“Yeah, for a few minutes there, I thought he was going to throw his coffee on Jeremy,” Alexis said.
“Alex, do you think he wants a closer relationship with Kellie than just being her employee?”
“I don’t know,” Alexis replied thoughtfully. “I’m beginning to wonder. Maybe we should tell the rest of the Camp Club Girls in case it factors in somehow.”
Alexis booted up her computer quickly and went onto the Camp Club Girls website chat room. None of the girls were online at the moment, so Alexis started to type a message to leave for when the girls checked in.
Alexis: Only have a sec, but guess what? At breakfast this morning, Jeremy, the TV guy, was trying to get Kellie to marry him. From what she said, he’s asked before. A lot.
Suddenly Kate’s icon showed up.
Kate: What did Kellie say?
Alexis: She told him she decided a long time ago that she’d never marry him. Or something like that.
Kate: What did Chad say?
Alexis: Chad? Do you mean Jeremy? He wasn’t very happy.
Kate: No, I mean Chad.
Alexis: Well, he didn’t seem to be too happy either. We thought he was going to throw coffee on Jeremy. And he was grouchy later when we drove by Jeremy’s van. Chad’s usually happy.
Elizabeth: Hi, girls! Just checked in. Are things getting a little heated up in the northern woods there? Is Chad jealous?
Kate: Is anyone else around the shop a lot?
Alexis: Hi, Beth. No, Kate. It’s usually just Chad and Kellie—besides the tourists and customers.
Kate: Hmm. That sounds suspicious to me. Just what lengths do you think Chad would go to if he wanted to help Kellie?
Alexis: I’m not sure what you mean, but I think he’d do about anything for her.
Elizabeth: Check out Proverbs 27:4–5. It says, “Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy? Better is open rebuke than hidden love.”
Bailey: I’m here now! I’ve been reading that they’re evacuating the mountain. Will you guys have to go?
Alexis: Yes, we’re supposed to be leaving now. So we’d better sign off.
Kate: Alex, what does McKenzie think of all this—of Chad and Kellie and Jeremy? You know she’s the one of us who UNDERSTANDS people best. She tends to figure out what people are thinking and why they do the things they do.
Alexis: She and I will go talk about it as soon as we can get some more private moments. Oops. Kellie calling.
Kate: I’ve gotta go too. Biscuit is pitching a fit, and I’d better go check into it. You know Biscuit. He raises a racket anytime anyone strange comes around.
Alexis: Give that Wonder Dog a hug from us and a doggy bone for being a good watchdog! L8r!
While McKenzie went outside to let Kellie know they heard her and were coming, Alex shut down her computer. The girls hurried and put their luggage in Kellie’s car. Then they went into the shop and started helping Kellie and Chad pack up the last of the figurines.
“You know, I meant to buy one of these before I left,” said Alexis. She was holding a small slug sculpture.
“You don’t have to buy one!” said Kellie. “Just pick one out! I would love for you to take one home!”
“I like this one,” said Alexis, holding up the slug.
“Gross, Alexis!” said McKenzie. “Out of all of these cute animals, you pick the slug?”
“It’s a perfect choice,” said Chad. “Slugs outnumber everything up here because of the rain. If the Pacific Northwest had a mascot, it would be the slug.”
As they were laughing, Kellie’s phone rang and went onto the answering machine. After the beep, Alexis, who was standing nearby, could hear Ranger Davis’s voice on the other end.
“Kellie?” he said.
“Yes, Ranger Davis, I’m here. What do you need?”
“I need you to get into town right away. I was running the town evacuation meeting, and it’s all blown out of control! Randall’s going crazy!”
“The hunter?” asked Alexis. Kellie nodded.
“What’s Randall’s problem this time?” asked Kellie.
“His dog’s missing,” said Ranger Davis. “He thinks Bigfoot’s responsible!”
Fighting and a Furry Visitor
Kellie and the girls got to the ranger station just in time. Ranger Davis had only been telling part of the truth. Mr. Randall wasn’t the only one going crazy.
