The Mystery of the Mother Wolf Read online

  “But it could have been a guest sneaking around,”

  Bess pointed out, “except somehow the word sneak

  doesn't fit the Warriners' profile.”

  George shrugged. “You never know.”

  Nancy thought for a moment. It was possible that

  either Dexter or Dody had needed something in the

  middle of the night, like pain medicine after a hard day

  of skiing. Dexter was shy enough that he might have

  felt awkward about disturbing the Marshalls and

  decided to leave when the animals barked. But

  remembering the mysterious Swiss army knife with the

  carved initials, Nancy felt there was a small chance the

  intruder could be Rusty. Facing Alice, she asked,

  “Could you tell whether this person was a man or a

  woman?”

  Alice bit her lip for a moment, then said, “As I

  mentioned, I saw only a shadowy form, but I got the

  sense it was a man—someone with broader shoulders

  than those of most women. Sorry, but I don't re-

  member any other details.”

  As Nancy, George, and Bess admired the little

  wolves, Jenny filled her mother in on Stella Stevenson's

  accident.

  Alice's expression was one of disgust. “Stella is so

  annoyingly stubborn,” Alice said hotly. “I've noticed in

  town how bad her driving is. She bangs other people's

  cars when she tries to parallel park, but she refuses to

  admit that she probably shouldn't be on the road

  anymore. All I can say is, she'd better pay for that

  fence—she can afford it more than we can.”

  Opening the outside door, Jenny said, “I'll tell Ross

  to fix the fence. If Rainbow goes outside, she could

  escape.” Nancy noticed a dog door covered by a loose

  plastic flap carved into the wall next to the door.

  “Its Ross's day off, darling,” Alice said. “We'll just

  have to walk Rainbow on a leash till he gets back.” She

  pushed down a piece of hard plastic that was hooked

  above the dog door to cover it.

  “I'll leave him a note, then. Oh, and by the way, it's

  beginning to snow,” Jenny finished, closing the door

  behind her.

  “Do you guys worry about Rainbow escaping?”

  Nancy asked Alice. “I mean, now that she's tame,

  would she want to?”

  “I definitely don't think she'd want to,” Alice said.

  “But her instinct is to roam, and she might get lost. If

  that happened, she wouldn't do very well in the wild

  because she's used to getting her food from us. Wild

  wolves are a lot tougher than she is.”

  “Even some dog breeds like to wander more than

  others,” George declared. “Like basset hounds and

  beagles.”

  “Huskies, too,” Alice said. “Still, I have the feeling

  Grover wouldn't go as far as Rainbow would. Even

  though she's tame, she's wilder than most dogs.”

  “What are these puppies going to look like when

  they're grown?” Bess asked. “They're so cute now.”

  “They'll still be cute,” Alice said, smiling as she

  gently rubbed a puppy's furry stomach as he rolled

  over playfully on his back. “In fact, wolfdog breeds are

  highly prized by some people. They can fetch a lot of

  money.”

  “Really?” Nancy asked. “Why do people want them

  so much?”

  “A lot of folks are fascinated by wolves, but they

  want an animal that's easier to tame,” Alice explained.

  “What a lot of them don't understand is that wolfdog

  hybrids can be really hard to control. Training them is

  a full-time job. And they tend to need a lot of

  attention—hours and hours a day. Otherwise, they can

  resort to all sorts of bad behaviors, like tearing apart a

  house.”

  “Wow!” Bess said. Then, looking at the puppies with

  an enraptured gaze, she added, “But it's hard to believe

  these adorable little critters could ever be bad.”

  Alice smiled, then checked her watch. “Excuse me,

  girls. I have to help John with supper now. It's almost

  five o'clock.”

  That evening Nancy, Bess, and George joined the

  Marshalls, the Warriners, and Paul at dinner, which

  was eaten ranch style at a long table in the cozy dining

  room off the kitchen. Alice and Jenny served John

  Marshall's special roast chicken with herb stuffing, new

  potatoes with rosemary butter, green beans, and salad.

  A fire blazed in the fireplace while snow blew against

  the dark window-panes.

  “We're supposed to get several inches tonight,”

  Dody said, his eyes lighting up like those of a happy

  child. “That's the best news I've heard all day.”

  Dexter groaned. “Just don't make me go down those

  extreme expert slopes with you tomorrow, Dad.”

  “But those are the ones that'll have the best pow-

  der,” Dody said, looking askance at his son. “Don't be

  such a chicken, Dex.”

  Dexter rolled his eyes, then glanced shyly at Bess as

  he murmured, “I'm just smart enough not to risk

  them.”

  “You call those bunny slopes risky?” Dody said,

  eating a slice of potato. “Now, when I climbed Mount

  Everest five years ago, that was risky.”

  “Don't forget to mention your travels by dogsled to

  the Arctic Circle,” Alice said.

  “Kid stuff,” Dody proclaimed, beaming at the

  memory.

  “You can ski with us tomorrow, Dexter,” Bess of-

  fered. “We won't be doing any extreme expert slopes

  our first day out.”

