Chapter 7

Chapter 7 "What kind of boat?" Josh asked. "The water in Indian River isn't very deep." "But it's deep enough for a row-boat," Ruth Rose said.

Dink thought about the river near Ron's Bait Shop. They'd all waded there before. The water was only up to their knees. "Yeah," he said. "Maybe they took Sammi downriver in a small boat. When they got to the deep part, they could have put him in a bigger boat…" "…and taken him out to sea!" Ruth Rose added. The kids stared at each other. Dink thought about poor Sammi, afraid of noises and animals, tied up in some boat. "We have to do something, guys," he said. "Let's go see if we can find more clues at the bait shop." He ran down the stairs to the kitchen. Ruth Rose hurried after him, with Josh and Pal right behind her. "Your mom told us to stay put," Josh reminded Dink. "I know, Josh." Dink was scribbling on a pad. "I'm telling her where we're going," he said. "We'll probably be back before she sees this. Come on!" The kids cut through the dining room and headed for the back door.

Suddenly, Pal barked and began straining on his leash. He pulled until Josh let him have his way. Pal headed for the living room, and the kids followed. "I think he smells something," Josh said. Pal had his nose on the rug, sniffing at something small and shiny. "It's another piece of glass!" Josh said, snatching it away from the dog's nose. "This is the third one," Dink said. He looked at the stairs going up to the bedrooms. "Sammi dropped one in his room, one down here, and another one on the front steps…" "SAMMI LEFT US A TRAIL!" Ruth Rose suddenly yelled. "I'll bet you're right," Dink said. "The kidnappers must have brought him down the stairs and out the front door. Come on, let's look for more!" The kids hurried out the door and into the front yard. Pal snuffled with his nose along the ground while the kids searched with their eyes.

"Nothing," Dink muttered after a few minutes. "The trail ends here." Suddenly, Pal yanked on the leash. "Whoa, doggie," Josh said. But Pal kept pulling. He dragged Josh to the road. At the curb, Pal's nose went right into the gutter.

"Look!" Josh said. He held up a fourth piece of yellow glass. Dink and Ruth Rose ran over. "Sammi must've dropped it when the kidnappers loaded him into a car," Ruth Rose said. "And I bet the trail picks up again down at the river," Dink said. "Let's go!" With Pal loping along behind them, the kids hurried down Woody Street. They cut past the elementary school, then crossed Duck Walk Way toward the river. Inside his shop, Ron Pinkowski was feeding the bait shiners in one of his huge tanks. "Hey, I heard about that boy disappearing," Ron said when he saw the kids. "He didn't disappear," Josh said. "He was kidnapped!" Ron nodded. "That's what Officer Fallon said. And they stole one of my rowboats!" "Can you show us where the boat was?" Dink asked. "Sure, come on." Ron took the kids outside. "Right over there," he said, pointing to a line of upside-down boats along the riverbank. There was an empty space between two of the boats.

"They broke my padlock and took a pair of my brand-new oars, too." "Thanks, Mr. P," Dink said. The kids hurried over to the row of boats and searched for yellow glass. Pal sniffed the ground for a few seconds, then flopped under a tree and closed his eyes. The kids examined the ground where the boat had been. They didn't find any glass at all. "Let's look in the driveway" Dink suggested. They walked back to the road, then worked their way down to the boats again. Josh found a nickel, but there wasn't a piece of yellow kaleidoscope glass anywhere. "That's weird," said Dink. "If Sammi left a trail back at my house, why didn't he drop another piece of glass when he got here?"