by Ron Roy
Dink tried not to giggle. Josh checking out a bear?
“Well, I hope you’re wrong!” the woman said. “Let me ask my husband.”
She turned around and called into the cabin, “Flip, have you seen any bears around here?”
The man who had hung the T-shirt on the clothesline came to the door. He was skinny and had a pointy beard. “There better not be any,” he said. “You guys staying here?”
“Right over there,” Dink said, pointing across the creek. “I’m Dink, and my friends are Josh and Ruth Rose.”
“Nice to meet you,” the man said. “I’m Flip, and this is my wife, Heidi.”
Dink glanced through the open cabin door. He saw a table and chairs in front of a fireplace, the same as in their own cabin. The floor was bare, and the rug was rolled up, off to one side. Through the bedroom doorway, Dink could see a neatly made bed. He didn’t see any sign of Parker Stone.
“Well, see you later,” Flip said. He and Heidi went inside and closed the door.
The kids walked back across the bridge to their cabin. They sat at the table and looked out the window. “Well,” Josh said, “Dink is right. The T-shirt must belong to that guy or his wife. Parker must not be there, unless he’s tied up in the bathroom.”
Dink took a sip of his milk and picked up his cookie. The cookie never made it to his mouth because his hand froze in midair. “Guys, I was wrong,” he whispered.
“About what?” Ruth Rose asked.
“About Parker Stone,” Dink said. “I think he is here at Phantom Ranch!”
Josh and Ruth Rose looked at Dink. He was holding his cookie in one hand and his milk glass in the other.
“What made you change your mind?” Ruth Rose asked.
Dink dipped his chin toward the table. “Read what it says on my napkin,” he said.
“It says Phantom Ranch, the same as ours,” Josh said.
Dink set his cookie on the napkin, covering the first four letters in PHANTOM. He placed his milk glass over the CH in RANCH. “Now what does it say?” he asked.
Ruth Rose and Josh looked at the letters not covered by Dink’s cookie and milk glass. The only letters they could see now were TOM RAN.
Ruth Rose’s mouth fell open.
Josh nearly choked. “That’s what Parker wrote in the dirt!” he cried.
Dink nodded. “What if the kidnappers mentioned Phantom Ranch when they were talking to each other, and Parker heard them?” he asked. “Then he wrote that on the ground with his foot, like Josh said!”
“And someone’s feet messed up the rest of the letters!” Ruth Rose said.
“That woman looked familiar,” Dink said. “Flip’s wife, Heidi. I think I’ve seen her someplace before.”
The kids stared out the window at cabin four. The T-shirt flapped in the breeze.
“I have a feeling Parker is inside that cabin,” Dink said. “They have a rug like ours, but it’s rolled up. I’ll bet there’s a space under the floor, too. Like in this cabin.”
“Parker could be under the floor!” Josh said. “They keep the rug rolled up so they can open the trapdoor to feed him!”
Dink nodded. “That’s what I’m thinking,” he said. “And another thing. Remember those two purple cardboards I found? I think they were raisin boxes. Parker feeds Tommy raisins on his TV show, and raisins come in little purple boxes!”
“On the show, Roger keeps raisins in his pockets,” Ruth Rose said. “The boxes must have fallen out when the kidnappers were bringing him here!”
“Or Parker dropped the boxes on purpose, hoping someone would find them,” Dink said.
Just then, someone knocked on the cabin door. Tommy squawked, and the kids jumped.
The door opened, and Dink’s uncle walked in. “You guys look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Uncle Warren said. “What’s up?”
“You scared us,” Dink said. “We were just…having a snack.”
His uncle glanced at the plate of cookies on the table. “Dinner’s in about an hour, guys. Will you still be hungry?”
“I will!” Josh said.
“Tommy is hungry!” the parrot yelled. “Tommy wants raisins!”
Uncle Warren laughed. “Okay. I’m going to find a shady tree and read for a while,” he said. “You guys want to grab a book and join me?”
