Alexis

by Erica Rodgers

  Kellie nodded and turned to walk around the shop. Alexis looked sideways at McKenzie.

  “What are we going to do in the cabin?” she asked.

  “Well, our clues are beginning to pile up. We have the tracks at the mountain, the noises we keep hearing at night, and two tufts of dark brown fur. I think we need to get our facts straight and start figuring this thing out.”

  “I agree,” said Alexis. “But why do we have to be in the cabin?”

  “Because of the internet connection,” said McKenzie. “I think it’s time we called in the rest of the Camp Club Girls, don’t you?”

  Alexis smiled.

  “It would be nice to hear what they think,” she said. “Let’s invite them to a video chat later tonight!”

  “That’s exactly what I was thinking!” said McKenzie.

  The girls entered the cabin, and Alexis headed straight for the laptop. She flipped it open and went to the website that all the Camp Club Girls shared. Once the page was up, she typed her invitation.

  Hi, everyone! McKenzie and I are in Washington, and some pretty weird things have been going on. We’d like to see what you guys think! If you can, meet us online at eight o’clock tonight. Sorry, Sydney and Kate…I know that’s late on the East Coast! Hope you can make it!

  Love, Alexis

  “There!” said Alexis. “The others will definitely be able to shed some light on this.”

  Alexis went to close her computer, but McKenzie stopped her.

  “Wait! You have an email from Sydney!”

  “You’re right!” said Alexis. “It’s that Bigfoot article she was telling us about yesterday!”

  Alexis opened up the article and read it out loud to McKenzie.

  “Last Tuesday, a busload of fourth graders from Olympia, Washington, went on a field trip to Mount St. Helens. They hoped to see some wildlife, but they got more than they bargained for. Their teacher, Mrs. Hawkins, says that they saw Bigfoot.”

  “Wow!” said Alexis. “They were here! At St. Helens!”

  “I know!” said McKenzie. “Keep reading!”

  Alexis continued, “Mrs. Hawkins says the children were getting on the bus to go home when a large, brown animal jumped out from behind the visitors’ center. ‘They screamed because they thought it was a bear,’ said the teacher. She pushed the last children onto the bus and closed the doors to keep them all safe.

  “One of the fourth graders says that’s when it got strange. ‘We were watching out the windows, waiting for the animal to go away. It was bigger than any bear, and its hair was long and shaggy, like my grandma’s dog. It came closer to the bus, and then it started dancing!’

  “All of the witnesses saw the same thing: a large animal dancing through the parking lot on its two hind legs.”

  Alexis and McKenzie stared at each other. This was not just a rumor. This was a busload of people who had seen Bigfoot…or something like him. At least sixty students, a teacher, and a bus driver had all seen the same thing.

  “Well, at least we know there’s something out there,” said Alexis. “It’s not just some story someone made up.”

  “I wonder if Kellie or Chad know about this article,” said McKenzie.

  “Only one way to find out,” said Alexis. “Let’s go ask!”

  The girls left the laptop on the bed and went back outside. The police officers were beginning to leave, so Alexis and McKenzie walked around the crime scene to the front of the shop. They saw Kellie standing near the porch talking to Chad, but before they could ask their question, someone else interrupted.

  “Nice day for a break-in, huh, Kell?” Jeremy Jones was leaning against his news van with his arms crossed and a huge smile plastered across his face.

  Kellie rolled her eyes. Chad ran his hand angrily through his blond hair and stomped off into the shop.

  “What are you doing here, Jeremy?” asked Kellie.

  “There’s a story to cover,” Jeremy said. “Why wouldn’t I be here?”

  “Of course,” said Kellie. “Well, if you want an interview, we’d better get to it so you can leave.”

  Jeremy smiled again, but he didn’t look sweet. Alexis thought his expression looked like her brothers’ faces when they had put worms in her bed or dirt in her hot cocoa.

  “I already got my interview,” said Jeremy. “I talked to the little old lady who lives across the road. She said she saw everything. She said she saw Bigfoot.”

