This is my third attempt at Fan Fiction. When you read this, some of you will know where I got this idea. This is not a mystery, but it is a thriller type story.
Terror on the Rapids
by Kay Lynn
Part I
This trip would have been perfectly perfect if only Jim had come with us, Trixie thought, wishing it were Jim sitting beside her in the back seat of the Bob-White station wagon, instead of Di and Honey. Not that she didn’t love Diana and Honey but it just wasn’t the same. Her thoughts drifted back to the events of the past week.
School had ended for the summer, Jim and her oldest brother Brian had graduated high school, and the Bob-Whites had planned this trip. For quite some time, Trixie had looked forward to this particular summer with mixed emotions, expecting it to be both a beginning and an ending. She looked forward to a budding romance between her and Jim, whom she had loved since she was thirteen years old, but she also dreaded Brian and Jim going away to college in the fall. She thought of those carefree summers and school days, when they were all living at home and seeing each other everyday, both at school and at each other’s homes.
Now it was the summer before Jim would be leaving for college and things between he and Trixie had never gotten very far, much to Trixie’s regret. On a few occasions, they had held hands at the movies, but they had never even shared their first kiss, not even when Jim had taken her to the prom. This summer would be the last time, for a long time, that the Bob-Whites would all be together and living in Sleepyside. They would always be close and would always remain friends, but Jim and Brian would be living in New York City for the next few years attending the university. Next year, Mart and Dan would leave for college. Things were changing too fast for Trixie and would never again be the same.
Trixie looked over at her best friend, Honey Wheeler. Honey gave her a sad, little half-smile and Trixie wondered if she had been thinking the same things.
"I miss them too," mouthed Honey silently. Just recently, Honey had confided in Trixie and Diana that over the past year, Brian, whom she had been dating since last summer, had grown more and more distant. She had wanted more from the relationship, but he didn’t seem to want to take things any further than they already were, as he became more and more focused on his career.
"Oh, for Pete’s sake, would you two cheer up?" said Diana quietly, so that Mart and Tom, who were riding in the front seat, wouldn’t overhear. "Stop moping over Jim and Brian." Diana knew that Trixie and Honey were upset over the way things had gone, because the three of them were best friends and they told each other everything.
The girls agreed with Diana, it was time to quit moping. They endeavored to get their attention on happier subjects.
Their car sped down the highway with the Wheelers' driver, Tom, at the steering wheel and Trixie’s brother, Mart, in the passenger seat beside him. The three girls and Mart were going to the Adirondacks for five days of whitewater rafting. This was supposed to be a graduation present from Mr. Wheeler to Jim and Brian, a trip that would include all the Bob-Whites. They had made many plans for fishing, camping, swimming and enjoying some of the scenery. Two nights before they were to leave for the trip, Brian and Jim received a job offer in Rochester. The two of them would be working at a camp for underprivileged boys. They both felt that it would be too good a career opportunity to pass up, since the camp was similar to the one that Jim wanted to have one day. Then, if the girls weren’t disappointed enough, two days before they were to leave, Dan had backed out also. He had accepted a job that paid really well in Sleepyside and since he had only one more school year before college, he thought this would be a good time to work and save some money.
"If we don’t immediately come to a conclusion as to where we will sojourn, thereby partaking of our evening sustenance, I just may faint," said Mart, using big words which he knew annoyed Trixie so much.
"Man, we just ate a few hours ago," said Tom laughing. "I’ve never understood how you could hold so much food, Mart. What are you, anyway, a human garbage disposal?"
"No," said Trixie impatiently, "that dictionary he swallowed just didn’t fill him up."
Mart opened his mouth to reply, but Honey, with her usual tact, quickly spoke up and said, "We probably should stop somewhere, Tom. It really has been awhile since lunch." She knew what could happen once Trixie and Mart got started.
"We will be at Mr. and Mrs. Sorrell’s in just a short time and I’m sure she has a delicious meal ready," said Tom. "Can't we wait?"
They all agreed, including Mart. The Bob-Whites knew that Tom would be making the long drive back home to Sleepyside that night, and he would want to hurry on his way. The four Bob-Whites would be spending the night with the Sorrells, who owned farm land near the rapids. The Sorrells would take them to the river where their journey would begin, and pick them up at Wedding Creek, the destination they would reach five days later.
They arrived at the Sorrells' thirty minutes after the food conversation. The elderly couple lived in an older farmhouse up in the Adirondacks and when Trixie met them, she thought fondly of the older couple that had lived at her Uncle Andrew's Happy Valley Farm in Iowa.
The Bob-Whites smelled food as soon as they entered the living room.
"Just put your gear away and get ready for dinner, because Velma’s been cooking up a storm all afternoon," said Mr. Sorrell. He took the Bob-Whites upstairs to show them their rooms. "Dinner will be served in about ten minutes, so there’s not much time to freshen up."
A delicious meal awaited the foursome as they came down stairs.
"Velma, you’ve outdone yourself," said Mr. Sorrell, as they all gathered around the big old-fashioned dining table.
Mrs. Sorrell had truly outdone herself for them. There was fried chicken; great Northern beans cooked with ham, potato salad, and broccoli with cheddar sauce, corn muffins and homemade biscuits. For dessert she had made a strawberry cheesecake, a chocolate cream pie and a raspberry jelly roll, made with her own homemade raspberry jelly.
"It looks and smells delicious," said Diana, as they helped themselves.
"Really, Mrs. Sorrell, you shouldn’t have gone to all this trouble," said Honey.
"I feel as if I had died and gone to heaven by the taste and smell of this divine repast which is spread before me," complimented Mart.
"What did he say?" asked Mr. Sorrell, looking puzzled.
They all laughed.
"Oh, he just has this disease called dictionary-itis," explained Trixie.
The young people and the Sorrells had an enjoyable time around the big farmhouse table, telling about themselves and where they lived, and recounting some of Trixie’s adventures.
After the delicious meal, Mart went out walking around the farmland with Mr. Sorrell, while the three girls stayed inside to help clean the kitchen.
"Oh, you girls don’t have to help, I’m used to cooking and cleaning, I’ll have this all taken care of in a jiffy," proclaimed Mrs. Sorrell, while at the same time shooing them out of the kitchen.
"Oh we’d be glad to help," said Trixie. "My parents own a small farm in Sleepyside and, believe me, I am used to working."
"She’s right," agreed Honey, "and we certainly don’t mind. We enjoy helping out in the kitchen."
Diana nodded her agreement.
They cleaned the table and dried and put up the dishes quickly, but silently; each one was lost in her thoughts. Trixie's mind was on Jim and Honey daydreamed of Brian. Diana, of course, had more cheerful thoughts, because she and Mart would be spending the week together and their relationship so far had been wonderful.
The radio was tuned to a golden oldies station and as they played an old love song, Trixie remembered the time she had slow danced to that same tune with Jim. It was at the Valentine's Dance a couple of years ago, which Diana’s parents had given. Lost in the memory, Trixie was jolted out of it when a special bulletin blasted from the radio.
