Chapter 3
Lonnie and Ricky explored the trails for a long time before sitting down on some mounded earth at the Indian gravesite.
“I heard they’ve got horses here this summer. Can you ride?” Ricky asked.
“No, can you?”
“No, but it can’t be hard. I wonder where the stables are.”
“You dummy,” Lonnie said, “don’t you remember the barn and corral over there,” he pointed, “on the way to the cemetery?”
“Oh, yeah. Let’s go check it out.” He didn’t like being called a dummy but he let it go.
“Okay, but what about Rob and Dave? And the Jackson kid and the girl?”
“You want to go back and let them out already?” Ricky rolled his eyes. “I thought we agreed on our story.”
“Right.” Lonnie stood up. “Let’s see the stables.”
The mama bear and her cubs had stopped to chomp on some berries. When the patch was thoroughly destroyed they found some soft earth and started digging for grubs. The fur on their backs was filthy with leaves and spider webs, dirt and broken pine needles. Their claws were sharp and their digging was fast and methodical. They sifted through the dirt straining away all but the juicy, squirming grubs, centipedes, millipedes and an occasional earthworm, tasty protein to complement their vegetarian diet.
When the digging got harder one of the cubs started to wander away and the second cub chased after him. Soon mama bear finished her last morsel and turned her attention toward her offspring. She meandered after them, still heading in the general direction of Big Pine Lodge, but a good ways off yet.
One cub scratched at the bottom of a large leafy oak tree before climbing straight up. The other cub followed closely. What a scare they gave to a bunch of birds that had been resting in the upper branches. The flock rose as one and noisily flew off.
It was still late morning, but in the afternoon Kevin would have to open the Snack Shack, a little hut near the beach where he sold candy and chips and got to keep the profits. Missy had her duties, too. She took care of the stable and guided the guests on horseback rides. She had already cleaned the stable early this morning and no one was scheduled to ride until later so the two of them still had a couple of hours of free time. They liked Mr. Stark’s idea. For a very old man in his eighties he was smart and fun.
The two friends headed down the path to the stables, but stopped for a minute to pet a couple of the horses in the corral. Blackie was the smallest and friendliest and always available for a nose rubbing. Keno stuck his head over the fence, too, but the other two horses stayed in the center of the corral nibbling on some grass. Missy called their names and tried to coax them over but they ignored the kids.
“I feel like I sort of lied to my dad,” Kevin admitted. Mr. Jackson had agreed to let Kevin and Missy take the six-wheeled vehicle around the lake only after Kevin had told him they were doing a favor for Mr. Stark. “I’m glad he didn’t ask what the favor was.”
“Well, I would have told him it was a surprise. You know we better have an answer ready when we come back. Your dad’ll probably ask you tonight.”
“Think,” Kevin said as he scratched Keno behind the ears just like a dog, “why would we need the six-wheeler?”
Missy stared at the sky for a moment and watched one fluffy cloud change shape without moving on. “I know. We’ll pick some wildflowers. We’ll get enough for a bouquet and you can tell your dad that great-grandpa wants to give them to someone special.”
“Okay,” Kevin said. He gave Keno one more pat and moved off toward the house and garage where he and his family lived when the lodge wasn’t open. Missy followed him feeling a little bad herself for coming up with lies so easily.
The six-wheeled vehicle used to be kept in the stable before Mr. Stark surprised Missy with four horses. Now it was kept in the garage. Its army green color made it look like a small tank. There were three wheels on both sides, a front seat wide enough for two people and two small back seats facing each other. Instead of a steering wheel there were two handlebars that had to be pulled toward the driver to work the right and left brakes independently. Speed was controlled by a gas lever in the right handlebar. Kevin threw something in the backseat and then the kids hopped in and Kevin started it up. He sat on the right side to work the handlebars and Missy, on the left, leaned forward and hung on to a smaller stationary handle with her left hand and put her right hand on the bar that ran along the back of the seat. She was ready for what she knew Kevin would do first and, sure enough, as soon as he was out of the garage he did it. By giving the vehicle a lot of gas with the right handlebar and pulling forward hard with the left handlebar the little tank spun wildly in a tight circle. Then he reversed the spin by letting up on the left handlebar and pulling the right one back. They spun clockwise and Missy would have flown out if she hadn’t been holding tightly to the bars. They both laughed hard and he did a couple more spins and a crazy eight before they headed off down the horse trail and around the west side of the lake. The path was sometimes bumpy and Missy kept a firm grasp with one hand or the other all the time. Kevin had to hold on to both handlebars, but even though, he still bobbed out of the seat once in a while.
