Rick Brant 9 Stairway to Danger

by John Blaine

  “I get the idea,” Scotty agreed. “It’s like having a solid tube which doesn’t take much power to operate.”

  Rick nodded. “That’s about right.” He searched through a box of materials on the back of the bench and found a tiny object that resembled a plastic bean. Three wires projected from it, one from each end and one from the center. Rick pointed to them in order.“Input, output, and grid. And this little gimmick is the equivalent of a tube.”

  Scotty shook his head. “I’m snowed,” he said. “Every time I think I know a little about electronics, up comes something new.”

  Rick drew a set of draftsman’s tools toward him from the back of the bench, rummaged through a box of assorted material until he found some heavy white paper, then settled down to work. The first step was to plan the physical layout of the tiny control unit, which was nothing more than a miniature transmitter. The size would be determined mainly by two things: the power supply and the microphone, those being the bulkiest.

  “Take a look,” he suggested. “What kind of power supply does this thing need?”

  Scotty went through the design until he found what he needed. “Believe it or not,” he announced, “this thing will operate on one pencil-type battery. It’s the kind of battery they use in hearing aids.”

  “That’s because we’re using transistors.How about the microphone?”

  Winston came by in time to hear the question. He reached toward the back of the bench and produced Page 26

  a cardboard box. “Here it is. It’s a crystal, designed to be mounted on a plastic plate. You’ll find instructions inside.”

  The microphone was about the size and thickness of a bottle cap.

  Rick did some quick figuring,then turned to Scotty with a grin. “Know how big this handy-dandy dingus is going to be?”

  “Pretty small,” Scotty guessed.“About six inches by three?”

  “It’s going to fit into a playing-card pack,” Rick told him. “And there will be a little room left over!”

  The boys worked rapidly for the rest of the day, not talking much. They divided the work as always, with Rick taking the job of building the circuit while Scotty made the case and then some of the parts that were required.

  Rick drew the circuit on stiff paper, first in pencil, with frequent erasures. Then, as he fitted the lines into a rectangle of the proper size, he began to ink them in. When he had finished, he had an exact scale drawing of the completed circuit.

  He let the ink dry while he chatted with Parnell Winston,then went to work with scissors and painstakingly cut the circuit out of the paper. It was late afternoon before he finished. He put the fragile paper skeleton down and looked at Scotty.

  “How are you doing?”

  Scotty had been cutting and shaping thin sheets of plastic. He had the various parts of the case completed, but not assembled. His biggest job remained to be done; it was the slow, careful grinding of the front of the case to take the tiny microphone. The little mike would be inside the case, and the plastic wall in front of it had to be so thin that it would vibrate when voice sound hit it. Scotty was planning to do the job with a sanding disk mounted on a drill press.

  “I’m making good time,” Scotty said. “How many of these sets are we building?”

  Rick didn’t know. He called to Parnell Winston, who was working across the room. “How many of these will you want?”

  “Let’s have four,” the scientist answered. “We have just enough parts for that many.” He put down the work he was doing and joined the boys at their bench. His keen eyes took in what they had accomplished. “You’re a fast pair. When will you have the first one done?”

  “It depends on how long we work tonight,” Rick answered.“How about our staying over? We could work late, and at the same time we could keep an eye on the amusement park.”

  Dr. Winston thought it over. “I’m not so sure it’s a good idea,” he said. “We’d better ask Julius.” He walked over to the little mathematician and talked with him briefly, then came back, grinning. “I was a little worried about your ability to take care of yourselves,” he admitted. “Julius tells me to stop worrying.

  He claims that if you were dumped into a cage of tigers he would worry about the welfare of the tigers.”

  The boys chuckled. “Then we’ll stay,” Rick said.

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  “All right.You’ll find army cots and blankets on the second floor. There’s a hot plate under the bench nearest the door, with the makings for coffee and a few assorted cans of food. You won’t eat like kings, but you won’t starve, either.”

  The scientist looked at his watch. “It’s just about quitting time.”

  Winston and Weiss rode from Whiteside to the project and back each day with one of the technicians.

  Someone from Spindrift met them at the pier in one of the island motorboats.

  Rick and Scotty waited until the others had gone, then they walked to the plane and staked it down, using a pair of steel stakes from the baggage compartment. When the Cub was secure, they took four additional stakes and drove them into the ground in the form of a square with the plane in the middle.

  They took a coil of wire and strung it between the stakes, forming a low, two-strand fence. Then Rick took the ends of the wires and led them in through the plane door, which he left partially ajar. Inside, he connected the wires to a small black box under the dashboard. Taking care not to touch the plane, he reached in through the open door and flipped a switch.

  The device was a cross between an electric fence and a burglar alarm. If anyone touched the fence he would get a slight warning shock. If he jumped the fence and touched the plane, a loud horn would blow, and it would continue blowing until someone came to shut it off.

  The gadget was not foolproof by any means. Anyone determined to steal the plane could do so by studying the circuit and then disconnecting it. But casual visitors would be warned away.

