Max & Me Mysteries Set

by Patricia H. Rushford

  I honestly didn’t know what to do. If you get lost, you’re supposed to stay put and let people find you. Ordinarily I would have, but I had to find the camp. I didn’t know how badly Max had been hurt. What if she needed medical attention? Josh and Kevin would have flashlights. They also had a boat and could take us back to the mainland.

  I suppose it might have been smarter to wait until morning, but I felt like I had to do something right away. I pictured maps I’d seen of Ghost Island. Cutting through the forest seemed the most logical thing to do. I’d keep the large rock formation to my right and eventually I’d get to the archeology camp.

  I took several deep breaths and began walking—or stumbling. Old-growth forest was not as thick as planted forests, but the ground was uneven and strewn with moss-covered logs and rotting tree limbs. In the daytime the forest might have been fun to explore, but at night it was like wandering through a terrifying Halloween movie. Branches waved and reached out to grab me. Roots rose out of the ground like tentacles. As I moved forward, I kept waving my arms to the front and side to keep from running headfirst into a tree. I recited lines from the 23rd Psalm. The Lord is my shepherd … though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil … I will fear no evil.

  I stopped beside a fallen tree to catch my breath. In the stillness I thought I heard voices. Then I saw a light through the trees some ways away—a flickering campfire. It had to be the archeology camp.

  I got up and walked a little faster. I could see the campfire more clearly now, but something didn’t feel right. My first inclination had been to run into the camp. Now I held back. Clumps of vine maple provided good cover. I crouched down and waited for my eyes to grow accustomed to the light.

  “This will have to be the last load,” Kevin was saying. “We won’t be coming back.”

  “What do we do with the kids?” Josh poked a stick into the fire, stirring up the embers.

  “Leave them here. I’m not taking them along. We can call the cops to come and pick them up.”

  What kids? Callista and Maela? Max and Cooper?

  “I don’t like it.” Josh rubbed the back of his head as he paced back and forth in front of the fire.

  “We don’t have a choice.” Kevin sounded angry. “We can’t risk the cops coming out here and finding the stash.”

  It suddenly hit me that Josh and Kevin were up to more than digging through ancient ruins. They were behind the robberies. I didn’t want to believe it. They had seemed like such nice guys.

  Kevin glanced over at the tent. “They’ll be all right. They might be able to tell about the camp, but I’m not worried about that. Besides, who’s going to believe them? The cops will think they’re just protecting their brother.”

  “Yeah. It was a stroke of genius sticking that jewelry in the Mexican kid’s boat and calling the cops with that tip.”

  I didn’t feel cold anymore. I was too angry. How I ever thought these guys were cool, I’ll never know. Only now that I knew they were thieves, what could I do about it? I couldn’t run out and confront them. And I had no way of letting anyone know what I’d learned.

  “We’d better start packing up.” Kevin got up and stretched.

  “I’m ready to go. I’ll start carrying our stash to the boat.”

  I stayed crouched behind the maple. If they were both loading their boat, maybe I could get to the girls and release them. I wished Max and Cooper were here.

  I’d no sooner thought about them than I heard Max’s cheerful voice. “Hey, guys. I was hoping you’d be here. We need help.”

  Oh, no. I held my breath as I watched Cooper and Max come closer to the fire. “My canoe capsized and I …” Max must have seen Callista and Maela in the tent. “Hey, what’s going on?”

  They didn’t have a chance. Even though they turned to run, Josh and Kevin were on them in less than five seconds. As much as I wanted to jump in and save them, I knew I’d be no match for them. The best I could do was wait and set Cooper and Max free when the guys were loading their boat.

  Josh and Kevin tied up Cooper and Max. The way Max was fighting, I knew without a doubt she’d recovered from the canoe accident.

  “Now what?” Josh stepped away from Cooper and brushed off his hands. “We can’t leave these kids here. They’ll tell the cops on us for sure.”

  “It’s their own fault for trespassing on the island in the first place.” Kevin drew a gun. “Looks like we have two choices. I shoot them here and now or we’ll have to take them out with us. Dump them out in the lake—and drown them.”