Dave and Rob reached the cellar of the stone cottage and struggled to open the trapdoor.
“Those little jerks must’ve put something heavy over this.” They both shouted swear words and warnings and threats to their brothers who they were sure were just above them. They stopped and listened and when they couldn’t detect even a chuckle from above they decided that the boys had gone. They sat down on the cold dirt floor by the ladder and discussed all the terrible things they would do to them when they got their hands on them.
“Shhh. Did you hear that?” Rob said. They listened as the motorcycle-like roar of an engine got louder and louder then stopped. They could hear footsteps on the plank floor. Sure that the people above weren’t their brothers they started yelling for help.
No one answered.
Kevin and Missy walked in to the stone cottage and stared at the stove deciding how best to do what old Mr. Stark had suggested. When the boys below started yelling for help Missy gasped and Kevin smiled. He thought about the time these same boys had tortured him and he was glad that they were feeling helpless.
Quietly they took the rope that Kevin had thrown in the backseat and tied it around the stove, then Kevin looped it around the stove two more times so the stove would slide away and not tip over, just as Mr. Stark had instructed him. Missy followed him out the door as he unwound the rope, laying a trail from the cottage to the vehicle.
“My dad taught me a whole bunch of sailor’s knots last winter,” Kevin explained as he fastened the end of the rope to the seat bar. “When we’re sure that we’ve moved the stove off the trapdoor, you pull this end. See? Then I’ll give it a lot of gas and hopefully we’ll make it to the woods before those goons come out and see us.”
Missy nodded. “Are we just gonna leave the rope?”
“Yeah. I figure they’ll be too angry to take the time to unknot it from the wood stove. We’ll get it later.”
They climbed into the six-wheeler and Kevin slowly gave it some gas. Missy watched the rope tighten up and lift off the ground. She felt the tug when it lost all of its slack and began to pull the stove. She was distracted for a second when a flock of birds flew right over them and landed in the trees nearby.
“Listen,” Rob said, “it’s that motor again. They’re leaving.”
They started yelling “Help!” again then stopped when they heard a scraping sound above.
“Whoever it is, they’re moving something up there,” Dave said. He started pushing up on the trapdoor. It still wouldn’t budge. “Get up here and help me,” Dave ordered.
It was tight, but Rob managed to stand on the rung below Dave and reach up with his hands and push. Dave had his back hunched up and he was using his shoulder for leverage, his face looking down at the top of Rob’s head. Above t
hem the stove was slowly moving, leaving deep scratches in the old wood floor as it circled toward the front door.
“Harder!” Dave demanded and before the stove was completely out of the way they forced the trapdoor up and toppled the heavy wood stove. The thud was loud enough for Missy and Kevin to hear outside.
Dave leaped through the opening just in time to see the rope go slack and hear an engine roar off. He bolted for the door and, for an instant before they disappeared down the trail, he saw two people in a little green tank.
Rob joined him. “Who was that?”
Dave snorted. “Remember Mr. Jackson’s utility vehicle? The one he wouldn’t let us ride in?” Rob nodded. “Well, his son and somebody else just drove away. I think maybe they were the ones who trapped us down there. Ricky and Lonnie may still be down in the caves.”
Rob turned and looked back at the open trapdoor. Dave met his gaze. “You thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?”
Rob shut the trapdoor and helped Dave upright the stove and scoot it back over the opening. They high-fived each other and laughed hysterically.
“I think he saw us,” Missy said. “He was probably the one you said was so mean, the one that was driving the car. Dave with dark hair.”
Kevin had to slow down now that they were in the woods, but he was still going faster than he had ever gone on this trail. They bumped and knocked around on the seat, Missy holding on for dear life, until Kevin took a side trail out to the main road.
“I’m not supposed to drive this on the road,” Kevin said, “but there’s never any traffic here and this is an emergency.”
The smooth road was a relief and it would take them back to the house and stables much faster.
Rob and Dave were still laughing about pranking their brothers when they got down to the shore.
“You idiot!” Dave scolded Rob. “You didn’t beach the canoe. It’s floated out somewhere.”
“What are you talking about?” Rob yelled back. “We beached it together and we threw the paddles right here. Somebody took it. How long were we down there anyway?”
Dave was scanning the lake and except for a fisherman in a rowboat there wasn’t anyone else out beyond the swimming area across the lake. “I see both canoes over there. What the . . .?”
“Maybe Ricky and Lonnie did get out first and they took the canoe back.”
“I’m gonna kill ‘em,” Dave growled. He started jogging toward the woods where the little utility vehicle had disappeared a few moments before.
“Wait, why are you going that way? It’s longer.”
