The Lost Cipher Page 13

  Lucas immediately signaled the helicopter, and George followed his lead.

  “If the third boy is with you, make the same signal!” Lucas and George both crossed their arms again.

  The loudspeaker blared again. “If any of you needs immediate medical attention, make the same signal!”

  This time Lucas wasn’t sure. He hadn’t even seen Alex this morning. The old man shook his head, but Lucas figured Creech just didn’t want the helicopter landing in the middle of his backyard and shredding his garden to pieces. How long would it take for help to come for Alex if the helicopter didn’t take them out now?

  Just then the screen door slammed behind them, and a hand came down on Lucas’s shoulder, using him for support. It was Alex. He was leaning on a wooden crutch, but he was smiling.

  He shouted over the racket of the whirling blades. “I don’t need a police helicopter for a stupid busted ankle!”

  Lucas yelled back, “What about your snakebite?”

  Alex held up his hand. It was still swollen and the thumb was purplish, but no worse than the night before.

  “But don’t you want to ride out of here in a helicopter?” George asked.

  “We’re in enough trouble already!” Alex yelled back. “We don’t need to make it worse!”

  Creech nodded in agreement, and Lucas wondered if there was some other reason he wanted to keep the Virginia State Police out of Moccasin Hollow.

  The pilots didn’t wait any longer for their reply. “Stay at this location! Help will arrive soon!” The helicopter gained altitude, tilted forward, and glided over the house and into the valley.

  Creech looked at Alex. “Looks like somebody else gets to carry you today,” he snorted. “I’d like to see the looks on their faces when they find out I ain’t got no driveway.” He went back inside and the boys followed him, Alex hobbling with one arm over Lucas’s shoulder.

  Once inside, Alex sat down heavily at the kitchen table and propped his foot up in another chair. Creech came to rest in the chair next to him. “Let’s see that bite, boy.”

  Alex laid his arm on the table, wincing only a little when he did. The old man took his hand gently and looked closely at the bitten thumb. “Like I said, mostly a dry one. Won’t be able to use it all the way for a while, but I guess you get to keep your hand after all.”

  Alex smiled brightly for the first time in two days. “I don’t think I’ll be alive long enough to worry about my hand if I don’t get some food in me. I dreamed about food all night.”

  Creech got up and pulled an old crock from the refrigerator. He retrieved a dozen eggs and a slab of bacon wrapped in brown paper. “Can’t have them gossipy fools in town thinking Ol’ Giddy tried to starve you to death too.”

  After he fixed the breakfast, Creech disappeared upstairs, but the three boys spent nearly an hour at the table. Alex ate so much that even George warned him to slow down. By the time Lucas took his dishes to the sink, Alex had eaten a bowl of the leftover stew, half a dozen eggs, and nearly a dozen thick strips of bacon.

  All of a sudden, they heard a shout from the field at the front of the house. “Mr. Creech? You up there? I hear you’ve been keeping some of our campers for us.”

  It was Maggie.

  The old man came down the stairs yelling.

  “And I hear you and that brother of yours can’t keep track of the young ’uns you got over there. They’re endin’ up on my property like dogs off a busted chain.”

  They heard footsteps on the porch and the shuffle of other people entering the parlor. Lucas figured it was a bigger crowd than the old man had seen in a long time. Creech entered the kitchen first, and Maggie was close behind, with two paramedics on her heels. One carried a folded-up stretcher, and the other lugged a big orange case. Both were sweating heavily and breathing hard.

  Maggie started to speak but stopped when she saw Alex’s swollen hand and bandaged ankle. “I thought you told the chopper you didn’t need first aid. What did you do to yourself?”

  Alex held up his hand. “Sorry, Maggie. I got bit by a copperhead. Knocked me off a rock too, and I think my ankle’s busted. He glanced at the old man. “Mr. Creech here found us and got me back here. Not sure how, but he did.”

  Lucas interrupted. “It’s true, Maggie. He took care of Alex’s bite. Carried him down the mountain on his back too.”

  “And speakin’ of snakes,” Creech interrupted, “you best tell your brother to stop with all his crazy-snake-man business, or he’s gonna get a visit from me. Probably givin’ them campers nightmares.”