Everyone was talking at once, and most of the people were shouting. Ranger Davis stood at the front of the room. He was yelling too, but Alexis couldn’t hear a word he was saying. He looked up when they walked in and sagged with relief. He grabbed Kellie by the hand and pulled her through the crowd to the front.
“Everyone, just calm down!” Ranger Davis yelled. For some reason the people listened this time, and the room went quiet. Alexis took a look around. What was it about Kellie that made everyone stop and listen?
Most of the room was full of citizens. They had probably only come to hear the instructions for evacuating their homes. Up front, however, there were two groups glaring at each other.
On the left stood the hunters. Leading the pack was Mr. Randall. He stood with his arms crossed over his chest and his rifle leaning against his hip.
On the right stood a group Alexis recognized as some of the scientists who had been watching the mountain. They were glaring at the hunters and writing like crazy in little notebooks. Alexis thought that a fight might break out if someone didn’t settle things down.
“Okay, everyone,” said Ranger Davis. “Let’s all take a deep breath. The purpose of this meeting was to help people evacuate. We don’t know if Bigfoot even exists. If he does, that’s something to take care of later. Right now we all need to just get out of town.”
“Not without my dog!” cried Randall. “That dog’s been with me for eight years! He would never go anywhere without me. I know that monster’s behind this, just like he’s behind the other missing pets and that poor missing hiker!”
The other hunters roared in agreement.
“Yeah!”
“He’s right!”
“Let’s go get him!”
“No way!” yelled one of the scientists. “You can’t just run into the forest waving your guns around! If this is Bigfoot, then he’s a discovery! We’re the ones who need to find him. He needs to be captured and evaluated not killed.”
“But he’s dangerous!” said Randall.
“So are mountain lions!” said the scientist. “But I don’t see you running out to exterminate them!”
“Mountain lions didn’t take my dog!”
“They would if the dog went near them!”
“Calm down, everyone!” said Kellie. She looked at Randall. “We can’t just run out and shoot this thing, Randall. What if he’s the only one of his kind?”
“Good!” said Randall. “Then we’ll only have to get rid of him once!”
Suddenly, Chad stepped up beside the ranger and spoke.
“Look, I can guarantee that Bigfoot isn’t doing anything to anyone’s animals!” he exclaimed.
“And how can you be so sure about that?” Randall said.
“Trust me. I just know,” Chad insisted. “You’re going to have to start figuring out what else might have happened. It’s not any kind of Bigfoot!”
“Well, we’ll just go hunt down that Bigfoot animal and then see if the problems stop,” Randall countered.
Alexis couldn’t take it anymore. Weren’t adults supposed to be rational?
“Everyone, stop!” she cried at the top of her lungs. The entire room turned to look at her. She swallowed hard. She had no idea what she was going to say. McKenzie helped her out.
“This thing can’t be dangerous,” McKenzie said. “So many people have seen him up close, and he hasn’t attacked any of them.”
“Yeah,” said Alexis. “There was a busload of fourth graders, and you know what he did when he saw them? He danced! He didn’t even attack def
enseless children!”
“I’d be afraid of a bus full of fourth graders too,” said a voice from the back of the room. Everyone except the hunters laughed.
“The girls are right,” said Kellie. “We think it was this…uh…animal that somehow got into my house. It didn’t hurt anything while it was inside. Don’t you think that’s strange? Bill! Remember that elk that got into your house last spring? He demolished your kitchen before you finally got him to leave.”
“What do you mean, it didn’t hurt anything?” said Randall. “Didn’t it break down the door to get in?”
This time the hunters laughed.
“What she means is that Bigfoot seems like more than just some dumb animal,” said Alexis. “We found his cave in the forest, and he had built a fire! What other animal do you know that can do that? He’s more human than we think!”
The room filled with grumbling. Doubt began to appear on some of the hunters’ faces, but Alexis couldn’t hear what anyone was saying.
“Well,” said Ranger Davis, “I have one thing I know we can all agree on!” Again, everyone stopped to listen.
