The Mystery of Rainbow Gulch

by Norvin Pallas

  Mr. Manners, of course, had not liked Mr. Franton’s move. But he pretended to be cordial, and invited the Frantons to stay at a second farm he had just bought cheaply. It was his intention to burn the family out. After the old house was destroyed, they would have been so destitute that Mr. Manners believed it would be much easier for him to reach a favorable settlement with them.

  One morning he got his opportunity to set the house afire. Mr. Franton was away from home. Mrs. Franton walked out of the house toward the barn, presumably leaving the child asleep. But little Marilyn awakened, and toddled outside in quest of her mother. She lost sight of her speedily, and stumbled down a side path back of the hen house.

  With the house now empty of people, Mr. Manners set off the fire he had prepared for, the flames spreading quickly and exploding the oil heater. At the sound of the explosion Mrs. Franton came out of the barn. Believing her baby to be asleep in the house, to the watching Mr. Manners’ unspeakable horror, she ran into the flaming house in a futile rescue attempt. Mr. Franton returned just in time to see his wife dash into the flames. He knew that nothing except the baby could have led her to run into a burning house, and believed both his wife and daughter had perished.

  Evidently overcome by grief, his mind and spirit seemed to break completely, and he wandered off toward the woods.

  There was no one left to take care of Marilyn, so Mr. Manners was forced to take her home with him. Griefstricken, he confessed the whole story to his wife, who was fully as shocked as he was. Mr. Manners was seriously ill for a time, but he eventually recovered and they were very careful that the doctor should not see Marilyn when he visited.

  After Mr. Manners recovered, they had to decide what to do with the little girl. Mrs. Manners would have liked to keep her, but of course that was impossible. An investigation might have disclosed Mr. Manners’ close connection with the Frantons and their dispute. So they looked around for a suitable home.

  Mr. Fontaine was a kindly, hard-working, and prosperous farmer, while his wife had frequently expressed a wish for a daughter. Surely a little girl would be welcome there, so early one morning Mr. Manners drove Marilyn down to the Fontaine farm and left her just inside the gateway.

  Then Mr. Manners searched for Mr. Franton, and discovered him living as a hermit up in Rainbow Gulch, in an old cabin he had found. Mr. Franton seemed confused about his own identity and to have no memory of how he got there.

  Mr. Manners did what he could to provide for the hermit. He brought him supplies, and then he arranged for the non-communicative José to carry food and clothes up to the gulch. Finally, not wanting to be seen in that neighborhood himself, he turned the whole job over to José. José did exactly what he was paid to do, and asked no questions.

  But Mr. Manners did not give up his claims. The death of Mrs. Franton was an accident, and he had done his best to provide for Mr. Franton and Marilyn. He believed the oil discoveries were his, and he determined to claim them. If anything, he became more ruthless than ever.

  It took time to clear up the matter of the leases, and the final step was an aerial survey of Sandy Hill to check the maps and make sure everything was in order. It was on this photographing mission that the plane crashed, and Mr. Manners was carried away to the gulch by the hermit. Mrs. Manners knew about the flight, but when only the body of the pilot was found in the plane, she supposed her husband must have stayed behind after all. Now she had learned the truth. She no longer wanted anything to do with the leases. It was evil money to her, and she felt that she still had a moral obligation to Marilyn for all the misfortunes they had caused her.

  Her listeners could easily guess the rest of the story: how Mr. Manners had finally told the hermit that his daughter was still alive; how the hermit had hung about the Fontaine farm watching for Marilyn, until he had finally lured her away with him.

  They were still thinking about this strange story when a nurse approached them.

  “Are you Mr. Fontaine? I have a telephone call for you from Captain Leland of the forest rangers.”

  CHAPTER 16.

  OVER THE RAINBOW

  Just what target the parachutist was aiming for, the boys couldn’t tell. From the air they must have spotted a clear space, and the man had jumped for it. The boys were unable to see just where the man landed, although it was on the far side of the gulch. They saw the jumper free himself from the parachute, and then both the man and his chute were lost to view.