  One of the paramedics pushed his way around the table and started examining Alex’s hand. The other one was already preparing a syringe. “We’ll give you something for the pain,” he said.

  “I gave him somethin’ last night, and he didn’t even need nothin’ this morning.” Creech snickered. “Stop babyin’ him. His bite ain’t bad.”

  “I’ll need to see what you gave him, Mr. Creech,” insisted the paramedic who was examining Alex’s bite.

  “It’s right there on the counter. Same stuff you so-called professionals use.”

  “These men are here to help,” Maggie said sternly. “And they’ve got to stretcher Alex a half mile back to the car all because someone doesn’t believe in having a driveway.”

  It was obvious that Maggie and Creech weren’t tangling for the first time. But Creech didn’t seem to mind Maggie standing up to him. In fact, he ignored her and grinned at the paramedics. “And he ain’t exactly light as a feather,” he chuckled, enjoying himself.

  Maggie shook her head at the old man’s rudeness and turned back to the boys. “How exactly did you three get so lost?”

  Lucas didn’t hesitate. “It was my fault. I talked Alex and George into exploring a cave we saw. It was up in the Preacher Rocks.”

  “A cave?” asked Maggie incredulously. “You mean like the kind we said you could get killed in?”

  “I thought maybe it would be a good hiding place for…” He dropped his head. He felt safe calling himself a treasure hunter in front of Creech now, but that didn’t help the embarrassment.

  “The treasure? Oh man.” She sighed. “You have got to be kidding.” She sounded like she might explode, but Creech beat her to it.

  He slammed his hand down on the table, making everyone in the crowded kitchen jump. But the anger wasn’t directed at Lucas. He was glaring at Maggie.

  “And that’s exactly why you and that brother of yours ought to be keeping your traps shut about the treasure!”

  “Just wait a minute!” she snapped back. “We ran into a couple of treasure hunters on a hike. Right up from the camp. The kids all wanted to know what a couple of strange men were doing digging in our woods. What were we suppose to tell them?”

  The old man groaned. “What do you think a bunch of kids are gonna do if you tell ’em there’s millions of dollars buried around here? They’re kids, ain’t they?”

  “We told them it’s just a story.” She glared at her three campers. “Only three of them didn’t listen so well.”

  One of the paramedics interrupted. “Miss Cates, we still need to get this one to the hospital. His bite looks okay, but his ankle’s in bad shape. And it’s going to take a while getting him back down that trail.”

  “You’re right,” Maggie agreed. Her tone softened, and she walked over to the old man. “I suppose we do owe you a big thank-you, even if you are a cantankerous old hermit.”

  She stuck out her hand as if to shake, but when he reluctantly reached out, she surprised him with a quick kiss on the cheek. Lucas and George looked at each other, and even the paramedics looked shocked.

  Creech turned bright red and bristled at the attention. “I suppose I don’t get no reimbursement, do I? These boys nearly ate me out of house and home. I’ll need to make an extra trip into town now just to restock.
”

  One of the paramedics encased Alex’s lower leg in an inflatable splint, and they hefted him onto the stretcher. Lucas and George followed as they carried him out onto the front porch, and Creech walked out behind Maggie.

  At the bottom of the stairs, Lucas turned back to Creech. He wanted to thank the old man, but Creech simply nodded at him before he got the chance. When Lucas turned to head down the hill, the old man was still standing at his door with Maggie.

  Lucas caught up to George and the paramedics and walked beside his friend on the stretcher. Alex was strapped down so he couldn’t fall off.

  “Talk about embarrassing,” he mumbled glumly.

  They walked downhill through Creech’s front yard, along a well-worn trail to where the woods began. Lucas saw that the path was really a set of old, overgrown wheel ruts.

  “Looks like somebody had a driveway here once,” commented one of the paramedics.

  “Tracks are too narrow for a car,” replied the other from the front of the stretcher. “Maybe wagons, but a long time ago.” He stopped and looked back up at the house. “Think we ought to wait for her?” he asked his partner.