  Josh sat down and covered his face. “They’re just kids, Kevin. It wasn’t supposed to go down like this.”

  Kevin ran a hand through his hair. “We don’t have a choice.”

  They were not going to get rid of Max and Cooper. I might not be strong enough to fight them, but I knew exactly what I had to do.

  CHAPTER

  FIFTEEN

  II went back into the woods and, staying under cover, made my way to the back of the outhouse and around to the dock. The archeologists, if that’s what they really were, couldn’t see me from there. There were two boats now: the rowboat and a larger motorboat with a cabin below deck. They must have needed a bigger boat to carry their stash.

  I released the ropes from the cleats and pushed both boats out into the water. They drifted a few feet and stopped. That wasn’t going to help at all. Somehow I had to get them out into the current and set them adrift. I waded out to the rowboat and climbed into it, then rowed up to the cabin cruiser. I grabbed the rope that dangled from the prow and tied it to the back of the rowboat. Grasping the oars, I rowed as hard as I could. I only rowed a few feet before I caught the current.

  Even so, my arms and hands started hurting, but I was doing it. I stayed close to shore and soon the dock disappeared from view. I could tell when I was in the current as both boats began to move without my rowing. I untied the bigger boat and began rowing back. As soon as I neared the dock, I got out of the rowboat. The water was hip deep and hidden from the camp. I tipped the boat to the side, letting it fill with water. As I stepped onto the rocks, footsteps sounded on the dock. “Hey,” Josh yelled. “Where are the boats?”

  I knew he couldn’t see me, but I still jumped.

  Kevin came running down to join him. I could hear them swearing and blaming each other for not tying up the boats. One of them jumped into the water. I hoped by now the cabin cruiser was too far away for them to catch. A good swimmer might be able to reach it.

  I hurried back to the camp and released Cooper and Max, who helped me with the girls. Since cell phones were listed among the burglarized items, I figured there might still be one in their camp in one of the boxes that sat packed and ready to go. Cooper found one, but we didn’t have time to make a call.

  “They’re coming after us,” I cried, seeing the flashlight beams bouncing toward us. “We have to hurry.”

  “We’d better hold on to each other,” Cooper said.

  Callista’s hand closed around mine and pulled me to the left. “This way.”

  Cooper lifted Maela onto his back and took my hand, and Max took up the rear.

  We moved slowly and cautiously under cover of the trees and shrubs.

  I could hear Josh and Kevin yelling at each other. “We can’t let them get away.”

  “Let’s split up. They can’t get far.”

  “They must have a boat stashed on the other side.” Josh couldn’t have been more than ten feet away. He trained his flashlight in our direction.

  We dropped to the ground, hoping the vine maple and fallen trees would cover us. The beam traveled over our heads. I closed my eyes and prayed they wouldn’t see us. The musty smell of moss and earth made me want to sneeze. I pinched my nose tight and held my breath.

  A low-pitched growl came from the bushes behind me, sending my heart into overdrive.

  Josh must have heard it too, because he whipped around and started running in the o
pposite direction. “Did you hear that?” he yelped. “I’m getting my gun.”

  “W-what was that?” I managed to get the words past my tight throat once he’d gone.

  Max brushed herself off and in hushed tones said. “M-maybe we’d better take our chances with Josh and Kevin.”

  “Sounded like a cougar.” Cooper, with Maela still attached to his back, struggled to get up.

  Maela giggled. “Not a cougar, silly. That was Callista.”

  “Callista?”

  “Shh. Come. We are not safe here.” We joined hands again and continued to follow her.

  “Where are we going?” I whispered.

  “It’s not far.”

  We reached what had to be the rock wall and followed it a short distance before it curved inward. I tried to imagine what it might look like in the daylight. Following the curve, we backtracked several feet. Callista stopped. “We must climb this steep hill. There is a ledge and a cave where we will be safe.”

