by Penny Warner
So who was the figure behind that tree? Why had he been spying on the Code Busters?
And why did he run away?
“All aboard!” a grizzled old man in a khaki shirt and pants called loudly. He stood by the tram, gesturing for the students to hop on. “Hurry up, come on, we don’t have all day,” he said impatiently as the kids filed onto the tram. Ms. Stad and Mr. Pike helped direct the students to their seats, counting them as they stepped aboard.
The Code Busters came running from the cemetery—all but Cody, who lingered a few seconds, trying to figure out where the mysterious figure had gone. Seeing nothing, she quickly caught up with the others and followed them onto the tram.
Ms. Stad stood at the front, frowning. Silently, she counted her students again, put her hands on her hips, and shook her head. “Where’s Matthew?”
The kids looked around, but Matt had vanished. “Here we go again,” M.E. whispered to Cody. “I hope he doesn’t ruin this trip too.”
Moments later, Matt came wandering out of the cemetery, holding a long stick as if it were a pirate’s sword. He swished it back and forth, fighting invisible enemies as he slowly lumbered toward the waiting tram.
“Matthew Jeffreys!” Ms. Stad said. “You’re supposed to stay with your group. Where have you been?”
Matt the Brat shrugged as he stepped aboard. “Nowhere.”
“No sticks on the tram!” the driver called out, eyeing Matt in his rearview mirror.
Matt glared at the man and then threw the stick away.
“I’m bored,” he said as he headed for an empty seat. “Can’t I just go back to camp and read comic books and play video games?”
“No, you may not,” Ms. Stad said. “While you’re on Angel Island, I’m responsible for you, and I’m not letting you out of my sight again.”
Cody looked back at the driver and saw him watching Matt in the mirror. The man’s eyebrows were pinched together like one long caterpillar, and his mouth was turned down. Cody wondered if the guy didn’t like kids very much or if that was just how his face looked all the time.
“All right, everyone,” Ms. Stad began, distracting Cody from the driver’s scowl. “We’ll be taking the tram all the way to the immigration station. Remember, you’re still on your scavenger hunt, so look carefully for coded messages along the way and keep your decoder cards handy. The driver will stop for about ten minutes at each place so you can take pictures.”
“Cool,” Luke said, pulling out the pack of code cards. “We should be able to ace this.”
Quinn nodded. “Yeah, but keep an eye out,” he said to the others. “We don’t want to miss any of the codes.”
“Students,” Ms. Stad called out, hushing the excited, buzzing kids. “I’d like to introduce you to our guide for the trip.”
For a moment, Cody thought their guide was going to be the crabby tram driver, but instead, a petite young woman she hadn’t noticed before stood up from her seat in the front. She turned and faced the students.
Ms. Stad continued, “Everyone, this is Park Ranger Angela Yee. She’ll be pointing out the various sites along the way and giving you some history of the island, so I want you to be good listeners.” She turned to the woman, who looked very official in her uniform—a brownish-green jacket and slacks—especially with the park ranger badge and various pins that dotted her zippered jacket as if she were an eager Girl Scout. Her black hair was tucked under a peaked, Smokey-Bear-type hat. “Ranger Yee, these are our students from Berkeley Cooperative Middle School.”
The kids applauded for Ranger Yee.
“Thank you, everyone,” Ranger Yee said into the microphone she held. “Welcome to Angel Island. As your teacher said, I’ll be your guide on the tram ride to the immigration station, so if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. Our driver, Delbert Schnikey, will be stopping the tram at some of the sites, but these will be very short stops, so don’t wander off. If you miss the tram, it’s a long hike up the hill to the next stop.”
“Thank goodness we don’t have to walk the whole way,” M.E. whispered. Cody could tell her friend was already tired after exploring the island all morning.
“As you know,” Ranger Yee continued, “the area you just explored is called Camp Reynolds, which was later known as the West Garrison. During the Civil War, artillery batteries were built here to prevent Confederate ships from attacking naval bases.”
“Arrg!” Matt the Brat blurted out. “Just like pirates!”
Ms. Stad shot him a look, and he scrunched down in his seat.
