The Creature of Black Water Lake

by Gary Paulsen

  Larry checked his air tank and slid into the harness. For added protection he loaded an underwater speargun. “Hand me the video camera.”

  Ryan helped Larry wrap the camera cord around his wrist. “Be careful down there.”

  “I will. You guys just keep an eye on the monitor and you’ll be able to see everything I’m doing.” Larry stepped into the cage. “I’m ready. Lower away.”

  Rita helped Ryan turn the crank that plunged the cage into the chilly water. They took turns until the cable went limp and the cage came to a stop on the bottom.

  On the screen they could see the rough shape of Larry and the outline of the cage near the opening of the largest cave. Larry turned on the light mounted on top of the camera and began taping.

  There were no fish in the area, so the only movement on the screen was Larry. The minutes ticked by and nothing disturbed the sonar.

  Ryan watched as Larry unhooked the cage door and stepped out.

  Rita’s jaw went slack. “I can’t believe this. He’s going inside the cave.”

  Ryan’s eyes widened. He swallowed and reached for the spare tank of air, quickly wiggling into the harness.

  Rita grabbed his arm. “Are you crazy? What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Larry’s down there because of me. He’s taking chances because he hasn’t seen the thing like we have. I’m gonna try to convince him to come back up.”

  THE ANCIENT ONE

  Hunting was poor. The Ancient One had been away from its lair for hours and had nothing to show for its time except the already forgotten taste of a few small fish.

  That would have to do. The water up here was too warm and made it uneasy.

  Down in the caves it would sleep—until the hunger drove it to the top.

  The Ancient One headed back.

  CHAPTER 10

  Larry pointed toward the surface and motioned angrily for Ryan to go back up.

  Ryan shook his head, gesturing for both of them to enter the shark cage.

  Larry hesitated and then turned into the cave.

  Ryan had no choice but to follow. The cave was large and dark. The only light came from the video camera, and it was just a narrow beam.

  At the back of the cave, tunnels led in several directions. Larry headed toward the first one. Ryan tapped his shoulder. The opening was only a few feet wide. From what he’d seen, the monster wouldn’t be able to fit its head through, much less its giant body.

  Ryan motioned toward the other side. Larry swung the light around, nodded, and swam to a larger tunnel. A few feet inside, the tunnel made a sharp turn and then opened into a large round cavity that dead-ended into solid rock.

  Larry pointed the light at the floor. A mangled diving tank lay on a pile of other strange objects that included tin cans, fishing poles … and bones.

  A lump of fear rose in Ryan’s throat. It was true! The monster had eaten that diver. It would eat them too if it caught them in its den.

  Larry turned and pointed the light back toward the tunnel. Ryan nodded and wasted no time following him out of the cave.

  He was glad to see the shark cage, and he felt even better when they were inside and it jerked upward as Rita cranked it to the surface.

  CHAPTER 11

  “So?” Rita helped Ryan out of the tank harness. “What did you find down there?”

  “It lives there, Rita!” Ryan exclaimed. “We found its den.”

  “Wow!” Rita leaned against the steering wheel. “You guys are lucky it didn’t get you. What do we do now?”

  Larry made some quick notes in a logbook. “There are very few fish of any size left in the lake. The creature probably would never leave the caves except for the fact that food is getting harder and harder for it to find.”

  “Okay, so the thing is out looking for food.” Rita scratched her head. “Then how are we supposed to find it?”

  “I don’t think the creature likes going up to the warmer layers of water. It probably stays as close to the caves as possible.”

  “So all we have to do is wait around until it comes home.” Ryan sighed.

  “Hopefully we won’t have long to wait.” Larry reached into a large ice chest and pulled out two good-sized fish. “Let’s see if we can persuade it to come to dinner.”

  “I’m not so sure about this.” Ryan chewed his lip. “You haven’t seen the monster—it’s awfully big.”

  “Quit worrying. By the end of the day we’re going to have enough evidence to bring an army of scientists down here.”

  “Or die trying,” Rita muttered.

  Larry strapped on the camera, grabbed the fish, and stepped back into the cage. “If this works, as soon as you spot the creature, give me a few minutes to tape, then get me back up here quick so I can help with the net.”

  “You got it.” Ryan lowered the cage, and then he and Rita watched the screens. Larry was clearly visible near the entrance of the caves. They could see him waving the two fish in the water.

  For several minutes nothing happened. Then suddenly the sonar alarm started squealing. Ryan jumped and stared at the screen. Something very large was speeding toward the cage.

  “There it is, Ryan!” Rita yelled. “It’s taking the bait!”

  Larry dropped the dead fish on the muddy lake bottom and began taping. The creature bumped the cage, searching for the food. It couldn’t find the fish, so it turned around and bumped the cage again, harder.

