The Bloodwater Mysteries: Skullduggery
Page 1
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter 1 - bones
Chapter 2 - blue eyes
Chapter 3 - curses
Chapter 4 - skunk cabbage
Chapter 5 - help!
Chapter 6 - sweetie pie
Chapter 7 - yorick
Chapter 8 - bulldozers and ghosts
Chapter 9 - eric bloodwater
Chapter 10 - red bumps
Chapter 11 - artifact
Chapter 12 - fuzzy logic
Chapter 13 - turkey tail
Chapter 14 - family dinner
Chapter 15 - colleagues
Chapter 16 - public embarrassment
Chapter 17 - epidemic
Chapter 18 - blast
Chapter 19 - red shirt
Chapter 20 - jillian
Chapter 21 - shock wave
Chapter 22 - samowen
Chapter 23 - thirteen steps
Chapter 24 - old bones
Chapter 25 - bods
Chapter 26 - slushy date
Chapter 27 - aston larue
Chapter 28 - bat-poop breeze
Chapter 29 - information
Chapter 30 - bat patrol
Chapter 31 - back door
Chapter 32 - spelunking
Chapter 33 - banshee
Chapter 34 - brain surgery
Chapter 35 - the black nose
Chapter 36 - up and out
Chapter 37 - a drastic measure
Chapter 38 - jailed
Chapter 39 - a permanent complication
Chapter 40 - bindweed seeds
Chapter 41 - fenton
Chapter 42 - indian bluff revisited
G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
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First Impression
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For Jack
1
bones
Dr. Andrew Dart had climbed thirty feet up the limestone bluff when a rock struck an outcropping just above his head. Dart flinched, then looked up. He saw and heard nothing.
Dart drew a shuddering breath. Chunks of limestone, loosened by wind and rain, sometimes broke away on their own. A few inches to the right and it could have killed him.
He rested on a shallow ledge and wiped his brow. From his perch he could see over the trees to where Bloodwater River flowed into the Mississippi. Not many wild places like this left in southern Minnesota.
All this land had once been populated by Native Americans. The rivers had been their freeways. They had built great villages looking out over the Mississippi River—maybe even right here, at the top of this rocky precipice.
The bluff he was climbing, and the woodland below, were now owned by Bloodwater College, where Dart was a professor of archaeology. But in a few days the land would be sold to a developer. Dart had taken it upon himself to do a final survey of the area before the bulldozers arrived. If he could find just one good piece of archaeological evidence—the ruins of a Native American village, or a burial mound—the college might be persuaded to stop the sale. Even a single unusual artifact might be enough.
Dart resumed his climb. Moments later, he had reached the odd cleft in the rock he had seen from below. There was a concealed opening, a crack in the bluff just wide enough for a man to squeeze through. He sniffed. Bat guano. A good sign there was a cave.
He stood in the entrance and tried to get a grip on himself. He hadn’t planned on exploring a cave. All he had was the small flashlight attached to his key chain. And he did not like dark places. But this was important.
He forced himself to take a few steps into the cave, then stopped and let his eyes adjust to the dark. The passageway was narrow and low. He ducked his head and followed the weak beam of his flashlight. He felt panic rise in his chest as the passage narrowed. The rock walls seemed to be closing in on him, but he forced himself to move farther into the cavern.
The passageway soon widened into a large chamber. He could hear the chittering of bats from above. Staying close to the wall, he came upon another narrow passageway leading off to the right. He saw footprints in the dust—he was not the first person to visit this cave. As he examined a footprint, he heard a shuffling noise. He froze, listening carefully, but didn’t hear it again. Probably an echo.
Moving deeper into the chamber, he gasped at what he saw next. A collection of dry yellow bones lay piled against the cavern wall.
A skeleton! Was it human? Yes! He could see the skull!
He shined his flashlight into the empty eye sockets. This is just what I need! he thought.
Dart heard the shuffling sound again. He turned to look just as something smashed into the back of his head. He pitched forward, and the last thing he heard was the snapping of ancient, brittle bones.
2
blue eyes
Roni Delicata stared at Professor Bloom’s face with what she hoped might be mistaken for polite attentiveness. In fact, she was merely noting how much he looked like a lady’s slipper orchid, with his pouchy lower lip, pink face, bulging eyes and batlike ears. It made sense, Roni thought, since that was all the man seemed to want to talk about. Lady’s slippers and trout lilies.
Yawn.
“The Bloodwater Bottoms is home to dozens of endangered wildflower species,” the professor intoned, pointing to a map with his cane. “Not only lady’s slippers and trout lilies, but also such rare beauties as Latinus misbegottenus, Boringus dullemia and Mesmerus dozingus . . .”
Roni shook herself awake.
“Did you have a question, young lady?” said Professor Bloom.
