Carolyn Keene - White Water Terror

“Actually, everybody’s under suspicion,” Nancy said, turning back to the group. “Any of us could have gotten up without the others knowing. I’m proof of that.”

Paula stepped forward. “Well, now that our internationally famous detective has struck out, we’ve got some important decisions to make,” she said.

Nancy looked closely at Paula. She looked almost satisfied.

“Yeah,” Sammy said. “What do we do? Do we hike out downriver?”

“No way,” Max answered firmly. “This gorge goes on for three or four miles with no banks. There’s no way we can walk along the edge of the river.”

Ned looked up the cliff wall. At first it had seemed almost vertical, stretching fifty feet or more straight toward the sky, but he could see places for footholds. “It looks like a tough climb out that way,” he said, “but we might be able to make it.”

“I don’t know…” Paula said.

Nancy brightened. “Wait a minute. We’ve got a radio. Right?”

“Right,” Paula answered slowly.

“Then why don’t we radio for help? In fact,” Nancy asked, looking questioningly at Paula, “why didn’t we radio yesterday after the accident?”

“Because,” Paula said almost too quickly. “You-that is I-didn’t think the signal would reach that far.” Her amber eyes blazed at Nancy. “Are you satisfied?”

Nancy wasn’t sure, Paula looked so flustered.

“Hey, I’m almost positive the signal would reach,” Mike put in confidently. “It broadcasts through the repeater tower at the ranger station.”

“Yeah,” Max said, “the tower would boost the signal so that it could be received at ranger headquarters.”

“Then if we send them a message, they’ll come to rescue us?” Linda asked hopefully.

“That’s right,” Mike said, and he and Max suddenly looked sheepish.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Max grumbled. “With everything going on, I didn’t think of the most obvious thing.” His face reddened. “I forgot we even had a radio.”

“Me, too,” Mike admitted. “The way my mind’s been working the past day or so, I was thinking it got dumped when the first raft flipped.”

“Where is the radio?” Bess asked.

Max reached under the platform on the raft. “Right here,” he said, pulling out a small, waterproof box.

The radio was a small, hand-held model with a pull-out antenna, almost like a walkie-talkie. Max flipped on the power switch. Nancy, watching closely, saw his mouth tighten. He flipped the switch again.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Max shook his head impatiently. “I don’t know,” he said, clicking the switch on and off, “but the power won’t go on.”

“Ohhh,” Bess and Linda chorused nervously.

Max raised his shoulders, heaving a sigh. “Well, Ned, I guess your direction is the one we take.”

“Direction?” Ned said quizzically. “What direction?”

“Up,” Max said grimly, eyeing the steep cliff face. “Straight up.”

Paula grabbed the radio away from Max. “What do you mean, it’s not working? Didn’t you check the batteries before we left?”

For a moment, Max looked confused. “Yeah,” he mumbled. “I even put new ones in. The radio was working just fine.”

Paula fiddled with the power switch. “Well, it’s not working now,” she said disgustedly. “Great. That’s all we need, to be stranded out here without an operating radio.”

“Here, let me see,” Mike said, reaching for it. He took the batteries out and then put them back in again-that didn’t help. Then he took the back off.

“Check the crystal,” Nancy said suddenly.

Mike looked up. “You know something about radios?”

“Not much,” she admitted. “But I had a case once where a crystal was stolen from a radio. Does this one need a crystal?”

“A tiny one,” Mike said. Intently, he bent over the radio. “Hey! The crystal’s gone!”

Linda pointed at Max. “You were the one who put the radio in the raft,” she said accusingly. “I saw you. You were the last one to touch it. You must have taken the crystal!”

“You have no right to make accusations like that,” Bess retorted. “The person who sabotaged the raft could just as easily have removed the crystal. Right, Nancy?”

Nancy nodded. “Actually, it could have been taken at any time.” She examined the radio case. Even if she had brought her fingerprint kit along, it would have been a hopeless job. The case was made of a roughly grained vinyl that wouldn’t hold a print. And there didn’t seem to be any other clues.

Mike closed up the radio again. “Well, that’s that,” he said.

Nancy looked at him. Whoever had done this had to know what the crystal was and where to look for it. Maybe Mike had destroyed the radio and Tod had destroyed the raft-all as part of some silly prank.

She shook her head. Surely not. But the whole thing was beginning to seem like a hopeless muddle.

Paula glanced at Nancy. “I don’t suppose our girl detective has any ideas about who did it,” she remarked sarcastically.

Nancy shook her head. “Afraid not,” she replied. Then she noticed that Max was staring at Paula, dumbfounded, as if he had suddenly thought of something but wasn’t quite sure whether he ought to believe it.

“So?” Sammy demanded. “Do we just sit here and wait for somebody to raft downriver and spot us?”

“I don’t think anybody will be coming down until the middle of next week,” Paula said. “I checked the schedule board yesterday, just before we left. The next trip downriver doesn’t leave until a week from Wednesday.”

“By that time we could starve to death!” Linda exclaimed.

“Well, we have got another alternative,” Paula said.

Everybody looked at her. “What’s that?” George asked.

Paula pointed to the top of the cliff. “We can hike out,” she replied. “It’s a tough climb, as Ned said, but we could make it. Once we get to the top, there’s a trail, maybe five or six miles back in the woods, that leads to the ranger station, which is another eight or nine miles away. I think I could find the trail.”

“Yes, but that means a fourteen-mile hike!” Sammy exclaimed. She looked at Max. “What do you think?”

Max gave an uncertain shrug. “I’m a good woodsman, but I don’t know anything about the trails in this particular area. We’ll have to rely on Paula.”

Paula’s amber eyes were narrowed to slits. “Maybe some of you don’t want to rely on me,” she said, turning to Nancy. “You’re not afraid of a little walking, are you, Nancy?”

Nancy caught the unpleasant undertone, but answered quietly, “No, I’m not afraid of walking-as long as we’re sure of where we’re going. At least on the river, we know where we are. Once we’re in the wilderness, we could get lost pretty easily.” She sneaked a glance at Max, who was still staring at Paula.

“Well, I can’t guarantee anything,” Paula said crossly. “But I don’t see that we’ve got any alternative.”

“Well, then,” Ned spoke up quickly, “maybe we ought to take an inventory and figure out how much food we’ve got. How long will this hike take us?”

“We’ll probably get to the ranger station late tomorrow,” Paula said.

“And we’ve got only enough food for today?” Ned asked.

“Looks like we’ll be going on half-rations,” George said glumly.

“Yes, but that means we won’t have to carry so much,” Paula pointed out. “Just our sleeping gear and whatever jackets and sweaters you have. It’s going to get pretty cold up there tonight.” She looked around. “Ned, will you and Max inventory the food and distribute it among the packs so that we all have an equal load to carry? Max!”