  “Speak for yourself, Bess,” George teased.

  “You're right, though, Bess,” Nancy said. “We'll save

  those slopes for day two.”

  Nancy snuggled under the down comforter on her

  bed, watching snowflakes swirl outside her window. A

  hemlock tree close to the house creaked and groaned

  with every gust of wind, its branches whacking the

  windowpanes. The noise had woken Nancy up a few

  minutes earlier, and she lay in bed warm but wide-

  awake.

  The time change is why I'm awake so early, Nancy

  told herself, glancing at the glow-in-the-dark bedside

  clock, which read five. It's really six in the morning for

  me.

  Nancy was fluffing up her pillow, trying to get

  comfortable, when an anguished scream pierced the

  silent house. She bolted upright.

  “George, wake up!” she cried, her heart hammering.

  “Someone needs help!”

  5. Blizzard Blindness

  George jolted awake, staring wild-eyed at Nancy.

  “What's going on? Where are we, Nan?”

  “At Elk River Ranch,” Nancy said, jumping out of

  bed. “Didn't you hear that scream? It was pretty in-

  tense. Let's find out what's happening.”

  “Okay,” George said groggily. She swung her feet off

  the bed, grimacing as they touched the freezing cold

  floor. “But please don't let this be the beginning of

  another mystery. I mean, we're on vacation, Drew!”

  “It's not the beginning of a my
stery, George,” Nancy

  said, opening the bedroom door. “It began with Alice's

  intruder.”

  George sighed as she followed Nancy out the door.

  “I was afraid of that,” she mumbled.

  In the hallway, the two girls paused, listening. The

  chill air of the house seemed to seep into Nancy's

  bones as she waited in her flannel pajamas for another

  scream. Where could the first scream have come from?

  she wondered. It had sounded pretty far away—maybe

  downstairs.

  “Look,” George whispered, pointing to an open door

  at the end of the hall.

  “That's Jenny's room, or Paul's,” Nancy said.

  The girls tiptoed to the room and peered inside. A

  four-poster bed stood empty and unmade, and Nancy

  recognized the blue sweater Jenny had been wearing at

  dinner slung over an armchair.

  “It's Jenny's room, but she's not in it,” Nancy said.

  She gripped George's arm. “She could be in trouble.

  Let's hurry downstairs.”

  Nancy and George raced down the staircase and into

  the living room. The sound of a woman's anguished

  sobs penetrated the night. “There!” Nancy said, point-

  ing to a hallway off the living room. “It's coming from

  the wing of the house where Alice and John live.”

  “But that's private,” George countered. “They might

  not want us back there.”

  “Then again they might,” Nancy said.

  As she hurried down the corridor, the sobs grew

  louder. Light shone through the open doorway of the

  Marshalls' sitting room, dimly illuminating the narrow

  hall.

  When Nancy and George reached the safety gate

  separating the hall from the room, they paused, taking

  stock of the scene inside.

  Grover lay on the floor, motionless. Alice and John

  hovered over him, running their fingers through his fur

  and inspecting his eyes and muzzle. Jenny sat by

  Rainbows pen, rocking one of the puppies in her arms

  as tears streamed down her cheeks.

  Nancy felt a pang of foreboding. Where was Rain-

  bow?

  Nancy knocked on the wall beside the open door.

  Jenny and her parents looked up at the sound, their

  faces stricken with confusion and grief. “Nancy,

  George,” Jenny said. “I can't believe this—someone

  stole Rainbow!”

  The puppy in Jenny's arms whimpered forlornly as it

  wriggled to get down and join its sisters and brothers.

  But the other puppies couldn't give it the comfort it

  needed. The sight of the tiny puppies sniffing around

  the pen, whining for their missing mother, was

  heartbreaking.

  “They're hungry,” Jenny announced, fighting back

  more tears. “I'd better get a bottle and some baby

  formula.”

  “Let's call the vet first,” John said, getting to his feet.

  “We need to find out exactly what to feed them.”

  “And tell the vet about Grover, dear,” Alice said just

  before John disappeared into their bedroom. Holding

  up a dart, she explained to Nancy and George, “The

  thief used a tranquilizing gun on him. I'd like to know

  how long it takes for this stuff to wear off. Oh dear, I

  wish I could remember how we mixed the formula

  when Rainbow was small,” Alice said.

  At the sound of Rainbow's name, Jenny began to sob

  pitifully.

  “Jenny,” Nancy said, stepping over the safety gate to

  comfort her. “Pull yourself together. I can help you

  find Rainbow, but you need to calm down and give me

  some information.”

  Jenny stared at Nancy with a mixture of hope and

  disbelief. “How can you help us find Rainbow?” she

  asked.

  “Because I'm a detective,” Nancy explained.

  “That's right—you are a detective, Nancy,” Alice

  said. “Eloise has spoken so admiringly of your work.

  Would you really be willing to help us?” She frowned,

  adding, “Oh, but you're on vacation. We can't ask you

  to spend your free time investigating a case.”

