by Charles Tang
“No, thank you,” said Carl.
“You were right about the lake monster, Carl,” said Henry.
“Yes, Lucy is real,” said Benny. “No matter what Jason says. We had a footprint already. And now we have this paddle to prove it.”
Carl gave Benny an odd look. Then, without speaking another word, he disappeared into the woods, with Wildman right behind him.
As they walked back to the lodge to return the napkins and blanket and thermoses from the picnic, they met Nora coming out of the storage building.
She frowned when she saw the Aldens and Nicole. “Jason told me what happened,” she said. “Is this some kind of joke you kids are playing?”
“No,” said Henry.
“There is no monster,” said Nora. “I practically grew up on this lake. I know it. I would have known if there was anything like a monster in it. There isn’t.”
“Then what took a bite out of this?” asked Jessie, holding up the paddle.
“It got caught on a rock. Or a branch under the water,” said Nora.
“Or bitten by a lake monster,” said Nicole.
“Oh, my goodness! What happened to the paddle?” asked a woman’s voice. It was the young woman who had checked into the lodge the day before.
“Nothing,” said Nora. “Someone turned a canoe over in the lake. I’m about to paddle out and tow it home.”
The man with the woman peered at the paddle. “It looks as if those are teeth marks,” he said.
“They might be,” said Benny. “They might have been made by the lake monster.”
“Lake monster? What lake monster?” cried the woman, looking very alarmed.
At that moment Dr. Lin came hiking into the clearing in front of the lodge. “There you are,” she said to the Aldens and Nicole. She held up the note Jessie had written. “What is all this about finding footprints left by the monster of Lake Lucille?”
CHAPTER 8
Suspects and Clues
“There is no monster!” Nora practically shouted.
“That does it,” the man said. “We’re checking out of here. We don’t need to stay in a place where people think they have seen monsters.”
“But — ” Nora began.
“And we’ll want a full refund,” the man went on.
Nora’s lips tightened. “Fine. I’ll give it to you right now. Come on.” Her chin held high, she led the couple back into the lodge.
“We have a paddle, too. Lucy bit it,” said Benny.
Dr. Lin looked down at the paddle and raised her eyebrows. “It certainly looks as if something might have bitten it,” she said. “Now why don’t you show me these footprints you were talking about. The originals first, and then the cast.”
Quickly they led the way back to the beach. “Right here,” said Benny proudly. He pulled back the protective covering of branches that they had left over the footprints early that morning and pointed.
“Where?” asked Dr. Lin, squatting down.
Benny looked down. His eyes got big. His mouth turned down in disappointment.
The footprints were gone!
“They were here this morning!” Jessie cried. “We all saw them.”
Dr. Lin stood up. “Well, whatever you saw, they’re not here now.”
“We still have the wax cast,” said Violet.
“Yes. We can show you that. And we took photographs and measured it, too,” said Henry.
But when Jessie took the wax cast of the giant foot out of her drawer and brought it into the main room of the cabin to show Dr. Lin, the scientist didn’t look surprised or impressed at all.
She studied it thoughtfully. After a long moment she said, “It is very big and you did a nice job of making a cast of whatever this is.”
“It’s Lucy’s footprint,” said Benny.
“If it is, it is certainly a most unusual footprint,” said Dr. Lin. “In all my studies, I have never come across any animal that had both the webbed feet of a duck and the enormous claws of a tiger. This footprint looks as if it were made by two entirely different species . . . or one. My guess is that it is only one species of animal.”
“Which one?” asked Henry.
Dr. Lin looked up to meet his gaze. “Human,” she said simply. “I’m sorry. I’ve said all along that the existence of a lake monster was not possible. This only proves me right.”
With that, Dr. Lin turned and left the cabin.
“She’s wrong,” Benny burst out. “Lucy is real. I know she is.”
“I don’t know what to believe anymore, Benny,” said Jessie. “We need some more information. We need to do some more research on Nessie and Champ and on the kinds of animals scientists think they might be.”
