164 The Mystery Of The Mother Wolf Page 10

  bright orange parka.

  As the snowmobile drew closer, the driver abruptly

  reduced his speed before stopping right next to them

  in the middle of the trail.

  Even though the driver was wearing a helmet and

  goggles, Nancy recognized Ross Minkowski, the

  Marshalls' ranch hand, by his good-natured smile.

  “Hey, there, Jenny,” he said. “What are you girls

  doing out here? It's getting kind of late.”

  “I know. I took my friends out snowshoeing this

  afternoon, but we lost track of the time. We were just

  about to head home,” she said, “when we saw a pack of

  wolves.”

  “You did?” Ross said. “I know they've been relocated

  to these parts, but I haven't seen any yet. I hear them

  howling sometimes from way over the mountain.”

  “But what are you doing out here, Ross?” Jenny

  asked. “Just taking a spin in your snowmobile?”

  “Nope, I've got work to do,” Ross answered. “I'm on

  my way over to Thunderbird Ranch. See, Bill Ehret's

  ranch hand is down with the flu, and Bill asked me to

  fill in this evening with the chores. But don't worry—I

  haven't forgotten all our animals at Elk River. I'll take

  care of them as soon as I get home.”

  “Wow, you're working hard,” Jenny said.

  “A ranch hand's work is never done, it seems,” Ross

  said. “But I'd better be going now. I told Bill I'd be at

  Thunderbird at three o'clock, and I'm nearing an hour

  late. Anyway, bye for now, and you girls be careful of

  those wolves.” After giving the girls a friendly salute,

  Ross revved his motor, then took off in a blast of noise

  down the trail toward Thunderbird Ranch.

  “We are so lucky that Ross came along,” Jenny said.

  “But what do you guys want to do now? It's getting

  late, and there are wolves around. I don't think we

  ought to be out in these woods.”

  “How far is Thunderbird Ranch?” Nancy asked.

  “About a mile and a half,” Jenny said. “But that wolf

  pack is ahead of us. I'd rather not go on.”

  “Okay,” Nancy said reluctantly, disappointed that

  they were so close. “Then why don't we drive over to

  Thunderbird? We were planning to do that at first

  anyway.”

  “Until I pushed for skiing or snowshoeing or what-

  ever,” George said good-naturedly. “But I don't mind

  turning back and driving to Thunderbird. I'll just spend

  a lot of time outdoors tomorrow.”

  Jenny smiled. “Elk Mountain will always be there for

  you, George. But I really appreciate you guys making

  Rainbow a priority. Anyway, let's go home and drive

  over to Thunderbird. We can park about a hundred

  yards from Mr. Ehret's house on the edge of some

  woods so no one will know we're there.”

  Nancy gave Jenny the thumbs-up sign. As soon as

  they'd reattached their snowshoes, the four girls

  headed back to Elk River Ranch.

  About forty-five minutes later, Jenny, George,

  Nancy, and Bess were putting their snowshoes away in

  the walk-in equipment closet. John stuck his head in

  the doorway and said, “There you are, Jenny. Would

  you help me prepare dinner, please? I've got a

  complicated recipe coming up, and I could use another

  pair of hands.”

  “Sure, Dad, let me just finish up here.” Turning

  back to the girls, Jenny added, “You guys can borrow

  my Jeep. It's the old blue one outside.” She removed a

  car key from a nail in the closet and handed it to

  Nancy. “Just promise me you'll be careful when you get

  to Thunderbird.”

  Before Nancy could answer, the front door burst

  open and Dody and Dexter entered, stomping off snow

  on the front doormat. Their faces were flushed from

  the bracing winter air as they came into the equipment

  closet carrying their skis. “That was a solid day's

  exercise,” Dody said appreciatively. “I only wish you'd

  joined me in the morning, Dex, instead of going

  dogsledding. Although dogsledding sounds like fun.”

  “Terrifying is more like it,” Dexter said, rolling his

  eyes. “Anyway, I'm ready for some hot chocolate by the

  fire and a game of checkers.” His gaze settled eagerly

  on Bess. “Are you up for hanging out, Bess?”

  Bess's face lit up, then she shot Nancy a questioning

  look.

  “You stay, Bess,” Nancy said. “George and I can go.

  It's no problem.”

  “Thanks, Nan—if you're sure,” Bess said. “Well,

  Dexter, checkers sounds great—do you want to be

  black or red?”

  Five minutes later Nancy and George were driving

  to Thunderbird Ranch in Jenny's Jeep. Following the

  directions that Jenny had given her, Nancy turned right

  out of the driveway onto the main road. Almost three

  miles later, they came to a small white clapboard

  building on their right. On the porch overhang a

  painted sign with old-fashioned black lettering

  announced the Elk River General Store.

  A bright splash of red came into view from behind

  the building. “What is that thing?” Nancy asked. “I

  don't know why, but it looks familiar.”

  She slowed the Jeep to a crawl and peered out of

  George's window. A red snowmobile with a yellow

  lightning bolt decal on the hood was parked at the foot

  of a trail stretching back into the woods.