“We can catch that tank, that’s why. Come on.”
Kevin turned into the driveway and drove up to the garage. He parked and turned the key off. “Hold your ears,” he warned. They both clamped their hands over their ears and waited for the loud bang that often came after a wild ride. The little vehicle seemed to protest harsh treatment by backfiring like a canon. Sure enough the earsplitting sound came seconds after he turned the key.
“Was that a gun?” Ricky looked at Lonnie. “Who’d be shooting in the summer?”
“Maybe somebody’s poaching out of season. Shooting a nice buck or doe,” Lonnie surmised. “Look, there’s the stable and there’s four horses in the corral.”
The boys started clucking and calling the animals over, but all four horses, even Blackie, stayed out of reach and ignored them.
“Let’s check out the stable since nobody’s around,” Lonnie said. They went into the tack room and ran their hands over the smooth leather of the saddles, handled the halters and reins, and thumped the riding helmets. Lonnie picked up a riding crop. “Look at this little whip,” he said and started flicking Ricky with it. Ricky grabbed another one and they dueled as if they were having a sword fight. When they got bored with that they tossed the crops on the ground and explored the rest of the stable. There were a dozen stalls but all were empty except for four, which had mounds of straw on the floor and full water buckets.
As the trail became harder and harder to run on Dave and Rob gave up the chase and just walked. They hardly talked at all. Off in the distance they heard a bang and started thinking about guns and hunting and deer and pheasant. They didn’t think at all about bear hunting.
“We could go for a trail ride, have lunch and then go swimming before I have to open the Snack Shack,” Kevin suggested.
“Who do you want to ride? Keno or Johnny?” Missy always had dibs on Misty. Misty was the tallest horse, totally black except for a white mark between his eyes. Keno and Johnny weren’t quite as big and they were brown. Keno also had several lighter spots and he was the fastest and most obedient of the four horses. Blackie, small as a pony, was usually ridden by children.
“I’ll ride Johnny. I like how calm he is and his trot is smoother.” Kevin headed to the tack room while Missy grabbed a couple of lead lines and climbed over the fence. She walked toward Johnny first talking softly and soothingly, calling his name. Before she reached him she turned and headed back to the hitching post, still encouraging Johnny and expecting him to follow her. Sure enough, when she got there he was right at her shoulder and she clipped the two ends of the lead line to his halter and the post. Then she used the same trick on Misty. Kevin came straight out into the corral from a door in the stable with one saddle, pad and bridle. Missy grabbed the saddle pad and threw it on Johnny’s back then held the bridle while Kevin saddled him. He would tighten the cinch before he mounted, but if he did it now it would just be too loose. They had found that all four of the horses had a trick of bloating their stomachs up when they were saddled so the cinch wouldn’t feel so tight. It was dangerous for the rider because the saddle could slide over and pitch the rider to the ground when they were cantering around a corner.
“Hey,” he said, “the riding crops were on the floor in there.”
“That’s weird.” Missy was ready with the bridle and Kevin slipped the halter down but kept the rope around Johnny’s neck while Missy eased the bit into Johnny’s mouth, then she tied the reins to the hitch and he put the halter on a peg on the wall. They both went back in to get the other tack and the helmets. They sat on the bench and changed from sneakers to riding boots.
Lonnie and Ricky had heard the kids talking in the corral and spied around the corner on them. They whispered back and forth.
“How did they get out of the caves?”
“There really must be another way out after all.”
“I want to know how they did it. I feel like being nice.” Lonnie smirked and Ricky knew that they were going to scam the younger kids somehow.
They set their sneakers where the boots had been then strapped on their helmets. This time Missy grabbed a saddle and Kevin carried the bridle and pad.
Two steps to the door and . . .
“What do we have here?” Lonnie said as he and Ricky blocked their way. “Getting a couple of horses ready for us?”
“Are you signed up?” Missy asked. She was scared, but not as much as before because this stable was her responsibility.
“Sure are,” Lonnie lied.
“Have you ridden before?”
“Lots,” he lied again.
Something about that one little syllable made Kevin think that maybe these guys had never ridden a horse. He decided to test it. “Do you need us to guide you on the trails?”
Lonnie and Ricky looked at each other and Ricky shrugged his shoulders. Lonnie nodded his head. “Yeah, I think so. We’ve never ridden here, so your expert guidance would be greatly appreciated.” He smiled as nicely as he could.
Missy thought that they should be yelling at them for being so mean to them before and trapping them in the caves, but it was her job to manage the stables and help out the guests who wanted to ride. It seemed that all four of them were going to pretend that the trapping incident never happened.