  “We’d better bring him up, Rita!” Ryan tried to turn the crank. “Oh no. It’s stuck!”

  Rita ran to help. They both pulled with all their might, but the mechanism refused to turn.

  “The cable must be twisted.” Ryan glanced at the computer screen. The monster continued to ram the cage again and again with its massive head.

  “Why doesn’t he shoot it?” Rita watched the screen nervously.

  “Uh-oh.” Ryan spun around. “That’s why.”

  Lying next to the open ice chest on the deck of the boat was Larry’s speargun.

  “It’s going to kill him.” Rita pointed at the screen. The creature had the corner of the cage locked in its giant teeth and was shaking it mercilessly. The softer metal on the roof was tearing loose.

  Larry flew against the side bars and crashed to the floor.

  “He’s not getting up, Ryan. I think he’s hurt.… Ryan? What are you doing?”

  Ryan already had the spare tank of air strapped on again. He picked up the speargun. “Keep trying to get the cage up.”

  Rita nodded dully and moved to the crank. Ryan slipped over the side of the boat into the black turbid water.

  He stayed in the shadows and cautiously headed for the light from the video camera. The monster was so intent on Larry that it didn’t notice him.

  When the monster circled for another charge, Ryan swam to the top of the cage and let himself in. Larry was slumped in the corner holding his ribs, but he managed to give Ryan a thumbs-up sign.

  The camera light was still strapped to Larry’s wrist. Ryan took it off and scanned the surrounding water. There was no sign of the monster.

  Still moving cautiously, Ryan moved outside to inspect the cable. It had twisted inside the pulley on the top of the cage. He braced against the metal bars and yanked with all his strength. The rigid cable snapped into position.

  Rita had been watching the whole thing on the monitor and immediately started hauling them up. At the surface Ryan jumped from the top of the cage into the boat and helped Rita crank it the rest of the way up.

  Inside the dented cage, Larry was standing, still holding his ribs.

  “Hang on.” Ryan reached for the bars to pull him in. “We’ll have you out in just a second.”

  The cage was tottering on the edge of the boat when the angry monster surfaced. Ryan couldn’t believe his eyes. The thing looked different out of the water, like a space creature—it was huge and ugly, and it jumped and smacked the top of the water with its tail, then plunged back down.

&nb
sp; The boat lurched as the creature came up hard beneath it. Ryan lost his balance and fell, hitting his head on the sharp corner of the metal cage. He tumbled, half-conscious, back into the murky water.

  “The speargun, Rita!” Larry called weakly. “Hurry.”

  Ryan felt dizzy and light-headed. Something slammed past him, flipping him over. He breathed in a mouthful of water and choked, and his eyes flew open.

  A few yards in front of him was the face of the monster. Its jaws were opened wide—showing a slimy white throat and rows and rows of jagged teeth.

  The creature moved in for the kill. Ryan was going to die. A second, maybe two, and he would be torn to pieces. The mouth was there, open, on him.

  Suddenly the monster jerked sideways. The head was so close to Ryan he felt the brush of its coarse skin. A stream of dark liquid squirted from the creature’s side. It writhed in pain and quickly disappeared beneath the surface.

  CHAPTER 12

  “Are you okay?” Rita helped Ryan climb into the boat.

  Ryan nodded and collapsed onto the deck. “Man … I thought … I thought I was a goner.”

  Larry shrugged out of his gear and crouched beside Ryan. “That was as close as I ever want to come. It took me a minute to locate you and when I did, I saw the creature, too. It was closing in. When I shot it I must have hurt it because it veered off and ran for cover in one of the caves.”

  Ryan tried to catch his breath. “What happens now?”

  “One thing’s for certain,” Larry said, leaning back. “We can’t go into the caves after it, especially now that it’s wounded. I guess the best thing to do is take what we have on videotape to the experts and let them decide what to do.”

  Ryan sat up. “Are you sure that’s what you want? I’m okay. We can try again …”

  Larry shook his head. “No. It would be suicide. Thanks to you and Rita, the world will be able to see what the creature looks like. I think you’ve done enough.” He looked at Rita. “Take us home, Skipper.”

  Rita started the motor and slowly piloted the boat across the water. Ryan stared over the back of the boat at the dark water, looking for some sign of the creature, but there was nothing. Not a ripple.

  THE ANCIENT ONE

  The Ancient One knew by instinct that it was dying. Something incredibly sharp had pierced the side of its neck and it was fast losing blood.

  It couldn’t remember how long this lake had been its home but knew it would miss the lake. A faint picture came into its brain, an almost genetic memory of other creatures somewhere, like it, in other dark caves. And then the picture was gone.

  The Ancient One moved as far back in the cave as possible. The lids of its eyes closed, opened, closed, and did not open again.