  The Secret Cave

  Jeremy’s news van left the shop, and all three of them stood there with their mouths hanging open. Kellie looked down at Alexis and McKenzie.

  “Bigfoot broke in to my shop?” she said.

  “According to your neighbor,” said McKenzie.

  “But that doesn’t make any sense!” said Kellie. “Why would he do something like that? If he’s been hanging around here, he should know that I care about him. I would never hurt him! Why would he steal one of my statues?”

  “Maybe he just liked it,” joked Chad, who was coming back out of the shop. Everyone except Alexis started laughing. “That’s the ultimate compliment—when the subject of your favorite piece of artwork steals his own statue!”

  “What if he’s right?” Alexis said. The others stopped laughing and stared at her.

  Alexis could see they were confused, so she told them what she was thinking.

  “There was only one statue missing, right, Kellie?”

  “Yes,” said Kellie.

  “Which statue was it?” asked Alexis. “You said it was your favorite.”

  “It was the only statue with two Sasquatches. They were standing together holding hands and looking up at the stars. It was my favorite because it was the only one where I thought Bigfoot looked happy.”

  “Maybe that’s why he liked it too,” said McKenzie. “You said you thought he was lonely. Maybe you’re right.”

  “But it still doesn’t make sense,” Kellie insisted. “Husky was loose in the house. The person would have walked all the way through to get the statue. Husky never would have allowed someone he didn’t know into the house. The police officers had to tie him up to get near the house. Even if it was some sort of animal, Husky would have gotten ferocious.”

  “That’s an interesting idea, ladies,” said Chad. “Let’s talk more about it in the truck.”

  “In the truck?” said Kellie. “Where are we going?”

  “To Spirit Lake,” said Chad. “They have to replace the door, and the shop’s closed for the day. We might as well show the girls something cool.”

  “Good idea!” said Kellie. “Come on, ladies! You’re going to love this!”

  All four of them piled into Chad’s truck. After a bit they turned off the main road and onto a dirt trail. Alexis didn’t think many cars made it back this way.

  It was a gorgeous day. There hadn’t been any sunshine since the day Alexis arrived, but for some reason even the dreary day was beautiful. Gray sky poked through the pines. The dull color only made the green brighter. The only dirt on the ground was the road itself. On either side bushy ferns filled the forest floor. Every now and then, Alexis saw a fallen tree covered with yellow-green moss.

  When Chad stopped the truck, Alexis looked out the front window. There, spreading out in front of her, was a huge lake. It was unlike any lake she had ever seen, because it was covered with floating logs.

  “Welcome to Spirit Lake!” said Chad. Everyone got out of the truck and began walking down to the shore.

  “Why are there logs in the water?” asked Alexis.

  “They’re trees,” said Kellie. “The last time the mountain blew there was a huge landslide. The force of it swept hundreds of thousands of trees right off of the mountain. Many of them ended up in this lake.”

  “Wow,” said McKenzie. “That’s crazy!”

  “It’s better now,” said Chad. “At first the lake was almost completely covered by the dead trees. The lake was dead too. After the eruption, nothing could survive in
it because of the gasses and chemicals the mountain released.”

  “Scientists thought it would take a long time for the lake to recover,” said Kellie. “But it only took three years. By 1993, there were even fish.”

  Alexis was amazed.

  God allowed that eruption, she thought, but He also helped the mountain heal. I shouldn’t be scared of what might happen if the mountain erupts. It’s all in God’s hands.

  Alexis got out her video camera and started filming for her report. She had hardly worked on it since her first day here, and she needed to get it done. She filmed Chad and Kellie as they told the story of Spirit Lake again, and then got some close-ups of the floating trees. When she was about to put the camera away, she heard McKenzie call her name.

  Alexis followed the voice around a corner. McKenzie, Kellie, and Chad were kneeling over a spot near the truck.

  “What is it?” asked Alexis.