  “Weird!” George exclaimed. “Isn't that Ross's snow-

  mobile?”

  “I guess so,” Nancy said, “unless lots of other people

  around here drive snowmobiles like that one.”

  “Well, if it does belong to Ross, I'd sure like to know

  what he's doing here,” George said. “Isn't he supposed

  to be at Mr. Ehret's?”

  “Maybe he's on his way home,” Nancy said.

  “I doubt it,” George said. “It's not even five yet.

  Feeding a bunch of ranch animals would take longer

  than an hour, I think.”

  “There's only one way of settling this question,”

  Nancy said as she turned into the small parking area in

  front of the store. “Let's go see for ourselves.”

  Nancy parked the Jeep alongside a pickup truck,

  then she and George hopped out. Nancy put a finger to

  her lips, signaling George to be quiet. “If it is Ross, it's

  better if he doesn't know we're spying on him,” she

  explained.

  The two girls tiptoed up a small flight of stairs to the

  porch, then inched open the door. Inside, a tall dark-

  haired man in an orange parka stood at the counter

  with his back to them while a teenaged girl rang up his

  purchases. The girl was glancing at Ross coyly as he

  chatted amiably with her.

  “It's Ross, all right,” Nancy whispered. “I'm curious

  to hear what he's saying.”

  Nancy and George crept inside, careful to stay be-

  hind a tall rack filled with snack food and candy, so the

  girl wouldn't see them and alert Ross to their presence.

  N
ancy's gaze fell on the counter, and she stifled a

  gasp. Spread out in front of Ross were five small dog

  collars—exactly the number of Rainbows puppies!

  14. Danger Comes Calling

  Nancy stuck out her arm, signaling George to stay

  back. Then, while Ross was busy flirting with the girl,

  Nancy and George backed quietly out of the store,

  careful not to let the door slam behind them.

  Once outside, George whispered, “Wow, Nancy. I'll

  bet Ross was buying collars for the puppies! What do

  you think?”

  “I think we'd better move away from here ASAP,

  before Ross comes outside and sees us.”

  “Back to the Jeep, then,” George said, moving

  toward the porch steps.

  “No, George, wait!” Nancy said. Grabbing George's

  arm, she guided her down the steps and around to the

  back of the store. Then they crouched behind a

  woodpile. “It's pretty dark now, so I don't think he'll

  see us here when he comes back to his snowmobile,”

  Nancy commented. “I want to see what direction he

  goes.”

  “He'll probably take forever in there, anyway, the

  way he was flirting with that girl,” George declared.

  “Let's make a plan,” Nancy said. “See, I want to

  follow him, but he's on his snowmobile and there's no

  way we'll be able to keep up.”

  “Then let's get a head start to Thunderbird Ranch in

  our Jeep,” George cried. “I'll bet you anything Ross is

  taking orders from Bill Ehret. I mean, Ross doesn't

  seem bright enough to make up a complicated plan like

  taking Rainbow and her puppies. Why would he want

  to, anyway?”

  “But even if Ross is Mr. Ehret's lackey, that doesn't

  mean he's keeping the wolves at Thunderbird,” Nancy

  said. “He could be keeping them in the woods

  somewhere—like in a cave. Maybe that's why he's

  using a snowmobile instead of a car.”

  “The Swiss army knife!” George said suddenly.

  “Those must be Ross's initials on it, but he pretended

  the knife wasn't his so the Marshalls wouldn't find out

  he's been sneaking around their house.”

  There was a sudden creaking noise behind them.

  George started, and Nancy cautiously turned her head

  in the direction of the sound. A grizzled old man with

  bowed legs and long white hair was sliding open the

  door of a shed. As the girls watched him, he flicked on

  an overhead light. Nancy's heart leaped. Inside, two

  snowmobiles were parked on a thin covering of icy

  snow.

  George and Nancy traded excited looks.

  “Excuse me, sir?” Nancy said as she and George

  approached him.

  The man jumped. But as his watery gaze focused on

  Nancy and George, he said, “You scared me there,

  girls. Can I help you?”

  “Uh, yes, we'd like to borrow one of your snow-

  mobiles,” Nancy began.

  “Eh?” the man said, cupping his hand around an ear.

  “Speak up, miss. My hearing ain't what it used to be.”

  Nancy repeated her question.

  The man looked amused. “What do two nice girls

  like you want with a snowmobile at this time o' the

  evening? It's twilight, the woods are dark, and I've

  heard there are wolves about.”

  “We'll be fine,” Nancy insisted, “and we won't be

  long. We just wanted a chance to ride a snowmobile.

  Plus, the noise will scare away the wolves.” What if he

  won't agree? she thought tensely.

  “Oh, all right,” the man said, looking curiously at

  them. “But you got to pay for it. See, I do a side busi-

  ness of snowmobile rentals, twenty dollars an hour.

  Can you girls manage that?”