  “They wouldn’t have dropped a man unless they had a good expectation of picking him up again,” Ted observed. How could they pick him up? No plane except a helicopter could do that. A helicopter! Then that meant there really was a helicopter on the way, offering them a chance of rescue!

  “A helicopter needs room for those big swinging blades.” Bob was thinking out loud. “There isn’t any clear spot on our side of the gulch, or the parachutist would have aimed for that. Instead he picked out a spot on the other side, a small patch that the fire must have swept past without touching, due to the twistings and turnings of the gulch. We’ve got to reach the parachutist, or he has to reach us.”

  How could they reach him? Back around the head of the gulch, the way they had come? No, the fire was still burning heavily in that direction. Then down the gulch and up again? No, there were few trails leading down the side of the gulch; besides, it was still burning below.

  “There’s only one way to do it—over the Rainbow!”

  It took considerable nerve for Bob to lead them toward the Rainbow, toward the main line of the fire instead of away from it. But it must be all right, they must have been able to see from the air that there was a clear path to the Rainbow, and that was why they had decided to do it this way.

  Bob’s logic soon proved correct. By slowly following along the rim of the gulch they managed to reach the Rainbow without approaching too closely to the flames or heavy smoke. Overhead the airplane was still circling. Ted looked up at the Rainbow with misgivings. The center of the formation arched some fifty feet above their heads, and the climb looked treacherous with slippery footholds. Fortunately, this was the easier side. The other side would have been nearly impossible with Tony clinging to them.

  At least their climb up the hill a little earlier had taught them one lesson. Their slippery shoes were going to be no help to them, and they took them off.

  “Should I take my shoes off, too?” asked Tony.

  “No, I guess you won’t have to,” Bob decided, for he knew that Tony couldn’t make a climb like this. “I’ll carry you the way the firemen do.” He lifted her over his shoulder and told her how to hang on so she would impede him as little as possible.

  “I’ll go ahead and give you a hand,” Ted offered

  Before he could become too aware of the dangers he faced, Ted began the climb. He tested each rock with his hands before he grasped it firmly and trusted his weight to it. Several of them pulled loose, but he found a sufficient number of firm rocks to help him upward. Supporting his hands for the moment, they supported his feet a little later, as he slowly mounted the wall. He didn’t look down into the yawning chasm below, but every couple of feet he stopped to give Bob an assist or to guide him onto the best footing. Tony was very still and almost immovable.

  About halfway up Ted encountered difficulties. There were no holds just above, and he had to make his way sideways until he could reach a better spot. When he did, he began to inch upward slowly again, little by little, barely a foot at a time, carefully feeling for each rock. Bob followed the path he had chosen.

  And then, as he reached out above, feeling for some support that would carry them up the last ten feet to the summit, his hand encountered smooth rock. There was nothing above to give support and no way to move down with the others below him. He was strung up, unable to move. He had a good grip for the moment, and there was no danger of falling, but how long could he stay there, and what about the others? With Tony on his back, Bob was a good deal less mobile than Ted.

>   “I’m letting a rope down to you,” called a voice from above. “Loop it around your waists if you can.”

  The parachutist had made the climb up the other side of the Rainbow! The rope was already dangling at his side, and Ted made a firm hitch about his chest, then dropped the end on down to Bob.

  “Come on ahead,” the ranger ordered. “I’ve got the rope looped around a rock, and it can’t slip.”

  “Roger!” Ted responded.

  While Bob stood still, Ted was helped up over the final edge. Then he and the ranger helped the others up, until all four stood safely upon the comparatively level summit of the arch.

  “I’m Captain Leland of the forest rangers,” their rescuer explained with a grin.

  “I’m Ted Wilford, and this is Bob Fontaine, and his sister Tony.”

  “My name’s Marilyn,” said Tony, a little doubtfully, “—I think.”

  “When’s the helicopter coming?” asked Bob.

