by Charles Tang
“Look,” said Henry. “If we stand on this big flat rock we can look out over the whole lake.”
“Be careful,” Grandfather warned.
Cautiously the Aldens stepped out onto the flat rock. Lake Lucille was spread out before them.
Benny pointed. “Look,” he said. “There’s Lucille Lodge across the lake.”
“We’re halfway around, then,” said Jessie.
Suddenly Benny pointed again. “Look at that!” he exclaimed. “Is that a big fish down there?”
“Where?” asked Henry. He looked in the direction Benny was pointing. But he didn’t see anything except a few ripples on the mirror-smooth surface of the lake.
“It could be a fish. Or it could be an underground stream bubbling up into the lake,” said Grandfather Alden.
“Or it could be a monster,” said a gravelly voice behind them.
The Aldens all turned around quickly in surprise. Watch barked loudly and pulled at his leash.
Standing behind them on the trail was a man in faded clothes of brown and green that seemed to match the woods. A wide-brimmed hat was pulled low over his short grizzled gray hair. He had a deeply tanned and lined face. In one hand he held a walking stick made of a whittled branch. A deep basket woven of strips of bark was slung over his shoulders. Next to him stood an enormous dog with short brown and silvery white fur and one blue eye and one brown eye.
“Who are you?” demanded Jessie.
“It’s the Wild Man of the Woods!” cried Violet, shrinking back against her grandfather.
“Wild Man of the Woods? So you’ve heard about the Wild Man, eh?” said the man. His voice sounded like a growl.
Beside the man, the dog slowly wagged his tail and looked up at him.
“Nora told us about you,” said Benny. “Shhh, Watch! Stop barking.”
“Are you the Wild Man?” asked Henry.
The man shook his head. “My name’s Carl Nielson.” His teeth showed briefly in what might have been a smile. “I live up on the mountain, but I’m not the Wild Man.”
“Who is, then?” asked Jessie.
Carl reached down and patted his dog’s head. “He is. That’s his name. Wildman.”
Everyone stared for a moment. Then Benny started to laugh. “Oh, that’s a joke,” he said.
“Nora had us all fooled,” said Grandfather Alden. “We’re glad to meet you and Wildman, Mr. Nielson.” He stepped forward to shake hands.
Mr. Nielson looked down at Grandfather’s outstretched hand. Slowly, reluctantly, he shifted his walking stick to the other hand and shook hands with Mr. Alden. “You can call me Carl,” he said. “Everybody calls me that.”
“What did you mean about a monster, Carl?” asked Jessie.
“The monster that lives in the lake,” said Carl.
“A monster lives in the lake? Oh, no,” gasped Violet.
“Some say yes, some say no,” said Carl. “I’d say yes.”
Looking up at Carl, Benny said, “Have you seen the monster?”
“That’s another story,” said Carl. “I’ve got a delivery to make.” Without saying good-bye, he walked away from them down the trail in the direction from which they had come. In a moment, he’d disappeared from sight.
“What a strange man,” said Violet softly.
“I don’t think he liked us,” said Benny. “But I liked his dog. Maybe you and Wildman can play together sometime, Watch.”
Watch wagged his tail.
“You don’t think there is really a monster in the lake, do you, Grandfather?” asked Jessie.
“Well, some people believe that a monster lives in Lake Champlain,” said Grandfather. “It’s not all that far from here. They call him Champ.”
“And don’t forget Nessie. She’s the monster who is supposed to live in Loch Ness in Scotland,” said Henry.
“Well, I don’t believe in monsters,” said Jessie firmly.
“I know someone who might turn into a hungry monster if we don’t get back to the lodge for dinner,” teased Grandfather.
“Me,” said Benny, forgetting about the lake monster. “Let’s go!”
After putting Watch in Black Bear Cabin and giving him his dinner and some fresh water, the Aldens went quickly down the trail toward Lucille Lodge. They walked into the lodge through a narrow entrance hall with thick carpets on the floor. Doors opened off either side of the entrance hall. One door had a sign on it that said LIBRARY. The other door had a sign that said TELEPHONE.