  Nancy took out some money from her parka pocket

  and handed the old man a twenty-dollar bill. After he

  pocketed it, he showed them how the snowmobile

  worked, then handed them each a pair of clear goggles.

  “Goodbye, now, girls. Be careful. And if you don't

  return in one hour, I'll get worried. So please don't be

  doing that to me. Stress and old age don't mix.” The

  man hobbled away to a side door of the store and went

  inside, leaving Nancy and George sitting in the

  snowmobile with the shed door open and the lights off.

  “How much longer do you think Ross'll be?” George

  asked.

  Nancy had a sudden awful thought. “George—the

  Jeep. Ross will recognize it for sure. Won't he think it's

  weird that the Jeep is in the parking lot but the

  Marshalls aren't around?”

  “Probably, but it's too late now,” George whispered,

  nudging Nancy in the side as the front door of the store

  slammed.

  Ross's heavy boots thumped down the porch stairs.

  Seconds later he appeared around the corner of the

  building and made a beeline for his snowmobile. After

  starting it up with a blast of engine power, he revved

  the motor and took off, heading up a gentle slope

  toward the trail.

  Nancy waited a minute before starting up her en-

  gine. “Man, this is loud,” George shouted above the

  deafening roar of the engine. “I feel as if we're about to

  blast off into space or something.”

  “At least when you're on a rocket, you're going on

  this awesome adventure,” Nancy yelled back. “I don't

  know how Ross stands riding one of these things just to

  tool around the trails.”

  “Still, even though we're not going into space,

  speeding through the woods after Ross will definitely

  be an adventure,” George said, tightening her scarf

  around her throat. “I can feel it in my bones.”

  Following the old man's instructions, Nancy

  switched on the headlight, adjusted her goggles over

  her eyes, and then took off up the trail after Ross.

  “I hope he doesn't hear us,” George said above the

  engine.

  “Me, too,” Nancy said. “I'm hoping he can't because

  his snowmobile is so loud, it will drown out ours.”

  As twilight deepened into darkness, the cold air cut

  into the girls' faces as they zoomed along. With the

  headlight illuminating the snowy path ahead, Nancy

  detected fresh snowmobile tracks running along it, but

  there was no way she could see Ross on the winding,

  hilly trail in front of her.

  Nancy gritted her teeth, listening for the sound of

  another snowmobile, but she heard only the awful

  roaring of their own motor.

  “He couldn't be that far ahead,” George shouted. “I

  can see his tracks.”

  Nancy nodded, unwilling to shout too loudly just in

  case Ross was closer than they thought. After about a

  mile, the trail met another one, and Nancy stopped.

  “Now which way?” she asked, peering in both

  directions. There were snowmobile tracks to the left

  and right on the new trail.

  “I think the tracks look a little fresher to the left,”

  George said.

  “Me, too,” Nancy said, taking the turn. About ten
/>
  yards later, Nancy added, “Look, George—do you

  recognize this place?” The headlight lit up a small

  meadow that inclined down an easy hill. “This is where

  we saw the wild wolves.”

  George sat forward. “Oh, yeah, but I don't see any

  critters at all now.”

  Nancy dipped into the hollow. Thanks to her pow-

  erful headlight, she spotted a wooden footbridge over

  the Elk River.

  As they zoomed across it, George scanned the dark

  canyon below and said, “I know the river is under us,

  but I can't see a thing. It's as if we're crossing some

  creepy void.”

  Moments later they entered a narrow trail through

  some pine trees and headed up a steep hill. The pine

  forest was so dense that Nancy could barely see to

  either side of her, but at the top of the hill, the trees

  thinned out, allowing moonlight to illuminate the

  landscape. Up ahead, their trail dead-ended into

  another one, which ran across theirs like the top of a T.

  At the junction two painted wooden signs pointed in

  opposite directions.

  With her headlight shining on the signs, Nancy said,

  “This is weird. The sign pointing left says Thunderbird

  Ranch, and the one pointing right says Coyote Corners.

  But the snowmobile tracks head toward Coyote

  Corners. There aren't any going to Thunderbird

  Ranch.”

  George gaped at the tracks in the snow. “I can't

  believe it. Ross must have gone to Coyote Corners—

  that's Paul's grandmother's place, right?”

  “Yup,” Nancy said. “Ross must have gone there,

  unless there's a cave or something along here where

  he's stashed the wolves.”

  Nancy revved the motor, eager to find Rainbow and

  her puppies. Turning the snowmobile in the direction

  of Coyote Corners, she roared off down the trail.

  It ran along the crest of a hill through a thin forest of

  pines and deciduous trees. As she put on more speed,

  Nancy tried not to think about the noisy snowmobile

  ripping through such a peaceful place. Instead, she

  focused on the shimmering moonlight and the

  countless stars in the cobalt blue sky.

  After a couple more miles, the trees ended abruptly

  at a snowy field that rolled down a long, wide hill in a

  series of gentle drifts. In the valley below, a huge

  wooden house presided over a remote landscape of

  meadows, forests, and snow-covered peaks. Yellow

  lamplight poured from its windows, and smoke curled