The Sasquatch Mystery

Di. Both were trudging up the middle of the hot, dusty road. Di was in tears, and Miss Trask looked more upset than Trixie had ever seen her.
    “The sasquatch,” Di was wailing. “It got Cap! It got Cap!”

One Sasquatch—or Two? ● 10

    MART SHEPHERDED Di into the rear of the truck, and Knut urged Miss Trask into the cab with Trixie and himself. The instant the cab door closed, he roared down the mountain at breakneck speed. White-faced under his huckleberry stains, Knut asked Miss Trask, “What happened? What happened to Cap?”
    “We—” Miss Trask gulped and tried again. “Diana and I were tending the fire, when we saw Cap cross the campground. He waved, said he’d be right back, and went to the creek. We heard an uproar, and when we got to the creek, we saw Cap struggling with—with some kind of—well, creature. We—” Miss Trask faltered again.
    “What happened to Cap?” Knut almost shouted at her.
    “We don’t know,” Miss Trask said shakily. “I stumbled and fell right in front of Diana. And when I got up, Cap and that awful creature were gone. They’d simply vanished.” Miss Trask took a deep breath. “That’s when Di and I ran. We both had only one idea in mind—to find you as quickly as possible. We didn’t know what else to do.”
    Knut didn’t answer. He just drove faster. When he reached the camp, he slammed on the brakes and roared, “Cap! Cap, where are you?”
    There was not even an echo, only the crickety-scree of grasshoppers in dry grass.
    Everyone was right behind Knut when he reached the bank of the creek. They saw dried sprays of goatsbeard crushed in mud. Ferns had dropped broken fronds. Torn out by its roots, pipsissewa’s creeping vines looked like green twine.
    Knut splashed across the creek, climbed the bank, and looked at the ground again. “No bloodstains,’.’ he observed.
    Trixie heard a gasp from Hallie. Trixie put her arms around her cousin.
    Hallie’s muscles quivered; then she pulled away. “No mushy stuff,” she said. “I have ,to hunt for Cap.”
    “Look in the tents, everyone; then spread out and search!” Knut ordered.
    “I’m going to take care of Trixie first,” Brian said.
    “Fine.” Knut loped away to peer into Cap’s tent.
    “I’ll be all right,” Trixie objected. “Cap’s the one in danger.”
    “An infection won’t help Cap,” Brian told her.
    Brian opened the first-aid kit and asked Di to bring hot water from the deep can that always sat among the coals of the campfire. She blinked her violet eyes as if the words were confusing, but she obeyed.
    Quietly and efficiently, Brian made sure that both Trixie’s hands and his own were as clean as very hot water and soap could make them. He painted her injuries with iodine, then took his pocketknife and sterilized its tip in the flame.
    Trixie squirmed from the very sight of the knife, but Brian’s fingers were firm yet tender as he pulled the splinters from her flesh one by one. Again she washed her hands in painfully hot water. Again Brian applied iodine; then he bandaged both her hands.
    Trixie waved her two white mitts. “How will I take a bath?” she demanded.
    “Look on the bright side—you’ll get out of kitchen work,” Brian said as he hurried away to join the search for Cap.
    “I’ll help you take a bath, Trixie,” Di offered.
    A short while later, Trixie emerged from Di’s tent, bathed and in fresh clothing. The girls found themselves alone in camp, since even Miss Trask had joined the search for Cap.
    “They’ll all be hungry,” Di said. She checked the food steaming in the fire pit, and Trixie found that her bandages did not prevent her from setting the table.
    One by one, the others returned to camp, silent and discouraged. Spirits were somewhat revived by the foil-wrapped potatoes and corn Di removed from the fire. Hamburgers baked in foil with onions were appreciated, too. Each person washed a bowlful of ripe huckleberries, sugared them, and enjoyed the fruit with cold milk. Knut poured the rest of the berries into a large pail and sank the securely covered pail in cold creek water.
    Hallie washed dishes with furious speed. She had said scarcely a word during dinner. Suddenly she burst out, “I simply don’t understand how Cap allowed himself to get into trouble. That birdbrain can hear a pine needle fall!”
    Di wailed, “How can you call him a birdbrain when he may be—when that furry beast—”
    “Don’t say it, Di!” Hallie warned