They went through the entrance into the great room. It had a high ceiling and an enormous fireplace on one side with big, comfortable chairs pulled up around it. On the other side of the room was the registration desk.
The dining room in Lucille Lodge had two huge fireplaces. At a small table near one of the fireplaces, a young woman with very short black hair was reading a book and eating slowly without really looking at what she ate. Every few minutes she put down her fork and picked up a pencil and made a note in the book.
“Hello,” Nora greeted them as they walked into the dining room. “You can sit anywhere you’d like. The menu is on the blackboard on the wall over there. I’ll come take your order in a few minutes.”
The Aldens chose a table on the porch. When Nora came to take their order, she said, “I can recommend the trout. I know it’s fresh. Carl caught it and brought it today.”
“That’s the delivery he was going to make!” Jessie whispered to Violet.
Henry said, “Carl Nielson?”
“Oh, did you meet Carl?” asked Nora, her eyes twinkling.
“We met Carl and Wildman,” Jessie told her.
“It was a good joke,” Benny said. “Violet was afraid we were going to meet a real Wild Man of the Woods. Weren’t you, Violet?”
“Maybe a little,” Violet admitted, smiling.
“Carl told us about a monster, too,” Jessie said. “A monster who lives in Lake Lucille.”
The twinkle disappeared from Nora’s eyes. “That’s ridiculous! I don’t understand why Carl picked this summer to make up all these crazy stories about a monster in the lake,” she said. “He’s going to hurt my business if he’s not careful.”
“Then there is no monster that lives in Lake Lucille?” asked Violet, looking relieved.
“Of course not,” said Nora. “In all the years I’ve been coming to this lake, I’ve never seen or heard anything that even remotely resembled a monster!”
She turned and walked quickly away, looking upset.
“I guess there isn’t a monster,” said Benny, a little disappointed. “But why would Carl make it up?”
“I don’t know, Benny,” said Henry. “Maybe he was just trying to scare us.”
“Maybe. After all, he didn’t seem to like us very much,” said Jessie.
Violet said thoughtfully, “But what if Carl isn’t making up the story about the monster? What if Nora is just pretending that it isn’t true, so people won’t be afraid to come stay at the lodge?”
Henry said, “The lodge has a small library, remember? Maybe we can go visit it after dinner.”
“Yes,” said Jessie. “We can see if we can find out anything about Champ and Nessie. That might help us figure out if the monster in Lake Lucille is real.”
After dinner, Grandfather took a cup of coffee into the great room and the Alden children went to the small library.
“Look,” said Jessie. “There’s an old set of encyclopedias.”
“We can read all about monsters in there, can’t we?” asked Benny.
“Monsters?” A tall, thin teenage boy with long black hair and dark brown eyes who had been slouched in an armchair in one corner of the library sat up. He looked scornfully at the Aldens. Then he shrugged. “Oh, well, I guess lots of little kids believe in monsters.”
Henry’s cheeks flushed. “We’re not little kids. And we don’t believe in monsters.”
“Jason, Mom and Dad and I are here. It’s time for dinner,” said a girl’s voice.<
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The Aldens turned to see a girl who was about Violet’s or Jessie’s age standing in the doorway of the library. Like Jason, she had black hair and brown eyes. Her hair was pulled back in a long dark braid. She gave the Aldens a friendly smile. “Hi, I’m Nicole. Nicole Dubois. We’re staying with my mom and dad in Moose Cabin for the whole summer. Who are you?”
“I’m Henry Alden, and these are my sisters, Jessie and Violet, and my brother, Benny,” said Henry. “We just got here. We’re in Black Bear Cabin.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” said Nicole. “Now I’ll have someone to do things with. Jason never wants to do anything but sit in the library and read. And the only other person staying here is Dr. Lin. She is a biologist who is doing research.”
“There’s nothing to do here except read,” said the boy. “This place is so boring.”
