The Mystery of the Lost Mine

  Luis hopped down from the rock and looked around.

  “I bet this is Jake’s camp,” he said. “This is a good location—not too far from Weaver’s Needle, yet hidden.”

  “I’m surprised Jake would leave such a mess,” Violet said.

  “He didn’t.” Henry plucked a scrap of fabric from the edge of a rock. “See this? It matches the sleeping bag. I bet Jake tucks his bedroll behind this rock.”

  Luis nodded. “To protect it from the weather. You’re right, Henry. And this flat rock could be where he stores his supplies.”

  “There,” Benny pointed to the ground. Nearly hidden by a rock was Jake’s old felt hat.

  “Either Jake left in a big hurry,” Jessie mused, “or somebody wrecked his camp. On purpose.”

  Henry felt the ashes of an old fire. “Cold,” he said. “If it’s Jake’s camp, he hasn’t built a fire in a while.” He pointed to the ground. “See these footprints? They were made by a man a lot bigger than Jake.”

  Violet examined the dust-filled outlines. “They look like they were made by someone with new boots. See how sharp the lines are? Jake’s boots were old and worn. I’ll bet these prints were made by the person who ruined Jake’s camp.”

  “Maybe that person is here right now,” Benny said in a hushed tone. “Hiding from us.”

  The thought of the boot-heeled stranger watching them made Jessie nervous. “Do you suppose this person did something to Jake?”

  “I think we should go back to the campground and call the authorities,” Henry said decisively. “Jake could be seriously hurt.”

  They all agreed this was the right thing to do. After hiking back to their horses, they rode to the stables.

  “Come back real soon,” Rex said as they left Mountain Shadows.

  When they got back to the trailer park, a strong wind began to gust, kicking up swirls of dust.

  “Ow!” cried Benny, shielding his bare legs with his hands. “That sand stings!”

  They headed for the restaurant. Janine Crawford rushed out, her dark brows drawn together in fury.

  “Skipped out!” she exclaimed. “Skipped out without paying their bill!”

  “Who?” asked Henry.

  “The Clarks, that’s who!” Janine gestured in the direction of Block D. Sure enough, the fancy RV was missing. “Owed four weeks of hookup plus a huge bill for food!”

  “Did they go up into the mountains?” Violet asked. Maybe the fresh bootprint belonged to Mr. Clark.

  “How should I know?” Janine said. “And do you think Tom was around to warn me they were skipping out?”

  “Tom’s missing, too?” Jessie wondered if Tom left with the Clarks.

  Janine went back into the restaurant, still ranting.

  Luis stared at the Aldens. “This is weird. The Clarks, Tom, and Jake are all missing. And nobody knows anything!”

  Henry gazed at the silver Airstream. “Maybe somebody does. Let’s go ask Mr. Tobias if he saw the Clarks leave.”

  But when he knocked on the trailer door, there was no reply.

  “Mr. Tobias?” Benny called. “Are you in there?”

  Still no response.

  “He must be in there,” Luis said. “He never goes anywhere. And his car is still attached to the trailer.”

  “I guess he’s asleep,” Violet suggested. She turned her head as the wind whipped dust into her face. “Look!”

  A shiny black car pulled up to the main office. A man in a white shirt and striped tie got out and strode to the door. When he saw the office was empty, he walked over to the restaurant.

  The Aldens went inside the restaurant, where the man was questioning Janine.

  “I told you, I don’t know where they are,” Janine insisted, furiously wiping the counter with a rag. “If I did, I’d have the law on them. They could be anywhere.”

  “Well, you won’t mind if I look around the campground,” the man told her.

  “Suit yourself.”

  Outside, the man stalked around the campground, peering into trailer windows.

  “He’s sure suspicious,” Benny said. “Does he think the Clarks are hiding in another trailer?”

  “I wonder why he wants Mr. and Mrs. Clark,” Jessie said.

  “Let’s look for Tom,” Henry said. “Maybe he knows what’s going on around this camp.”

  Luis pointed to a low building behind the recreation center. “That’s the bunkhouse. Maybe he’s in his room.”