"The Merchants and Landowners bank over in Croton-on-Hudson was robbed late this afternoon by three masked men. One man, a bank security guard was killed when he pulled a gun on the robbers, and according to witnesses, one of the robbers opened fire on him when he tried to subdue them. They stole an undisclosed amount of cash and left the bank on foot, to a location where police believe a getaway vehicle awaited them. If anyone knows anything about this robbery please call the Croton Sheriff’s Department at nine-two-one-dash-twenty-thirteen."
"Wow!" said Trixie. "Croton is such a small place, I didn’t even know they had a bank."
"I hate that someone got shot and killed," said Honey sympathetically. "It just seems so senseless when something like that happens."
They lapsed back into silence as they finished cleaning. When they were finished, and had hung up the last dish towel, Trixie said, "That does it for me, I’ve got the shower first."
"I’m second," said Honey.
"Well, it doesn’t matter to me," said Diana. "I think I want to go out and explore the farm a little before I have my shower." She checked her hair and makeup in the hallway mirror before walking out the door.
"I know where she is going," said Honey, rolling her eyes.
"So do I," laughed Trixie, "I wonder how much exploring she is going to do and how many googly eyes she and Mart will make at each other?"
"A lot of googly eyes and very little exploring," replied Honey. "She’s got it bad."
"Yes, she does," said Trixie thoughtfully. "Almost as bad as we do."
Honey nodded her head sympathetically. "I know what you mean, Trix. It's like Jim and Brian hardly notice we’re alive. It's going to be so hard when they go away to college next year and we won't be seeing each other every day."
"Let's don’t talk about it anymore," said Trixie resolutely. "It's making me depressed. I just can’t believe they took off this summer. I thought, even with all their drive and ambition, they would have wanted the Bob-Whites to be together, since this is our last summer before they leave home. But since this is our first time on the rapids, I plan to enjoy it. Maybe there will even be a myst--"
"Trixie Belden, don’t you even say it!" exclaimed Honey. "Don’t even think it."
Trixie didn’t reply to Honey’s teasing her about mysteries, but that was the one thing that could take Trixie’s mind off of all her troubles. She loved the thrill of solving a mystery.
Di found Mart outside the gate to the cow pasture. Mr. Sorrell had gone back inside after his chores were finished. When Mart saw her, he swept her into his arms for a kiss. "I’ve been waiting to do this all day," he said.
"I know," laughed Di. "I just wish Trixie and Jim, and Honey and Brian could be as happy together as we are."
Mart and Diana had been seeing each other exclusively for over a year, and their romance had blossomed and grown.
"I wish things could work for them, too," replied Mart. "I can’t understand what is wrong with my brother and his best friend. They have these two beautiful, intelligent women in love with them and they don’t even give them the time of day."
"Trixie would love hearing you say that she is beautiful, but, more than that, she would love to hear you say that she is intelligent," teased Di.
"I think not," said Mart. "I will deny this whole conversation if you ever tell Trixie I said that."
The next day dawned brightly for Trixie as she rose out of bed. She couldn’t wait to get on the raft and head down the rapids, which would be a new experience for her. She shivered with anticipation. She had a feeling in her bones that adventure and excitement was just around the corner. Whenever she got this feeling, that was true. She also had a sense of foreboding, but even that was exciting. It had been too long since the last mystery.
She dressed in an older pair of jeans and a plaid shirt, because, even though it was summer, the mornings here were a little cool. After combing her hair and brushing her teeth, she headed downstairs.
Mrs. Sorrell was fixing breakfast, the smell of bacon frying, biscuits in the oven and western omelets on the stove, greeted Trixie as she ran down the stairs. It almost like being at Crabapple Farm on a Saturday morning, she thought to herself. She came into the kitchen, greeted Mrs. Sorrell, and began to set the table.
"To what do we owe this early morning sight that is the cause of sore eyes?" Mart teased as he entered. He started to help her. "Trixie is actually out of bed before 10:00 a.m."
"You know I never sleep late," said Trixie, trying hard not to get irritated. Mart loved to pick on her and sometimes, especially lately, she was tired of it.
It wasn’t long before the Sorrells drove them down to the starting point, which was called Indian River. Honey and Diana went to the little outdoor store to purchase a few supplies, while Trixie and Mart took turns pumping up the boat.
As Trixie and Mart worked, their guide came up to meet them for the first time. "Hi, I’m Matt Quincey," he said, offering a hand to Mart. "I’ll be the one guiding you down the River, I grew up on this river. I just came back into town yesterday, after being away working and I couldn’t believe my luck when I was able to land a job here."
"Hi," said Mart, returning the handshake. "It's nice to meet you. This is my sister Trixie. She and our other two friends, Diana and Honey, will be going with us. We can’t wait to get on the water. I did some whitewater when I was a kid."
Matt didn’t even acknowledge Trixie, as she listened to his and Mart’s conversation. She studied him as she always did when she met a new person. He was tall, muscular, maybe late twenties, early thirties, she thought, mentally assessing him. Dark reddish hair, green eyes. For some reason, unknown even to herself, she didn’t like him. She just couldn’t quite put her finger on why. Maybe it was the way he snubbed her, she just wasn’t sure, but there was something about him that made her skin crawl.
When Honey and Di came back, immediately their eyes lit up. Somehow, Trixie thought, I knew they would find him good-looking.
Matt automatically became the perfect gentleman, helping Diana and Honey load their belongings on the boat, lending them a hand as they climbed in. "You need to help me and your brother push the raft off," Matt told Trixie in a no nonsense manner. "When we get completely in the water, you jump in the boat."
Well, I guess he thinks I’m just one of the guys, thought Trixie, resentfully. She had taken an automatic dislike to Matt Quincey. It wasn’t just that he was rude and arrogant. There was something cold about him; something that just didn’t feel right to Trixie. Trixie often had a sixth sense about people that was uncanny and she had learned the hard way to pay attention to it.
After preparing the boat and loading it with all their supplies, the Bob-Whites said their thanks and good-byes to Mr. and Mrs. Sorrell.
"We’ll see you at Wedding Creek in three days!" yelled Trixie, as they shoved off and she and Mart clambered into the back of the boat.
For the next few hours, Trixie forgot her dislike of the new, but temporary, addition to their group. The river started out gently and they relaxed and enjoyed the scenery. Off in the distance, she could see the beautiful Adirondack Mountains. The Bob-Whites floated along in awed silence as the bountiful sights and sounds of nature surrounded them. They saw butterflies flitting around the wildflowers and an eagle perched high in a tree. The weather was perfect, not too hot or too chilly.
I wish Jim were here to enjoy this with me. She dreamily stared at the natural scenery as she sat on the back edge of the raft. The sound of Matt’s voice awakened Trixie from her dreamlike state.