The ranger went on with her talk. “The camp later became a place for military recruits. But long before Westerners arrived, the Miwok Indians camped here. They fished; hunted deer and duck; and gathered acorns, roots, and leaves. The island provided everything they needed to live.”
“Remember, students,” Ms. Stad added, “don’t take anything from the park except pictures.”
Ranger Yee turned to the driver and said, “All right, Delbert, we’re ready to head to the next stop.”
Delbert Schnikey grunted and started up the engine. The Code Busters reviewed their decoder cards as they passed oak and bay trees, sagebrush and manzanita bushes, and beautiful wildflowers of all colors. It wasn’t long before Ranger Yee asked Mr. Schnikey to stop the tram. Cody couldn’t wait to look for a coded message at the site.
“This is Perles Beach,” Ranger Yee said, gesturing at the area behind her, which offered a panoramic view of the San Francisco Bay. “In the late 1800s, the navy built fortifications with artillery, rifles, rapid-fire guns, and mortar batteries, all to protect the coast if it was attacked.”
“Were there any pirates here?” Matt yelled out. “’Cause my great-great-grandfather was Vincenzo Gambi and he was an awesome pirate. I’m related to him.”
Ranger Yee smiled. She looked as if she’d heard the pirate question before.
“Well,” she began, “there are rumors that Sir Francis Drake’s lost treasure may be somewhere on the island. The English explorer spent a month here in 1579, repairing his ship, the Golden Hind. Many people believe that tons of gold, silver, jewels, and other treasures he and his men pirated and plundered from Spanish galleons are buried at his landing point. Unfortunately, no one knows exactly where that landing point was, since Drake’s ship log was lost. The treasure could be anywhere, even right here.” Ranger Yee swept her arm toward the coastline.
“Anywhere?” Matt said, his eyes wide.
“That’s right,” Ranger Yee answered. “But so far, no one has found Drake’s loot, and it could just be a tall tale that old sailors like to tell.”
Cody glanced at Matt, who was staring out at the coast. Did he seriously think there was treasure around here?
“All right, everyone, take a look around, but remember, we’ll be leaving in ten minutes.”
The kids hopped off the tram and scanned the area for a coded message. Mika was the first of the Code Busters to spot a sign written in flag code, in honor of the Coast Guard.
Code Busters Key and Solution found here and here.
“It’s another haiku,” M.E. said, writing it down in her notebook.
“This one is obvious,” Luke said. “Rock, Al Capone, birds. Duh.”
The others nodded as Cody took a picture of the site indicated in the clue. They spent the rest of the time climbing the cement steps and exploring the old battery, where cannons and artillery once stood.
“I wonder what it was like back then,” Quinn said. “Too bad there aren’t any cannons left. That would be awesome.” Quinn loved anything military.
A whistle blew, signaling that it was time to reboard the tram. After everyone was seated and the teachers had finished their head count, Mr. Schnikey started the engine and the tram was off to its next destination.
“Welcome to what was once a Nike missile site,” Ranger Yee announced as the tram came to a halt a few minutes later. “It’s gone now, removed in 1962, but you can still see whe
re it once was. Beyond it is the US Coast Guard station, but that area is off-limits to the public.”
“My uncle was in the Coast Guard,” Matt the Brat announced. “He has all kinds of medals and stuff.”
Ranger Yee acknowledged Matt with a patient smile before continuing her talk. “Antiaircraft missiles were loaded with TNT and hidden underground, ready to be launched if the country was attacked.”
“TNT,” Quinn whispered, his eyes wide with interest.
“You’re free to look around,” Ranger Yee announced, “except for the areas that are off-limits.”
Quinn was the first one to spot the coded message underneath a sign that read NO ADMITTANCE. The message was written in phonetic alphabet, a code often used by the military.
Whiskey hotel oscar sierra echo
mike oscar tango tango oscar india sierra:
“Hotel oscar november oscar romeo.
Romeo echo sierra papa echo charley tango.
Delta echo victor oscar tango india oscar november tango oscar Delta uniform tango yankee?”
Code Busters Key and Solution found here and here.
