The Sasquatch Mystery

sharply. “Cap will be all right. And I can call him a birdbrain if I want to, because that’s what he is, isn’t he, Knut?”
    Knut smiled through his worry. “To understand what Hallie’s saying, Di, you have to understand that she uses that in two different ways. One way refers to the size of a bird’s brain, which you have to admit isn’t very big. There are times when Cap deserves that name, too.
    “But the other birdbrain—well, I wish I was one! A baby bird has the courage to flop out of the nest. From that moment on, it pits its strength and wits against its environment. After one round trip of migration, it has a map of its world imprinted on its brain. It builds its nest; it defends and feeds a family. It knows its friends, and it studies the habits of its enemies in order to survive and live in peace. It’s up at first light and folds its wings at dark. It adds grace and beauty to the world.
    “Most of the time when Hallie calls Cap a birdbrain, that’s what she means, isn’t it, Hallie?”
    Tears spilled from Hallie’s berry-black eyes and rolled down the lovely flat planes of her cheeks. With a boyish gesture, she wiped her face with the backs of slim hands. “I couldn’t talk a poem about it, but that’s kind of what I mean. Cap belongs out in the woods. If you put him in a cage, he’d go crazy.”
    “Maybe not,” Trixie said softly. “Maybe he’d sing.”
    “Or break his wings, trying to get out,” Mart added.
    “The sheriff should be notified immediately,” Miss Trask said.
    Knut nodded. “Hallie, you can hold the fort here, while I drive to Wallace. I can pick up a few supplies at the same time. Oh, and Tank’s things, too.” Knut snapped his fingers. “Miss Trask, which direction did Cap come from when he crossed the campground?”
    “I see what you mean,” she answered thoughtfully. “He came from the direction of Mr. Anderson’s, so perhaps that’s where he’d been.”
    “Then I’m not going to sit around twiddling my thumbs, waiting for morning,” Hallie announced. “Knut, while you drive to Wallace,
    I’ll go to Tank’s to see if he can tell us something about Cap.”
    “Not alone, either of you!” Miss Trask said.
    “Di, would you like to go with me?” Knut invited.
    Di agreed instantly, confessing, “That sounds much safer than climbing up to Tank’s in the dark.”
    “I’ll go with Hallie,” Jim volunteered, and so did Honey and Mart. Brian decided to stay in camp, in case an injured Cap returned. Miss Trask pledged to keep a giant campfire blazing. Trixie wavered, unsure of whether she’d be more of a hindrance than a help, with her bandaged hands.
    “I’ll carry two flashlights if your hands hurt,” Honey offered, and Trixie’s mind was made up.
    “Okay, kids, let’s get crackin’!” Hallie ordered. “Extra flashlight batteries for everybody, and a first-aid kit for you, Jim.”
    Miss Trask hurriedly made out a list of supplies they needed at camp and handed it to Knut. Meanwhile, Knut filled a large plastic carton with huckleberries, explaining in a low voice to Hallie, “I’ll stop at Gloria’s before I come back. If we need to get in touch with Mom and Dad, she’ll do it for us.”
    A little shakily, Hallie said, “They’re photographing llamas on the hindside of nowhere. How can she call them?”
    “Maybe she can call Dad’s mine office and let them take it from there,” Knut said.
    Overhearing their conversation, Trixie was glad she had stay-at-home parents. “I’m glad my dad is a plain old banker in Sleepyside-on-the-Hudson and not a mining engineer traveling all over the world,” she whispered to Honey.
    “Poor Hallie,” Honey murmured. “It must be ghastly to have one’s brother simply disappear. I’d simply die if that happened to Jim.”
    “Don’t take any chances,” Knut advised as he and Di prepared to leave.
    “And don’t drive too fast,” Hallie answered. “Chin up, sis,” Knut called. “Our birdbrain’s going to be all right;”
    “But he needs help,” Hallie muttered. “That’s a switch, isn’t it?”
    “We all need help sometimes,” Honey said, linking arms with Hallie while Knut and Di left camp in a spray of pine needles.
    When canteens were filled and sweaters collected, Hallie told Miss Trask, “We have plenty of time to get to Tank’s before total dark, and it’s all downhill on the way home. We won’t be late if....”
    If. Trixie marched with that word as she climbed