"Okay, girls, there are some whirligigs coming up. You need to get off the edge of the boat and sit in one of the seats or on the floor." He looked directly at Trixie. Trixie was sitting up on the back edge of the raft.
"I want be able to see," she informed him.
He shrugged. "Suit yourself."
The raft began to go over the waves.
"Wow!" exclaimed Diana. "This is almost like the roller coaster in White Plains."
The others laughingly agreed.
Trixie, realizing that she really could fall over the side of the boat into the swirling and swift water, sat down in the back of the boat as the others laughed and screamed.
After they had bounced along awhile, the raft entered into calmer waters for a spell. And then they entered a place their guide referred to as the Black Hole.
"All right, folks," Matt informed them, "if you want to swim, this is the place to go."
The Bob-Whites peeled off their jeans and shirts, revealing their bathing suits underneath, and jumped into the water.
"Cold!" screamed Di, as she hit the water.
Mart, Honey and Trixie joined her, but not before Trixie noticed the admiring looks their guide gave Di and Honey. Di had on a deep purple bikini and Honey wore a one piece, with high cut legs, in emerald green. Trixie wore a blue two piece with high cut legs and a spaghetti strap top.
With their life preservers on, they could sit and float down the river just letting the current take them away. The boating company required that you had to wear a life jacket in the water.
"This is the life," said Mart, as he clasped his hands behind his head and floated down stream.
"I love it," said Honey, close behind Mart.
Trixie and Di floated lazily along.
Finally, their guide said, "Okay, it's time to get back in the boat. We are coming to a jump."
"What’s a jump?" asked Di.
"It’s a place where the boat goes over something similar to a waterfall," explained Mart. "It’s really cool."
They all yelled as they went over the small waterfall. Trixie and the others thought they would fall out of the boat, but it wasn’t long before it righted itself and they pulled over at a place called Purity Falls for lunch. The girls all grabbed some dry clothes and went off into the woods to change. The weather had warmed considerably since that morning; so, they each changed into cutoffs and T-shirts and tennis shoes. The company that managed the Rapids trips had provided plenty for meals, but they decided to have the sandwiches, fresh fruit, cookies, and iced tea that Mrs. Sorrell had sent along. Afterwards, they were stuffed, but happy.
Their guide didn’t join them for lunch, he just sat on the bank of the river with his binoculars looking toward the way they had came, something that didn’t escape Trixie’s notice.
"Well, I guess it's time to be moving along," said Mart as he approached their guide. "After all, didn’t we want to make a couple of places before nightfall?" Mart and Brian used to travel this same stretch of Rapids with Uncle Andrew when they were kids.
"No," said Matt, standing up from the position he was in. "We’ll be setting up camp here."
"But I thought we had a lot more ground to cover," Mart told him. "I mean, if we want to make it to Wedding Creek by Friday..."
"I said, we’re staying here!" The guide glared at Mart. "Start unloading the boat!" he ordered the others.
Puzzled by Matt’s attitude, they all begin to get their things out of the boat. Mart and Trixie unloaded the ice chests, and then they unloaded the bags that the tents were in. While the two of them unloaded the boat, Diana and Honey went up the hill to look for a place to set up camp. After unloading all the necessities, Mart went to grab Matt’s duffel bag for him.
"Give that here," Matt said angrily, while at the same time, snatching it out of Mart’s hand. "Now, you go on up the hill into that clearing and help the girls set up camp."
Mart looked at Matt strangely, but he didn’t argue with him. He and Trixie started up the hill to the clearing, but Trixie was seething with anger.
"How dare he talk to us like that! You would think he was the one paying for this trip. I can’t stand him."
"Now, Trixie," said Mart, consolingly. "He’s an experienced guide. He must have his reasons for wanting us to set up camp here."
"Yeah, Trixie," said Honey, as she joined the conversation. "I think we should respect the fact that he is our guide and he knows what he's doing."
"Well, I with agree with Trixie," said Di. "I don’t think he had a reason for talking to Mart like he just did, or for ordering us around."
The Bob-Whites set up their tents in a clearing up on a hill. The girls had rented a large canvas tent for themselves and Mart and Matt each had small, one person tents. The guys set up where a grove of trees and bushes stood between their campsite and the girls, so that the girls would have some privacy.
After all the work, everyone just enjoyed themselves. The three girls walked down to the creek and watched Mart do some fly-fishing. He caught one good-sized bream and they decided to have it for supper. Their guide had hardly anything to do with them during this time. He kept walking around watching the river and, unbeknownst to him, Trixie kept watching him.
"What is he up to?" Trixie asked herself.
Honey went down to try fly-fishing and suddenly Matt's personality changed. He went over to Honey and started teaching her how to fish. He was Mr. Charm standing behind Honey, putting his arms around her as he taught her how to cast. This was the most he had loosened up all day; he really seemed to be enjoying himself with Honey. He didn’t act anything like the tense person he had been earlier.
Later, after a delicious meal where Matt was actually sociable, except towards Trixie, Trixie and Honey went to the tent to make the beds for that night. Mart and Di had gone exploring. Trixie began to tell Honey of her suspicions about Matt.
"He has watched the river all day," said Trixie. "He acts like he’s looking for someone or something."
"Oh Trixie," said Honey, exasperated. "You always think people are up to something. Contrary to your belief, there is not a mystery lurking in every teacup and Matt's bluntness this afternoon might just be part of his personality."
"Well, I still agree with Trixie," said Diana, just returning. "I think something is wrong. Matt knows we were supposed to be further along the river than we are. And I believe it was more than just a blunt personality that made him react the way he did when Mart picked up his duffel bag."
"Something is up," said Trixie, shivering. "I can feel it in my bones."
Night began to settle over the camp, but the moon was full and illuminated the darkness. Down the hill from where the girls' tent was set up, there was a warm spring where the girls decided to take a bath. It was decided that Honey would take her bath first. She gathered her towel, washcloth, biodegradable soap and shampoo, and flannel pajamas. Di went over to see Mart at the guys' campsite. Trixie was busy in the tent, making the beds.
As Honey walked toward the edge of the hill, she thought she heard someone on the trail behind her. She looked around to see if Diana was coming back from visiting with Mart, but she saw no one. She continued to walk the path leading to the edge of the hill and then carefully tiptoed down the hill to the water. Standing on the bank, she stripped off all her clothes and hung them on a tree over to the side and then gingerly stepped into the water, letting the luxurious warmth wash over her body. The water was so warm; it was like being in the bathtub at home. Her surroundings were beautiful, the full moon reflected off the water, the sound of crickets chirping off in the distance. For a short time, she just begin to enjoy the soothing way the water felt to her skin, as she floated on her back and swam in the moonlight. She went under water, and came up, pushing her hair back and stepped out of the water to grab her shampoo.
As she stood on the bank, the shampoo in her hand, she heard someone walking toward the ledge at the top of the hill, and turned to face the hill, thinking it was Diana, returning from visiting Mart, or Trixie, getting ready to take her bath. Mart knew she was bathing, so she wasn’t worried it was he, and he was supposed to let Matt know so that he wouldn’t wander down until after the girls had finished. She looked up the hill, and waited expectantly prepared to yell and tell Trixie or Di, whichever one was about to come into view, how great the water was.
