“Hey, girls!” she said. “Can you hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am!” said Alexis, imitating Elizabeth’s Texas twang.
“Don’t you start with me, girlfriend!” Elizabeth sassed back with a laugh.
“And don’t start without me!” said Kate as her face popped up next to Elizabeth’s.
“Haven’t said anything important yet, Kate,” said McKenzie. “We’re still waiting on Bailey anyway.”
“No, you’re not, Ale-gator!” Bailey chirped. Now all six Camp Club Girls were talking face to face.
“Technology is so great!” said Kate. “Years ago, this never would have happened. We would have been paying mega money to even talk on the phone long-distance. Can you believe they used to charge for that? I mean, there’s not a difference in the technology that—”
“Thanks, Kate!” said Alexis. “I’m sure Sydney would like us to get to the point. She looks about to fall asleep in her chair.”
Sydney didn’t say a word. She just gave a thumbs-up and yawned again.
“Okay,” said McKenzie. “I’ll make this quick. We’re here doing research on Mount St. Helens, which is about to erupt…. Actually, it erupted today, but it was a tiny eruption. And we think we found Bigfoot, and there’s a missing hiker, and this hunter wants to track down Bigfoot and kill him. And there’s going to be a big eruption, and we have to evacuate, but we really want to solve this case before we go!”
All four of the faces on the computer screen stared at McKenzie open-mouthed.
“Um, let’s make it a little more simple,” said Alexis.
“Thank you!” said Elizabeth. “Why don’t we start slowly? What’s your main mystery here? Is it the mountain or the…um, Bigfoot?”
“Bigfoot,” said Alexis. “The mountain isn’t really a mystery. Either it’s going to blow or it isn’t. What we’re really trying to figure out is if Bigfoot exists, and if he does, is it him that we’re seeing evidence of?”
“That’s what I said!” said McKenzie. The rest of the girls laughed.
“So what makes you think Bigfoot is walking around Mount St. Helens?” asked Kate. She took off her glasses and began cleaning them on her pajama shirt.
“First of all, we’ve been finding these weird footprints everywhere,” said McKenzie. “Here…I’ll upload the pictures so you can see them.”
Across the country, the pictures Alexis had been taking jumped onto the screens of each Camp Club Girl.
“You can’t tell, but those things are huge,” said Alexis. “Here, let me upload one that has McKenzie’s foot next to it so you can see how big the feet are.”
“Well, they do call him Bigfoot!” Elizabeth joked.
“They look like human feet,” said Bailey.
“Yes, but who would be walking around in the woods barefoot?” asked Elizabeth. “That’s really irresponsible. Even the toughest feet would get cut and bruised and hurt.”
“Animals survive,” Kate pointed out.
“Yes, but they have hooves or pads on their feet, or other protection,” Sydney said. “They don’t have feet like humans. Human feet are less protected.”
“Well, obviously Bigfoot doesn’t wear shoes,” said Bailey.
“Or does he?” Kate said.
“What do you mean?” McKenzie asked. But no one seemed to be paying attention, and McKenzie was immediately swept away in the main conversation.
“What else do you have, girls?” asked Elizabeth. “Are the footprints what make you think Bigfoot is on the loose?”
“Not entirely,” said Alexis. “We’ve also found a couple of gobs of brown animal fur. One was right next to the footprints. The other was on the doorframe after the shop here got broken into this morning. The door was torn completely off the hinges.”
“Don’t forget all the sightings,” said Bailey.
“What are you talking about, Bailey?” asked Kate.
“It’s been all over the internet. There have been a ton of Bigfoot sightings in St. Helens National Park this spring.”
“She’s right,” said McKenzie. “A school bus of kids saw him dancing in a parking lot.”
“And I think my taxi almost hit him on my first day here,” said Alexis. “I thought it was a bear, but it was a lot bigger and was running on two legs.”
“Bears definitely don’t run on two legs,” said Sydney.
“And they don’t dance either,” said Bailey.
“What’s this about the shop being broken into?” Elizabeth asked.