  “I'd be happy to help you,” Nancy said, glancing at

  the motherless puppies. “Anyway, I wouldn't be able to

  enjoy my vacation knowing that these puppies don't

  have their mom.”

  “Not to mention that Rainbow may be in danger,”

  George added as she stood next to Nancy.

  “What's going on here?” a man's voice questioned

  behind Nancy and George.

  “Dody!” Alice exclaimed. “I hope we didn't wake

  you and Dexter.”

  Turning, Nancy saw Dody Warriner wrapped in a

  maroon velvet dressing gown standing outside the gate.

  Dexter was with him, wearing blue jeans, bare feet,

  and an untucked red flannel shirt, trying his best to

  stifle a yawn.

  “Don't worry about waking us,” Dody said gallantly.

  “Dex and I want to help if there's a problem. Did I

  overhear someone say that Rainbow is in danger?”

  Alice and Jenny quickly explained to Dody and

  Dexter that Rainbow was missing. When they'd fin-

  ished, Dody asked, “Why don't you bring in one of the

  female sled dogs to act as a surrogate mom? I think she

  might help calm the little pups.”

  “Great idea,” Alice proclaimed. “Jenny, could you

  ask Paul to be a dear and bring Icicle in from the barn?

  I'd ask Ross, but it's still officially his day off.”

  Jenny frowned. “Paul must still be asleep, but how

  could he sleep through all this noise?”

  Nancy shrugged. “Bess is still asleep, too.”

  “I'll get Icicle,” Jenny said, standing. “The sooner we

  give these little guys a warm body, the better.”

  “No way, Jen—don't go out,” Alice said firmly. “The

  barn is two hundred feet away, and it's snowing like

  crazy. I know it sounds impossible, but people have

  died getting lost in blizzards when they're practically

  next to their houses. The blowing snow can make it

  impossible for you to see.”

  Jenny shot her mother a critical look. “Then why

  would you send Paul out in it, Mom? Don't you care if

  he freezes in the snow?”

  “Of course I care,” Alice said indignantly. She sighed

  with exasperation. “But Paul has had experience with

  bad weather conditions when he's tracked wolves. He's

  camped out in blizzards, so he knows just what to do.”

  “Mom, I could manage the space between here and

  the barn,” Jenny said tartly. “But don't worry, we'll wait

  and get Icy first thing tomorrow, and meanwhile,

  tonight I'll sleep in the pen.”

  The bedroom door opened, and John rejoined the

  group. “Dr. Goodman told me how to bottle-feed

  them,” he explained. “He also said that Grover should

  recover soon. We just need to give him plenty of

  water.”

  “Grover's already awake,” Alice said, stroking

  Grover's face as he lay on her lap. Grover stared with-

  out moving at the pan of water John had brought him.

  As John s
tepped back over the safety gate to go to

  the kitchen to mix the formula, Nancy cast her mind

  back to Alice's description of the intruder the previous

  night.

  “Did you see anything weird tonight, Alice?” she

  asked. “Did you sleep with your bedroom door open

  again?”

  “We had our door open, as usual,” Alice replied.

  “But John and I are both sound sleepers, and neither of

  us heard a thing.”

  “I heard a noise,” Jenny cut in, “so I decided to in-

  vestigate. I couldn't sleep because of the storm, so I

  was alert to every tiny sound, and my bedroom is right

  over Mom and Dad's.”

  “What kind of noise was it?” Nancy asked. “For in-

  stance, a footstep, a slamming door, a dog barking?”

  “I just heard a few thumps,” Jenny said. “Normally, I

  wouldn't have thought anything of it— maybe a loose

  shutter from the storm. But I was so creeped out by

  the intruder last night, that I wanted to make sure the

  animals were okay.” She sighed, then added grimly, “It

  never occurred to me that the person would be so evil

  that he'd shoot the animals with a stun gun before they

  could bark.”

  “What did you see when you got down here?”

  George asked.

  Jenny pointed to the door leading to the outside

  yard. “That door was wide open. Snow was blowing in.

  Rainbow was gone, and Grover was out cold on the

  floor.”

  “I wonder if there are still any footprints in the

  snow,” Nancy said, glancing toward the outside door.

  “Don't even think about going outside, young lady,”

  Alice said sharply. “We don't want you falling in a

  snowdrift and freezing ten yards from the house.

  Remember what I told Jenny.”

  Nancy hesitated. Alice had a point, and Nancy didn't

  want to do anything that would make her worry. Still,

  there might be clues outside that would be buried by

  the snow if she waited to investigate.

  “Alice, please let me check outside,” Nancy said. “I

  won't go more than a few feet from the porch, but I

  don't want to miss any clues. I just need to borrow a

  coat and some boots.”

  Alice frowned, unconvinced.

  “Mom,” Jenny said, “you're being a worrywart. Let

  Nancy do her thing. She's only going a few feet away.”

  “All right,” Alice said, sighing. “Just be careful. I

  don't want to have to tell Eloise that I lost you in a