It took a minute for her eyes to adjust, but as she looked up she realized it wasn’t Trixie or Di, but their guide, Matt. Her clothes were on the shore and she was standing on the bank, nude in the moonlight! At first, she was just embarrassed and was sure that he would see that she was taking a bath and turn away. She looked around for her towel, but it was a long way from her, hanging on a bush near her clothes.
He continued to stand up on the hill and look down toward her, but he didn’t turn away, he just kept staring. Honey backed into the water. She was quite a distance from where the two camps were set up and when Matt didn’t do the polite thing and look away, she instinctively felt afraid. It occurred to her that she really knew nothing about him and even though he'd been fun to be around this afternoon, he was really scaring her now.
"How can I alert the others if he starts to come down here?" she asked herself. Silently, she prayed that Trixie or one of the others would come and he would just go away, but he didn’t. She thought about screaming, but didn’t know if the others would hear. She stared up at him in astonishment wondering how long he’d been watching her. He unashamedly stared for what seemed to Honey like an eternity and then finally walked away.
Trembling with fear and shock, Honey got out of the water without even finishing her bath and hurriedly threw her pjs on over her damp skin. She made double time going up the hill; afraid he might be lurking somewhere on the trail back to the camp.
Mart had walked Diana back to the girls’ side of the camp and he, Trixie, and Di were sitting around the campfire. Honey ran up the trail, her face white as a sheet.
"Honey what’s wrong?" yelled Trixie, as soon as she saw Honey’s face.
Quickly and tearfully, Honey explained what happened.
"That’s it. I told you that something is wrong," Trixie said. "I think we should fire him as our guide."
"I’d like to take a punch at him, myself," said Mart. "I didn’t like his attitude today, but I wouldn’t have thought he was a Peeping Tom."
"What are we going to do?" said Trixie, throwing her arms in the air. "I move we should go confront him right now."
"Whoa," said Mart. "We have a problem here. We still have the rest of the trip to go on. Honey, I don’t like this any better than you do. I have my sister, you, who is just like a sister to me, and the woman I love, to be concerned about." He looked at Di who smiled back at him. "But what are our options?"
"I think we should leave him here and go without him!" exclaimed Trixie. "I don’t trust him. Mart, you and Brian used to travel this same river with Uncle Andrew, you can get us through it."
"Well, little sister," said Mart, "I appreciate your vote of confidence. It is true that I used to travel this river with Uncle Andrew, but my skills are a little rusty. I was just a kid then. Honey, I know this is very upsetting, but this is what I say we do, first of all, we watch out for each other, so this doesn’t happen again. Second, if there is anymore strange behavior, then we might consider trying to make it by ourselves, but frankly, I don’t want to do this river alone, there is some rough water ahead and we need an experienced guide."
"Mart’s right, even though he’s creepy, we don’t have a lot of options," said Honey, still trembling. Di put a blanket across her shoulders.
"I guess we have to give him the benefit of the doubt," said Di. "He may have been just out taking a walk and accidentally stumbled onto Honey taking a bath."
"If it was an accident, like you say," countered Trixie, "why didn’t he just walk away or at least act embarrassed?"
"Trixie, I know you are looking for a mystery here," said Mart, "but I don’t think there is one. I think Matt is just a jerk and a creep and other than that he’s harmless, I hope. But, at any rate, we can’t solve the problem tonight. Like I said before, if he even thinks to do something like that again, we’ll take a gamble that I can get us down the rapids and leave him behind. Most of the rough water will be behind us after tomorrow and if we have to leave him, I believe I can manage it."
Trixie lay on her inflatable mattress and tossed and turned all night long. Honey slept restlessly and mumbled in her sleep.
Thoughts kept running through Trixie’s mind. Matt made them set up camp way too soon, Matt didn’t want Mart to touch his duffel bag. Matt kept looking down the river like he was waiting for somebody. Matt spied on Honey. There is something here, but it’s just not registering, thought Trixie. But I've got a feeling that whatever’s in his duffel bag is a clue to what’s going on with him, and I’m going to have a look in that duffel bag, tomorrow.
The next morning, Mart and Di awakened first and started breakfast on the small cook stove. Trixie awakened to the smell of frying bacon and scrambled eggs.
"I didn’t sleep much last night," Trixie told Honey, yawning.
"I didn’t either," said Honey. "I kept thinking about what could have happened and the invasion of my privacy. It's a horrible feeling. I just don’t know how I’m going to be around Matt the rest of this trip."
After they finished eating, Matt came out of his tent. They all quietly began to prepare the raft for the second day of whitewater rafting. Matt was very quiet as they prepared to go down the river. He seemed subdued and more than a little grouchy. He constantly scanned the bank of the river. Trixie quietly watched him. He’s looking for something or someone.
After a quiet, uncomfortable, but uneventful morning on the river, they pulled over to have lunch and do some fishing and swimming. Matt silently walked off into the woods. Seizing the moment, Trixie quickly unzipped Matt’s large duffel bag.
What she saw amazed her. From what she could tell, there was thousands of dollars, along with three masks and a thirty-eight-caliber pistol. She quickly zipped it shut, and looked around to make certain Matt hadn’t seen her. He hadn’t returned from the woods, so she quickly climbed out of the boat.
All the clues began to fit together: the bank robbery at the Croton bank and the way that Matt kept watching the shore. He’s waiting for his two accomplices, she thought.
Trixie knew that the four Bob-Whites were in grave danger. She knew that Matt was probably taking the Rapids slowly to give his accomplices time to catch up. She had to warn Mart. They were going to have to take a chance and either leave on foot or take the raft and leave Matt here. As Honey and Di took sandwich fixings out of the cooler and quietly began to prepare sandwiches, Trixie went in search of Mart. But before she could reach Mart, she heard Matt’s voice saying, "Well, it's about time you guys showed up," to someone coming up the trail.
Trixie turned to see two rough looking guys. The older one was in his fifties with a shaved head and a beer belly; the younger one was short and pudgy with long, shaggy hair.
"Our boat is hid over there past those rocks," said the older one, in a gruff voice. Then he and the other man noticed the girls. "Matt, I like your traveling companions."
"If I can have one of those sandwiches," the younger of the two said to Honey, "I’d be much obliged."
"Fix my friends some of those sandwiches," Matt brusquely ordered the girls.
Honey began to prepare the extra sandwiches without even looking up. Trixie had not yet had the chance to share what she had found, but Honey instinctively knew not to cross these guys. Honey and Trixie exchanged wary glances.
"What’s going on here?" asked Mart as he came down the hill and saw the two strangers.
"Oh, I didn’t mean to be impolite," said Matt sarcastically. He gestured to the older one with his beer can and then the younger. "Ralph and Kevin are my pals. They’ll be joining us for the remainder of the trip."