“Um, sorry,” Dink said. “We have to stay here. We’re doing a…a…”
“A project,” Ruth Rose said.
“Yeah, a secret project,” Dink added.
“Good. Then I’ll leave you to it,” Uncle Warren said, heading for the door.
“Why didn’t you tell him?” Ruth Rose asked when the door closed.
“Because he wouldn’t like what I’m going to do tonight,” Dink said.
Josh’s eyes got huge. “What’re you going to do?” he asked.
Dink grinned. “What would Roger do?” he asked.
“He’d figure out how to get inside that cabin!” Ruth Rose whispered.
Dink nodded. “Exactly,” he said.
“But how?” Josh asked. “Those people are there!”
“Come outside. I want to show you something,” Dink said. He led Josh and Ruth Rose to the back of their cabin. Partly hidden by weeds was a small opening covered with a wire screen.
“Remember when I went down in the crawl space?” Dink said. “I saw light, and it was coming through this screen.”
“But this is our cabin, Dink,” Josh said. “Parker is in their cabin.”
“That architect built these cabins at the same time,” Dink said. “They all look alike, so the other cabin probably has an opening like this one.”
“Leading to a secret room underneath!” Ruth Rose said. “Wait a second.”
She ran the twenty yards to Dink’s uncle’s cabin. A minute later, she was back. “Your uncle’s cabin has an opening just like this one,” she said.
“That’s what I thought,” Dink said. “They probably all do.” He poked at the screen with his foot. “This will come out easy. I think I can squeeze through the opening in Flip and Heidi’s cabin.”
“When?” Josh asked.
“Tonight while everyone is at supper,” Dink said. “It’ll only take a minute to find out if I’m right.”
“Are you crazy?” Josh said. “If Flip and Heidi are the kidnappers and they catch you, you’ll disappear, too!”
“But what if I’m right and Parker Stone is under their cabin?” Dink asked. “We have to try!”
“That’s what Roger Good would do,” Ruth Rose said. “And we’re going to help, right, Josh?”
Josh closed his eyes. Then he opened them and grinned. “Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose to the rescue!”
Dink told them the rest of his plan.
It was dark when the kids and Uncle Warren walked to the dining room. There were about twenty people inside. Some were sitting at tables, eating. Others were in line, holding trays.
A long table held platters of fried chicken, roasted potatoes, green beans, a salad, and lots more. Dessert was brownies. Drink choices were milk, juice boxes, or iced tea. The kids each took a small piece of chicken, a few potatoes, and a juice box.
“Did you eat too many cookies?” Uncle Warren asked when they brought their small servings to the table. His tray held mounds of chicken, potatoes, and salad.
Dink grinned at his uncle. “Sorry,” he said. “I guess we’re not that hungry.”
Everyone began to eat. Dink looked around and saw Luke and Junior sitting with Ron. Dink waved, and Luke winked at him.
All three kids were looking for Flip and Heidi, but the couple wasn’t in the room.
Dink raised his eyebrows at Josh and Ruth Rose. If Flip and Heidi didn’t leave their cabin, the plan wouldn’t work!
After about
ten minutes, Dink kicked Josh and Ruth Rose under the table. They all put down their forks. Josh rubbed his stomach and said, “Gosh, I’m full! I don’t even have room for dessert!”
“Me too,” Ruth Rose said. She placed her napkin on the table.
“I can’t eat any more,” Dink said. “Can we please be excused?”
Uncle Warren gazed at the kids. “Well, this is a first,” he said. “As you can see, I have barely started on my dinner. Go on back, and I’ll catch up with you later.”
The kids raced to their cabin, keeping an eye out for Flip and Heidi on the path. Back in the cabin, they rushed to the window. Ruth Rose trained her binoculars on the cabins across the creek. Tommy was in the bedroom, asleep in the cat carrier.
“Are they in their cabin?” Dink asked.
“I don’t see them,” Ruth Rose said.
Two women came out of cabin three. They wore boots, hiking shorts, and fleece jackets. They followed the path toward the dining lodge.
