Chapter 6

Chapter 6 "Let's check it out," Dink said, moving toward the path. Josh and Ruth Rose followed him. The narrow track was steep, but rocks and roots provided footholds. "Stop!" Josh shouted after they'd gone down about fifty feet. "What?" asked Ruth Rose. She was directly behind Josh and nearly collided with his back. "Blueberries!" Josh said. The bushes on both sides of the trail were loaded with clusters of dark

blue berries. Josh reached for a branch and began picking. "Eat some, guys," he told Dink and Ruth Rose. "They're excellent!" But Dink was looking at the ground under their feet. Dozens of blueberries had been crushed in the dirt. "These berries are fresh," Dink said. "Someone walked on them recently!" "Someone like the wolf kidnappers!" Ruth Rose said. "They must have carried the cage down this way!"

"Let's keep going," Dink said. Three minutes later, they were standing on a small beach. "A boat could land here," Dink said. Ruth Rose looked back up at the path they'd just come down. "It would be easy," she said. "Just drag your boat up here, carry the cage up that path, and steal the puppies." "Just about everybody out here must have a fishing boat or sailboat," Josh said. Dink sat on the sand and gazed out at the water. "I still don't understand why anyone would want those wolves," he said. Josh sat on one side of Dink, and Ruth Rose sat on the other. Josh's fingertips and lips were stained dark blue. "Are wolves valuable?" Ruth Rose asked. "I mean, can you get money for them?" Dink shrugged. "Maybe, but who would buy a baby wolf?" he asked. Josh glanced up at the darkening sky. "We'd better head back," he said. The kids climbed back up the trail to the clifftop. They looked around but didn't see the mother wolf again.

With dark clouds hiding the sun, the kids headed into the woods. They started walking downhill. "Is this the right way?" Josh asked after a few minutes. "All these trees look alike." Ruth Rose turned back around and squinted her eyes. "I can still see the dead tree," she said. She turned to face downhill. "So the flagpole should be down there somewhere." They looked, but their eyes couldn't penetrate the thick shrubbery. "We're lost," Josh said. "We'll be out here forever! I'll have to eat bark and twigs!" "Maybe you will," Ruth Rose said. "But not me!" She picked out a tall tree and started climbing nimbly up it.

"Where are you going?" Josh asked. "To get a hamburger and a milkshake," Ruth Rose said over her shoulder. When all Dink and Josh could see were the bottoms of Ruth Rose's sneakers, she stopped climbing. "We're not lost! I can see Wallis's flagpole!" Ruth Rose yelled down. When Ruth Rose was back on the ground, she led them to the original trail. Ten minutes later, they all saw the back of Wallis's cabin. Raindrops splashed on the kids as they bounded up the cabin steps. They found Walker, Wallis, and

Abbi sitting at the kitchen table. "Hey, guys," Walker said. "Abbi told us you went to the scene of the crime." "Without telling us," Wallis added. "Sorry," Dink said. "But you weren't here and —" "It's okay this time," Wallis said. "Abbi explained why you left so suddenly." "Did you see the mother wolf?" Abbi asked. "Yes! She was standing on some rocks howling at us, then she took off!" Josh said. "I still have goose bumps!" The kids explained what else they'd seen. "We think the people Abbi saw carried the cage down to the ocean. There was a little path, and blueberries that were crushed by their feet. They must have had a boat waiting!" Ruth Rose said. "But any hiker could have crushed the berries," Wallis said. "It didn't have to be the wolfnappers." "How else would they get away from there with the wolves?" Abbi asked. "Are there roads up there for cars?" "No, but there are other trails that lead to roads," Wallis said.