“But how?” asked Violet.
“We’re going to take a trip to town,” said Jessie.
“To the library,” guessed Henry.
“But how?” asked Violet.
“We’ll get Nora or Drew to take us,” said Jessie. “Remember what Nora told us? They go to town every Thursday. And tomorrow is Thursday.”
That night at dinner, the Aldens asked Nora if they could get a ride to town the next day.
“To Saranac Lake?” asked Nora. “Sure. What for?”
“We want to go to the library,” said Jessie.
To their relief, Nora didn’t ask them why. She said, “I rely on library books to get me through the winters. Saranac Lake has a nice library.”
After saying good-bye to Watch and Grandfather the next morning, the Aldens found themselves in the big old pickup truck with Drew. He didn’t talk much as he drove. Instead he leaned forward, clenching the wheel tightly and staring at the road. Not until they had reached the outskirts of Saranac Lake did he relax.
“There’s the post office,” he said as he drove down the street. “And the hardware store. And over there is a bookstore. We’ve even got a health food store.”
Drew sounded proud of the town — as if he lived there. “This town has a rich and interesting history,” he went on. “A long time ago, people who were sick with a disease called tuberculosis used to come here to try to get well. Saranac Lake was famous for that. It was called ‘taking the cure.’ Robert Louis Stevenson, who wrote Treasure Island, stayed here for a time.”
The Aldens were surprised. “I thought you didn’t like it here,” said Benny. “But you sound like you do.”
Drew looked surprised and then a little embarrassed. “It grows on you,” he said, almost as gruffly as Carl. “Here’s the library. I’ll meet you at the health food store in an hour.”
The Aldens liked the library at Saranac Lake. They quickly found a book with more information about the Loch Ness Monster.
“Look. It says loch is the word they use in Scotland for ‘lake,’ ” said Violet. “The two words do sort of sound the same.”
Henry picked up another book. “And look at this,” he said, keeping his voice low because they were in a library. “Here’s a drawing of what the Loch Ness Monster is supposed to look like. Some people say she is related to a certain kind of dinosaur.”
“Dinosaurs are extinct. Aren’t they?” asked Benny.
“Yes,” said Jessie.
Violet whispered, “Dr. Lin.”
Her brothers and sister looked up.
“What?” asked Henry.
Holding up a piece of paper, Violet repeated, “Dr. Lin. Here’s a piece of paper with her name at the top. See? It says, ‘From the desk of Dr. Kisha Lin.’ ”
“Where did you get that, Violet?” asked Jessie.
“Out of this book. It was marking the place where I was reading about the Loch Ness Monster,” said Violet.
The Aldens studied the piece of paper. “Look. It’s a list of all the books that have information about Nessie and Champ,” said Henry. “It looks as if Dr. Lin has been doing research on them, too.”
As she peered at the paper, Violet said, “But look at the date on the piece of paper. If she was doing research on Ness
ie or Champ because of Lucy, it was weeks before we got here, at the very beginning of the summer.”
“Why is Dr. Lin researching lake monsters,” asked Jessie, “if she doesn’t believe Lucy is real?”
As they walked back toward the health food store, the Aldens discussed what they had learned.
“If Lucy is real,” said Violet, “why didn’t Nora know anything about her? If she is a relative of a dinosaur, like some of the books thought Nessie might be, she would have had to be in Lake Lucille a very long time.”
“True,” Henry said.
“Maybe Nora did know about Lucy,” said Violet. “Maybe she didn’t want other people to know because she was afraid of driving away business.”
Jessie shook her head. She said, “I hate to say this, but if Lucy had been around for very long, other people would know about her. There would be stories and legends, just like there are about Nessie and Champ.”
“If Lucy’s not real, who is making her real?” asked Benny.
“That’s a good question, Benny,” Henry said. “Who wants us to believe that Lucy is real, and why?”