  The wind storm grew worse as they crossed the parking lot. The door to the bunkhouse banged open and shut like a broken shutter.

  “I guess Tom forgot to lock the door this morning,” Henry said. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he yelled, “Tom! Are you in there?”

  The wind was so strong, his words could barely be heard. Tumbleweeds rolled across the parking lot.

  Litter and food wrappers flew out of the bunkhouse door. Inside, they could see socks, boots, and newspapers scattered on the floor.

  “Guess Tom isn’t very neat,” Benny observed.

  “That looks like a Spanish—English dictionary,” Luis said, pointing to a small book lying near the doorway.

  The wind kicked up another strong gust. Benny stooped to pull off a sheet of paper that had plastered itself to his leg. He stared at the paper, his mouth in an “o.”

  “What is it?” Henry said.

  Benny held up the paper so they could all see the holes slashed in it. The sheet was an advertisement, with letters roughly cut out.

  Violet gasped. “This must be where Jake’s threatening note came from!”

  “And he used the dictionary to translate his message into Spanish,” Jessie added. “Why would Tom Parker send old Jake a warning note?”

  Other papers fluttered from the open doorway. Before the wind snatched it away, Jessie planted her foot on a photograph.

  “Luis! Isn’t this one of your maps?”

  Luis grabbed two more escaping sheets. “So are these! What were my map pictures doing in Tom’s room?”

  Violet trapped a piece of wind-blown paper against the wall. She flattened the sheet with the palm of her hand, then studied the paper.

  “I think this will answer a lot of questions,” she said.

  CHAPTER 9

  One Mystery Solved

  The others gathered around Violet.

  “It’s a letter from Tom,” she said. “It’s to somebody named Frank. See? It’s signed Tom Parker.’ ”

  Violet squinted at the messy handwriting. “ ‘My great-uncle Jake,’ ” she began, then gasped. “ ‘My great-uncle Jake, the prospector, has no idea who I am . . . can’t wait to get my hands on his mine. Then I’ll have a new address—Easy Street.’ ”

  Her eyes huge, she glanced up from the page. “Tom is Jake’s great-nephew. And Jake doesn’t know it!”

  “Where’s Easy Street?” Benny asked. “Maybe that’s where Tom is now.”

  “It’s an expression,” Jessie answered. “It means he’ll have plenty of money.”

  “This sounds like trouble,” Henry said. “First we find that advertisement with the letters cut out—”

  “—just like Jake’s warning note,” Luis broke in. “And now this letter.” His tone became serious. “If Tom wants Jake’s mine, then that means Jake has found the Lost Dutchman’s mine!”

  “But where is Jake?” Jessie asked. “Did Tom go to his great-uncle’s camp? Was he the man who left the footprints—and the man we saw on the rocks—” Her words trailed off. She was really afraid something bad had happened to Jake.

  “We need to find Tom,” Henry said firmly. “Tom is the key.”

  “He’s sure not here,” Benny said, peering into the deserted bunkhouse. “Let’s go back to the restaurant and see if he’s there. Besides,” he added, “I could use a piece of apple pie right about now.”

  Despite their worries, the others laughed. No matter what the crisis, Benny was always hungry!

  They didn’t find Tom in the resta
urant. But the stranger who had driven up in the shiny black car sat perched on a stool. His white shirt was stuck to his back with sweat and his striped tie was flopped over one shoulder. He guzzled a large iced tea.

  When he saw the Aldens and Luis, he swiveled around.

  “Just the people I want to talk to,” he said. “You’re the Aldens from Two-D, correct?”

  Henry answered, “That’s right.”

  “Do you know anything about your neighbors taking off? You know, the Clarks, in that big RV?”

  Jessie shook her head. “No, sir. We saw them this morning at breakfast, but then we went riding. When we came back, they had already left.”

  The man sighed. “It’s the same old story.”

  “What story? How come you’re looking for Mr. and Mrs. Clark?” Benny asked. “Are you a relative?”

  “No, I represent a bank. The Clarks borrowed money from our bank to buy that motor home.” He frowned. “They never made any payments on their loan. They kept moving from state to state. So the bank sent me to track them down and take back the motor home.”