Trixie looked warily toward the three men, who were casually stretched out on the grass.
"Mart, let’s go up toward the cliff," she suggested, hoping the men were so caught up in their conversation that they wouldn’t notice.
Trixie, Mart, Honey, and Diana quickly walked up toward the cliff. They didn’t go too far because they didn’t want to attract the men’s attention. The four Bob-Whites huddled together, a short distance from the others.
"I say we leave them behind," whispered Trixie. Quickly and quietly, she began to share with them what she had found in Matt’s duffel bag and what her suspicions were."
"There is just one problem," said Honey worriedly. "I have a feeling they aren’t going to let us go. I think that they are planning go over the border into Canada and we’ll be the hostages to help them get there."
"We have to make a run for it," said Mart. He combed his fingers through his hair nervously. "We'll just take a chance that my rusty skills are good enough to get us down the rapids. Once we get going down the river, we’re not stopping to camp. If we leave soon, I think we can get to Wedding Creek by dark We need to put as much distance between them and us as we can. Our vacation is officially over. When we get to Wedding Creek, there might be a Ranger's Station there and we can let someone know what’s going on and get back to the Sorrels'."
"Just remember," Trixie told the others, "they do have a gun."
"I’m so scared," said Diana, looking around crying.
"Don’t be," Mart told her, slipping his arms around her. "We’ll get out of this and we’ll be fine. We’ve gotten out of worse situations than this one." The Bob-Whites all looked troubled as they walked back down to the shore.
Matt insisted that the Bob-Whites travel with him down the river while his two friends took the other raft. They stopped to set up camp in the early afternoon.
The four Bob-Whites exchanged glances; hopeful that this would be their chance. They began to unload the boat. Diana carefully hid a carton of soft drinks, bottled water, chips and candy bars in the back of a boat.
Matt and his two friends left the boats and climbed up the hill towards the camp, ignoring the Bob-Whites.
"This is it. This is our chance," Trixie whispered quietly.
Diana was already in the boat and Trixie and Honey began to push it off. As they jumped in, Mart came running and dove into the boat face first.
"Oh, by the way, there’s something I forgot to tell you," Matt called from just above them. He smiled and twirled his knife. "Your raft leaks."
The four Bob-Whites looked down and saw the boat quickly filling up with water.
"Everyone, out of the boat! Get back up here," Matt ordered. "And don’t try anything funny."
They obeyed reluctantly.
Matt glared at Trixie. "I knew you were probably going to try something after I saw you going through my backpack. I knew you’d be smart enough to figure it out."
Ralph and Kevin walked up behind him.
"Now, everyone, let's go make camp. And don’t even think of trying anything." He was still smiling as he replaced his knife with his gun. He turned to his buddies and said sarcastically, "Hey guys, they didn’t appreciate our hospitality. They were trying to run out on us."
"Now, ain’t that a shame," said Ralph, leering at Trixie, "I was hoping me and you could have us a little fun before we got rid of you."
Trixie shivered. She could hear Honey and Di behind her, crying softly, Mart clenched his fists in anger.
The men began to set up camp, while the girls and Mart fixed dinner. After dinner, the Bob-Whites were tied up and placed in a tent while Matt stood guard outside.
"I have a plan," whispered Trixie. She was grateful that they hadn't been gagged as well as bound. "One of us has to escape and go get help. Mart, I think it should be you."
"No way," said Mart. "I’m not leaving you girls."
"You are the one they would most likely kill first," said Honey shakily. "And you are the most skilled at surviving out here in the wilderness. They are more likely to keep us around because we're female."
All of the girls nodded, though none of them allowed themselves to think very long on what that really meant. They didn’t want to go into complete hysteria.
Trixie’s mind had started to formulate a plan as soon as she realized the predicament they were in. "First, we have to work on getting these ropes off. During the night, Kevin will relieve Matt and stand guard. I’ve noticed that Kevin is a little slow and I feel like the chance for escape will be better then."
"I agree," said Mart. "But it will take me awhile on foot. That’s some really rugged territory out there and I don’t know how long it will take me to get to Wedding Creek. And I don't have any supplies."
"Well," whispered Trixie, "I was thinking. Rangers come down here sometimes and you might run up on one of them in a boat. I'm hoping that we will see one, too."
"How is anyone going to escape as long as we are tied up?" asked Di.
"It just so happens," said Mart, "that I have my Swiss army knife in my pocket."
Trixie wiggled around so that her back was turned to Mart and slowly and carefully removed the knife out of his pocket. It took some time, but Trixie cut the ropes off her arms and legs. Working quickly, she cut the ropes off the other three. As soon as she had finished, they heard Matt walking toward the tent. All the Bob-Whites hastily tied each other’s arms and legs loosely.
When Matt stuck his head in the tent door, they all looked as he had left them. "Still awake?" he asked with mock concern. "Well, I’m glad." He looked at Honey. "I was thinking maybe me and you could have us a little fun."
Trixie glanced at a terrified Honey. She tried to figure out a way to get Honey out of this.
"How about if you join me at my tent?" he said, as matter-of-factly as if he were inviting a guest to come visit, while cutting the ropes off Honey. Luckily, he didn’t notice that Honey was barely tied.
Honey was so afraid that she could barely stand up. "Please don’t do this," she pleaded. "Just let me stay with my friends."
Di and Mart had tears in their eyes; Trixie had a plan. She looked into Honey’s eyes and tried to communicate the message that she could get her out of this.
"Oh God," said Diana hysterically, after Matt had taken Honey out of the tent.
"Listen," said Trixie, "we have to work fast. Nothing will happen to Honey because now is the time for Mart to escape. Diana, I’ve been thinking, maybe you should go with Mart when he leaves. That way, there’ll only be two of us left here to worry about."
"What’s the plan?" said Mart. "Let's get busy and rescue Honey."
"Well, if one of us escapes that will create a diversion. Matt will forget Honey and go after you. Even if you get caught, he will be so angry that he will probably leave her alone for the rest of the night."
"It's worth a try," said Mart. "I’ll do anything to rescue Honey from what’s about to happen to her. Let’s do it quick."
"It’s a big risk. Trixie, just in case something happens, I want you to know…"
"Don’t even talk like that Mart. Right now Matt is distracted, Ralph is asleep, and Kevin is standing guard. This is the best time for you to go."
Mart and Di looked through their stuff and found warm jackets and a couple of candy bars. They quickly said a tearful goodbye and took off into the dark woods.
Kevin turned at just the right time and saw the two disappearing into the dark woods. He quickly raised the pistol and shot at them, Trixie prayed that neither of them took a bullet.
Matt came rushing out of his tent, and a tearful Honey followed and ran to where Trixie was.
Trixie threw her arms around Honey as Honey burst into tears. "Oh Honey, are you all right? Did he…?" she asked, leaving the question unfinished.
"No," said Honey. "Nothing happened. When Di and Mart took off, he ran out."