  “It’s another footprint,” said McKenzie. “Just like the ones we found at the visitors’ center up on the mountain.”

  Alexis ran over, and sure enough, there were more of the giant, bare footprints leading toward the lake.

  “You two have seen these before?” asked Kellie. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “We’re sorry, Kellie,” said McKenzie. “It’s been a busy couple of days.”

  “That’s true,” said Kellie. She was bubbling with excitement. “Tell me all about them!”

  The girls told Kellie about the tracks they had found on the first day of their visit. Then they told her of the tracks near the visitors’ center that led them to the tuft of brown hair they had found.

  “Dr. Rick is checking the hair out,” said Alexis. “We think he might be able to tell us if it was left by Bigfoot or not.”

  “This is amazing, girls!” said Kellie. “You may have discovered evidence that Bigfoot exists! DNA testing could prove that he is a new species, even if no one can catch him or snap a good picture!”

  “Well,” said Alexis, “if we follow these tracks, we just might get a good picture.”

  Alexis turned her camera back on, and the group began following the footprints. They went down near the water and then turned to the right. After about fifty feet, they disappeared into some bushes.

  “I don’t know if we should go in there, girls,” said Chad. “I don’t know if this is Bigfoot or not, but what I do know is that it’s something very large and very wild. We probably don’t want to sneak up on it.”

  “You’re right,” said McKenzie. She picked up two sticks and started banging them together and yelling into the bushes.

  “What on earth are you doing!” said Alexis.

  “I’m letting him know that we’re coming,” said McKenzie. “My dad taught me. It tells bears, mountain lions, and other large animals that you are coming so you don’t sneak up on them. They are less likely to attack you that way. If they hear you, they usually leave and go somewhere else.”

  “But I thought we were trying to get a picture,” said Kellie, disappointed. “Why are we scaring him away?”

  “It’s either scare him away or take a chance that he might not like us,” said Chad. “Come on.”

  He pushed his way through the bushes and gasped.

  “Come on, girls! You’re not going to believe this!”

  Alexis, McKenzie, and Kellie followed Chad’s voice through the bushes and found themselves in a cave. Dull light from outside trickled in between the leaves of the bushes, but it was still pretty dark.

  “Here,” said McKenzie, and she dug out her cell phone. When she pressed its flashlight button, it filled the cave with a bluish light.

  “I think this is his home,” said Alexis. “I think Bigfoot lives here!”

  She ran to the back of the cave.

  “Look at this!” She started snapping pictures of a pile of pine needles. It looked like a giant nest, and there were tufts of brown hair all over it. McKenzie brought her phone closer so they could get a better look.

  “This must be where he sleeps,” said McKenzie. “There’s some different hair over on this side. Look.” Alexis looked closely. It was blond hair, and it looked to be about shoulder length.

  “Maybe Bigfoot has a girlfriend,” joked Kellie. Alexis dug another plastic bag out of her backpack and dropped the blond hair into it. She didn’t know what she was going to do with it yet, but it was another clue.

  “The other Camp Club Girls might have some ideas,” said McKenzie. Alexis nodded. She was glad they were going to talk to the others tonight. They needed some fresh eyes to tell them if they were missing something. One thing she didn’t want to do was jump to conclusions.

  “Is there any chance this could be a bear cave?” Alexis asked. She shivered, remembering too well what it was like to be chased by an angry bear. That had happened when she and Bailey were on site at Lake Tahoe, doing a documentary on an animal refuge. With the Camp Club Girls’ help, Alex and Bailey had figured out who was trying to sabotage the refuge.

  At Lake Tahoe the girls had gone to see hibernating bear caves, when someone had awakened the bears. Only by God’s help and grace had the girls gotten on their snow sleds and away from the angry bears.

  Alexis looked nervously at the entrance to the cave. Maybe they should get out before whatever lived there came back.

  “There’s no way it’s a bear cave,” said Chad.

  “What do you mean?” said Kellie.

  “Look over here,” said Chad.