“Come on,” Kevin said as he pushed passed them. Missy followed next and the two bullies trailed after. They stood off to the side
while Misty was saddled, then Kevin returned for more tack while Missy got Blackie and Keno. Ten minutes later all four horses were ready and Kevin handed out helmets. He cinched up Blackie and asked, “Okay, who’s first?”
“I’m not riding no pony,” Lonnie said.
Ricky stepped forward, “I don’t mind,” he said. “I hear ponies are fast.”
“He’s not a pony,” Missy said. “He’s just small.” She looked straight at Lonnie and added, “Like some people.” Ricky easily mounted and Missy adjusted his stirrups for him before handing him the reins.
Lonnie felt a bit angry by the girl’s remark and pointed at the tallest horse and said, “I’ll ride him.”
Missy and Kevin exchanged a look.
“Are you sure you’ve ridden before?” Kevin asked. “That horse, Misty, can be hard to handle if you don’t know what you’re doing.”
“I know what I’m doing,” Lonnie huffed. He walked up to the horse’s left side, put his foot in the stirrup and reached up for the saddle horn. He pulled himself up hard and fell flat on his butt as his weight made the saddle slide around the horse’s belly.
“If you knew what you were doing, you’d know to tighten the cinch first,” Kevin said. He burst out laughing and so did Missy. Even Ricky had to laugh.
“Stupid horse,” was all that Lonnie said. He got up and walked over to Johnny. He figured out how to tighten the cinch then pulled on the saddle first to see if it would hold his weight. He mounted the horse then realized he’d have to ask one of them to untie the reins. “Gimme the reins,” he ordered. Missy handed them up and asked him if he wanted the stirrups adjusted. “They’re fine,” he said, “let’s go.”
The stirrups on Johnny’s saddle would have been fine for Kevin but Lonnie was three years older and six inches taller. Kevin and Missy shared a secret smile as they fixed Misty’s saddle, opened the gate and then mounted their horses. Missy went through the opening first followed by Lonnie on Johnny. Blackie automatically started following since he was used to being on a lead line behind either Misty or Johnny. Kevin was last. He had wanted to ride Johnny, but Keno was obedient and fast. He could leave those two bullies in the dust any time he wanted.
Missy led them down the trail she and Kevin had taken earlier in the vehicle intending to split off onto the wider open path that missed the cottage and circled around Mount Rocky. It wasn’t actually a mountain just a really big hill that happened to hide the most clever entrance to the caves. Missy’s great-grandfather and her father had worked on a project to make it invisible and it had remained so for thirty years until Missy had discovered the key to opening it. She would never ever take these older boys up that particular path even if the horses could manage to duck under all the overhangs and make the tight twisted turns.
She looked back over her shoulder and smiled to herself when she saw how tightly the fifteen-year-olds were clasping the saddle horns. “Hey, loosen up on the reins. You’re riding western not English.” Lonnie just gave her an ‘I’ll-do-what-I-want’ look, but Ricky tried to make an adjustment. Blackie stumbled over a root and pitched Ricky forward onto his neck. Ricky let out a yell but succeeded in regaining his seat. From behind him Kevin chuckled. Lonnie and Missy looked back in time to see the surprised look on Ricky’s face.
“That sounded just like my brother,” Rob said when they heard a yell coming from the direction they were headed. He started to speed up, but Dave pulled him back.
“Check out these trees. Easy climbing. If it’s our brothers we can scare the crap out of them. If it’s some other people, we’ll stay hidden.”
Rob agreed and they climbed trees across from each other and perched themselves above the trail.
Misty, Missy’s horse, gave a little nicker and snort as they rounded a bend in the trail. He had done that a couple of times before this summer and it always warned Missy of hikers on the trail. Her first thought was of the older boys they had freed from the caves. It would make sense that they would follow them back on this trail. She was mad at herself for not thinking of that sooner and her head was racing with ideas of what to do next. There was no room to turn the horses around right here. She could just stop and wait, but they’d still be stuck with nowhere to go. Her only option was to start to trot. The boys would have to jump into the woods to avoid being run over. When the riders reached the open path then they could canter and put more distance between them.
“Okay, we’re gonna trot now,” she hollered back over her shoulder. She clucked at Misty and squeezed her knees. “Trot!” she ordered. He obeyed her immediately. Johnny and Blackie followed at a trot, bobbing their untrained riders up and down. Keno waited for Kevin’s command then trotted smoothly behind Blackie.
Dave and Rob heard the girl’s commands and thought that they would just stay hidden. They had no idea how many people were heading their way or who they were for sure until they heard Dave’s brother complaining to slow down, that this was killing his butt.