  “Then you caught on all right.” Captain Leland smiled. “We may have about half an hour to wait, but we’re all right where we are. There’s no fire directly below, and on my side the main line of fire has swept past. We won’t get the smoke from your side unless there’s a shift of wind.”

  “Then we won’t have to climb down the other side of the Rainbow?” asked Bob.

  “Oh, no, the helicopter will be able to pick us up from here. I have a portable transmitter to talk it in.”

  The airplane was still in the sky above them, and Tony asked, “When is it going to come down and take us home?”

  “Oh, we’re not going to ride in that plane, Marilyn. We’re going to have a ride in a different kind of plane that doesn’t have any wings.”

  Captain Leland was on the radio repeatedly, talking with the planes overhead, which in turn relayed information about the helicopter. Time moved slowly, and though the boys began to fear that perhaps the helicopter wasn’t going to get there before the fire drew too close along the eastern edge of the gulch and the smoke became overpowering, the captain seemed very cheerful.

  “Will there be any trouble with air currents over a fire?” asked Ted.

  “Don’t worry about that, Ted. We’ve got the best equipment in the world, and men who know how to use it.”

  Actually, they had been on top of the Rainbow for only twenty minutes when the helicopter finally hove into sight.

  “If you’ve flown before, you won’t notice too much difference in the air,” Captain Leland explained, “except it’s a little noisier. It’s the going up and coming down that seems queer at first. When the plane gets just above us you’ll feel the downdraft from the rotors, but don’t let it worry you. It won’t be strong enough to do any harm.”

  In comparison to airplanes, the helicopter seemed to move rather slowly, but it must have been covering a good deal of ground, for in just a minute or two it had churned its way overhead. Once certain that the helicopter had spotted them, the other plane left on some other mission. Slowly the helicopter settled down toward them, lower and lower, until it stopped only a foot or two above the crest of the Rainbow.

  Captain Leland ordered Ted to climb in first, and it seemed pointless to argue the matter. Bob was about to pick Tony up, but the Captain took her in his arms.

  “I’ll take her. These ladders are a little tricky if you’re not used to them. You can steady it for me.”

  Half a minute later the captain and Tony were safely beside Ted. Bob followed, the ladder was up and the door closed, and the plane was drawing away from the bridge.

  As they flew along, it was exciting to identify familiar scenes. At first the whole line of fire came into view, then the unburned portion of the forest appeared, followed by the familiar ridge, then the Kirstead farm, and finally Bob’s, which he pointed out to Captain Leland. Tony was completely lost, but enthralled just the same.

  “I believe we’ll try to take you directly home,” said the Captain. “Where will it be best to land? All we need is a little stretch of level ground, with no chance of the wheels or blades snagging on something.”

  “There’s a meadow behind our house,” Bob pointed out. “That should be all right.”

  As Captain Leland consulted the pilot, Bob and Ted looked back toward the fire. It didn’t look so big now, and it was hard to realize that those hungry flames had come very close to trapping them hopelessly.

  The Captain returned to their side, and said, “That isn’t very valuable timberland, and those acres of grass don’t mean much. The rangers will probably record this as a small, unimportant fire. But it looks a lot bigger when you’re down there in it.”

  He went on, “I’ve talked with the mobile ground station, and they know you’re safe. It doesn’t seem worthwhile to try to talk to your mother, since we’ll be home almost before the call could get through. But they tell me your father has left to take a sick man to the hospital. Would you like to talk to him there?”

  “Sure,” said Bob eagerly.

  “The connection’s going through now. It should be ready in a moment.”

  When the call was through, Captain Leland spoke briefly, then put Bob on.

  “Hello, Dad!” exclaimed Bob.

  “Hello, Son,” his father answered. “I can’t believe it’s you. Are you all right—and Tony and Ted?”

  ‘‘Everything’s swell, Dad, but you’d never guess where we are. We’re about five hundred feet up in the air in a helicopter, and we’re beginning to settle down over our farm.”