  Benny hopped up on the stool next to the man. “It doesn’t sound like a very fun job.”

  The man smiled wanly. “It’s not. But people like the Clarks make jobs like mine necessary. They also bought a lot of expensive jewelry on credit that they’ve never paid for, either.”

  “I didn’t think newlyweds were supposed to have much money,” Jessie said.

  “They don’t, usually,” the man said. “Most couples save until they can afford luxuries. The Clarks didn’t want to wait. They made a habit of buying things they couldn’t afford and then skipping out.”

  “They seemed like such nice, happy people,” Violet said wistfully, remembering Mrs. Clark’s smile.

  “They won’t be so happy when I catch up to them,” the man said. “And I will find them. A motor home like theirs isn’t easy to hide. I’ll stay on their trail.”

  The man left then, after wishing them all a good day.

  “I can’t believe people buy things and never intend to pay for them,” Jessie said, indignant. She wondered if Tom Parker had skipped town with the Clarks. He fit into the puzzle somewhere.

  “People do it all the time,” Janine remarked, dropping the man’s change in the cash register drawer. “Just like old Jake.”

  “But Jake says he’ll pay you back,” Benny insisted. “With interest. That’s what he says.”

  “Yes, he does.” Janine softened a moment. “I wonder where the old guy is? He hasn’t been in here for a cup of coffee in days.”

  “That’s what we want to—” Henry began, then stopped as the cowbell on the door jangled.

  Mr. Tobias came inside. He wore a wrinkled white T-shirt and jeans. Under his eyes were blue smudges, as if he hadn’t slept in a long time.

  “Coffee, Janine,” he said to the waitress. “Make it extra strong, please.”

  He chose a stool at the counter, then looked at the Aldens, who stared back at him.

  “Mr. Tobias,” Violet stated. She recognized the pale face she had seen in the window of the silver trailer as they left for the desert hike last night.

  “Yes, I am,” Mr. Tobias answered. “Can I do something for you, young lady?”

  “Do you know where Jake is?” she asked at last.

  Mr. Tobias sipped his coffee. “Who? I don’t know any Jake.”

  “He’s the old prospector,” Henry said. “He comes in here to buy groceries. He’s looking for the Lost Dutchman’s mine. And Tom Parker is his nephew.”

  “Great-nephew,” Jessie corrected. “But Jake doesn’t know this.”

  Mr. Tobias furrowed his brow. “Wait a minute. You kids are going too fast for me. Tom Parker is related to this Jake character?”

  “Yes,” Luis spoke up. “And we think Tom wants to get Jake’s mine. Maybe he did something to his great-uncle. They’ve both disappeared.”

  “Well, if Jake is a prospector, he’ll be just fine,” Mr. Tobias speculated. “But that Tom Parker won’t last five minutes if he’s lost in the hills.”

  “Why?” asked Benny. “Tom’s a real cowboy.”

  Mr. Tobias laughed so hard, his coffee spluttered. “Tom Parker a real cowboy! What a joke! The man is no more a westerner than I am.”

  “But those outfits he wears . . . and the way he talks,” Jessie said. But then she remembered how Tom’s desert lecture sounded as if he was reading from a textbook.

  “Fake. Everything Tom Parker knows about the West he read in books. And you can buy those clothes in Phoenix,” said Mr. Tobias.

  “How do you know this?” Henry asked suspiciously.

  “For one thing, his clothes are too new-looking. Real cowboys look rugged, like they’ve been riding the trail. And real cowboys don’t go around calling everybody ‘pardner.’ Tom must get his lingo from old westerns.”

  “He tricked us!” Benny exclaimed.

  Janine set the coffeepot down with a thump. “He fooled me, too. That slick talker! No wonder he couldn’t fix the filter on the pool or take care of the grounds around here. He probably doesn’t know how.”

  “Where is he now?” Henry asked, going to the window.

  Outside the raging wind chased debris across the parking lot.

  Luis joined him. “We’re in for a real dust storm. If anybody’s out in that, they’d better take cover.”

  “I hope poor Jake is okay,” said Jessie. “Tom is probably miles away with the Clarks.”