The kids kept their eyes on cabin four. Lights went on behind the curtains, but nobody came through the door.
It was growing darker. Fireflies darted among the bushes. Something black flew past. Dink thought it was a bat.
“Maybe they ate a lot of cookies, too,” Josh said. “Maybe they’re not going to eat supper. Or they got takeout!”
Ruth Rose giggled. “No one’s going to bring take-out food nine miles down the canyon trail,” she said.
Dink’s stomach was doing flip-flops. He tore one of the napkins into tiny pieces. He was sweating under his shirt.
“Look!” Ruth Rose said.
A lantern over the door to cabin four blinked on, lighting up the small porch. The door opened, and Flip and Heidi stepped outside. They held hands as they followed the path to the dining room.
“Okay,” Dink said, letting out his breath. “Plan Parker now begins!”
“Be careful, dude,” Josh said. He left and hurried across the bridge. Josh’s part of the plan was spying on the dining room. If Flip and Heidi came out, Josh would race back to warn Dink.
“I hope you find Parker,” Ruth Rose said to Dink. Then she left. Her job was to stand on the bridge, pretending to be catching fireflies. When she blew her whistle, it meant Get out fast!
Dink was the last to leave the cabin. He wore a black T-shirt and dark jeans. He pulled on a baseball cap to cover his light hair. Ruth Rose’s Swiss Army knife was in his pocket, and he carried her flashlight.
He crossed the bridge, pretending not to see Ruth Rose standing a few feet away from him. “Good luck!” she whispered.
Dink hurried to cabin four. The porch lantern lit the front yard. He walked around to the back, where it was totally dark. He switched on the flashlight but kept a hand over the beam. A small amount of light shone through his fingers.
Behind some weeds, Dink found the wire screen low on the cabin’s rear wall. Kneeling, he quickly pulled the weeds away. The opening was about two feet wide, like the one on his cabin.
The screen was set inside a wood frame. Using the big blade on Ruth Rose’s knife, Dink sliced through the screen. He peeled the wire away from the frame and set it on the ground. The opening was wide enough for him to crawl through.
Dink shone the flashlight into the dark space. He saw only dirt and the supports that held the floor up. He felt his heart thumping in his chest. His hand holding the flashlight shook. He whispered, “Parker?” and heard no answer.
Dink swallowed, but his throat was dry. He held the flashlight in his mouth as he put his head and arms through the opening. His shoulders scraped against the wood frame.
Dink’s hands found the dirt floor, and he pulled himself all the way in. He knew he couldn’t stand, so he crawled forward. The flashlight’s beam jiggled as he held it in his teeth.
The dirt felt damp under Dink’s hands and knees. A spiderweb caught on his left ear, and he swatted it away. The large supporting logs reminded him of dinosaur legs. A broken bed frame lying on the dirt looked like a skeleton.
Dink crawled toward the center of the cabin. He saw a brick column like the one under his cabin floor. He knew it was under the fireplace, near the trapdoor.
Kneeling next to the bricks, Dink aimed the flashlight toward where he thought the trapdoor should be.
The light fell on Parker Stone’s face.
Parker was lying on a blanket. Gray tape covered his mouth. A bandana was tied over his eyes. His hands and legs were tied with clothesline rope, which was wrapped around one of the floor supports.
Dink hurried forward on his hands and knees. “Parker, can you hear me?” he whispered.
Parker grunted and wiggled his feet.
“Awesome!” Dink said. “I’m Dink. My friends and I are going to rescue you!”
Parker grunted again and tried to lift his shoulders.
Dink removed the bandana from Parker’s head and pulled the tape off his mouth. His face was smudged with dirt and leftover food.
“Dude, am I glad to see you!” Parker said. His voice sounded croaky, as if he hadn’t used it in a while. “Where are those jerks who stuck me down here?”
“Flip and Heidi are eating supper,” Dink said. “We have to hurry!”
Parker sat up and struggled.
“There are three of them,” Parker said. “There’s another woman, in a brown uniform. She brought us here in a rubber raft! I think Heidi is her sister.”