“The mountain is about to blow, and we’re all in danger if we stay here,” said Ranger Davis.
And just like that, people stopped yelling at each other and began asking if anyone needed help getting ready to leave. The townspeople drifted out of the station. Soon the only people left were the hunters and the scientists. They still stood glaring at each other across the room.
“We do agree on that, right?” asked Ranger Davis. “St. Helens is getting ready to erupt, and it doesn’t really matter what animals are or aren’t out there right now.”
Ranger Davis turned to face the hunters.
“You guys need to evacuate, just like everyone else. Remember what happened to the people who stuck around in 1980? They were vaporized.”
Next he turned to the scientists.
“And you need to finish up your work and get on out as well. You’re more than welcome to search the mountain for Bigfoot after the evacuation has been lifted and we are sure it is safe.”
Ranger Davis pulled on his jacket and turned to face everyone again.
“The thought of a dangerous animal on the loose is scary, but it’s not nearly as scary as the thought of the rest of this mountain blowing us all to smithereens. Get out of town. When things get back to normal, we’ll figure out what to do about Bigfoot.”
With that, Ranger Davis simply walked out of the station and climbed into his Jeep. The hunters and the scientists stared after him dumbfounded. No one had expected the meeting to end so suddenly.
“You heard him,” Alexis said. “We can’t do anything about it right now. We’d better get ready to leave.”
The ranger station emptied, and Kellie began driving the girls back to the shop. They were going to load up the car and then drive to Olympia. Kellie parked the car and was fumbling for the house key when another car pulled into the parking lot. It was the neighbor—the one who had told Jeremy Jones she had seen Bigfoot break in to the shop the day before. Alexis realized that her car was loaded with old suitcases and about twenty-five cats.
“Hello, Ms. Anne,” said Kellie. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
“No, honey,” said Ms. Anne as a caramel-colored cat leaped onto her head. “I’m on my way to stay with my sister, Mabel, but I thought you might want to know that I just saw Bigfoot walk into your shop.”
Kellie’s jaw dropped.
“Bigfoot?” said Alexis. “The same one you saw yesterday?”
“Of course, child! I don’t think there is more than one!” Ms. Anne pushed the caramel-colored cat off of her head, and Alexis heard it hit the floorboard. Then Ms. Anne looked back at Kellie and said, “I wouldn’t go in there if I were you.”
Running for His Life
Alexis and McKenzie followed Kellie up the front porch steps. Sure enough, giant, muddy footprints led to the front door. Kellie tried the door, but it was locked.
“Maybe he came up the steps and didn’t get inside,” said Alexis.
“Maybe,” said Kellie.
“At least he didn’t break down the door this time,” said McKenzie.
Kellie jiggled the key in the lock, and the door swung inward. She and McKenzie tiptoed inside.
“He was definitely in here,” said McKenzie. “There are muddy prints here too. They don’t look as heavy, though, Alexis.”
“I know why,” said Alexis. She knelt on the porch and looked closely at the doormat. There were two big smudges of mud across the top of it.
“No way!” said McKenzie. “Bigfoot wiped his feet?”
Alexis raised her eyebrows. “And apparently he had a key to get in. This is getting so weird!”
The girls went into the shop. Alexis almost closed the door, but she decided to leave it open instead. If Bigfoot really was inside, they might need to get out quickly. She wished Kellie had left the car running just in case.
Kellie came in from the kitchen. She was carrying a baseball bat.
“He’s not here,” Kellie said. “I checked the whole house. It’s empty, but there are a few more prints leading out the back door. I guess he’s gone.”
“I thought you weren’t afraid of Bigfoot, Kellie,” said McKenzie, pointing to the bat.
“I’m not,” said Kellie.
“Then what’s with the bat?” asked Alexis. Kellie laughed and put the bat down behind the cash register.
“No animal is pleasant when you sneak up on it. What if I had found Bigfoot in my closet? Who knows what he would do if he were cornered.”