“It’s not boring, Jason!” Nicole cried. “It’s fun to hike and swim and fish and take the canoe out on the lake.”
“Little kid stuff,” said Jason with a yawn. He stood up and walked out of the room. “Anything would be better than being here — even summer school.”
Nicole rolled her eyes. “He’s going to college this fall,” she said. “Suddenly he thinks he’s so grown-up.”
“Most grown-ups don’t act like that,” Jessie blurted out. Then she stopped, embarrassed. “Sorry,” she said.
“That’s okay,” said Nicole. “I have to go to dinner, but maybe I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Okay,” said Henry.
“We’re in the library to do research on the monster,” Benny said suddenly. “Do you believe in monsters?”
Nicole’s eyes widened. She stepped forward. “You’ve heard about Lucy?” she asked in a low voice.
“Lucy?” asked Violet.
“The monster of Lake Lucille,” said Nicole.
“Have you seen her?” asked Jessie. “Have you seen Lucy?”
Nicole whispered, “No, I haven’t. But I know someone who has.”
CHAPTER 3
Here Be Monsters?
“Who?” Jessie asked.
“Nicole, come on,” a woman’s voice said.
“I can’t tell you right now. I have to go. But I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow. Meet me at the beach tomorrow morning!” Nicole said in a low, rapid voice. Then she ran out the library door.
“So the monster is real,” said Violet. “Oh, no!”
“We’d better get to work doing research,” said Henry. “The more we know, the better.”
The Aldens searched for information in the lodge’s library for a long time. But the library was small, so they didn’t find very much.
“We should go,” said Benny the next morning when he had finished his big breakfast in the lodge dining room.
“Whoa. Where do you want to go in such a hurry?” asked Grandfather.
“To the beach,” said Benny.
Grandfather took a sip of coffee. “Don’t go in the water until I get there,” he said. “There’s no lifeguard.”
“Okay,” said Benny.
The Aldens put on their bathing suits, put on T-shirts and shorts, picked up their towels, and went down to the beach. At one end of the half-moon of shore was a small dock with four canoes pulled up onto the land next to it. At the other end Nicole sat waiting for them.
She jumped up when she saw them. “You’re here at last!” she cried dramatically.
“Have you seen Lucy?” asked Benny. He put his hand up to shade his eyes and peered out at the lake.
“No. But Carl Nielson has!” said Nicole.
“Carl Nielson? We met him yesterday,” said Henry. “He’s the one who told us about Lucy.”
Nicole’s face fell. “Really? So you know all about what happened,” she said.
“No,” Jessie said. “He just told us about Lucy. He wouldn’t tell us if he had seen her or not.”
“And then Nora told us there was no monster,” added Violet.
“Nora’s saying that because she’s afraid the monster will scare away the guests at Lucille Lodge,” said Nicole.
“Not many people are staying here,” observed Henry. “Maybe they are scared to come visit.”
“Maybe,” said Nicole. She shrugged. “I wish I could see the monster, like Carl did.”
“Where did he see it?” asked Henry.
“What did it look like?” asked Jessie at the same time.
“Did it chase him?” Benny chimed in.
“Over by the big rock across the lake. It had a small head and a long neck and a sort of hump on its back. He was in his boat fishing and it tried to turn him over.”
“How did he escape?” asked Violet, horrified.
“He threw Lucy all of his fish. While she was eating them, he rowed back to shore and jumped out of the boat. When he looked back, Lucy was gone,” Nicole told them.
“Maybe she wasn’t trying to turn him over,” said Benny. “Maybe she was just trying to play.”
“Well, I don’t want to ever play with a monster,” said Nicole. “But I’d like to see her!”
“Me too,” said Benny.
“I would, too,” said Jessie, and Henry nodded.
Violet said, “Maybe I wouldn’t.”
“But Violet, if we could see her, we could prove she exists,” Henry argued.
Violet didn’t look convinced. “I don’t know,” she said. “Lots of people have seen Nessie and Champ and that didn’t prove that they were real.”
“Nessie and Champ?” asked Nicole. She listened carefully as the Aldens explained what they had read.
