Mountain Top Mystery (6 page)
Mr. Alden smiled. But he had come on business, so he was glad to go into the house and ask questions.
“I wonder if you ever heard of an Indian boy around here about high school age?” he asked.
“No,” Lovan shook her head. “I am the only Indian left around here. All my brothers died, and my only sister died. She had a daughter, but she died, too.”
“Didn’t your sister’s daughter have any children?”
“I did hear that she had a son, but that baby died when she did. They had moved into Maine with the Maine Indians by then.”
“What was that baby’s name?” asked Henry.
“I don’t know. We had quarreled and I never did learn the baby’s name.”
Mr. Carter said, “We saw a young Indian boy this morning. He looked unhappy and seemed to be afraid. He hid behind the crowd, and now he has disappeared.”
“Oh, dear!” said Lovan.
“We’ll find him,” Benny said.
“How?” asked Lovan. “I thought you said he ran away.”
“Yes, he did. But he never could get away with Mr. Carter after him, and the rangers, and Grandfather.”
Just then Violet came in with her flowers. They were beautiful—pink and white roses, old-fashioned sweet pinks, yellow daisies, lavender heliotrope, larkspur, and sweet peas.
“Let’s go right home and put them in water!” Violet said. “I can’t let them fade!” She made a pretty picture standing in the door with her brown hair, pink cheeks, and the lovely flowers.
“Soon,” said Grandfather. “Just one more question and then we’ll go. Why did your family leave you?”
“I left
them,
” said Lovan. “I wanted to go to school and nobody else did. They called me stuck-up because I could read and write. I loved school. There were children of all ages. When I was older, I helped the teacher with the little ones. I taught them the good things of Indian life. I taught them to make baskets and beadwork and moccasins. The children were very good at making up designs—even the little ones.”
“Good!” said Grandfather. “Someone must do that, or we’ll lose all the beautiful things that nobody can make as well as the Indian.”
“It’s too bad you don’t know anything about this strange Indian boy,” said Henry.
Lovan said slowly, “If he is from my family, his grandmother’s name would be Susan.”
“That’s something to go on,” said Henry.
“Come on, everyone,” said Mr. Alden. “Violet wants to go.”
“I don’t want to go,” said Violet, smiling, “I just want to put the flowers in water.”
As the Aldens left Lovan’s cottage they felt a cool wind. Clouds were beginning to sweep across the sky. The day that had been so sunny was suddenly very dark. A storm was brewing.
Mr. Alden said, “We will go to the motel first and then go and talk to the rangers.”
“I’ll stay at the motel,” said Violet. “I’ll put the flowers in water before supper. There must be some vases someplace.”
Everyone knew that Violet was perfectly happy arranging flowers. The rest of the family went back to the store. There was only one man there. He was not a ranger.
“Where is everybody?” asked Mr. Alden.
“They’ve all gone off in their jeeps to find an Indian boy. I’m keeping the store.”
Grandfather nodded. “They don’t waste much time, I see. The rainstorm will soon be here. I only wish we could have gone with them.”
“Listen!” said Jessie. “Dr. Osgood’s storm!”
The rain blew a few small spatters in at the open door. Then it came down like a sheet of water. It simply poured.
“Too bad the rangers started out,” said Benny. “They’ll get soaking wet.”
The man said, “They knew it was going to rain. They all wore raincoats. I think they thought the Indian boy would be easier to find in the rain.”
“How?” asked Benny.
The man shrugged. “I don’t know. They know more about finding people than I do. They do it all the time.”
Then in the pouring rain Dr. Osgood and his workman came in the door.
“Oh, everything is happening at once!” cried Benny. “Here come the jeeps!”
Dr. Osgood came in at exactly the same time as a ranger jumped down from a jeep. Then another ranger jumped out. Then another person jumped down. He had no raincoat and no hat. Water streamed down over his face. He kept his eyes down.
W
hen the rangers led the Indian boy into the store, Jessie was near the door. Quickly she put her hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Don’t be afraid,” she said. “We want to help you.”
The boy did not look up, but he pushed back his wet hair.
A ranger said, “This boy belongs in Maine. When he heard about Flat Top on a radio program he begged rides and got here in no time. He’s interested in the cave, but so far I don’t know why.”
They all sat down. The boy was on a wooden chair. His clothes dripped on the floor.
The chief ranger took off his raincoat and sat down at a desk. He said to the boy, “This is a very small village, son. We always notice any strangers. We want to know why you came here, what you expect to find, and also why you ran away. You will save time if you tell the exact truth. If you tell a lie, we will find it out. First, what is your name?”
The boy waited a minute. “David Walker,” he said.
“That’s not an Indian name,” said the ranger.
“No, my Indian name is David Walking-by-Night.”
“A nice name,” whispered Jessie to Henry. “But Lovan’s last name is Dixon.”
The ranger went on, “Why were you interested in Flat Top?”
David Walking-by-Night drew a long breath. He seemed very tired, but he seemed to be telling the truth.
“I was born in Maine,” he said. “But I don’t belong in Maine. My mother came from another tribe down here. She told me stories about Flat Top.”
“What stories?” shouted Benny.
David looked at Benny. He did not smile. He said, “The stories may not be true. But one story is about some treasure that belongs to my tribe. I thought I might get it sometime.”
The ranger said, “That treasure would belong to your mother’s people first, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes, but they are all dead long ago. I’m the only one left in that tribe. My mother is dead, too.”