“Drew,” said Violet. “He wants to sell Lucille Lodge and leave. Maybe he’s trying to scare Nora into agreeing. Or scare off so many people that they go out of business and have to sell the lodge.”
“Maybe. I’m not so sure about that,” said Henry. “But you are right. We have to count Drew as a suspect.”
“And Geena Bush,” said Violet. “She wants to buy Lucille Lodge.”
“Of course she’s a suspect. And of course she and Drew might be working together,” Jessie said.
“Don’t forget Carl,” said Henry. “Remember what Nora said when we first told her about the monster. ‘I don’t understand why Carl picked this summer to make up all these crazy stories about a monster in the lake?’ ”
“But why would Carl want to scare people away?” asked Violet.
“Carl doesn’t like many people, I think,” said Benny. “Maybe that’s why.”
“Yes,” agreed Jessie. “And Carl knows the mountains better than anybody. It would be easy for him to sneak up on shore in the night and leave a fake footprint.”
“And make fake monster calls in the night,” said Benny.
“And he was right there when the canoe turned over. Maybe he did it,” said Henry. “Maybe that’s how he got wet — turning over the canoe, not trying to save Jason.”
“But don’t forget, he was shocked when he saw the bite in the paddle,” Jessie said.
“He was,” Violet agreed. “I don’t think he was just pretending.”
“What about Dr. Lin?” asked Henry.
“But she’s never believed Lucy is real,” said Violet.
“She could be saying that to keep from seeming suspicious. She could be trying to make everyone think there is a monster, because then she could write a paper on it. It would make her famous,” said Jessie.
“She’s pretty familiar with the woods around here from her research,” said Violet. “She could have done all those things herself.”
“But where was she when the canoe turned over?” asked Benny. “We didn’t see her anywhere.”
“She could have swum away while everybody was looking at Jason,” suggested Henry.
Jessie looked doubtful. “Maybe,” she said.
They walked into the health food store and stopped in surprise. Drew and Geena Bush were sitting at a table by the window drinking tea. As the Aldens walked toward the table, Drew got up. “Come up to the lodge for dinner sometime,” he said. “When you find out what a great cook I am, you can tell all your clients and then they’ll come to the lodge, too.”
“I just wish I could convince you to sell it,” said Geena. “But you’re right. It’s beautiful just the way it is.”
Drew smiled slightly. “I have to admit, I don’t always like it. It isn’t the place I imagined ending up as a chef. But I’m beginning to like it.”
They shook hands and the Aldens exchanged glances. Each knew what the other was thinking. Two suspects had just been eliminated from their list.
“Did you find any new clues?” Grandfather Alden asked them when they returned.
“Yes,” said Henry. He, Benny, Violet, and Jessie filled their grandfather in on what had happened during their visit to Saranac Lake.
“Sounds like you are down to two suspects,” said Grandfather Alden. “That’s progress.”
Henry nodded. But he was worried. How were they going to prove that Dr. Lin or Carl was behind the mystery of the lake monster?
The Aldens had just finished dinner and were about to start on dessert when Dr. Lin walked up to their table.
“How is the monster hunt going?” she asked.
“Ah, fine,” said Jessie.
Dr. Lin smiled. “I hear you went into Saranac Lake to the library. It’s a nice library. I did a little research on the possibility of a monster when I first arrived at Lake Lucille. But I reached the conclusion that Carl’s stories were just that — stories.”
Jessie was so surprised, she didn’t know what to say. Without realizing it, Dr. Lin was eliminating herself as a suspect in the lake monster mystery.
“I wish there had been a monster,” Dr. Lin went on. She shook her head regretfully. “Think of what a great discovery that would be!”
“Yes,” agreed Henry, managing to speak at last. “You’d be famous.”
Violet spoke up boldly. “Dr. Lin, where were you the night before last? When you said you were out camping and doing research?”
Without hesitation, Dr. Lin answered, “Near a place called Frozen Gap. I’m not exactly sure how to get there, but Carl could tell you. He’s my guide on my overnight expeditions. I almost never go alone.”