“We thought we should do some research,” Jessie concluded.
“Research . . .” repeated Henry, looking thoughtful, “research.” Then he snapped his fingers. “I’ve got it! We have to have proof that the monster exists. Scientific proof.”
“But how do we do that?” asked Jessie.
“I’m not sure,” said Henry. “But maybe we could ask Dr. Lin.”
“Because she’s a scientist?” asked Benny.
“That’s right, Benny,” his brother answered.
Violet said, “But we don’t know Dr. Lin. What if she doesn’t want to help us?”
Nicole spoke up. “She’s not very friendly.”
“We won’t know until we try,” said Jessie. “Where is she staying, Nicole?”
“In Elk Cabin,” said Nicole. “She picked the last one at the very end.”
“Come on, then,” said Jessie. “Let’s go.”
Dr. Lin was just coming out of her cabin as the Aldens walked up the trail to her door. The Aldens remembered seeing her reading in the dining room.
“Hello,” called Henry.
“What are you doing here?” she asked. She closed the door behind her. She was wearing khaki hiking shorts, heavy socks, heavy boots, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and a cap. She had a pack on her back, and a camera and a pair of binoculars around her neck.
“We wanted to ask you a few questions,” Jessie said.
“About what?” Dr. Lin asked. “Who are you?”
“We’re the Aldens. We’re here for a visit. And this is Nicole —” Henry began to say, but Dr. Lin interrupted.
“Never mind. I know who Nicole is. And I don’t need to know who the rest of you are. I haven’t got time.” Dr. Lin pushed past them and started walking up the path away from her cabin.
“Wait,” said Benny. “It’s important. It’s about the monster.”
Dr. Lin stopped. Slowly she turned. “Did you say ‘monster’?”
“Yes. The one Carl Nielson says he saw,” Nicole said. “Do you know anything about it?”
“Why would I?” asked Dr. Lin, frowning. She started to turn away. “Besides, monsters don’t exist.”
Henry said quickly, “But if you wanted to prove that one did exist, how would you do it? Scientifically, I mean.”
That surprised Dr. Lin. “Oh,” she said. “Hmmm. Well, you’d need evidence. Scientific evidence. Castings o
f the tracks of the animal. A photograph. Tufts of fur. Or the animal itself.”
“Alive?” asked Benny doubtfully.
Dr. Lin shrugged. “If possible . . . but I can’t tell you how to catch a monster. I have serious field research to do.”
She turned again and walked quickly up the trail.
The Aldens and Nicole looked at one another. Nicole said, “I have my camera. But we have to find the monster to make a picture.”
“It might be easier to find Lucy’s tracks,” said Henry. “But what’s a casting?”
“We can go back to the library at the lodge,” suggested Jessie. “Maybe we can look it up there.”
“Here,” said Henry. “This book talks about how to make casts of animal tracks. You can use all kinds of materials — like wax. You melt it into the track and when it hardens, you have a cast of the animal’s footprint.”
Jessie read over Henry’s shoulder. “Listen to this! It says that you can tell all kinds of things from a footprint — like how tall the animal is and whether it walks on two legs or four.”
“We have lots of wax,” said Benny excitedly. “We have all those candles in our cabin.”
Violet nodded and took the book back to its place on the shelf.
Just then, they heard angry voices outside the half-open door of the library.
“I don’t care, Drew. That’s one of the best things about Lucille Lodge. It’s not some fancy tourist hotel. The people who come here really love the mountains. They don’t come to watch TV and order room service.”
“Nora, be reasonable. We need to attract more business. And the way to do that is to modernize. Tear down the cabins and build new ones that have running water and —”
“No. We have enough business. We have enough money to live on. What more do we want?” Nora asked.
Drew said, “You’re impossible.”
“If you want more money, I’m surprised you didn’t think we should sell it when we got that offer,” Nora asked.
“Maybe we should have,” Drew snapped. They heard heavy footsteps stomp away. Then they heard Nora sigh and walk slowly after her husband.