“Well, he wiped his feet,” said McKenzie. “If he was in your closet, he was probably trying on your high heels.”
Alex snickered. She couldn’t help herself.
Alexis began loading the last of Kellie’s boxes in the trunk of the car. She was happy. They may not be able to solve the Bigfoot case, but at least the animal would be safe. No one was going to be hunting for it today.
But what will happen after things settle down again? Alexis thought. Will the hunters stray into the national park? Will the scientists capture Bigfoot and do all kinds of experiments?
She was worrying again, and she knew she needed to stop. There was no reason to worry about something she had no control over.
McKenzie kneeled to help Alexis tape one last box, and there was a knock on the front door. Kellie unlocked it, and Rick peeked his head in. He was sweating like crazy and breathing hard.
“I saw that your car was still here, so I thought I’d make sure you were ready to leave,” he said.
“We’re getting there,” said Kellie. “What’s wrong?”
“The mountain’s getting a little unstable. It’s closed to everyone now, even me.”
“But there’s nothing to worry about, right?” said McKenzie. “It’s not supposed to erupt until some time tomorrow.”
“Remember when I told you that forecasting volcanoes is a lot like forecasting the weather?” said Rick.
“Yeah,” said Alexis.
“Well, sometimes the weather man is off, and the rain comes early.”
The girls looked at each other and then back to Rick.
“Forget the tape!” said Kellie to Alexis. “Just throw the box in the car, and get in!”
They all ran outside. Kellie tried calling Chad’s cell phone, but it went straight to voicemail.
“He must already be in town,” she said. “But that’s odd. I would have thought he would have let me know. I thought he was planning on taking one more load of boxes.”
“It must be crazy down there,” said Rick. He was helping load the last box into Kellie’s car.
“What makes you say that?” asked Alexis.
“Well, I heard about the fight at the town meeting,” said Rick. “My boss was there. Then that group of hunters almost hit my van on my way here. They drove their trucks right through the roadblock! Can you imagine? I have no idea what they think they’r
e doing!”
Kellie’s face turned white.
“I do,” she said. “Rick, take the girls down to the safety zone. I’ll be right behind you.” She turned and ran toward the woods.
“What are you doing?” Alexis yelled.
“I can’t let those hunters do this!” Kellie yelled. “I have to find Bigfoot before they do!”
Kellie disappeared into the trees.
“She’s crazy!” said Rick. “Has everyone gone mad?”
Alexis looked at McKenzie. They both shrugged their shoulders and got out of the car.
“Wait a minute!” said Rick. “Not you too! Where are you going?”
“We have to help her!” said Alexis. “The sooner we find Bigfoot, the sooner Kellie can get off the mountain. You know she won’t go while the hunters are out there looking for him. She can’t stand the thought of him getting shot!”
“Yes, I know, but she’s an adult,” said Rick. “She’s made her choice, now it’s my job to keep you two safe.”
“Come on, Dr. Rick!” said McKenzie. “Don’t you want to find him? You could be the scientist to save Bigfoot!”
Rick looked into the woods. He reached back into his van and grabbed a compass.
“Okay,” he said. “But when I say it’s time to turn around, you two will listen, alright?”
“Alright,” said Alexis and McKenzie together.
Alexis led the other two to the back door. Husky trotted along with them. Kellie had run off in a random direction, but Alexis thought she had a better idea. It had rained a little this morning, and the dusty ground had become muddy. Just as Alexis had hoped, there was a set of tracks leading from the back door into the woods.
“Come on!” said Alexis. “If we can follow these, we should be able to catch up with him. He couldn’t have gone very far!”
“Alex, what’s that over there? It almost looks like a truck hidden in the bushes,” McKenzie said. “It looks kind of like the color of Chad’s truck….”
“We’ll have to look at it and see what it is when we get back,” Alex said.
The three of them took off through the forest with Husky following. Rick kept checking his compass so he knew how to get back to the shop and his van. Alexis was thankful he was with them. She could run faster and focus on following the tracks since she didn’t have to think about getting lost.
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