The Sasquatch Mystery

she had lulled herself into feeling safe, a deer flashed out of the dark, seemed to brake its speed in midair, and changed directions. Only a breath behind the deer, a big cat landed on the trail, laid back its ears, pulled up its lips in a surprised snarl, and disappeared.
    “Wh-What—” Di gasped.
    “Don’t kick it, Diana,” Hallie drawled. “That’s a cougar, and he’s no house pet.”
    “Chalk up a good deed for today,” Ron said. “We just saved that deer’s life.”
    During a rest stop, Trixie could hear the wild gargle of coyotes gossiping on the peaks. And once she thought she heard, fleep , fleeoweep. She shivered. With the revelation of the bogus sasquatch, she had ceased to worry about the real creature whose sighting had been reported in Joe country.
    “I think it’s getting light,” Di said. “I can see a kind of band under the stars.”
    “We’ll see first light from the peak,” Hallie said wearily. “That’s something to behold, isn’t it, Ron?”
    Ron mumbled agreement, then said unexpectedly, “If I had a couple of bodies to hide—”
    “Bodies!” Trixie gasped.
    “Live ones,” Ron added hastily. “I think I know where I’d stash them away.”
    “They weren’t in the cabin or the ice cave,” Hallie cried. “We’ve already been there.”
    Trixie pictured Tank’s setup on the mountain. A cabin, ice cave, pump house, and mine, plus a lean-to for Tank’s wood supply, made up the list of shelters. “The mine?” she asked Ron.
    “Oh, no, not the mine!” Hallie moaned. “It’s so cold in there, and Tank has rheumatism.”
    “I wish I’d known Tank was missing, too,” Ron said. “Sheriff Sprute would have sent the Search and Rescue Squad pronto. If he sent them out every time Cap and I hit the trail, that squad would be all search and no rescue.”
    As the group resumed its climbing, Trixie said, “Let’s go over what we know so far. I think one of the Swishers was sniping on Champion Creek before we moved in and the sasquatch scare drove everybody else out. When we didn’t leave, Opie tried to get us to take his kids. That would have kept us in camp, while he and Fred went right on doing as they pleased. Hallie, do you think they could have known about Tank and the gold he didn’t take to the bank?”
    “Sure,” Hallie panted.
    “Tank’s a legend in gold country,” Ron said. “He’s been crowding his luck for years.”
    “If Fred was hanging around, he could have heard us talking about the nugget bag,” said Di.
    Trixie paused to catch her breath. “Or maybe Fred had been hanging around Tank’s cabin and mine before we came. He had seen Tank working on the fur suit. When the panic started, Fred got the wild idea of scaring us out of our wits. He found out we were unarmed, then went straight to the mine, where he stole the nugget bag and the suit. He could have pinned the suit with the safety pin when he tried it on and found it had no zipper. He must have snagged it on the door hasp.”
    “When he almost got caught by Tank,” Hallie put in.
    “Well, if I was a thief and I knew a bag held gold that didn’t have to be picked up with tweezers, I’d help myself,” Di declared.
    The idea of a millionaire’s daughter sneaking around to snatch nugget bags stuffed with gold almost made Trixie laugh, but not quite.
    “That’s what Fred thought,” Trixie said. “But we kept getting in his way. Probably Opie and Fred took turns pestering us and hunting for Tank’s gold. I’m sure—” Trixie paused, trying to think of any errors in her logic before she continued— “I’m certain that Fred was on the mountain when Cap visited Tank.”
    “Probably Fred jumped Tank the minute Cap left,” said Hallie. “Judging from all the damage, it must have been some fight.”
    “But why would Fred have fought with Cap?” Di asked. “Does Cap know where Tank’s cache is?”
    “Nope,” Ron said. “Nobody knows.”
    And if Cap didn't know, thought Trixie, what would the Swishers do to him?

Bob-White! ● 19

    TRYING TO PREVENT Hallie from thinking about Cap’s fate, Trixie resumed her list of clues. “I think Fred must have tangled with Loverly or Mister some time Monday. Skunk spray is unbearable. He would have slathered himself with the first mud he found, and that was back there at the creek.”
    “Tomato juice is better,” Hallie said. “I’m surprised he didn’t steal ours.”
    Di stumbled, then recovered her balance. “I’ll bet