“We came home from being at Spirit Lake, and the door had been ripped off its hinges,” McKenzie said.
“It could have been easily broken into by smashing the window,” Alex said. “But whoever—”
“Or whatever,” McKenzie interrupted.
“Whoever or whatever broke in tore the door off the hinges instead,” Alexis continued. “The person or thing had to be really strong to tear off the hinges!”
“And the lady across the street said she saw Bigfoot break into the shop,” McKenzie added.
“I saw that on the internet news!” Bailey said. “When I was reading some of these online news reports, I saw the video of that! But I didn’t know it was Kellie’s shop.”
“Well, it was,” Alex said. “The news report, was done while we were gone.”
“The reporter seemed really smug,” Bailey said. “He reminded me of that reporter guy you had to deal with in one of our first mysteries—the Sacramento one. He was really repulsive.”
“This is tough,” Sydney said. “You have a lot of clues pointing to Bigfoot, but there’s no way to be sure. I mean, it could just be someone running around in a suit, couldn’t it?”
“Who would be doing that?” said Elizabeth. “Can you girls think of anyone who would have a reason to dress up like Bigfoot?”
“Not really,” said McKenzie. “Anyone could be doing it to attract tourists. That’s how most of the people here make their money.”
“That’s true,” said Alexis. “The reporter could be doing it to play a mean joke on Kellie, but we haven’t found any evidence supporting that idea.”
“He doesn’t seem to like Kellie much,” McKenzie said. “They went to college together, but he’s been around a couple of times and is really rude to her.”
“Another strange thing,” Alexis said. “Husky, Kellie’s Siberian husky and German Shepherd, was loose in the shop.”
“Wow, a husky/shepherd mix,” said Sydney. “That would be one good watchdog.”
“Yeah. Kellie says he doesn’t let anyone in he doesn’t know. But it looks like he did,” McKenzie added. “The police had to tie him up when they got there because he wouldn’t let them around the place.”
“The Bible talks about the fierceness of dogs,” Elizabeth said. “In Proverbs 26:17. ‘Like one who grabs a stray dog by the ears is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own.’ Messing with other people’s dogs is just not smart to do.”
“Does Husky like that Jeremy Jones guy?” Bailey asked.
“No. The other day when Jones was here, Husky was not happy,” Alex replied.
“So it probably couldn’t have been him then,” Bailey said a bit sadly.
“I don’t think so,” Alex replied. “So I guess maybe we’re back to Bigfoot.”
“So, like I said,” said Sydney, “there’s no way to be sure if this is Bigfoot.”
“Well, there is one way,” said Kate.
“What’s that?” asked Alexis.
“You could find him, of course.”
It was Alexis’s turn to look surprised. What were they supposed to do? Run around on an active volcano looking for a wild animal that might not even exist? There were miles of forest here! He could be anywhere…or he could be nowhere at all.
Late that night, Alexis stared at the dark ceiling above her bunk. She couldn’t stop thinking about Kellie’s worried face. This was all happening so fast! If there was a Bigfoot, how could they keep him safe from the hunters? And what if
he really was attacking humans? Was he worth protecting then? And if they had to evacuate, did they even have time to do anything at all?
Another lonely howl sounded from deep in the forest.
Alexis looked over at McKenzie. She was already asleep, so Alexis didn’t say anything to her about the sound. She turned and looked at Husky lying in his spot on the floor.
The lonely howl sounded again—this time a little closer. Husky just raised his head and sniffed. He thumped his tail briefly. Then he yawned, showing his big white teeth, and put his head back on his paws.
Husky was clearly not concerned.
Dog Gone It
Alexis and McKenzie were still trying to figure out what to do with their investigation the next morning. They were running out of time. If they had to evacuate, they might never find Bigfoot.
They walked into Kellie’s house for breakfast. To their surprise, Jeremy Jones was leaning against the kitchen counter. Kellie was doing her best to ignore him as she scrambled eggs, and Chad was staring angrily at his newspaper. Alexis noticed he was holding it upside-down.
