went out and sat on the steps until they were gone, then stumbled back inside. Instead of sitting down at the table with my family, I went up to my room and fell on my bed. I didn’t know whether to whine, yell, or cry. How could Mom do this to me?

  Part of me understood. I hadn’t been out of the hospital all that long, and they were probably worried that I would get sick again. I couldn’t blame them; I was a little worried about that myself. I’d been out almost all day—eight hours. I was tired, but I didn’t feel sick—not like I used to before the bone marrow transplant. I probably should rest for a day or two, but how in the world was I supposed to help Max and Cooper find Enrique?

  “Jessie?” Mom came in. The mattress shifted as she sat down and rubbed my back. “Are you feeling okay?”

  “I feel fine. I’m not sick, and I shouldn’t have to stay home. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “I know. It’s just that you don’t seem to be using much common sense. You’re supposed to take it easy, not run yourself ragged.”

  I turned over so I could look at her. The worry on her face kept me from getting mad. “I wasn’t running. I was sitting in a boat most of the time. Max and Cooper rowed the whole time.”

  “I understand that. But Jessie, you’re still not 100 percent. You’re pushing yourself harder than you should, and that worries me.”

  “But, Mom, I feel fine.” That wasn’t exactly true, so I wasn’t surprised when she raised an eyebrow at me.

  “No, you don’t. You’re exhausted. You have dark shadows under your eyes.”

  “But I don’t feel sick. Not like before the transplant.”

  “Jessie.” Mom looked like she was about to cry. I hated that look. It made me feel guilty, even when I didn’t deserve to feel that way.

  “Okay.” I turned away from her. “I’ll stay home tomorrow.”

  “Yes, you will. We’ll go see Dr. Caldwell. I’m all for you being able to do things with your friends. Just promise me you’ll listen to her advice about taking care of yourself.” She rubbed my shoulder and stood up. “How about coming down to eat?”

  “I guess.” I sighed and scooted off the bed, telling her I needed to use the bathroom first. Looking at my face in the mirror turned out to be a huge mistake. I could see why Mom was worried. What I saw worried me too. I did have shadows, and I looked almost as bad as I did last time I got sick. I closed my eyes, not wanting to think about what this might mean. Had the bone marrow transplant failed? Oh, God, please don’t let me get sick again. Please.

  CHAPTER

  EIGHT

  II felt better the next morning and a lot less worried. I’d gone to bed around eight after taking a long bath. Although I wouldn’t be sure until I saw my doctor, I felt certain my weariness was from being overtired and not from the leukemia.

  Max called while I was getting dressed. Mom brought the phone up to my room.

  “Hey, Jess.” Max sounded worried. “You doing okay?”

  “Sure, but I can’t go with you and Cooper to look for Enrique today.”

  “I figured that much. We’re not going today anyway. I need to help Mrs. T, and Coop says he should stay home and work on the yard. His dad’s been bugging him.”

  I bit my lip as a lump caught in my throat. I knew if they really wanted to go out on the lake they could. “Thanks, Max. You’re a true friend.”

  “Sure, but what’s that got to do with anything? Listen, your mom said you had a doctor’s appointment today. Good luck with that. Call me and tell me what your doctor says.”

  “I will.”

  Since I’d gotten up so late, the morning whizzed by, and before I knew it, Mom was calling me from downstairs. “We need to leave in a couple minutes, Jessie. Are you ready?”

  “Be right down.” I closed down my computer. Maybe I couldn’t actually go out to search for Enrique, but I could do some research. I had found quite a few situations like Enrique’s. One family in Walla Walla, which is in the southeast part of our state, was about to be deported back to England. They’d moved to the U.S. about 16 years ago, but had never gotten their U.S. citizenship. They had two girls, teenagers, who had not been born in the U.S., but they didn’t know it. A lot of people in the town were supporting the family, trying to keep them from having to leave. But the authorities weren’t listening.

  I’d read both sides of the story and understood how important it was for the immigration authorities to enforce the law. But I felt sad for the family—especially the girls who were still in high school. How awful to have to leave your friends and school to go to another country.

  Engl
and might not be so bad, I thought, but I wasn’t so sure about Mexico. Poor Enrique. How long could he and his sisters stay hidden? What were they doing for food?

  “Jessie!” Mom’s not-too-patient voice stopped my worries and sent me rushing down the stairs.

  I hoped Dr. Caldwell would tell my mother to stop being so worried and to let me hang out with my friends. I wanted to go out with Max and Cooper tomorrow for sure. I had a bad feeling about Enrique and the girls.

  The doctor’s visit went a lot faster than I thought it would. They sent me to the lab to get my blood drawn, and then we waited for the results. Sam had come along, so we worked on a puzzle. I didn’t get really nervous until the nurse took me back to the exam room by myself.

  I got up on the table and watched the nurse take my blood pressure and check my temperature and pulse. She didn’t flinch or anything, so I guessed everything was normal. When she left, I got off the table and looked through the ancient magazines in the rack. Natural Health had an article on powering up your immune system. I started reading it and put it back when the door opened. I had wanted to go in by myself, but now I was wishing Mom and Sam had come in too. I could imagine the doctor telling me I had to go back into the hospital. That I had been too active and my body was rejecting the bone marrow.

  Dr. Caldwell smiled when she came into the room. “Hi, Jessie.”

  “Hi.” I swallowed hard. She’s smiling. How bad can it be?

  “How are you feeling?” She placed her hands under my ears and along my chin to feel my glands.

  “Tired, I guess, but I’m doing okay.”

  “Your mother tells me you’ve been overdoing it.”

  I frowned. “She worries too much.”

  Dr. Caldwell nodded. “That’s what mothers are supposed to do.” She checked my ears and throat and listened to my heart and lungs. When she finished the exam she slipped the stethoscope back around her neck. “Well, Jessie …”

  “So, am I going to die?”

  “I don’t think we need to worry about that just yet. Your blood work looks good. No surprises.”

  I closed my eyes and heaved a huge sigh. “That means I can hang with my friends, right? You can tell Mom not to worry?”