  After what seemed like forever, we reached the ledge Callista had mentioned and rested. A few minutes later, Callista led us back into a cave. At least that’s what she called it. It was still too dark to see anything. Maybe that was a good thing. The moon might have helped us to see better, but it would have given Josh and Kevin better light as well.

  Callista appeared at my side with a small flashlight. “Don’t worry,” she said. “They won’t be able to see the light from out there. We can hear them if they climb on the rocks.”

  Cooper pulled out the cell phone and tried to call for help. “There’s no signal in here.” He went outside to try, but after a few minutes, he gave up. “When it’s light, I’ll climb up higher and see if I can get through.” He crossed his legs and dropped to the ground looking almost as wiped out as I felt.

  We had a lot to talk about, but that could wait. The escape had left me exhausted. I started shaking—maybe from my clothes still being damp, or from being totally worn out. The fact that I had managed to come this far was a miracle.

  “Maela,” Callista said. “Come.” They disappeared into an even darker cavity and minutes later returned with clothes, blankets, and some food. “Here are some of Enrique’s clothes. Jessie, I have a sweater that might fit you. It is not much, but the blankets should warm you.”

  We thanked her and took turns going back into the cave to change. My lightweight cotton pants had almost dried, so I just took off my soggy sweatshirt and put on Callista’s sweater. Once we’d changed and wrapped ourselves in blankets, we sat in a circle around a rock-encircled fire pit, but there’d be no fire tonight.

  Maela pressed herself against Callista and stared at us through drooping eyes.

  Callista pulled her little sister close. “Please, tell us about Enrique. Those men told us he had been arrested for stealing.”

  “He’s in detention,” Cooper said. “But he won’t stay there. We’ll tell the police what really happened as soon as we can call out.”

  “How did you end up in their camp, Callista?” I asked.

  Callista shifted slightly and lowered Maela’s head onto her lap. “When Enrique didn’t come back, we waited here all night. We grew worried. Maela and I went to the place where he keeps the boat, but it was still gone. On the way back the men found us. They took us to their camp. I don’t know how they knew we were here. We were very quiet.”

  “That may have been our fault,” I said. “We came out here a few days ago, right after you ran away, and we asked Josh and Kevin if they had seen you.”

  “But we didn’t know they were crooks.” Max rubbed her head and winced.

  “Max, you’re hurt.” I reached for her.

  She waved my hand away. “I hit my head on the rocks. Knocked me out for a while.”

  “Which reminds me, Jessie,” Cooper said. “What happened to you?”

  “You’re the ones who disappeared. I called and you didn’t answer. I was afraid you’d both drowned.”

  “It was tough getting Max to shore. I went under a few times. Maybe you just yelled at the wrong time. I thought you were right behind me. We waited for a while, but when you didn’t come, we thought we’d better go looking for you.”

  “I got caught in the current. It took me forever to get to shore, and when I did I wasn’t sure what to do. I thought you guys might try to get to the archeology camp for help, so that’s where I went.”

  “You were right. We were going to ask them to help find you since they had flashlights and stuff.”

  “Big mistake.” Max sighed. “I can’t believe I just barged into their camp. When I saw Callista and Maela all tied up, it was too late to do anything.”

  “I’m just glad you weren’t with us, Jess,” Cooper said. “By the way, thanks for saving our necks.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. We’re still stuck on the island with these guys. Maybe I shouldn’t have sabotaged their boats. At least they’d have been able to leave.”

  “If they had, we might never be able to prove that Enrique isn’t behind the robberies.”

  “I wonder if Mrs. T knows we’re missing yet.” Max sounded doubtful. “Sometimes when she falls asleep in her recliner she sleeps all night.”

  “Which means no one will know we’re missing until morning.” I thought I heard the shattering of rock just outside. Had Josh and Kevin found us? I reached for the flashlight and shut it off. “Listen.”

  There it was again. Only this time when I heard the low throaty growl, I knew it wasn’t Callista.

  “Oh, man,” Cooper moaned. “It’s the cougar.”

  CHAPTER

  SIXTEEN

  II froze as a pair of yellow eyes floated into the cave. Weird and scary.

