The Mystery at Mead's Mountain

she jumped out from behind the car.
    Eric almost fell off his skis. “Don’t do that to people,” he gasped. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.” Trixie wasn’t listening. “The kidnappers have been caught!” she yelled. “And we know where your mother is!”

A Very Happy New Year • 19

    WHAT?” Eric and Honey cried in the same voice.
    “We don’t have any idea where she is,” Honey protested.
    “Is she all right?” demanded Eric.
    “We don’t know, Eric,” Trixie admitted. “The kidnappers didn’t have her with them. But they gave us enough clues to figure out where she is.”
    “Trixie Belden, what are you talking about?” cried Honey.
    “They said she was near where an avalanche was,” Trixie told her. “It’s what you just said that brought everything together.”
    “What did I say?”
    “That she has to be in some protected area. Remember when Mart got caught in that avalanche? We had just seen a masked skier on the other side of the snowfield. And remember Di telling us about seeing caves on the hill across the river? Ellen must be in one of those caves, and that must have been Jack who we saw, probably taking her food!”
    “Trixie, you’re right!” Honey squealed.
    “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!” said Eric.
    When Trixie, Honey, and Eric stormed into the suite with their news, everyone clamored to go with them. Only Katie and Miss Trask elected to go back to what was left of the party. The doctor wouldn’t allow Carl or Jim to leave the suite. The pair were furious until Brian pointed out that the police, who were expected any minute, would need their testimonies before arresting Bert and Jack. Besides, someone had to stay behind to guard the kidnappers.
    Pat located a rescue litter to carry Ellen back to the lodge, in case it was necessary. He also found lantern helmets to help them see better in the woods.
    After what seemed like days of skiing, they came to the field where Mart had been caught. There was evidence that some smaller slides had occurred, so Pat insisted that the group cross the field in pairs, with each pair waiting until the couple ahead was safely on the other side before starting across. Pat was the last to cross.
    As carefully as possible, they skied along the edge of the woods and down the steep length of the snowfield. At the bottom of the hill, they stopped to catch their breath. The frozen river lay below them, twisting its way through the canyon. Di pointed around the bend to where the caves should be, but it was too dark to see them.
    “I remember those caves,” said Pat. “You can see them from a side road off the main highway. That must be how Bert and Jack found them.”
    “How do we get across the river?” worried Trixie.
    “There’s an old suspension bridge not too far from here,” said Pat. “After we get across, we’ll have to ski along the edge of the canyon for a while, because it banks almost into the cliff. Then we’ll have to climb up the rock face of the cliff to get to the caves. It really isn’t very steep, but with the new snow it may be slippery. This is not going to be an easy rescue,” he sighed.
    Trixie was silent. She just hoped that someone would be there to be rescued.
    Pat led them to the suspension bridge, which looked like a ribbon of snow dangling in the air, with a rope railing on either side. Slowly, in single file, the group set out to cross the dangerously swaying bridge. Trixie hung her ski poles around her wrists and held on to the rope railings tightly, making sure she never let go with both hands at the same time.
    The pathway along the canyon’s rim was even scarier. On one side was a wall of rock, on the other a twenty-foot drop onto frozen ice. Finally the path began to widen, and Pat called out, “Look ahead.” In the beam of his helmet light were two caves.
    After dropping the litter and taking off their skis, they all cautiously made their way up the rocky cliff to the first cave. Nothing but cold, damp darkness was there to greet them.
    “She’d better be in the other cave,” said Eric grimly. “Don’t even think that she might not be,” said Pat. “l have a feeling that Trixie’s never wrong.”
    Trixie gulped. She knew she was wrong lots of times. She had been wrong about Eric and about Pat himself. Maybe she shouldn’t have sounded so confident when she said she knew where Ellen was.
    Eric hurried to lead the way to the second cave. As he entered it, he yelled,