While the others translated the code, Cody glanced back at the tram. Delbert Schnikey was speaking quietly into his two-way radio. He kept glancing over at Ranger Yee, who stood a few feet away talking to Ms. Stad and Mr. Pike. He seemed almost . . . nervous. Or at least as if he was trying to be secretive. Cody wondered who he was talking to. Suddenly Schnikey caught her looking at him and quickly set the radio down.
A moment later, he blasted the tram’s whistle and shouted, “Tram’s leaving!”
What was that all about? Cody wondered.
Back aboard the tram, she settled in next to M.E.
“What’s the matter?” M.E. asked her. “You seem distracted.”
Cody avoided looking in the driver’s rearview mirror, but she had the sense Mr. Schnikey was watching her. She turned to M.E. and whispered, “Don’t look, but I think there’s something weird going on with our driver.”
M.E. immediately looked at the mirror.
Cody rolled her eyes. “I said don’t look!”
“Oh my gosh, he was totally looking right at us!”
Cody nodded. “I thought so. Like I said, I think he’s up to something, but I don’t know what.”
“Let’s keep an eye on him,” M.E. said.
“But keep our distance too,” Cody replied. “Just to be safe.”
Cody turned her attention to the two teachers who stood at the front of the tram, counting students and making sure no one was left behind. Ms. Stad frowned, her finger tapping the air as she finished her count and started over.
Cody knew that look. Someone was missing. She glanced around and spotted the empty seat.
Matt the Brat wasn’t on board.
Not again . . .
“Matthew!” Ms. Stad and Mr. Pike called out as the students looked on.
“Where could he have gone?” Cody asked M.E. “He was here just a minute ago.”
M.E. shrugged. “I don’t know, but as usual, he’s ruining our trip.”
“Should we help find him, like last time?” Quinn asked.
Luke shook his head. “The teachers said to stay here. We’d better not leave.”
Cody thought for a moment and then had an idea. “Wait here,” she said to M.E. Then she stepped off the tram and headed for Ms. Stad.
“Dakota,” her teacher said. “I told you and the other students to remain on the tram. Now go back to your seat. We’ll handle this.”
“But I think I know where he is,” Cody protested. She pointed to the Off-Limits sign that hung on the barbed wire fence.
“Why would he go in there?” Ms. Stad asked. “We told him to stay away from the restricted areas.”
Cody shrugged. “He thinks he’s a pirate or something. He’s probably looking for Drake’s lost treasure. I saw him staring out that way when Ranger Yee talked about it.”
Ms. Stad sighed and shaded her eyes as she looked toward the fenced area. Cody did the same and spotted someone walking along the coastline. It looked as if he was stabbing the ground with a big stick.
“There he is!” Cody called out. She pointed toward the figure.
“Oh, for goodness’ sake!” Ms. Stad mumbled, shaking her head.
Mr. Pike headed over to Matt, who appeared to be digging in the dirt. When the teacher got closer, Matt dropped the stick, hung his head, and slowly followed Mr. Pike back toward the tram.
“What were you thinking, going off like that?” Ms. Stad said when Matt and Mr. Pike reached her.
Matt shrugged and kept his eyes on his dirty sneakers.
“Listen, young man,” Mr. Schnikey said. “I don’t put up with this kind of nonsense on my tram. You’re off the tour.”
Ms. Stadelhofer turned to the driver. “Wait a minute, Mr. Schnikey, you can’t just leave him here. He’s my student and my responsibility.”
“Yeah, well, this is my tram and your student is interfering with my job,” Schnikey said, jerking a thumb toward Matt. “Like I said, I don’t tolerate this kind of behavior. I’m not just the tram driver, you know. I’m in charge of maintenance and security around here. I can’t have some kid running wild where he doesn’t belong!”
Ms. Stad looked surprised at Schnikey’s outburst. She turned to Mr. Pike, who said, “Well, we could send him back to camp with one of the chaperones.”
Matt’s grim expression suddenly brightened. Wow, Cody thought, he’s getting his way after all. This whole time he’d just wanted to go back to camp and read comic books and play Zombies versus Teachers.