"At least you're safe," said Trixie. She stared into the darkness that Mart and Di had vanished into. Safe, at least, for now, she thought.
Frank stood guard over the girls while Matt and Kevin ran through the dark woods to search for Mart and Di.
Mart and Diana were actually right near the campsite, waiting for the search to be over. He and Di had dove under a bush right near the edge of the woods. The three men walked for miles looking for them. It was almost daylight before a very tired Matt and his buddies gave up the search and forced Trixie and Honey to help them load the boat. Matt was angry but not as angry as he would have been if Honey had gotten away. She was his trip out of here and she was pretty, too. By the time Mart and Diana made it out of this wilderness Matt planned to be rid of Trixie and his two partners and he and Honey would be deep into Canada.
"Mart and Di got away and they will get help," Trixie quietly encouraged Honey.
"I just hope it happens before tonight," said Honey. "I feel like we will really be unsafe with them after it grows dark."
After the boat was loaded, they paddled off down the river.
Mart and Di crawled out from the cramped space they had been occupying under the bush. "The first thing we need to do," said Mart, stretching, "is go back to the camp and see if any food or drinks or fishing equipment was left behind. Those candy bars won't go far, and we need to keep up our strength."
All they found were a few cookies wrapped in a napkin along with a bottle of water.
"Well, at least this will help," Mart said, holding the water up. "Let's get started."
They took off on foot in the direction of Wedding Creek. The woods were so dense that they had to crawl on their hands and knees through some of it. As it got hotter and hotter and they got hungrier and hungrier they began to wonder if they would make it. As they staggered along, sheer determination keeping the two of them going, they came to a place that was their biggest disappointment. A huge gorge, it was about fifty feet deep and the walls on each side were straight up and solid granite. Since they had no rock climbing equipment, they weren’t sure what to do.
"If we have to walk around this thing, it will take us days," said Mart, sitting down, totally dejected. "I’m so worried about Honey and Trixie, I can’t stand it. My feet hurt, I’m weak from hunger and I don’t feel like I can go around this gorge. We have to get help by tonight."
"Well," said Di. "There aren’t many people rafting at this time of the year, but we could just wait and see if someone comes by. Then we can flag them down and maybe they’ll take us to Wedding Creek or at least as far as they’re going."
"You're right," said Mart. "That’s probably our best option. The only thing that worries me though, is, what if nobody comes?"
"At some point," said Di, propping up her blistered feet, "a ranger will come by. They patrol the river regularly."
Totally discouraged the two sat down to wait. Weak from hunger, Mart was trying to figure out away to catch a fish, when Di exclaimed, "Mart! I think I hear someone paddling down the river."
They ran down to the edge of the creek and stood on a ledge against the granite wall. When the boat came into view, Mart almost jumped for joy.
"Whoa, what are you doing here, you guys?" exclaimed Mart.
"We could ask you the same thing," said Jim Frayne as he maneuvered the boat up to the edge of the water.
Brian Belden, Dan Mangan, and Jim climbed out of the boat.
Di screamed and hugged all three of them.
Jim looked into Mart’s eyes. "Trixie and Honey are in trouble, aren’t they?"
Mart solemnly explained what had happened, omitting what almost happened to Honey the night before.
"How did you know to come?" asked Di.
"Let's get in the boat and start looking for Honey and Trixie," said Brian. "Then we’ll tell you all about it."
When they got in the boat, Brian and Dan served fried chicken, potato salad, and rolls to Di and Mart along with some iced tea. They had gotten the food from Mrs. Sorrel. Mart felt like he hadn’t eaten in weeks.
As they ate, Jim explained,"Brian and I got to camp and realized how homesick we were. We both decided that this summer needed to be spent in Sleepyside. So, we came home and when we got there, people were frantic. It seems there had been a robbery at Croton and the police had traced one of the suspects who used an alias to get a job guiding people down the river. They did a background check and these are some pretty bad criminals. When we went to rent a raft to come join you all, we discovered that the guide they suspect is the very one who took you four down the rapids."
"The local law enforcement think they’re heading for Canada," explained Dan. "They will probably keep Trixie and Honey alive until they get to the border. We have to find them before that."
"We need to find them before tonight," said Di. "They are in more danger than you think."
"What do you mean?" asked Dan.
Di explained what had almost happened to Honey last night. Jim, Brian, and Dan looked almost sick with dread.
"If anything happens to them I’ll blame myself," said Dan. "If I’d have been here, I could have kept all of this from happening."
"No, it's my fault." said Jim, as he paddled down the river. "I should have been on this trip with them. If anything happens to either of them, I just don’t think I could stand it. It’s my fault that they’re in this mess."
"If it's anybody’s fault, it's mine," said Brian. "I knew better than to let them go off without me. Now those three monsters have my baby sister and the woman I love."
"I should have seen it coming," said Mart, "Trixie was suspicious of Matt from day one and as usual, I didn’t believe her."
"We’ve got to find them!" Dan said fiercely.
"When I find Honey, I’ll never let her go again," said Brian, anguished.
Jim didn’t say anything, but he was thinking the same thing about Trixie. He had loved her since she was thirteen years old and he didn’t think he’d ever love anyone else. And as for Honey, if he had a sister that was blood related he couldn’t love her anymore. Even though he hadn’t spent his whole life with her the way Brian and Mart had with Trixie, he still thought of her as his baby sister. He couldn’t imagine life without either girl. He turned his head so the others couldn’t see the tears welling up in his eyes.
"My guess is that they are going to go on past Wedding Creek to set up camp, then try to make it to Canada," said Mart.
"The only problem with that is they would never make it past the washer," said Brian.
"What’s the washer?" asked Di.
"It’s a place that the water is extremely turbulent," said Brian as he maneuvered the boat along , "and there is a giant drop off. People used to try to run it, but even really experienced guides have gotten hurt. One summer a guy was killed. A couple of people have been paralyzed from it. It’s extremely dangerous. Several years ago, the rangers began to stop people from going down there. Every now and then, a few people get past the rangers. We have to get to Honey and Trixie before they reach the washer. We have to get to them before tonight."
"I think that we are going to come up on their boat and then we will have an idea where they are setting up camp," said Jim. "Getting them out of there is going to be the trick."
"Especially since they have a gun and we don’t," said Mart. "How did you ever get our parents to agree to you coming after dangerous criminals?"
"Well," said Brian, "they don’t know that Trixie and Honey are in danger. As soon as we heard the news, we prepared to go. We were hoping maybe that Matt was gone. It was just you four on the river and we would have enjoyed the rest of our vacation on the river together. But we know Trixie seems to attract trouble, and we had a bad feeling that the suspected guide would be the one who was your guide. When we find them, we can go ahead and leave for Sleepyside. Tom is going to leave the Bob-White station wagon at Wedding Creek for us, so we can leave here as soon as we get Honey and Trixie."