“Um, no . . . I just wondered if, uh . . .” She tried to think of something—anything—interesting. “Are there any poisonous plants?”
“Indeed!” said the professor, rapping the hard wooden tip of his cane on the floor. “Certain mushrooms such as Amanita virosa and Galerina autumnalis can be deadly. And of course there is Symplocarpus foetidus, better known as skunk cabbage, which is toxic if not properly cooked. Also, the seeds of the native bindweed plant, a type of morning glory, produce a powerful hallucinogen. In addition, there are . . .” He went on with a list of long Latin names.
Looking out the corner of her eye, Roni noted that several of the other students were also struggling to stay awake. The only one who seemed at all interested was Brian Bain. That figured. Brian was fascinated by all things nerdy and scientific, no matter how boring. Fortunately, this charact
er flaw was offset by the fact that Brian was also fascinated by explosive devices, clandestine operations and other risky behaviors.
Brian caught her looking at him and stuck out his tongue. Roni looked away. So immature. But what could you expect? Sure, he was smart enough to have gotten bumped up to the ninth grade, but he was still just a kid.
Why had she signed up for this stupid Regional Studies class? It was the middle of the summer. She should be out having fun in the sun like practically every other kid in Bloodwater. But noooooo! Her mother, Nick, had decided that a perfect B-minus average was not good enough for a girl of Roni’s “great potential.”
Potential, schmotential. If this orchid-faced nutjob kept hammering her with Latin swamp-plant names, her brain would melt into a puddle of primordial ooze.
“Aren’t we supposed to go on a field trip?” another student asked.
“Indeed we are! This afternoon we will be exploring the Bloodwater Bottoms, one of the few areas of virgin forest remaining in the county—yes, young man?”
Brian asked, “Didn’t I hear something about a housing development going up in the bottoms?”
The professor scowled. “A company called Bloodwater Development wanted to build a condominium complex right along the river, which would have permanently damaged the delicate ecosystem. Totally irresponsible!” As he spoke, the professor’s face turned red. He pounded his fist into his palm. “They would have destroyed the last of the trout lilies!” He paused and took a deep breath. “Fortunately, the developers decided to build their condominiums on top of Indian Bluff, rather than in the precious bottomlands.”
Professor Bloom frowned, looking toward the back of the room. “Excuse me, young man, are you registered for this seminar?”
Everyone turned to look at the boy who had just walked into the classroom.
Omigod, thought Roni.
She squeezed her eyes closed, then opened them. He was still there: tall and blue eyed with curly black hair. Omigod, she whispered to herself. Blue eyes and black hair did it to her every time.
The boy looked at the sheet of paper in his hand. His dark eyebrows came together in a way that made Roni’s belly go all tingly.
“Is this Regional Studies?” the boy asked.
“Indeed it is,” said Professor Bloom. “You are twenty-two minutes late.”
“I got lost. We just moved to town last week and I—”
“Be that as it may, arriving late to the first day of class is not an auspicious beginning.”
“A not a what?” said the boy.
A nervous laugh erupted from Roni’s throat. She couldn’t stop it. It sounded like a bullfrog belching.
She clapped a hand to her mouth, but it was too late. Every single person in the classroom—including him—turned and stared at her. She wanted to climb under her desk and die.
“Did you say something, Miss Delicata?” asked the professor.
Roni shook her head vigorously. Her face had to be the color of a beet. Gennifer Kohlstad, two rows over, gave her a knowing smirk. Roni looked away, going from embarrassed to furious. A gorgeous guy with blue eyes and black hair would also appeal to a tart like Gennifer. Roni wouldn’t have a chance against Gennifer’s sexy boy-killer looks and bubbly personality.
The professor returned his attention to the new student and directed him to the nearest desk.
“What is your name, son?”
“Eric.” The boy smiled. “Eric Bloodwater.”
3
curses
Bloodwater? Brian Bain twisted his neck to get a better look at the kid, who had sat at a desk near the back of the room. Eric Bloodwater leaned forward in his seat, as if looking attentive would make up for his late arrival.
Nobody named Bloodwater had lived in Bloodwater for nearly fifty years. And those Bloodwaters . . . well, they’d pretty much gone insane and killed each other off. In fact, every Bloodwater Brian had ever heard of had come to a bad end.
Some people said there was a Bloodwater Curse. Curse or no, the Bloodwaters were ancient history. Brian had always assumed that the whole clan had died out years ago.
But this kid did not look dead. Or cursed.
“Mr. Bain, would you mind directing your attention to the front of the room?” asked Professor Bloom.
“Sorry,” Brian said, looking back at the professor.