The first horse passed beneath them snorting and tossing his head. Then came their brothers. Dave and Rob let out warrior-like hollers and swung down from the branches. Johnny whinnied and sidestepped, scraping Lonnie’s leg against a tree trunk.
Kevin halted Keno as soon as he saw the two goons drop from the branches. He could see Missy having a hard time reining in Misty who probably wanted to gallop away.
“Surprised to see us?” Dave shouted. That was just enough to send Johnny over the edge. He pushed into Misty’s left flank and tried to pass. The bigger horse stopped paying attention to his rider and ran up the tight path until it opened into the wider trail. Johnny stayed on his tail with Lonnie gripping the saddle horn and the horse’s mane. Little Blackie was just as spooked and he chased after the others with Ricky clinging like a monkey.
“That was hilarious!” Dave laughed. He looked back at Kevin. “What about you Jackson? Is that nag too old to run or what?”
Rob started after the others, just a little worried about what could happen to his brother and how much trouble he’d be in if his parents found out.
Dave, however, was feeling a lot less sympathetic. “Come here, Jackson. Get off that horse.”
Kevin was glad he was on the obedient gelding and instead of being intimidated by the seventeen-year-old, he crouched down and gave Keno a definite command.
The rumble of horses’ hooves was only audible to the sharpest of ears in the forest. The young bear cubs couldn’t have been less interested. It was all fun and food for them. Their mother was pushing them onward now. Something else was in the air. Some scent that alerted her taste buds and persuaded her to pick up the speed. They were still headed southwest.
Missy let Misty have her head. She knew that the frightened animal would calm down after a little run. After the wide path there would be an open area then it was back to tight trails and her horse would have to slow down by then. She could hear the boys shrieking behind her and wondered how long before she heard a thud and one or both of them would be on the ground. At least they were riding the slowest horses; they wouldn’t be hard to catch later.
Lonnie’s stirrups were too short and he’d lost hold of one of the reins. He was shouting for help, but that stupid girl was just galloping her horse farther away. He couldn’t even think about looking behind to see where the others were.
Ricky was starting to like Blackie’s canter. He had stopped bellowing for help when the trot had smoothed into a canter. At first clods of dirt were flying in his face from the horse ahead, but in this wider area Blackie had moved over and now he could see where they were headed. He didn’t hear the Jackson kid behind him, though, and he briefly wondered if his brother and Dave were torturing him.
Keno bolted up the trail and Kevin hollered at the older boys to look out. They jumped off the trail just in time. Kevin and Keno zigzagged until they rounded the last bend and opened up speed on the wide straightaway. The others were out of sight. Kevin urged Keno into a full gallop and then sl
owed to a regular canter when he caught a glimpse of Blackie’s rump. By the time Kevin joined the group everyone was back to a trot and they continued at that speed until Missy was satisfied that her horse was over its fright. When she finally stopped they were at the bottom of Mount Rocky.
Missy couldn’t help but scold the bullies, “Your brothers are jerks! We could have broken our necks! They could have been trampled! Don’t they have any brains?”
Lonnie and Ricky silently agreed but they weren’t about to join her in her contempt.
But Kevin was. “Yeah. What morons. They should be banned from the lodge.” And so should you, he thought.
Lonnie wanted to find out about how the kids got out of the cave. Now that Dave and Rob were out, too, maybe they had learned the secret for themselves. There was no way the older guys would ever let them in on it so their only hope was to coax the information out of Kevin and the girl. He swallowed his pride and said, “Hey, we never found out your name. I’m Lonnie and this is Ricky.”
Missy didn’t smile. “I’m Missy Stark. My great-grandfather owns Big Pine Lodge.” Her horse started to pull the reins as he stretched his neck down, trying to reach some light green foliage that must have looked tasty to him. Missy pulled his head up and straightened around in the saddle. “Let’s finish your ride.” She signaled for a walk and led the group on.
“Wait,” Lonnie said, trailing behind her. “Tell us how you got out of the caves. We know there’s another way out, isn’t there? Our brothers must have found it.”
“We let them out!” Kevin hollered from the end of the line. He patted Keno’s neck and felt the heat radiating off the animal’s hide.
“But how did you guys get out?” Ricky piped up. “If it’s a secret, you can trust us. We’d never tell our brothers.”
Yeah, right, Missy thought. Instead of giving a false answer she just didn’t say anything.
“Come on,” Lonnie begged. “We’re, uh, we’re sorry we trapped you down there. It was just a joke. We were gonna let you out in five minutes. I swear.”
Missy continued to ignore him and Kevin stayed silent, too.
Adventures in Reading Page 14