Just as they were about to give up as it got dark and they were about four miles past Wedding Creek, they saw the criminals' boat tied to a tree on the riverbank. Quietly, so not to be seen, they hid their boat some distance away from where they knew the camp would be set up. Dan, Jim, and Brian sneaked up through the woods behind the campsite to form a plan.
Honey and Trixie briskly rubbed their legs as Kevin untied the ropes for them to get out of the boat and set up camp. It had been a long and harrowing day; traveling with these three thugs, tied in the boat and going over Rapids. The two girls almost couldn’t stand up to get out of the boat because of the poor circulation in their legs. Their arms ached from having to hold them in one position for so long. Out of desperation, they had whispered to one another about diving into the water and trying to swim away as far as possible, since they were both strong swimmers, but after being tied up all day, their limbs were too stiff and sore.
"You girls cook the steak and potatoes that’s in the cooler," said Matt. "And don’t even think about running, you won’t escape and even if you did, I would find you."
Sore, tired, and scared, Honey and Trixie, after going into the woods one at a time to use the bathroom and washing their faces in the creek, lit up the cook stove and prepared to cook the evening meal. Trixie peeled some potatoes for French fries as Honey cut up the steak.
"Oh Trixie," Honey said beginning to cry. "Will I ever see my Mama and Daddy or Jim and Brian and all the Bob-Whites again?"
"Of course you will," said Trixie, putting her arms around Honey, "Mart is probably on his way with the cavalry right now." But as she looked out into the darkness, she wasn’t so sure. She knew that on foot Mart and Di couldn't reach Wedding Creek quickly, especially since they had no food or supplies.
Neither Trixie nor Honey had an appetite, but Trixie insisted on both of them eating. "If we do have a chance to escape, you’ll need your strength," whispered Trixie. Honey could barely choke down the steak and potatoes, she was just about sick with fright.
As they sat in a circle eating, Ralph the older guy, eyed Trixie like she was a piece of meat. "You know, you’re a fine little filly," he said, rubbing Trixie’s arm, as Trixie shivered with revulsion. "I’ve always had a thing for short, cute blondes."
Be strong, Trixie told herself. You can get through anything as long as you can get out of this alive. Stay strong for Honey and Jim and all my family. Keep your emotions intact. Oh Moms, Dad, Brian, Mart, Bobby, Jim! Will I see you again? Everything within her wanted to scream with hysteria.
The boys and Di were hiding in the bushes watching and listening to every word. When Ralph said that to Trixie, they had to hold Jim back. "If any of those clowns touch either one of those girls," he said, I’m not responsible for what I do."
"If you go charging in there now, you are liable to get yourself shot and then what?" said Dan. "I know this is hard, but you guys have to stay calm. We can get them out of this."
"Matt is the brains behind their little outfit and he’s also the one with the gun," Mart told them. Then he added, "He is also the one that would be most likely to shoot someone."
They all settled down in the bushes to bide their time.
"Oh Trixie," said Jim under his breath, "please be okay."
Right after the group finished eating, Matt stood up stretching and announced, "I’m going to get some shut-eye. Can I trust you clowns to make sure our two lovely guests don’t escape?" He put an arm around Honey's waist. "Later on this evening, when I’m not so tired, me and you are going to have some fun."
Honey pulled away as he gave her a big sloppy kiss on the cheek.
"You boys remember this one’s mine, don’t touch her." He disappeared into his tent.
Honey and Trixie busied themselves washing dishes slowlyin order to avoid Kevin and Ralph. As she tried to figure an angle, some way for her and Honey to escape, Trixie thought she heard the faint sound of a Bob-White whistle. I’m starting to imagine things. But then she heard it again. She looked at Honey with hope in her eyes, but it faded as she considered the possibilities. What if it is just Mart and Diana? The two of them alone won’t be able to rescue us. They'll probably get caught.
"We have to go to the bathroom," Trixie announced to Kevin. "And I absolutely refuse to go with you watching me."
"Okay," said Kevin, giving her a wink. "You go right over there in the woods and if you don’t come back in less than five minutes, I'll shoot your little friend."
"Oh, I’ll be back," said Trixie, already walking away from the camp. She headed in the direction from which she had heard the Bob-White whistle. Nothing could have prepared Trixie for what she found. She jumped into Jim’s arms and hugged him, then Dan and then Brian.
"Mart and Di are waiting with the raft," said Jim, after grabbing Trixie again and kissing her passionately. "Since the water is so calm in this section, we can head back to Wedding Creek and get out of here."
"They’ll come after us," said Trixie. "They’re crazy."
"I already have a plan for that," Dan said, taking a knife from his pocket. "I’m going to fix their raft so it won’t float. They’re not gonna be able to follow us."
Trixie hurried back into the camp. "Now, you go to the bathroom, Honey," she told her.
Honey saw the look in Trixie’s eyes and knew what that meant. She, too, was overjoyed when she saw Brian. He grabbed her as soon as he saw her, and after a long hug and kiss, she hugged Jim and Dan. Honey burst into tears of relief.
"It’s going to be all right. We’re here and we’re going home." Brian held her and consoled her. "And I’ll never let you go again."
"But I need to get back to the camp," said Honey, reluctantly pulling out of Brian’s arms, "before one of them gets suspicious."
Back at the campsite Trixie brought out the whiskey bottle, at Kevin's request, and began to pour drinks. "Let’s all have a drink and relax," she told Kevin and Ralph, handing them each a cup. She and Honey pretended to drink and socialize while biding their time.
Trixie was dismayed when she saw Matt step out of the tent, stretching and yawning. When he saw the whiskey bottle, he was furious.
"You idiots!" he yelled at Ralph and Kevin. "Don’t you know what they’re doing? They’re getting you drunk so they can escape. I can’t trust you to do anything! I have to do everything myself.
"Even if you get away, I’ll come after you," he hissed in Honey’s ear. "I know where you live. I went through your purse and I found your driver’s license. It didn’t take a fool to figure out that your Daddy is that man who owns all those corporations. In other words, he’s a millionaire. When I run out of money, I can just send him a nice little ransom note. Too bad your little friend here isn’t rich; I might have let her live, too. But since she’s poor…oh well." He laughed.
Matt took the two of them into the tent and tied their arms and legs very tightly. "Sleep tight."
"What do we do now?" said Jim. "Matt is standing out there and he has a gun."
"Well, I fixed their boat. They aren’t going anywhere," laughed Dan. "They will get a short way, and then it will be so full of water, they’ll be swimming."
"Maybe we can cut the back out of the tent and Trixie and Honey could escape through there," said Jim.
"What if Matt hears us?" asked Brian, looking around impatiently. "I guess that’s all we've got. I’m going to go and cut the hole in the tent."
"No, I am," said Jim, resolutely.
"You need to let me do that," Dan suggested, brandishing his knife. "You two need to be waiting to get Honey and Trixie down to the boat. If he tied those ropes really tight, they may have some trouble walking."