Grrrr. Grroooowwwrrr. Rrrrrrrwwwwllll.
Husky was clearly stating his opinion of Jones once again.
“Husky, hush and sit,” Kellie commanded, a bit impatiently.
“Good dog, Husky,” Chad whispered. He quietly reached out to pat the dog on the head.
“Dogs know when people are trustworthy…and when they aren’t!” he told the girls grimly.
Kellie smiled at the girls. “I hope you slept well,” she said. “We’ll have some food here in a few minutes. Chad already set the table, so feel free to sit down.”
“Come on, Kell,” Jeremy said, as if no one else were in the room or had interrupted the conversation they’d apparently been having. “You can’t really be happy here!”
“You know I am, Jeremy,” said Kellie. “And you know I hate it when you call me Kell.”
“Just come back to Seattle,” said Jeremy. “This place is so lame! You could make a fortune with your sculpting up there! Especially if you stop making so many dumb Bigfoots and concentrate on more sophisticated subjects.”
“What’s sophisticated mean?” McKenzie whispered to Alexis.
Chad lowered his paper enough to whisper back, “Worldly. Important. Grown-up. He thinks her figures are too childlike.”
Alexis frowned. “I think her Bigfoots are wonderful,” she announced, not caring if Jeremy Jones did hear.
“So do I,” Chad said, his smile finally returning.
“I don’t care about making a fortune, Jeremy. You know that too. And I don’t care about sculpting more sophisticated things.”
“Well then, come back for me,” he said.
Alexis and McKenzie stared. They looked at each other and then looked back and forth from Jeremy to Kellie again.
So that was why Jeremy Jones was hanging around St. Helens. It wasn’t just his news story. He was trying to win Kellie back!
Alexis saw Chad’s grip tighten on his coffee cup.
“Jeremy, I’m not marrying you. I made that decision years ago, and I haven’t changed my mind.”
Chad’s grip loosened. Alexis thought he still might throw his coffee cup at Jeremy’s head any minute. Jeremy looked around, as if he suddenly realized how crowded the room had become. He changed the subject.
“I’m so sick of being out here in the sticks. I hope this stupid mountain really blows soon so I can get my story and go home,” he said.
“You might get your wish!” said Rick from the doorway. He scooped up a fist full of bacon and plopped down at the table. “It looks like the mountain is really going to erupt. Should be a good one too.”
“Do you know when?” asked McKenzie.
“Sometime tomorrow or the next day,” said Rick. “We don’t need to rush, but we should definitely be gone by this evening.”
“How much more packing do you have to do, Kellie?” asked McKenzie. “We can help you.”
“Thanks, McKenzie,” said Kellie. “We have everything that’s really important. Now I’m just packing things I would like to take.”
“Kellie?” said Rick. “If you don’t need the girls right away, I was going to take them up to the mountain to get one last look before she blows. St. Helens will probably never look the same again. These shots would be great for Alexis’s report.”
“How long would you be up there?” asked Kellie. “I have to be sure the girls are safe. McKenzie, your mom would kill me if anything happened to you, no matter how good of friends we are. I don’t know your mom, Alexis, but I’m guessing she wouldn’t be happy with me either.”
“We’ll only be up there for about fifteen minutes,” said Rick.
The girls looked pleadingly at Kellie. She smiled and nodded her head.
“Okay,” she said. “But be careful!”
“Yes!” McKenzie and Alexis exclaimed together. They jumped up from the table and ran toward their cabin to get Alexis’s camera. Kellie called after them.
“Fifteen minutes!” she said.
The girls jumped into Rick’s van, and the three of them headed up toward the visitors’ center. Alexis looked behind them and noticed Jeremy Jones’s news van was following them.
“Are they letting news crews back through the road block?” asked Alexis.
“Nope,” said Rick. He grinned from ear to ear. “While you two ladies were getting your things, I talked about how famous the person who got the last shots of St. Helens would be. I made sure to make it sound very enticing.”