  As Rick backed away, he looked at the amusement park fence. For a moment he thought he saw the hinged board move, but he watched steadily for a few seconds and saw nothing. Imagination, he thought.

  “Let’s go crack a can of beans and make a pot of coffee,” Scotty suggested. “I’m so hungry my stomach is sending out SOS messages.”

  “Come to think of it, I could eat myself,” Rick admitted.

  “Don’t eatyourself ,” Scotty exclaimed in mock horror. “That’s cannibalism. Eat beans instead.More nourishing.”

  Rick groaned.

  CHAPTER VI

  Will-o’-the-Wisp

  Rick sat in darkness, letting his thoughts wander, keeping his eyes turned in the direction of the amusement park. Scotty’s deep, regular breathing was the only sound.

  The luminous dial of Rick’s watch told him it was just pastmidnight . Two hours to go before he would awaken Scotty and then go to his own cot. They had decided that they should take turns, four hours on Page 28

  and four off, in keeping an eye on the amusement park.

  Rick was sure the car was still in the fun house. The project building was close enough so that the sound of the car would not have gone unnoticed if it had left during the day. He was determined that it would not get out without their knowing it. They couldn’t be sure it was the maroon car, repainted, but there was a chance. He and Scotty had a score to settle with the driver who had come within an ace of hurting Barby seriously.

  He leaned forward and stared out the window. He was above the level of the fence and he could see clearly into the amusement park-or as clearly as the darkness permitted. It was a moonless night, slightly overcast, and the buildings inside the fence were only dark blurs.

  The sudden glitter of a star, low on the horizon, attracted him. He watched it, noticing how diffused it seemed. It must be one of the planets, probably Jupiter, diffused by a thin cloud, he decided. Then he changed his mind. No star or planet moved abruptly, and this one had!

  He leaned out of the window, straining to see. The li
ght was too high to be on the top of any building.

  But, he suddenly realized, not too high to be on the top of the roller coaster!

  The high curve of the roller coaster was just visible. No doubt of it, the light was on the coaster’s highest point!

  With a bound he was at Scotty’s cot, shaking him. Scotty sat bolt upright.

  “What’s up, Rick?”

  “There’s a light on the roller coaster.”

  In a moment both boys were at the window. Scotty watched for a moment. “Wonder you didn’t miss it entirely,” he said. “It’s no brighter than a will-o’-the-wisp. Wonder what it is?”

  “Could be a pencil flashlight with a handkerchief over it,” Rick surmised. “Question is,what do we do about it?”

  Scotty hesitated. “If we could get closer . . .”

  Rick knew what he meant. “What are we waiting for?”

  They went down the stairs and through the litter of parts on the first floor, then out into the night. They had to go slowly, because there was so little light. They found the loose board in the fence and slipped into the amusement park.

  Scotty put his lips against Rick’s ear and whispered. “How do you get to the top of the roller coaster?”

  “I noticed a sort of ladder,” Rick answered in a whisper. “It leads from the top of the fun house.”

  “Looks like we’d better pay another visit to our pal the caretaker,” Scotty murmured. “Let’s go.”

  They made their way slowly, stopping frequently to listen. The light on top of the roller coaster was no longer visible, and once when they stopped to listen they heard a muffled voice.

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  Rick turned and looked back the way they had come. There was only darkness. What was more important, there was nothing against which they could be seen as silhouettes. They were safe enough, if no lights were turned on, and if they were very quiet.

  Rick estimated that they had covered about a third of the distance to the fun house. He tugged at Scotty’s sleeve and whispered that they had better swing wide and approach the place from the rear.

  The caretaker had probably succeeded in locking the door through the booth. Besides, what they wanted to see was in a room at the back.

  Scotty whispered his agreement and they slanted off past a row of concession buildings, keeping far enough away from the buildings to avoid rubble, but close enough so they could jump behind them if necessary.

  Rick’s pulse was a little faster than usual. The caretaker was a tough customer, and his threat to knock their heads together was not an idle one.

  The clouds overhead were thinning a little and starlight enabled them to see somewhat better, although it was still far too dark for easy going. Once Rick banged his shins against something and gritted his teeth to keep from crying out. He had to sit down and rub his legs until the pain went away.

  By slow stages they passed the fun house,then started angling in to approach it from the rear. They were close enough under the roller coaster to see every detail of its structure, as a dense black outline against the lesser darkness of the sky.

  There was no longer a sign of any light, nor of any living thing on the roller coaster. Rick wondered for the tenth time what anyone would be doing up there. He thought of going up for a look, but knew that was not possible. The climb would be bad enough with a light. Without one, it would be close to suicide.

  Roller coasters weren’t made for casual climbing, at least not in the darkness.

  The back of the fun house was in full view now, but no light showed through. Then, as they approached, a light appeared. It was a yellow, unsteady light that came through a window set in the back of the building. The window was about eight feet above the ground.

  The boys stopped fifty feet away and consulted in whispers.

  “How do we get a look into the window?” Rick asked.

