The Sasquatch Mystery

the mountain to the ancient dry creek bed where Tank had his mine, his cabin, and his garden.
    “Can you believe this is real?” Trixie asked Honey, her trail partner. “Until a few days ago, I’d never even heard of the Joe country.”
    “Or a sasquatch.” Honey shivered.
    When the little group reached the first resting place, there was no singing, no teasing, and no laughing. They simply took a drink of water and then continued to climb.
    Trixie tried not to think of the beast on the saddle. If she concentrated on the size and weight of it, she knew she would dash headlong down the mountain, screaming at the top of her lungs. She would zip herself, head and all, into her sleeping bag and....
    Of all the idiots! Trixie scolded herself. You know that beast is north of the saddle , Trixie Belden. Di is the one heading in that direction , not you.
    Suddenly Trixie screamed, “Stop!”
    Instantly she was surrounded by Jim, Mart, Hallie, and Honey. “Are you hurt?”... “What did you see?”... “What did you hear?” The questions tumbled around Trixie’s ears like corn in a popper.
    “The sasquatch couldn't have carried Cap off, because the sasquatch is north of the saddle! It’s right up there where Cap’s friend said he saw him!”
    “You know something that you’re not telling us,” Hallie accused.
    In as few words as possible, Trixie told of her meeting with the beast. “It was so scary that I didn’t want to talk about it,” she finished.
    “There’ve been several encounters this summer,” said Hallie. “They’ve all been reported and investigated thoroughly, but no one’s been hurt. Unless—”
    “No ‘unless,’ ” Trixie insisted. “Cap was miles from the sasquatch when he had that fight at the creek.”
    “Unless the sasquatch has a mate,” Mart put in without thinking.
    Hallie looked so crushed at this suggestion that Honey cried, “Don’t even think of that, Mart. Hallie, has anybody ever suggested there might be two?”
    “No,” Hallie said dully.
    Although the sun was down, dim light lingered in the clearing when the group reached Tank’s garden.
    Hallie looked worried. “Tank always takes down his flag and lights a lantern in his yard at sundown. There’s the flag, and the light isn’t lit.” Tired as she was, Hallie began to run.
    Behind her, the other Bob-Whites stared with dismay. The cabin door stood open. The yard was littered with Tank’s belongings and food supplies.

A Noise and a Scream ● 11

    THE YOUNG PEOPLE made a thorough search of the grounds, but they found no sign of the old miner. They gathered his scattered food supplies and returned them to the cabin and the ice cave.
    When they rested a moment, they saw Tank’s magnificent chair among the remaining debris. The seat and back were torn, and two of the legs were broken completely off. With angry tears, Honey carefully collected the pieces and placed them just inside the cabin door.
    While Hallie picked up the rest of the things and put them away, Trixie noticed something caught in the hasp of the door to the ice cave. Because of her bandages, she could only point. Jim pulled a tuft of fur from the metal hasp, rolled it between his fingers, then put it in his pocket.
    Before Jim or Trixie could mention the strange clue, Hallie said, “I don’t like this at all. I think we should hightail it back to camp before anything else weird happens around here.”
    “I second the motion,” Honey said nervously. On the way home, flashlight beams shifted with each downward step taken. Stumps, boulders, and even the trees themselves took on monstrous shapes. Lights reflected in the eyes of night feeders. In the open areas, bats swooped after insects. Boots clinked, scraped, or thudded. Instinctively, Trixie listened to be sure that no extra pair of feet added to the scuffling noises.
    “I hope Knut and Di are back by the time we reach camp,” Hallie said. “Wait till he hears about Tank.”
    “Poor Di,” said Jim. “She stayed in camp because she felt safe with Miss Trask, and that’s where the sasquatch showed up. Now she’s crossing the saddle twice tonight, and there s a sasquatch there, too!”
    Trixie was silent. She supposed there could be two of the beasts, but she wasn’t convinced yet that they were dangerous. They were scary, though, she was thinking as she reviewed what she herself knew about them: She had heard the creature’s mournful cry in the night; she had seen its huge