  “I’ll see you soon, Bob.”

  As they touched the ground, they saw Mrs. Fontaine running toward them across the meadow. As she reached them she scooped Tony up and managed to get an arm about Bob. Then she hugged Ted, too. Her next thought was for her husband.

  “We’ll have to call him right away.”

  “I’ve talked to him from the plane, Mom. Who was the sick man he took to the hospital?”

  “The hermit. He was badly burned by the time he got there.”

  “Oh.” Then the hermit had been injured after all. “And Starlight?”

  “She’s all right, Bob. Had a hard ride and got sweated up, but there’s not a burn on her. Give her a day’s rest, and she’ll be nearly over it. Meadowlark came home, too.”

  Captain Leland was introduced, and the boys themselves shook the Captain’s hand warmly.

  The crew also stepped out, but refused all thanks. The pilot said, “It’s all in the day’s work, buddy. You pay your taxes, and this is what you get.”

  The other man, who called himself “copilot and everything else,” added, “I sometimes thought of getting a different job, like maybe in a jet, but there are days when I wouldn’t trade this for anything.”

  Mrs. Fontaine invited them to stop at the house for lunch, but they declined. “We’ve got food on the plane, and we might be needed again soon. I would like a chance to freshen up a bit, though. It gets pretty hot and dirty sometimes.”

  “But not as hot as it could be,” said the other man. “I’d rather fight fires from up there than down here. Listen for our radio, will you, Mac?”

  Whether he meant one of the boys, or Captain Leland, they did not know, but if it was the Captain, he didn’t seem to mind. The two young men ran across the field, and ducked their heads under the pump. They returned in a few minutes, and took off, waving their hands at the group.

  The others walked slowly back toward the house. So much had happened that the boys had to be reminded to get some shoes on. Ted was asked to drive Captain Leland back to rejoin the rangers. Upon being reminded, Tony thanked the Captain with a kiss that left him smiling.

  “If you wait for me,” she told him, “I’ll get my bank and give you all the money in it to pay for the ride.”

  “Why, Marilyn, I think you’ve already paid me far more than the ride was worth. I feel sure Uncle Sam will be ready to mark this ‘settled in full.’ “

  At mention of the name “Marilyn,” Mrs. Fontaine looked surprised, but
she would not ask questions in front of the neighbors, who were still there.

  When Ted returned, coffee and sandwiches were ready. Everyone was quiet, and Ted felt that they were marking time until Mr. Fontaine returned. Then they would find out about the hermit, and perhaps clear up the other mysteries.

  “Tony” was trying to eat, though her eyes were drooping. Marilyn, Ted thought—if that was her name. But how had the hermit known? Marilyn, Marilyn. What did that remind him of? What had Cox told him about key words? A very vivid word which Mr. Franton would have no chance of forgetting. A word with letters scattered through the alphabet, but no repetitions. He spelled it out carefully. It met every test.

  He jumped to his feet so suddenly that everyone looked at him in surprise. “Do you know where Mr. Cox is, Mrs. Fontaine? I’ve got something to tell him.”

  CHAPTER 17.

  A SINGLE ACT OF VIOLENCE

  Though Cox had been at the scene of the fire, apparently he left as soon as he had word about the rescue and returned to the farm. Ted went into a huddle with him.

  “Do you remember that we almost broke that message using the key word, ‘Maryland’? Well, how about ‘Marilyn’?”

  “Do you know something I don’t, Ted? Maybe I did give up too easily.”

  Ted’s copy of the message was unavailable, and he recalled having given his notebook to Nelson for some reason that morning. But Cox had a copy, and they set to work with it. The message began to come out: FIRST NAT . . .

  “That’ll do,” said Cox suddenly. “First National Bank of some place or other. You can work the rest of it out for yourself, if you want to. Wasn’t that Mr. Franton a cagey person after all? I figure he left the necessary papers in a bank safety-deposit drawer, so that even if I read the message I couldn’t get at them.”