Once again the Aldens were struck speechless. They barely managed to say good-bye when Dr. Lin walked away.
“What’s the matter?” Grandfather Alden asked, looking around at their unhappy faces.
“Oh, Grandfather,” cried Jessie. “If Dr. Lin and Carl were out camping the night the monster footprints were made, then we don’t have any suspects at all!”
“Is something wrong?” asked Nora just then, coming up to their table to refill their water glasses. “You’ve barely touched your desserts.”
“Oh, no,” said Violet quickly. She didn’t want to hurt Nora’s feelings — or Drew’s. “It’s delicious.” She picked up her fork and took a bite of chocolate cake. She smiled. It really was good.
“I’m glad you like it,” said Nora. She glanced across the room toward the table where the Duboises were sitting. “Someone was complaining tonight that we only had chocolate cake for dessert. But when I offered him ice cream, he said he didn’t want that, either. I guess that shouldn’t surprise me. He’s been complaining ever since he got here.” She shook her head. “Poor kid. He’s as bad as Drew was when he first got here. He just wants to go back home.”
Nora walked away.
Jessie said in a low, excited voice, “That’s it!”
“What?” asked Benny.
“I think I know who’s been making a monster appear at Lake Lucille. And I think I have an idea of how to catch the culprit!”
CHAPTER 9
A Monster-Maker
Later that night, the Aldens were setting up their trap on one of the paths by Lake Lucille.
“I’m tired of waiting,” said Benny.
“Shhh,” said Jessie.
“I hope Nicole is doing her job,” said Henry. “Otherwise we won’t catch anyone.”
“I put a new roll of film into my camera,” said Violet. “That way we can have lots of evidence.” The Aldens had decided that the best way to catch a monster — a photograph — was the best way to catch their culprit, too.
Watch pricked up his ears and whined slightly. “Is that — ” Benny began.
But a moment later, Nicole came down the path. “I think he fell for it,” Nicole reported breathlessly. “I told him I had heard Nora and D
rew talking and that Nora had said that if they had just one more monster incident, she was going to close the lodge for the summer — even if it’s just more footprints on the beach. I said that she said, ‘In fact, if I had seen those footprints, that would have been enough for me.’ ”
“That’s great, Nicole,” said Violet admiringly.
“I know,” said Nicole. “And I pretended to be really upset.”
“Excellent,” said Jessie.
“Now, when he leaves tonight, follow him, but be careful not to get caught,” Henry said.
“And don’t forget your camera,” Benny reminded her. “Just in case something goes wrong with Violet’s.”
Nicole nodded. “I won’t,” she said. “This time, we’re going to have some solid proof of who the real monster of Lake Lucille is.”
The night grew steadily darker. Stars appeared in the black sky. From far away, a bear hooted and a bear cub answered.
“Don’t worry, Watch,” Benny whispered. “They won’t bother us if we don’t bother them.”
As the lights up at the lodge and in the cabins went out one by one, the whole world seemed to be going to sleep. Quiet and calm lay over the lake and the mountains.
Something rustled in the underbrush.
“What was that?” said Violet.
“Just an animal — a raccoon or opossum,” Jessie whispered to her. “Carl told us they liked to go out at night.”
“Oh, yes,” said Violet.
“Shhh,” said Henry very, very quietly.
Everyone froze in their hiding place. Benny put his hand over Watch’s muzzle so Watch wouldn’t bark.
Then a thin beam of light pricked the darkness. It came down the trail. The Aldens could see that someone was walking, half covering the beam of the flashlight with one hand so that it wouldn’t be as bright. Whoever it was wanted only enough light to see — and didn’t want to be seen.
Turning on their flashlights, the Aldens leaped out from their hiding places and ran toward the light.
“Smile!” Violet said as she took a picture.
Jason Dubois was standing in the middle of the path, wearing an awful scowl. Nicole was right behind him.
He held up his hand to shield his eyes. “Nicole? Was this your idea? You’re in big trouble!”