The Sasquatch Mystery

threw another stone, and with a gargled cry, stepped into the thimbleberry bushes that grew tall and thick beside the dirt road. A tree squirrel scolded.
    Hallie wiped her brow with the backs of both hands. “Well, that’s that. The squirrel says, ‘All clear.’ ”
    “M-Maybe the sasquatch just ran out of rocks and is picking up some more,” Honey whispered hoarsely.
    “Well, while he’s picking, I’m running!” Hallie declared. Pell-mell, she led the race to camp.
    Not caring who heard or saw, the four ran for their lives.

Four Flat fires • 15
    AS IF ALL THEIR MUSLES were controlled by one brain, the four girls thumped to a halt behind the truck back at camp, where Knut and Brian were struggling with a truck tire and a tire pump.
    “What happened to you?” Hallie panted.
    “Some creep let the air out of all four tires!” Knut answered, red-faced from both anger and exertion.
    “We need that truck!” Di wailed. “We have to get out of here!”
    “We can’t go until the tires are filled,” Knut snapped. “Use your head.”
    “Wait a second, Knut,” said Brian. “Girls, you look like a sasquatch just tried to eat you for lunch! What happened?”
    “How’d you guess?” Hallie drawled.
    “What?” gasped Knut.
    “It threw rocks at us,” Trixie said simply.
    “It chased us,” Di shrieked. “It was trying to kill us—just like it did Cap!”
    “Don’t get carried away,” said Hallie. “If it had meant to kill us, it would have used something bigger than a peashooter!”
    Trixie spun around and grabbed Hallie’s thin arm. “Say that again!”
    “Say what?”
    “It didn’t have a peashooter, if that’s what you’re getting at,” Honey said.
    “But it had something,” Trixie argued. “Or else why did it raise both arms to throw one little old stone?”
    “How did it hold its arms?” Brian asked. Trixie imitated the beast’s action, raising both hands to eye level, the one behind the other.
    “That looked like a slingshot to me!” exclaimed Honey.
    “Jeepers, that’s it!” Trixie shouted.
    “What are we dealing with here?” Brian wondered. “Animals don’t use tools and weapons.”
    “Except as an imitative action, usually taught,” Knut added.
    “This sounds far-fetched,” said Trixie, “but could some human have caught and trained a young or disabled sasquatch?”
    “Either that,” said Knut, “or one of them could have picked up some of man’s bad habits, just as a matter of survival.”
    Remembering the scrap of fur she had found, Trixie took it from her pocket and handed it to Brian. “Here’s another to add to our collection.” She related where she’d found it. “And remember that man who wanted to be the first man in history to shoot a sasquatch? Well, he’s got a gun and he’s standing guard. This fur makes it look as if he got his wish.”
    “Maybe we’d better go ask him a few questions,” said Knut.
    “After we eat,” begged Brian. “My stomach is eating my stomach.”
    As the six walked toward the picnic table, Hallie asked, “Did you guys find anything?”
    “Nothing. We didn’t get to the river. We had the creepy impression that we were being followed, so we turned around and came back. Then we found the truck with four flats.”
    “Evidently somebody doesn’t want us to go anywhere,” Trixie said.
    “Or is just plain malicious,” said Brian.
    “Where are Jim and Mart?” Honey asked worriedly.
    “They’re scouting around to see if they can pick up the trail of the sneak who let the air out,” Knut said, scowling again.
    By this time, they had reached the kitchen area, where they found foil-covered food on the camp table.
    “I wasn’t sure when you’d return,” Miss Trask told them, “so I thought I’d have something ready for whenever you came.”
    Hallie tore the wrapping from a huge stack of sandwiches. “Bless Miss Trask,” she said fervently. “Help yourselves, everybody. I’ll whomp up some lemonade.”
    “It’s already whomped up,” Brian said, lifting a covered plastic pitcher. “Hold out your glasses. I’ll pour.”
    “We’ll call the society editor of the ‘Sasquatch Gazette’ and tell her you poured,” Knut said. He tried to sound cheerful but failed.
    There was a sound of movement. The whole group stopped chewing and waited to see what emerged from the brushy undergrowth.
    Jim and Mart came out of the woods.
    “What did you find?” asked Knut.
    “Nothing,” Mart said