Nobody spoke for a minute. It was not hard to guess that this boy without a family had no one to care about him.
The ranger said, “Did you ever go to school, son?”
“A little, not much. I went for a few weeks and then I’d go hunting. Then I’d go to school for awhile.”
“How did you live? Did you have a job?”
“Yes,” said David. “I had a lot of jobs. I didn’t like any of them. I chopped wood and shoveled snow and worked in a garden. I liked that the best.”
“How did you plan to live down here?” asked the ranger. “Have you any money?”
“No. I thought I could carry things up the mountain. I’m a good mountain climber. But everyone kept looking at me, so I was afraid and ran.”
Mr. Alden spoke for the first time. He said, “Now, David, I am beginning to make some guesses. If I am right, I think a new life is open to you if you want to take it. Right now I know you are tired. We have heard enough for tonight.”
David looked at Mr. Alden and no one needed to tell the boy that he had found a friend. He said, “Thank you, sir.”
Benny said, “I can guess as well as Grandfather. Can’t we take David to the motel and get him some food and dry clothes?”
“There is an extra bed in my room,” Mr. Carter said. “David can sleep there. How about it, David?”
The boy nodded, but Grandfather said, “Let’s be sure our plan checks with the ranger.” Then he said, “Is this plan all right with you, sir? I’ll take this boy with me and take good care of him. I’ll see that he comes to no harm.”
“Perfectly all right,” said the ranger. He had learned that John Carter was an ex-F.B.I. man. “The boy hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“We’d better go right along,” said Jessie. “David needs something to eat.”
Mr. Carter said, “I’ll take Dave and Benny and Jessie in my car. Henry, you take Mr. Alden and Dr. Osgood.”
The two cars soon arrived at the motel. Benny had chattered most of the way. Jessie and Mr. Carter had talked pleasantly. But the Indian boy had not said a word.
Henry said, “The first thing we’ll do is find dry clothes for you while you’re taking a shower.”
Henry went at once to his clothes drawer. He got out dry clothes for David. They were all too big, but they had to do. Benny’s shoes were just right for him.
When everyone was washed and dressed they met in the dining room.
“He’s a good looking boy,” thought Violet when she met him.
“Let’s all have hot soup,” said Mr. Alden. “I’m just as tired as David is.”
John Carter thought to himself, “That boy has not eaten anything for a good many hours. I hope he doesn’t faint.”
David looked first to see how Henry ate his soup, and then he did the same.
“He cares,” thought John Carter. “He wants to do things right.” He had a question to ask, but he waited until the soup was gone and a tiny bit of color came into the boy’s face.
Then he said, “You know, David, we hear there is a big leather bag in some cave, with treasures in it. It belonged to an Indian who died long ago. Have you heard this story?”
“Yes, sir!” said David eagerly. “I heard more than that. I heard that a foreign man had it first. He gave it to an Indian who was afraid somebody would follow him, so he got a big bundle of corn, and hid the bag under the corn.”
All this time Dr. Osgood had been eating soup and smiling to himself. He waited until the roast chicken dinner came. Then he cleared his throat and said, “Ahem!” just to be sure that everyone was looking at him.
“I just want to say,” he began, “that all this is very important and interesting. But nobody has said a single word about Old Flat Top!”
“Tell us!” they all shouted.
“Well, the staging is all done,” said Dr. Osgood. “And I crawled inside for twenty-five feet.”
“Any bag?” yelled Benny.
“Well, no,” said Dr. Osgood, smiling. “There are some things right on the floor of the cave that are very interesting to me. The walls seem to be just big smooth rocks.”
Benny said, “Oh, Dr. Osgood, there must be some place where something could be hidden.”
“You’ll have to see for yourself,” Dr. Osgood said. “Maybe your sharp young eyes will see something my old ones missed.”
D
r. Osgood promised the family that they could all explore the cave in the morning. They went to bed feeling very much excited.
Mr. Carter and David talked awhile before they went to sleep.
“David, what’s on your mind? What are you afraid of?” Mr. Carter asked.
There was a long silence. At last David said, “I climbed Flat Top the night before you did. I heard about the rockslide and the hole on a news program, so I came down from Maine fast. I thought I was the last Indian to know about the treasure and it could be mine. I was going to take it, and no fuss.”
“Now supposing this treasure was yours and somebody else found it. Didn’t you think they would give it to you?”
“No, I didn’t think they would.”
“Well, I don’t really blame you,” said Mr. Carter. “Were you afraid of the rangers after you climbed Flat Top? Did you think they knew your secret?”
“I wasn’t sure. But I thought they wouldn’t believe anything I said. I didn’t make a sound, either. I can walk through the woods and up the mountain without making any noise. But I thought they found out somehow. They looked at me so funny that I hid in the woods.”
“Nothing to eat?”
“No. I didn’t dare take anything with me. I thought later I would find out about any treasure, but the rangers found me first.”
“Is that all?” asked John Carter.
“Yes, sir,” said David.
“You couldn’t get up to the cave? You didn’t even look in?”
“No, I couldn’t. There wasn’t any way to get close. I just saw the hole. Then I had to come down.”
“Dave, I want you to understand the Aldens are your friends,” said John Carter. “They are fine people. They want to help you. You must not let them down.”
“No,” said David. “I like them. They wouldn’t cheat me, I know.”