William Arden - The Secret of the Crooked Cat

Mr. Carson frowned “Then Khan was right.”

The bearded strong man walked up behind Mr. Carson, his muscles and heavy boots shining in the moonlight. He nodded to the boys.

“I saw someone searching Andy’s trailer,” Khan explained. “I chased him in here, but lost him in the fun house.”

Bob asked, “You didn’t see Pete or Jupe?”

“No, boys. I didn’t see them.”

“All right, be calm,” Mr. Carson said, taking charge. “Andy, go and get a crew of roughnecks with lights. Khan, Bob, and I will start searching the grounds in the open.”

Andy raced off, and Bob followed Mr. Carson and Khan as they began to search the abandoned amusement park. They found no trace of Pete or Jupiter. Soon Andy came back with the crew of roughnecks. Carrying powerful electric lanterns, they spread out to search inside all the old buildings. Mr. Carson and Khan went with the roughnecks, telling Bob and Andy to stay outside. Bob stood with puzzled eyes.

“Andy,” he said, “Khan says he chased a man from your trailer. If he did, why didn’t we see two men?”

“I don’t know, Bob. We should have, I guess.”

“I don’t think there were two men! I think it was Khan we chased!”

“You mean,” Andy gasped, “that Khan’s the robber?”

Bob nodded. “Jupiter was suspicious of him all along. You don’t even know his real name. He’s been sneaking around. He’s watched us. He’s tried to convince your Dad to close the show. Now I think he’s caught Pete and Jupe, and he’s trying to lead us in the wrong direction! Let’s find your Dad, quick!”

They hurried towards the fun house where lights flashed and bobbed through the cracks in the rotted walls. Just as they got to the entrance, Mr. Carson came out, mopping his brow.

“No sign yet, boys,” he said, “but we’ll find them.”

“I don’t think you will, sir!” Bob declared hotly. “I think Khan is fooling us! He’s the robber, and he knows where they are!”

“Khan?” Mr. Carson said, his face serious. “That’s a grave charge, Bob. What proof do you have?”

“I’m sure he was the only man at Andy’s trailer. He was the man we chased. But he caught Pete and Jupe, and now he’s leading us away from them. I know he is, sir!” Mr. Carson hesitated. “That’s not exactly proof, Bob. And don’t forget Khan is in charge of security at the carnival. He has a right to be poking around. But it’s funny that your stories don’t agree. Let’s find Khan and ask him for more details.”

Mr. Carson went back into the fun house. The boys waited nervously outside. Ten minutes passed. Bob paced in the dark. What if he was wrong? He was sure, but if he — Mr. Carson came back walking quickly. His face was dark and grim. “Khan isn’t in the fun house any more! No one has seen him. He told some of the roughnecks he had to go back to the carnival, but he never told me that! Come on, boys.”

They hurried through the fence and back to the carnival grounds. Khan wasn’t in his tent, or at his trailer. No one had seen him anywhere. And no one had seen Pete and Jupe.

“I think,” Mr. Carson said. “We’d better get the police.”

Out on the ocean, where the giant black shape loomed high ahead of the bouncing boat, Pete gave a cry:

“It’s Anapamu Island! It’s the smallest of the channel islands, and closest to shore — less than a mile. Let’s try to reach it!”

“I don’t think we can miss it, Pete!” Jupiter pointed out. “We’re drifting straight for it.”

The boys held on to the gunwales of their wallowing craft as the small island loomed closer. They began to make out trees and rocks on the steep sides and a line of breakers.

“The beach is over there,” Pete pointed to the left “But there are rocks, Jupe! I think — ”

Instead of finishing what he was going to say, Pete dived over the side and came up behind the boat. Grasping the stern of the boat and kicking, he steered it past the rocks and into the quiet waters of the sheltered beach.

Jupiter scrambled out, and together they ran the boat up on to the sand.

“We made it,” Pete gasped.

“But we’re marooned!” Jupiter cried. “How do we get off this island, Pete? We must get back to stop the robber!”

“Gosh, Jupe, it’s just a small, deserted island — rocks and trees and an emergency shelter. I don’t see how we can get back until tomorrow, at least. Boats pass in the day.”

“Tomorrow could be too late,” Jupiter insisted. “Come on, where’s that emergency shelter?”

Pete led the way to a small cabin with a smaller shed.

The cabin contained nothing but a crude wooden table, some chairs and bunks, and a small stove and some food. The shed behind had two small boat masts, two booms, a small rudder with a long tiller handle, and piles of rope and boards. There were nails and tools, and that was all.

“There’s no radio, Jupe,” Pete said. “We’re stuck until morning when we can hail a boat, or someone looks for us.”

Jupiter didn’t answer. He was looking at the contents of the shed. “Pete, could we sail back in the boat if we had a sail?”

“Maybe — if we had a mast and a rudder.”

“We have a mast and a rudder now, and that tarpaulin in the boat would make a sail!”

Pete was dubious. “Those masts are too big, Jupe, even if we had a way of stepping one in the boat”

“Stepping? What do you mean?”

“That’s a nautical term for fixing a mast into a socket or supporting frame,” said Pete. “You’ve got to hold the bottom of the mast in place somehow.”

“Well, what about the booms? They’re half as long. Could we step one of them?”

Pete pondered. “Yes, we could step it through a hole in a seat. There’s a saw in the shed, and a hatchet. We could use boards to brace the boom at the bottom of the boat! Jupe, I think — oh, no, I forgot! We can’t do it!”

“Why not?”

Pete stood glum. “The rowing boat doesn’t have a keel. Not even a centreboard or sideboards. The boat would capsize in the wind. Even if we didn’t capsize, without a keel we couldn’t sail straight.”

Jupiter sat down heavily. He chewed on his fingers, and stared at the useless booms and masts in the shed. He looked at the long masts. “Pete?” he said. “Would those masts float?”

“I guess so. You want to ride home on a mast?”

Jupiter ignored Pete’s humour. “What if we took some long boards and nailed them to the masts. Then we nail the other ends of the boards to the gunwales of the boat, and — ”

“Outriggers!” Pete cried. “Jupe, it’ll work! They won’t be perfect, but we don’t have more than a mile to sail! With the wind as it is, the outriggers will hold the boat up!”

“Hurry then, Pete! We must get back right away!”

Over two hours had passed since Bob had first told his suspicions to Chief Reynolds. So far the police had found no trace of Jupiter, Pete or the missing Khan. Chief Reynolds paced just outside the entrance to the carnival. Inside, crowds of people were enjoying themselves, unaware of the drama around them. Mr. Carson, Bob and Andy waited uneasily.

“Then you think this Khan is the bank robber, Bob?” Chief Reynolds asked again.

“Yes, sir!”

“I was beginning to wonder if the robber had really fled Rocky Beach. Too many people have claimed to have seen him, but no one actually has.”

“That’s just what Jupe said,” Bob said.

“Jupiter is a bright lad,” Chief Reynolds acknowledged.

“He thinks the robber is still after what he hid in the crooked cat,” Bob said, “and I think Khan was searching Andy’s equipment trailer. That proves he’s the robber! He was looking for what he had hidden.”