William Arden - The Mystery of the Headless Horse

On the far side of the swollen creek, as far as the boys could see, the land was flat all the way past the Norris ranch buildings!

“Somehow,” Jupiter said gloomily, “he must have made a mistake — about where he was, or in what he remembered when he wrote in his journal.”

The boys looked at each other unhappily.

“I guess it’s a dead end, fellows,” Jupiter said.

Dejected, they walked towards their bikes to ride home.

It started to rain hard again that night, and poured down all the next day. The Investigators had no time to talk about the Cortés Sword or to try to identify the car keys from the burned barn. After classes, they were busy with school activities all afternoon.

“We don’t have any new leads anyway,” Pete said sadly.

Diego visited Pico in the afternoon and showed his brother the keys. He described the three mysterious cowboys to Pico. But Pico didn’t recognize the keys, and he had no idea who the three strangers were or why they were interested in the ruined barn.

“Unless,” the older Alvaro said bitterly, “Mr. Norris has hired toughs to force us off our ranch!”

After their dinners that night, The Three Investigators returned to the library and the Historical Society. They searched through the old newspapers, journals, diaries, memoirs, and US Army reports again. They re-read the false report of Don Sebastián’s death, the statement declaring Sergeant Brewster and his two confederates to be deserters, Don Sebastián’s baffling letter with its heading of “Condor Castle”, and the American lieutenant’s apparently erroneous journal entry. The boys could find nothing new that seemed important.

Rain continued to come down all that night, and all day on Wednesday. Flood warnings went up in the county. After school, Bob and Pete both had chores to do at home. Diego went to visit Pico again, and Jupiter wearily returned to the Historical Society to continue the plodding detective work.

Their chores completed, Bob and Pete met at Headquarters. They took off their wet rain gear and huddled around the small electric heater in the hidden house trailer to wait for Diego and Jupiter.

“You think we’re ever going to find that sword, Bob?” Pete asked.

“I don’t know, Second,” Bob admitted. “If only it all hadn’t happened so long ago. There are all kinds of reports of shooting and running around back in the hills, by the Mexican locals and the US Army, but we can’t tell if any of them involved Don Sebastián or those three deserters.”

Diego came climbing up out of the trap-door from Tunnel Two. The slender boy looked even more miserable than he had the last two days. Pete and Bob stared at him in alarm.

“Has something happened to Pico?” Bob cried.

“Is he in more trouble?” Pete echoed.

“Nothing has happened to Pico, but he is in more trouble. We all are.”

The unhappy boy took off his wet jacket and sat beside the two Investigators close to the glowing heater. He shook his head hopelessly.

“Señor Paz has sold our mortgage to Mr. Norris,” he said.

“Oh, no!” Pete groaned.

“But,” Bob said, “he promised to delay as long as — ”

“It is not Don Emiliano’s fault,” Diego said. “He must have his money, and with Pico in jail there is no way we could hope to pay him for a long time. And, Pico needs money for bail and for his defence. Pico told Don Emiliano he must sell now.”

“We’re sorry, Diego,” Bob said quietly.

“Gosh,” Pete said, “it sure looks hopeless. I mean, we’ll never find that sword without more clues, and now there isn’t much time to hunt for them. How long do you think we — ”

There was a sudden banging and scrambling outside the panel that led to Red Gate Rover. Jupiter came tumbling in through the panel, wet and puffing.

“Skinny was tailing me!” the stout leader announced, out of breath, “but I eluded him and sneaked through Red Gate Rover without being seen!”

“Why was he chasing you?” Diego wondered.

“I didn’t stop to ask him,” Jupiter said bluntly. “He may have just wanted to talk, but I wanted to get here, and didn’t need to waste time talking with Skinny! Fellows, I’ve found — ”

There was a loud crash as something heavy fell into the mounds of junk around the hidden trailer. Then another crash sounded nearby, somewhere else in the salvage yard. Skinny’s voice came to them from out in the rain:

“I know you’re around here somewhere, Fatso Jones! You’re all around here somewhere, I bet! Think you’re so smart!”

Another crash! Skinny was standing out in the rain-soaked salvage yard hurling heavy objects against all the mounds of junk, knowing the Investigators were hidden somewhere but not sure where.

“Well, you’re not so smart, you hear?” Skinny yelled in the rain. “We’ve got your Mexican pals now, smart guys! Saturday we take over their ranch! You hear that?”

The four boys in the trailer looked at each other. Only Jupiter seemed puzzled. The others hadn’t told him yet about Emiliano Paz selling the mortgage.

“Saturday, that’s all!” Skinny shouted. “No way you’re gonna help those wetbacks now! It doesn’t matter anymore what you think you’re up to! This time you’re beaten, big shots!” Skinny laughed nastily. “So pleasant dreams, punks! Pleasant dreams!”

For a time they could hear Skinny’s laugh as it slowly faded away in the salvage yard. Then there was only the drumming of rain on the trailer’s roof.

Jupiter fumed. “Skinny and his dumb bravado! He just wants to make us think — ”

“No,” Diego said. “This time he’s right, Jupiter.”

He told the stout First Investigator about Emiliano Paz selling the mortgage to Mr. Norris.

“Our payment is due on Saturday,” Diego said glumly. “Don Emiliano would have let us pay part of it, but if we don’t pay Mr. Norris in full he can foreclose the mortgage and take the ranch.”

“So,” Jupiter said, “Mr. Norris appears to have won.”

“Jupe!” Bob cried.

“You’re not going to just quit!” Pete exclaimed.

“I–I would not blame you,” Diego stammered.

Jupiter’s eyes flashed. “I said that Mr. Norris appeared to have won! That could mean that no one will try to stop us anymore. We must make the most of all the time we have left — and we don’t have much!”

“No time,” Pete moaned, “and no clues!”

“On the contrary,” Jupiter declared. “We have many clues. We simply haven’t yet interpreted them correctly. And I have just found still another proof that our speculations are correct.”

The stout leader of the team took a paper from his pocket. “Bob was right when he suggested that Don Sebastián might have planned to hide himself out in the hills as well as the Cortés Sword. He planned to do it, and he did do it.”

He handed the paper to Diego. “It’s in Spanish, Diego, and I’m not sure I’ve got it exactly right. Read it out for us in English.”

Diego nodded. “It’s from a diary, I guess. The date’s 15th September, 1846. ‘This night, word came to our small group of patriots that the eagle has found a nest. We must plan for the care of our most noble bird. Predators are everywhere, it will not be simple, but perhaps now there is something to be done!’ ” Diego looked up. “You think that the eagle was Don Sebastián, Jupiter? That this entry means that local patriots escaped, and planned to help him to stay hidden?”

“I’m sure of it,” Jupiter said. “That diary belonged to the local Spanish mayor then, a personal friend of the Alvaros, and in my reading I learned that Don Sebastián was nicknamed ‘The Eagle’ in his young days!”