  McKenzie moved her phone so the light was shining on where Chad was standing. There by his feet were the remains of a small campfire.

  “As far as I know, bears don’t build campfires,” said Chad. Alexis bent down to snap a few shots of the fire. She could tell it was old because there was no warmth coming from the charred logs. There were fish bones scattered among the ashes.

  On the way back to the shop, Alexis couldn’t stop thinking about the cave.

  “Do you really think that’s Bigfoot’s home?” Alexis asked McKenzie quietly, hoping Chad couldn’t hear them over his iPod.

  “I don’t know. I’ve never heard of any animal being able to make a fire,” McKenzie answered. “Not even gorillas can do that, I don’t think. And they’re supposed to be the closest to humans, aren’t they?”

  “Well, one of those primates,” Alexis answered.

  “And aren’t animals generally scared of fire?” McKenzie said.

  “Well, they always were on the old Tarzan movies I used to watch,” Alexis said, laughing.

  “I don’t know. This seems nuts,” McKenzie said. “If Bigfoot did live in this cave, it means he’s much more than just another animal. He would be nearly human.”

  “Did you ever see Harry and the Hendersons?” Alex asked.

  “I think my mom used to have the VHS,” McKenzie replied. “Wasn’t it some movie about Bigfoot living with some people?”

  “Yeah. They accidentally hit him with their car in the woods,” Alexis recalled. “They thought they killed him, so they took him home to stuff as a trophy. But he was only knocked out and regained consciousness. The family became really good friends with him.”

  “And this came to your mind because…,” McKenzie asked.

  “I don’t know. I would just think that to be able to make a meal, Bigfoot would have to be nearly human, not an animal. I think it’s more likely that a person was in that cave. But what was he or she doing with hair from the Bigfoot?”

  Back at Kellie’s place, they found that Kellie’s repairman had already been out and put a brand-new door on her home. He was just packing up to leave. The girls went to their cabin for a few minutes while Kellie talked to the repairman.

  A little later, Kellie, Chad, and the girls were about to eat lunch back at the shop when there was a knock on the back door. Kellie opened it, and Rick walked in.

  “Congratulations!” said Kellie. “You’re the first one to walk through my new door!”

  “Thanks,” said Rick
. “Ooo, hot dogs!”

  The scientist sat down with them at the table and began piling his plate with hot dogs and chips.

  “Well, girls,” he said through a mouth full of sour cream and onion chips, “I got the info back on that hair you found.”

  “You did?” said both girls at once.

  “Yep,” said Rick. He took a drink of water, and Alexis rolled her eyes. Did he have to take a drink now? She was waiting for vital information! This might break their case wide open! Rick wiped some ketchup from his cheek and continued.

  “It looks like the hair is both human and animal,” he said.

  “What?” said Alexis.

  “How is that possible?” asked McKenzie.

  “I don’t know,” said Rick. “It’s blended together. Some hairs were human, and some were not. We don’t know what animal they came from, though. We’d need more equipment to figure that out. I can send the sample back to the college, but it will take a few days.”

  “We’ll probably be gone by then,” said McKenzie.

  “Yeah, but thanks for the help,” said Alexis. “It’s still good information.”

  Alexis opened her mouth to take another bite and then dropped her hot dog back onto her plate.

  “I almost forgot!” she said. She bent over and dug through her backpack. “We found this with some of the brown hair near Spirit Lake.”

  Alexis handed the baggie with the blond hair in it to Rick. He looked at it through the plastic for a minute and then handed it back.

  “This is definitely human,” he said. “And I think you should take it to the police.”

  Rick’s face was very serious.

  “Why?” said Alexis. “What would they want with it?”

  “Well, you remember that hiker who disappeared earlier this week?” Rick said. “She—”

  His words were interrupted by the sound of someone running through the shop in the front of the cabin. The front door slammed.

  “What was that?” said Chad. “Someone was in the shop!” He ran into the shop and the others followed him. They got to the front porch just in time to see a green truck screech out of the gravel parking lot and head toward town.