  MYTHICAL MONSTERS

  You’ve probably heard of Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. These are creatures that people claim to have seen but whose existence has never been proved. The study of these mysterious creatures is called cryptozoology, which literally means the study of hidden animals. Cryptozoology is not a recognized branch of the science of zoology. It is a controversial field. Cryptozoologists use legends and stories of sightings to try to establish the existence of these strange creatures.

  Bigfoot is probably the most famous mythic monster. Also called Sasquatch, it is thought to be a huge, hair-covered biped. A biped is an animal that walks on two feet—like a human. Some think Bigfoot descended from the extinct Gigantopithecus, the largest ape that ever lived. Bigfoot sightings occur frequently in the American Northwest. But so far, no evidence has been presented that proves that this giant creature exists.

  The Loch Ness Monster, also known as Nessie, is supposedly a large, long-necked aquatic creature named for its lake home, Scotland’s Loch Ness. Some scientists have speculated that Nessie might actually be a Baltic sturgeon, a reptilian-looking primitive fish with a snout and spines.

  Sea monsters, such as giant sea serpents, eels, and squid, have fascinated people for centuries. Giant squid have been hauled up from the sea in fishermen’s nets but no scientist has ever observed one alive in its natural habitat. The giant squid is believed to be the largest animal in the world, growing to sixty or seventy feet long with eyes the size of dinner plates.

  There are many other types of creatures—giant and mysterious cats, birds, and reptiles, for example—that cryptozoologists have investigated. Some cryptozoologists even believe that some creatures thought to be extinct may still walk the earth. Could there still be dinosaurs alive today? Is Bigfoot just a hoax? We may never know for sure.

  Don’t miss all the exciting action!

  Read the other action-packed books in Gary Paulsen’s WORLD OF ADVENTURE!

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  Deep underground, Will and Sarah uncover an old chest stuffed with a million dollars. But now armed bandits are after them. When they find a gold Apache statue hidden in a skull, it seems Red Horse is hunting them too. Then they lose their way, and each step they take in the damp, dark cavern could be their last.

  Rodomonte’s Revenge

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  Escape from Fire Mountain

  “… please, anybody … fire … need help.”

  That’s the urgent cry thirteen-year-old Nikki Roberts hears over the CB radio the weekend she’s left alone in her family’s hunting lodge. The message also says that the sender is trapped near a bend in the river. Nikki knows it’s dangerous, but she has to try to help. She paddles her canoe downriver, coming closer to the thick black smoke of the forest fire with each stroke. When she reaches the bend, Nikki climbs onshore. There, covered with soot and huddled on a rock ledge, sit two small children.

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  The Rock Jockeys

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  Rick Williams and his friends J.D. and Spud—the Rock Jockeys—are attempting to become the first and youngest climbers to ascend the north face of their area’s most treacherous mountain. They’re also out to discover if a B-17 bomber rumored to have crashed into the mountain years ago is really there.

  As the Rock Jockeys explore Devil’s Wall, they stumble upon the plane’s battered shell. Inside, they find items that seem to have belonged to the crew, including a diary written by the navigator. Spud later falls into a deep hole and finds something even more frightening: a human skull and bones. To find out where they might have come from, the boys read the navigator’s story in the diary. It reveals a gruesome secret that heightens the dangers the mountain might hold for the Rock Jockeys.

  Hook �
�Em, Snotty!

  Bobbie Walker loves working on her grandfather’s ranch. She hates the fact that her cousin Alex is coming up from Los Angeles to visit and will probably ruin her summer. Alex can barely ride a horse and doesn’t know the first thing about roping. There is no way Alex can survive a ride into the flats to round up wild cattle. But Bobbie is going to have to let her tag along anyway.

  Out in the flats the weather turns bad. Even worse, Bobbie knows that she’ll have to watch out for the Bledsoe boys, two mischievous brothers who are usually up to no good. When the boys rustle the girls’ cattle, Bobbie and Alex team up to teach the Bledsoes a lesson. But with the wild bull Diablo on the loose, the fun and games may soon turn deadly serious.

  Danger on Midnight River

  Daniel Martin doesn’t want to go to Camp Eagle Nest. He wants to spend the summer as he always does: with his uncle Smitty in the Rocky Mountains. Daniel is a slow learner, but most other kids call him retarded. Daniel knows that at camp, things are only going to get worse. His nightmare comes true when he and three bullies must ride the camp van together.

  On the trip to camp, Daniel is the butt of the bullies’ jokes. He ignores them and concentrates on the roads outside. He thinks they may be lost. As the van crosses a wooden bridge, the planks suddenly give way. The van plunges into the raging river below. Daniel struggles to shore, but the driver and the other boys are nowhere to be found. It’s freezing, and night is setting in. Daniel faces a difficult decision. He could save himself … or risk everything to try to rescue the others too.

  The Gorgon Slayer

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