Dan stealthily moved through the woods until he was in back of the tent. Matt, who was standing guard in front of the tent, stood and stretched, looking in his direction. Dan ducked just in the nick of time. Matt walked over to the part of the woods where Dan was. Dan quickly lay down, afraid he had been seen. Matt looked towards where he lay shivering in the bushes and then walked back to the fire. Dan slowly arose from the bushes and eased to the back of the tent.
Honey and Trixie were extremely uncomfortable. Their arms and legs were bound so tight that every movement caused the ropes to burn their skin. But they had hope. They knew the other Bob-Whites were nearby. Dan stuck the knife through the canvas and began to use it like a saw. The thick canvas wasn’t very easy to cut. He whispered the plan to Honey and Trixie. He cut a big enough hole to ease through and began to cut the ropes off of Honey’s arms. At that moment, Dan heard Matt walking toward the opening to the tent. Quickly, Dan dove under the thick sleeping bag and Trixie carefully moved to sit in front of the hole.
"What’s wrong, ladies, you can’t sleep?" asked Matt. "We got a long day ahead of us tomorrow. You’ll need your rest." He winked at Honey. "And tomorrow night is a special night for me and you." He looked at the sleeping bag where Dan was, causing Trixie to nearly stop breathing. Finally, he shook his head and went out.
Dan quickly climbed out of the bag and finished cutting the ropes off Honey. Brian eased up to the back of the tent. Dan helped Honey out the back of the tent, where she went to the waiting arms of Brian.
"Oh baby," he said, taking her into his arms. "We have to be really quiet and go out into the woods, down the hill to the boat. Can you make it?" She nodded yes, and Brian helped her to slowly get away.
Then Jim came to the back of the tent. Dan had just finished cutting off the ropes and he eased Trixie out into the waiting arms of Jim. Brian had already gotten Honey situated in the boat and was ready to go. Jim carefully carried Trixie down the hill to where the boat awaited them. Right before they got to the boat, they heard Matt shouting.
"Hurry!" yelled the others.
"I can walk now Jim!" said Trixie excitedly. "Put me down and let’s run."
Trixie and Jim joined hands and half ran, half fell down the hill to the boat. Mart pulled Trixie in as Jim pushed the boat off, then dove in face first.
It took a few minutes before Matt realized the girls had help to escape. At first, he thought they had managed to untie themselves and taken off on foot through the woods. Then he heard the noise of someone paddling up river. He saw all the people in the boat and aimed his gun and fired. Honey and Di screamed. Brian jumped on top of Honey to keep her from being shot, but luckily no one was hit. Matt’s aim was too wild. Jim and Dan paddled at record speed, fearing that Matt would run along the shore and shoot at them.
"What are we going to do?" said Di, panicking.
"We’re going to ditch this raft and hide in the woods till daylight," said Dan. "Tomorrow, we’ll head to Wedding Creek."
They quickly paddled around a curve and everyone jumped out of the raft. They hid the raft and took off through the woods. They lay in the woods all night listening to Kevin, Ralph and Matt run all over the place searching for them. They held on to each other tightly. Finally, Matt and his friends gave up the search. After they had left, seven weary Bob-Whites came out of hiding.
"Let's get out of here as fast as we can," said Jim, "before they come back looking for us."
They all loaded up and took off to Wedding Creek.
As they sat together in the boat, Brian said quietly to Honey, "Do you know how much I love you?"
"No," she replied. "I mean, I thought you didn’t. You’ve become more and more distant this past year and totally focused on your career."
"Yeah, I guess I have. It's just that I know medical school is going to be stressful and hard and I’m gearing up for it now. Since you’re still in high school and I was going away to school next year, I felt the need to start pulling away from you now. I just didn’t want to ask you to wait for me, when I know how busy I’m going to be. I didn’t believe there’d be time for a relationship and that wouldn’t be fair to you."
"Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?" asked Honey, putting her arms around him. "Maybe I want to wait for you."
"Well, I’ve done some thinking this past week," said Brian, hugging her. "I’m not going away to school next year."
"You're not!" exclaimed Honey. She’d be thrilled to have Brian still in Sleepyside and living next door. "But what about your career? You’ve wanted to be a doctor for so long, and I just couldn’t ask you to give that up for me."
"Oh, I’m not giving up anything," he replied, smiling. "I’ll still have to go away to school in a couple of years, but I’ve found out that I can take some of my preliminaries at the Sleepyside Jr. College. Plus, I can get some of my classes on videotape and do them at home. I can work part time at the hospital as an orderly to offset some of the cost. It will be cheaper for my parents and me. I’ve already discussed this with my parents and they’re all for it. I can stay near my best girl until she can go away to college with me."
"Oh, Brian, it's so perfectly perfect," exclaimed Honey. "You know I was dreading next year at school, not seeing you everyday. Even though it still will not be the same as walking down the hall holding hands and seeing you at lunch everyday, at least now, you’ll be close by."
"Actually, I can come and have lunch with you every day at school," said Brian. "The only problem is, I’ll probably have to work most evenings and weekends, which means not having a lot of time to take you out. I’ll be in school during the day, but maybe we can still find time for our relationship."
"Is Jim disappointed that you aren’t going with him to college?" she asked, feeling bad for Jim. "After all, you and he are best friends."
"Not at all," said Brian. "Because Jim has decided to do the same thing."
"Jim isn’t going away to school?" Honey asked excitedly.
"No," Brian replied. "He’s going to do the same thing that I’m doing and he’s going to continue to live at home with you and your parents."
Jim, his arm around Trixie, had been listening to this conversation. "Yep," he confirmed to his sister, "you and Trixie are stuck with us."
They arrived back at Wedding Creek and climbed out of the boat. They informed the park rangers about the criminals and the FBI was called. The Bob-Whites (particularly Trixie and Honey) were carefully questioned and then let go.
They were all weary as they climbed into the Bob-White station wagon. After a quick visit to the Sorre’s and some calls home, they were headed to Sleepyside.
"I have one question for you all," said Mart.
"When do we eat?" said all the Bob-Whites in unison.
Later, the Bob-Whites heard that Kevin and Ralph were apprehended, but Matt eluded capture.
They were on the Manor House porch celebrating a lovely evening just a few days before school would be starting.
"I guess Matt is headed to Canada," said Honey, shivering. "I wish he were in jail and I’m glad I’ll never have to see him again."
"I wish we could go to Canada and track him down," said Trixie, with the gleam in her eyes she got when she was on the trail of a mystery.
"Don’t even think about it," Jim said. "Leave that one to the authorities. This was one of the closest calls you two ever had. I’m just glad that you got out safely and things turned out all right."
Two months later
The train was pulling out of the Manhattan station. The red-haired man with the beard and the hat sat down next to an elderly lady, but kept his nose in a newspaper, hardly acknowledging anyone.
"Well, sweetheart," he said to himself, as he pulled Honey’s driver’s license out of his wallet and looked at it. "I’ll be seeing you again, sooner than you think."
The End