  “Give me the flashlight.” Cooper slowly got to his feet.

  I handed him the light and he turned it on, shining the beam directly into the big cat’s eyes. Cooper waved his arms. “Shoo! Scat!”

  The cougar didn’t move, but he seemed even more scary now that I could see the eyes attached to his body. His long, sleek, powerful body.

  He’s more afraid of you than you are of him, I reminded myself. At the moment, I wasn’t so sure about that. I hoped he wouldn’t attack, because I couldn’t have moved my feet if someone started a fire under me.

  “If we make a lot of noise, maybe we can scare him.” Cooper jiggled the light.

  “If we make a lot of noise,” I whispered, “Josh and Kevin might hear us.”

  “I …” Max took a step back. “I’d rather take our chances with the cat. At least he doesn’t have a gun. And he can’t attack all of us at once.”

  “I think he is just curious.” Callista woke Maela and got to her feet. “Maybe if we stay very still he’ll go away.”

  “Do you think this is his den?” I asked.

  “He’s never been in here before.” Callista bit her lower lip. “At least not that we know of.”

  “Okay, listen.” Cooper kept the flashlight beam trained on the cat. “I’m going to shine the light right in his eyes. Then I’ll shut it off. Max, you grab Maela and pull her back. Do it fast.”

  “No, Cooper,” Callista said. “A sudden movement might cause him to attack.”

  The growling stopped. The cougar looked at each one of us as if checking out food on a buffet table. I guess none of us looked all that appetizing, because he turned around and walked out. Just like that.

  “Amazing.” Max kept her eyes on the opening. “He didn’t seem afraid. Or dangerous.”

  Cooper sat down. “He’s smart. Probably sized us up and decided not to challenge us.”

  I had to sit down too, as I didn’t think my spaghetti legs would hold me up. I hauled in a shaky breath. “Do you think he’ll come back?”

  Cooper shrugged. “I don’t know. One thing for sure—I’m not about to leave the cave to look for him.”

  “We better take turns keeping watch,” Max said. “In case he comes back. I’m too wired to sleep now anyway, so I’ll go first.”

 
“Okay.” Cooper yawned and leaned against the rock wall near the opening. “Wake me up in an hour.”

  “I’ll go after Cooper.” I pulled the blanket around me and curled up on the cave floor. I know it sounds strange, but I felt safe somehow. At least safer than I had since we’d left Lakeside Farm over six hours ago.

  Sunlight filtered into the cave. Our night visitor hadn’t come back. At least I don’t think he had. I rubbed my eyes and glanced around at all the sleeping forms. So much for keeping watch. Neither Cooper nor Max had moved since I fell asleep. A quick check assured me that yes, they were all just sleeping and our cougar hadn’t decided to have any of them for breakfast.

  I captured the cell phone from Cooper’s side and took it outside. My watch told me it was only 6:00 a.m. Looking around, I noticed we were about midway up the rocky cliff that stood guard over the archeologist’s camp. I ducked out of sight when I saw the tent. Thankfully, the ledge was wide enough to hide the entrance to the cave. I checked the cell phone, but with the rock wall separating us from the populated side of the lake, I couldn’t get a signal.

  “Cool.” Max sat down beside me. “We can see right into their camp.”

  “So far I haven’t seen them moving around. They probably gave up on finding us last night.”

  “Can you get a signal?”

  I shook my head. “We probably need to get on the other side of this hill. Or go down closer to the dock.”

  “I’ll do it.” Cooper came up behind me. “Give me the phone.”

  “It might be too late.” Max pointed out toward the water. “There’s a cabin cruiser coming this way. And I don’t think it’s the cops.”

  “Maybe it’s their professor,” I said, handing the phone to Cooper. “The way Josh and Kevin talked, they weren’t in on this scam alone.”

  “They must have called him last night,” Max said.

  “Look, whoever it is found the boat I released last night. They’re going to get away after all.”

  “At least you slowed them down.” Max lay on her stomach and peered over the edge. “I wish we had the binoculars. I can’t make out the face. We need to get closer.”