  Scotty whispered back, “Don’t know.Unless you stand on my shoulders.”

  “Too risky,” Rick replied. “One slip and they’d have us. We couldn’t keep from making noise. There must be some other way.”

  “Look for a crack,” Scotty suggested.

  They scanned the rear of the building for a telltale gleam of light, but there was none.“Now what?” Rick asked. He looked for a vantage point from which they might be able to see through the window, but saw only the roller coaster.

  He examined the structure more closely. The highest point was close to the fun house, so getting on the track wasn’t practicable. But it might be possible to shinny up one of the uprights. There were enough cross-pieces to help out. He whispered the idea in Scotty’s ear.

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  Scotty immediately walked to the nearest upright and felt for handholds. There was a crosspiece directly above their heads, and another about six feet above that. Rick nudged Scotty and pointed to the second one.

  Scotty wrapped his legs around the upright and started up. Rick waited until he was standing on the first crosspiece,then followed.

  The wood of the upright seemed soft. Rick realized that it was rotting away under the flaky paint. But it seemed sturdy enough; it would hold them. He gripped the first crosspiece and hauled himself up. In a moment he was standing on it, waiting for Scotty to get a seat on the upper piece.

  Scotty whispered something that Rick didn’t get. He answered, “Be with you in a second.” He shinned up the upright and swung to a seat next to Scotty. Both had their arms braced around the upright.

  Rick looked down. It was black under them. He could just make out the white paint of the upright.

  Ahead, at a slight angle below them, was the window. They looked into a big room filled with machinery. Rick guessed it was the machinery that had operated most of the fun house apparatus. A car sat in a clear space. He could see its engine hood, but that was all.

  The source of the light was a lantern. It sat on a wooden plank table, and two men were seated before it. One was the caretaker.

  The second man was redheaded, with close-cropped hair. His face was thin, and its thinness emphasized the width of his jaw. His mouth was just a colorless line, turned down at the corners.

  “Not much for looks,” Scotty whispered.

  That was a fine piece of understatement, Rick thought. The man gave him the creeps. “Wonder who he is?” he said.

  Scotty whispered, “I won’t forget a face like that.”

  Whoever the man was, he was nervous. His big hands kept drumming on the table as he talked to his companion. He fidgeted in his chair. Then he stood up and walked out of the boys’ line of vision.

  Rick craned to see where he had gone, and leaned too far out! He grabbed desperately at the upright, missed,then got one arm wrapped around the cross-piece on which he had been sitting. His body swung down, and there was an unholy screech as the nails of the crosspiece gave!

  The crosspiece swung down and Rick dropped, flexing his knees. He landed with a thud and sprawled flat on the ground. Scotty came down the upright like a fireman down a pole and helped him to his feet.

  “Run for it,” Rick gasped.

  He led the way, running at top speed despite the stinging in his feet from the landing. The back door of the fun house crashed open and yellow light came through.

  Rick dodged into the shadow of a building and kept running. Scotty was close beside him.

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  They heard running feet, but no other sound.

  “Be as quiet as you can,” Scotty whispered. “They can’t see us, and if they can’t hear us, they won’t know where to look. Slow down.”

  That made sense to Rick. He slowed his headlong flight and took time to look back. Their pursuers were not close, but he saw a flashlight beam searching the ground some distance behind them.

  Scotty took his arm and pointed. A second flashlight was moving away from the first. That was good.

  So far as they knew, there were only two men. They could keep track of their movements.

  Going slowly, wi
th frequent checks on the locations of the flashlights, they angled across the park. The pursuers were together again, far up the fence near the hinged board.

  “All safe so far,” Rick whispered. He led the way to the loose board quietly, but without lingering. In a short time they were behind the locked doors of the project.

  For a long time they crouched at the upstairs window. They watched the flashlights move, first to the gate near the road, then outside. Rick held his breath, waiting for the plane’s burglar alarm to sound.

  After a while the flashlights returned again, and approached to a spot almost under their window-to the loose board in the fence. The boys watched, scarcely daring to breathe, although Rick was sure the two men had guessed their identity. Probably the reason the two hadn’t invaded the project was that they couldn’t be sure how many men had stayed overnight.

  Presently the flashlights moved away and there was nothing but darkness.

  CHAPTER VII

  Locked Controls!

  When Parnell Winston and Julius Weiss arrived from Spindrift the following morning they found Rick and Scotty already at work.

  The boys told the scientists about their adventure of the previous night. At the end, Rick pulled up his trouser leg and showed a pair of bruised knees. “Do I get a Purple Heart for my wounds?” he demanded.

  “I’m tempted to revoke your junior G-man badge,” Winston said. “What you did was fine, but where are the results? The only thing you know today that you didn’t know yesterday is what the second man looks like. Where’s the gain in that?”

  “None,” Rick agreed unhappily. “That’s what makes it rough. All we have to show for it is a pair of skinned knees.”

  “Now what?”Winston asked.

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  “Now we go to work and forget about the characters in the fun house.At least for a while.” Rick sighed.