“As I was explaining for Mr. Bloodwater’s benefit, today we are studying the plant life endemic to Bloodwater Bottoms and the surrounding area. Later this week, Dr. Andrew Wyndham Dart will visit us to talk about Native American archaeology in the region. We will also learn about Bloodwater politics and government, which will include a visit to the county courthouse and jail.
“Now, as I was saying, a number of rare plant species can be found in the hardwood forests along the lower Bloodwater . . .”
Brian sneaked a look at Roni Delicata, a few rows over. He hadn’t seen much of her lately. Actually, not since they’d gotten themselves in a world of trouble by investigating—and solving—the Alicia Camden kidnapping. That had been fun. Dangerous, but fun.
Brian wouldn’t have minded hanging out with Roni more, but they didn’t really have much in common. He was three years younger than her. He was smart about science stuff; she didn’t care if the earth was round, flat or triangular. She was a reporter for the school paper; he belonged to the Robot Club and the Chess Club. She was good at talking to people; he always stuck his foot in his mouth. About the only thing they had in common was that they both liked solving crimes. Without a crime, they just didn’t have much to talk about.
Roni kept sneaking looks toward the back of the room. What was she looking at? Brian followed her glance and decided she was looking at Eric Bloodwater.
Uh-oh, he thought. That could mean two things.
Either she’d developed an instant crush, or she’d found herself another mystery.
Or both.
4
skunk cabbage
Professor Bloom said they’d head out for their first field trip after lunch to search for lady’s slipper orchids, trout lilies and skunk cabbage.
Skunk cabbage? Roni couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to find such a horridly named specimen. She found a place to sit on the low brick wall outside the school and opened her container of peach yogurt. The yogurt was disgusting and the wall was uncomfortable, but she had a perfect view of Eric Bloodwater, who was sitting by himself with his back against the trunk of a small tree.
Maybe she should go over and sit down next to him. Ask him a really interesting question to show him how smart and fascinating she was. Either that or just smile and simper and gaze at him adoringly, which was what most guys seemed to want.
Roni forced down another spoonful of the sickeningly sweet peach yogurt. She had an olive loaf sandwich in her bag, but she didn’t want Eric to see her shoving a huge sandwich down her throat. The yogurt seemed more elegant.
She stole another look at Eric Bloodwater and sighed. He was just too good-looking. She didn’t have a chance. Not unless she instantly dropped fifteen pounds. And her legs grew a couple of inches. And . . . what was she thinking? She was who she was. Roni Delicata, teenage shlump.
On the other hand, she had nothing to lose. If he told her to get lost, at least she could stop thinking about him. Maybe.
“Whatcha staring at, Sherlock?”
Roni jumped.
“Don’t do that!” she snapped at Brian, who had sneaked up behind her. She gave him her best glare, but Brian, in his eternal Brianly way, didn’t seem to notice. He sat down on the wall beside her, his broad, open, Korean face smiling.
“Isn’t this class great?” he said.
“Sure, if you like being bored out of your skull. I’m not here by choice.”
“You flunk a class?”
Roni looked around, making sure that no one else could hear her. “No, I didn’t flunk anything, but my mom thought my grades could be improved.”
“C
ool.”
“No, Brian, it isn’t cool. It’s pathetic. I have much more important things I could be doing with my summer.”
“Name one.”
“How about sleeping till noon? Instead of tramping around in the woods looking for skunk cabbage. You don’t think he’s gonna make us eat it, do you?”
Brian laughed. “You kidding? Symplocarpus foetidus is poisonous!”
“You spout one more Latin name I’m going to pour this yogurt over your head.”
Professor Bloom appeared at the door of the school. He hung his cane over his forearm and clapped his hands.
“People! People! Gather ’round, please!”
Brian and Roni walked up to him together. He pointed at them. “You two are a pair.” Then he proceeded to pair off the rest of the class. To Roni’s horror, he put Gennifer with Eric.
“We will be using the buddy system when we’re in the bottoms this afternoon. Stick with your partner and try to avoid sinkholes, bogs, stinging nettles, poison ivy, rattle-snakes and other potential sources of discomfort. You will each be assigned a particular species, choosing from the list of plants I handed out at the beginning of class. Think of it as a sort of scavenger hunt.”
Brian’s hand shot up. “Can Roni and I have skunk cabbage?”
Roni felt her face turning pink. Why had she let the little twit even walk next to her? Now she was stuck with him—and skunk cabbage—for the rest of the day.
5
help!
“I thought you were interested in skunk cabbage,” Brian said. “It being poisonous and all . . .”
Roni made a growling noise in her throat. Brian could tell her heart wasn’t in their assignment. When she was interested in finding something, she could put a bloodhound to shame. But she wasn’t even really looking. She was just walking through the woods with a scowl on her face, complaining about the nettles and jumping every time she saw a stick that looked like a snake. She could have tripped over a skunk cabbage and never noticed it.