  At that moment, the door burst open in a gust of stinging sand. Two figures stumbled in, one shoving the other ahead of him.

  “Any coffee on?” said a familiar voice. “I sure could use a cup.”

  Benny launched himself off the stool. “Jake!” he cried. “Where have you been?”

  “Out hunting,” said the old man, flapping his dust-covered hat. He pushed a surly-looking Tom Parker into the nearest booth. “Look at the varmint I caught.” Jake laughed hoarsely.

  Tom scowled at the floor. His jeans were filthy and his silver-studded cowboy shirt was ripped. His hat was nearly as battered as Jake’s old felt hat.

  “What’s going on?” Janine demanded. “Jake, is it true Tom is your great-nephew?”

  The old man snorted. “Yes, I suppose he truly is related, though I’m ashamed to claim him.”

  “What happened?” Henry asked. “How do you know this?”

  “Well, you saw that note I got a few days ago. Then I noticed somebody had been nosing around my camp.” Jake gratefully accepted the mug of coffee Janine handed him. “So I set a trap for him.”

  “Like a mousetrap?” Benny asked.

  Jake smiled through his brushy mustache. “I hid out for a couple of days, waiting to see if he’d come back. Sure enough, he did. Then I caught him.”

  Jake went on. “Turns out Tom has a bad case of gold fever. He thought he would waltz in and take my claim, after all my hard work.”

  “Tom said he wanted to live on Easy Street,” Benny put in.

  Jake threw back his head in laughter. “Guess I showed him!”

  The Aldens were full of questions.

  “Did you break into Luis’s RV?” Benny asked Tom.

  “The door was open,” Tom said.

  “You stole the pictures of the stone maps,” Henry accused. “And you cut off our electricity to get us all outside.”

  “And left a messy camp in the mountains,” Benny added.

  Tom didn’t deny it. “Mrs. Clark told me about the map pictures. She heard the Garcia kid talking to you about it and she knew I was looking for the Dutchman’s mine.”

  “Did you know the Clarks are gone?” Jessie asked.

  “Who do you think tipped them off about the man from the bank?” Tom smiled thinly. “The Clarks and I had a deal. I’d keep their little secret and they’d help me.”

  “How did you know the Clarks were in trouble with the bank?” Mr. Tobias asked.

  “I checked them in the day they came.
Thought something was funny about them. Mrs. Clark had a wallet full of brand-new credit cards.” Tom laughed. “What they say about crooks is true. It takes one to know one.”

  “So you became friends,” Henry said.

  “Let’s just say we were useful to each other,” Tom replied. “The Clarks brought supplies to my camp, little things like that. In town yesterday I saw the man from the bank asking about a couple with a fancy trailer. I knew he’d pay RV Haven a visit, so I warned the Clarks.”

  Janine pointed her finger at Tom. “I don’t know what else you’ve done, but you’re through at RV Haven. Pack your things and be gone by nightfall.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be glad to get back to civilization.” Tom stalked out the door without a backward glance.

  “Good for you,” Jake said to Janine.

  The waitress smiled. “How about some apple pie a la mode? On the house?”

  “For me?” Jake seemed touched by her gesture.

  “For everyone!” Janine said generously.

  “Yay!” cried Benny. Apple pie was exactly what he needed.

  CHAPTER 10

  Benny’s Surprise

  The Chuck Wagon looked especially festive that night. Country music played from the jukebox. Orange and yellow streamers looped the counter. A pink and green piñata in the shape of a bull hung from the ceiling.

  “Wow!” said Benny. “Who did all this?”

  Jake came out from the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel. “I did. How do you like it?”

  “It’s different,” Violet remarked.

  Jake himself looked different. He had shaved off his scraggly beard. His mustache had been neatly trimmed and he wore clean khaki pants and a denim shirt.

  “Grandfather, can we sit at that large table? The Garcias are eating with us,” Jessie said.

  “You bet,” Grandfather replied.

  Jake ushered the Aldens to the round center table and handed out menus with a flourish.

  “Where’s Janine?” asked Violet. She didn’t see the dark-haired waitress at her usual station by the cash register.