“You wanted him to follow us?” asked McKenzie.
“Yeah,” said Rick. “It looked like he was getting on Kellie’s nerves, so I thought I’d lure him away from the shop. You two still have the name tags I gave you, right?”
Alexis and McKenzie pulled the name tags over their heads and let them hang outside of their jackets. In minutes Rick stopped at the roadblock, and all three of them flashed their tags. The policeman checking them stepped aside and let them through. McKenzie and Alexis turned around and watched as the policeman told Jeremy Jones that he couldn’t get through.
Jeremy had jumped out of the van and was still yelling at the policeman when they lost sight of him behind a bend in the road.
“He’d better be careful,” said Rick. “These policemen aren’t in the mood to play around.”
Rick stopped the van near a clump of other scientists. Most of them were packing up their gear to evacuate along with the rest of the town.
“You guys are leaving too?” said Alexis.
“Yep,” said Rick. “We’ll stay another hour or two, but then we’ll hit the road. Many of the victims of the eruptions in 1980 were photographers and scientists who stayed just a little too long. Some thought they were at a safe distance, but no one could have guessed what the heat wave from that first blast was going to do to this area.”
“Nature is powerful,” said Alexis. “When I visit the ocean with my family, the strength of the waves always freaks me out a little.”
“I know,” said Rick. “If nature is this powerful, think of how strong the Creator of it all must be!”
Alexis and McKenzie stared at Rick for a moment. Alexis finally asked what they were both thinking.
“You believe in God?” she said.
“Sure do,” said Rick. “And Jesus too.”
He winked at them both.
“But you’re a scientist,” said Alexis. “I thought—”
“That we all believed in evolution and the Big Bang theory of creation?” said Rick.
“Well, yeah,” said Alexis.
Rick laughed. “A lot of people do, but if we’re really honest with ourselves, we know that there had to be a beginning and a designer. Even the Big Bang theory needed particles of matter to exist before it could happen. Something much bigger and more powerful had to put things into motion.”
“I never thought of it that way,” said McKenzie. “I should remember that for science cl
ass next year.”
Rick took about ten minutes to show the girls around. He showed them the small cracks some of the recent earthquakes had created. He also showed them a small machine that measured gases that the volcano released into the air.
“What is that smell?” said Alexis.
“Yeah,” said McKenzie. “It smells like Easter eggs that have been left out in the sun too long!”
“That’s sulfur dioxide,” said Rick. “Active volcanoes release the gas into the air through cracks in the surface called vents.”
“That’s right!” said Alexis. “When my family went to Hawaii, we went to Volcanoes National Park. They had signs everywhere telling you to keep your windows rolled up because of the gas. There was one crater where we could see steam coming out of the cracks. That steam smelled just like this!”
“Yep,” said Rick. “And it’ll give us a headache if we’re up here too long. Why don’t you girls shoot some video, and then we’ll get you back to the shop.”
McKenzie held the camera while Alexis walked in front of it. She made sure to mention the sulfur dioxide and told all about the evacuation. She even got some shots of the smoking mountain and the thin layer of ash that covered most of the parking lot.
When the girls climbed back into the truck, Rick told them he’d called Kellie while they were gone. “Chad is going to meet us at the roadblock and take you back to Kellie’s from there,” he explained. “I think I need to stay behind and help the other scientists pack everything up.”
Jeremy’s news van was still parked on the side of the road, but they couldn’t see the news man anywhere.
“I hope he gets buried under a field of ash,” Chad mumbled as they climbed in his truck.
The girls looked at each other with surprise. It didn’t seem like Chad to be grouchy about someone. In the few days they’d known him, he had always been so chipper and nice.
As the girls walked back to their cabin a short time later, McKenzie asked, “So what do you think about Chad being in a bad mood?”
“I don’t know that he was really in a bad mood, but he certainly wasn’t happy about Jeremy, was he?” Alex said.
“He looked like a thundercloud around Jeremy this morning at breakfast too,” McKenzie added.
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