Carolyn Keene - White Water Terror

Nancy wiped the sweat from her face. “I may be crazy, but I think we’re being watched-and I want to watch back.”

“That’s funny. I’ve been thinking the same thing.”

Nancy paused, listening. “Ned!” she exclaimed, looking up. “Someone’s-”

Her voice was drowned out by a loud crash, and a rumble that seemed to shake the earth. Nancy stood frozen. A huge boulder had broken loose from its place on the hillside above. It was hurtling straight at her!

“Nancy! Look out!” Ned shouted. He lunged at her, grabbing her arm and pulling her out of the path of the careening boulder. Nancy could feel the huge rock rumbling the earth beneath her feet as it thundered down the hill. When it reached the bottom, it tore like an out-of-control truck into two pines, splintering them at the base, before it rolled to a shuddering halt in a spruce thicket.

As Ned put his arms around her, Nancy began to tremble uncontrollably. Ned’s arms felt so strong and protective, as if they could shield her from anything the world could throw at her. She leaned against him, gazing up the hill, and caught a glimpse of shadowy movement, something darting into the trees. Was it an animal she had seen-or a human?

Suddenly she realized the enormity of what had just happened. If it hadn’t been for Ned’s quick action, she’d be smashed like those trees. She swayed dizzily and sagged against Ned.

He held her tightly, then lowered her gently onto a rock.

After a few minutes, Nancy pushed her hair out of her eyes. “I’m okay,” she said shakily. Then she laughed. “Lucky we let everyone go on ahead. At least they didn’t see me playing handball with that boulder.”

Ned grinned for a moment, tracing his finger along her cheek. But as he helped Nancy to her feet, he looked down at her, soberly. “I was scared, Nancy,” he said hoarsely. “You could have been killed!”

“Ned,” Nancy said, “I saw something moving up there, after the boulder came down. Do you suppose…”

“… that it was Max?”

Nancy nodded.

“I didn’t see what you saw, Nan, but it’s entirely possible.”

“Max might not have intended to kill Paula, but she’s dead. Now he’s got to worry about us. If we get out of here alive, he knows we’ll go straight to the police!”

“So he’s got to kill us?” Ned asked.

“If he’s guilty,” Nancy answered. “Or he might try to scare us so thoroughly that we keep our mouths shut.” Nancy shuddered. “Hey,” she said, “will you lend me your jacket for a little while? Thinking about Max out there loose gives me the chills.”

Ned wrapped his jacket around her. “We’ve got to let the others know what happened,” he said. “Otherwise I’d keep you warm myself.”

Nancy grinned at him. “Control yourself, Nickerson-for the time being anyway,” she whispered.

The rest of the group had already chosen a camping spot for the night and had divided up the responsibilities for getting settled.

Mercedes was bent over the fire, her cheeks flushed with the heat. She was stirring soup in a small aluminum pan, balanced carefully on three rocks.

Nancy sat down beside her. “Mmm, that smells good,” she said appreciatively. “Vegetable?”

Mercedes nodded. “I wish we had more. I’m afraid this is just going to be enough to whet everyone’s appetite.”

“Well, maybe we’ll get lucky tomorrow and find a berry patch,” Nancy replied, laughing. “Minus the bear. Or a creek-then maybe we could catch some fish or something.”

Mercedes laughed a little, too. “This has been some trip, hasn’t it?” she said gravely. She shivered. “I can’t believe what happened to Paula. When I get home, I’m going to have to tell her family…”

Nancy nodded sympathetically. Then, choosing her words carefully, she said, “Earlier, I asked if you knew about the contest. I was wondering if you remembered anything else about it.”

Mercedes shook her head. “I told you,” she said impatiently. “I don’t know a thing. The contest was already set up when I first heard about the trip.”

“Well, then, maybe you can tell me something about Paula’s business,” Nancy went on, “or about her friendship with Max.”

Mercedes frowned. “I don’t think they were friends at all. Max was just somebody who was available for this trip. Somebody who knew the river.”

“Okay, what about her family?” Nancy asked. “Did your families see each other very often?”

Mercedes looked away. “Why do you want to know? There’s no point in dragging up the past.”

“What past?” Nancy asked sharply.

Mercedes looked flustered. “I-I just meant the things that have happened in the past two days,” she said. “We’ve got to get out of here. What’s the point in trying to figure out why things happened the way they did? Especially now that-” She choked. “Now that Paula is dead.” Her eyes filled with tears and she turned back to the fire.

“You might be right. But why,” Nancy persisted, “weren’t you surprised to learn that Paula had taken the compass? Why did you suspect her?” Nancy knew that if Mercedes would open up, she’d have the key to the case.

“I don’t want to talk anymore,” Mercedes said sullenly. “You can’t make me talk to you.”

“No,” Nancy admitted. “But when we get back to civilization, the police can.”

“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it,” Mercedes said, removing the pot from the fire and standing up. “Who knows? We might not even get back to civilization. We’ve still got another day to go, at least.” She turned away from Nancy. “Okay, everybody,” she called, “the soup’s ready.”

While Nancy was eating the soup and the piece of beef jerky she had been rationed, she thought about what Mercedes had told her: There’s no point in dragging up the past . Nancy was sure Mercedes hadn’t meant the events of the last two days. In fact, she was sure Mercedes knew something-something she wasn’t telling. Something she wouldn’t tell.

Nancy snuggled into Ned’s jacket, glad he wasn’t cold and she could keep it around her. Then she frowned, thinking more about the case. Sure, there weren’t a lot of clues, but she sensed there were a couple of possibilities right under her nose that she was overlooking. Every once in a while they began to form in her mind, then vanished before she had a chance to focus on them.

Well, she thought resolutely, Mercedes couldn’t keep her from finding out the truth. Nothing could, not even the frustration she was feeling. Nancy Drew always got to the bottom of things, and she’d get to the bottom of this case, too-if it killed her.

When supper was over, everyone huddled wearily around the fire, scratched and sore from their long hike. There wasn’t much conversation. It was a moonless night, and outside the circle of firelight, the dark pressed in ominously.

Then in the near distance, the quiet was shattered by an eerie scream.

“What was that?” Linda cried out, clinging to Ralph.

Tod laughed. “Just a mountain lion,” he replied.

“But don’t worry,” Mike said. “A mountain lion won’t attack you unless you corner him. He’s a whole lot more fond of rabbits and ground squirrels than he is of people.”

Sammy shivered. “Well, he can keep his rabbits and his ground squirrels,” she said. “I’ll settle for a hamburger with fries and onions.”

George groaned tragically, rubbing her stomach. “ Please . Don’t talk about real food. You might just as well knock me out-it would be much kinder.”

Nancy threw a glance at Ned, who was sitting next to her. Now was the time to tell everyone what had happened before supper that evening. Briefly, she told her story.