Dink thought about all the women they had met at Phantom Ranch. Heidi had long blond hair. And so did Brenda. “Maybe it’s Brenda,” Dink said. “She takes care of the rafts on the beach.”
“Can you untie these knots?” Parker asked. He struggled against the ropes.
“I brought a knife,” Dink said. “Hold still.” The blade was sharp, and soon Parker’s hands and legs were loose. “Don’t try to stand up. You’ll hit your head!”
“How do we get out of here?” Parker whispered. “How’d you get in?”
“There’s a small opening,” Dink whispered. “It’s over—”
Suddenly Dink heard a whistle. He put his hand on Parker’s arm. Then he heard a second whistle.
“That’s my friend’s signal!” Dink said. “Someone’s coming!” He grabbed the flashlight and crawled away as fast as he could. He felt Parker behind him.
Then he heard Josh’s voice coming through the opening. “Dude, they’re coming! They’re almost at the cabin!”
Dink froze and turned off the flashlight. Parker’s head bumped against him.
“They usually bring me food,” Parker whispered. “They’ll open the trapdoor! When they don’t see—”
Just then, they heard heavy footsteps thudding over their heads. Then they heard a creaking sound as the trapdoor was lifted. A square of light fell onto the dirt floor.
Flip yelled, “He’s gone! The ropes are cut!”
Flip’s head and shoulders appeared upside down through the trapdoor opening.
The crawl space was dark, so Dink didn’t think Flip could see them. But he grabbed Parker’s arm, and they both slipped behind the brick column. Dink held his breath.
“Heidi, where’s that flashlight?” Flip yelled. His head and shoulders disappeared inside the cabin.
“Let’s go!” Dink said.
The two boys scuttled across the damp dirt. Dink shoved his head through the opening, and Josh and Ruth Rose pulled him through the frame.
“Did you find Parker?” Ruth Rose asked.
Parker’s face appeared. “He sure did!” he said.
Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose grabbed Parker’s hands to tug him through the opening. His head and arms made it, but then he stopped. “My shoulders won’t fit!” he said.
“But I got through!” Dink said.
“I’m bigger than you!” Parke
r said.
Parker pulled himself back inside the dark space. He lay on his back and braced his boots against the wood frame. Then he began kicking the frame as hard as he could. The wood was a hundred years old and shattered easily. A minute later, the four kids were racing away from the cabin.
They stopped and caught their breath behind the mule barn. “Where are we going?” Parker asked. “Do you guys know your way around here?”
“We need to get help!” Dink said.
“Let’s go find your uncle,” Ruth Rose said to Dink.
“Maybe he’s still eating,” Josh said. “Follow me!”
They raced through the dark until they saw the lights of the dining room. People were walking out, chatting with each other.
Dink saw Uncle Warren standing with Ron, Luke, and Junior. The kids ran up to the men. “This is Parker Stone!” Dink told his uncle. “He was tied up in one of the cabins! His kidnappers are still there!”
“Which cabin?” his uncle asked.
“Number four!” Ruth Rose said. “Across the creek from ours!”
They all ran, with Ron taking the lead. Dink heard his uncle filling in the other men about Parker Stone’s kidnapping. When they reached cabin four, the door was wide open. Light spilled onto the porch.
“They’re not here!” Luke said.
“Yes, they are!” Ruth Rose said. “Look!”
She pointed to the little beach. Three people were dragging one of the rubber rafts into the water.
Ron, Luke, and Junior bolted toward the creek. They surrounded Flip, Heidi, and Brenda. When the kidnappers realized there was no way out, they put their hands up in surrender.
Parker walked over and looked at his kidnappers. “Busted,” he said.
Ron, Luke, and Junior led the kidnappers toward the ranger station. A police helicopter would take them to the sheriff’s office.
The three kids and Uncle Warren waited while Parker called his parents on the landline. Then they all crossed the bridge and walked to cabin two. Parker used the kids’ bathroom to wash his face and hands.