Ms. Stad shook her head. “No, he’ll stay right here on the tram. Mrs. Raleigh, will you please sit with Matt and make sure he behaves?” she asked one of the parent volunteers. The woman nodded and moved over to share Matt’s seat. “Matthew, if we can’t trust you to stay with the group, I can’t let you join us on the rest of the stops. You’ll have to stay on the tram with Mrs. Raleigh.”
Matt made a face and looked away.
The rest of the students settled back into their seats, and the tram ride resumed, with Mr. Schnikey at the helm.
The Code Busters talked in sign language on the short ride to the next stop, so the other students wouldn’t know what they were saying.
Code Busters Key and Solution found here and here.
The tram pulled up to their next destination—Fort McDowell at the East Garrison.
As soon as the tram came to a halt, Ranger Yee stood up. “This is where the detention center and discharge camps were built,” she announced, continuing her history lesson about the island. “In the late eighteen hundreds, military troops coming back from war were kept here at the hospital if they had any contagious diseases, such as smallpox. The rest were released, or discharged, from service and replaced by new recruits. The fort was closed down after World War II.”
“Thank you, Ranger Yee,” Ms. Stad said. “Students, we’ll be taking a longer break here for snacks and water. After you’re finished, you’re free to search for the next coded puzzle.” She eyed Matt, reminding him silently that he would remain on board.
The students disembarked the tram and collected their snacks. The Code Busters headed for a nearby picnic table, gobbled up their food, tossed their trash in the bins, and then began searching for the next coded message.
Cody was the first to find it—a sign taped to the hospital building marked E Wing. “There it is!” she said, pointing it out for the others. The kids ran over and studied the message. This one was written in alphanumeric code, where numbers substituted for letters. Cody got out her decoder card and began translating the message, while Quinn took down the information in his notebook.
24-8-1-20’19 13-9-19-19-9-14-7? 10-15-12-22 13-25 18-9-4-4-12 1-14-4 20-1-11 1 16-9-3-20-21-18.
25-15-21’12-12 6-9-14-4 13-5 . . .
1-20 20-8-5 2-5-7-9-14-14-9-14-7 15-6 5-20-5-18-14-9-20-25
1-20 20-8-5 5-14-4 15-6 20-9-13-5 1-1
4-4 19-16-1-3-5
1-20 20-8-5 2-5-7-9-14-14-9-14-7 15-6 5-22-5-18-25 5-14-4,
1-14-4 1-20 20-8-5 5-14-4 15-6 5-22-5-18-25 16-12-1-3-5.
Code Busters Key and Solution found here and here.
“This is hard!” M.E. complained after studying the riddle for a few minutes. “Is it something like air?”
“Or maybe time?” Quinn suggested.
“Or even the universe?” Mika offered.
“It could be something like the middle, because the clues keep repeating beginning and end, beginning and end,” Cody said.
Luke shook his head. “I think it has something to do with the letters. Did you notice how some of the words in the instructions were misspelled?”
The Code Busters looked at the first deciphered sentence and then Quinn said, “They’re all missing the same letter!”
“That’s it!” M.E. exclaimed, after reading the riddle aloud again. “We were looking at it in the wrong way. We were trying to find an object, when all the time it was a letter.”
“So we’re supposed to take a picture of it?” M.E. asked. “There must be billions of them around here.”
Luke pointed to the hospital building. The letter they were looking for was right in front of them. “That has to be it,” he said.
He took a picture of the letter displayed on the side of the hospital building. The kids spent the rest of the time exploring the area before it was time to return to the tram. As they began heading back, Cody noticed Mr. Schnikey standing off in the trees. He appeared to be talking to someone, but Cody couldn’t see who it was.
“Is that one of the chaperones he’s talking to?” Cody asked the others, nodding in Mr. Schnikey’s direction.
“I don’t think so,” Quinn said. “But it sure looks like he’s up to something.”
Mr. Schnikey was gesturing to the other person—a man. Schnikey looked angry, but then again, the tram driver always seemed to be mad about something. He pulled something out of his pocket, glanced around as if to make sure no one was looking, and passed it to the other guy. The mystery man took the object, put it in his pocket, and pulled out something from his other pocket.