  Maggie was still on the front porch talking with the old man. Creech waved his hands in front of her, like he was still angry about something and letting her know. Lucas figured they were still arguing about her campers getting lost or maybe negotiating what the camp would owe him for his troubles.

  They watched as Creech went back into the house. He returned with a piece of paper and shoved it into her hands. As she read it, Creech kept talking and pointing toward them. Then Maggie nodded once and handed the paper back to Creech.

  “Probably a bill for all the food you three ate,” joked one of the paramedics.

  “Or maybe he’s charging you for staying overnight,” said the other. “C’mon, Alex here has a date with a doctor.”

  CHAPTER 26

  Maggie caught up just as they emerged from the forest at the edge of a gravel road. From there, Creech’s house was well-hidden from sight and even the spot on the road felt like the middle of nowhere. An orange-and-white ambulance sat on the far shoulder. Behind it was a green pickup with the Camp Kawani logo on the door.

  Lucas and George started to follow their friend’s stretcher, but Maggie stopped them.

  “Sorry, guys,” she said softly. “You’re going to have to say good-bye to Alex here.”

  “Can’t we go to the hospital with him?” pleaded George.

  “Especially not you, George. Your father wants you back at the camp.” She looked at her watch. “He got off a plane in Baltimore about an hour ago. He said he’d be down here by this evening.”

  “My dad? Right,” George grunted. “He’s in California for the week.”

  Maggie put her hand on his shoulder. “George, he was worried to death. As soon as he found out you were lost, he probably called us a dozen times. He caught a red-eye flight last night. We told him to get a little sleep before he drove down from Maryland, but he insisted on seeing you safe—with his own eyes.”

  George didn’t reply, but his expression said he still didn’t believe her.

  “What about me?” Lucas asked. “I could ride in the ambulance with him.”

  “Not according to your grandmother, Lucas,” Maggie replied. “We’ve been in touch with her too, and she wants you back with the other campers, ASAP. Besides, how would we get you back to camp if I let you go to the hospital?”

  By now, the paramedics were gently setting Alex onto a bigger stretcher, one with wheels that they could load into the ambulance.

  “What about Alex?” George asked. “Will he get to come back to the camp?”

  “Not with his injuries,” explained Maggie. “He’ll probably spend today in the hospital, maybe tonight depending on his ankle. His father is driving down to see him after work, maybe sooner once we tell him Alex got hurt. Whenever he gets released from the hospital, he’s going straight home.”

  Home. The word reminded Lucas how soon his Camp Kawani week would be over.

  He left George with Maggie and walked up to the side of Alex’s stretcher. The paramedics were packing their equipment, leaving the two boys alone.

  “You coming to the hospital?” Alex asked.

  “Maggie says we can’t. She’s already got my grandma all fired up about me gettin’ back.”

  “I guess I’ll check you back at the camp, then,” Alex said hopefully.

  Lucas hated to tell him. “Your father’s coming down by tonight. He’s taking you home from there.”

  Alex only shook his head. His ankle was still trussed up in the inflatable splint, and he could barely open the fingers on his swollen, snake-bitten hand. It wasn’t like he could protest.

  “Well, then I guess I’ll see you around, Luke Whiplash.”

  “Yeah, take it easy…Mexican,” Lucas replied, but both boys barely cracked a smile. Lucas knew the chances of ever seeing Alex again were pretty slim, and he knew Alex figured the same.

  The paramedics were hanging back, waiting for them to finish. Finally one of them interrupted.

  “All right, guys, we’ve got to get back to town. Never know when we might have another customer.” As they wheeled Alex’s stretcher up to the back of the ambulance, George came up to his side too.

  “Check you later, Alex,” he said, and Lucas saw that the younger boy was trying not to choke up.

  Alex smiled. “Go bust another Thunder Butt on ’em, George.”

  “Count on it,” replied George.

  The paramedics hefted Alex into the back of the ambulance and shut the doors. When Lucas turned back, Maggie was already waiting in the camp pickup, and he and George climbed in.

  She pulled the truck onto the road and wheeled it around in a U-turn. “I’ll give you both his email address when we get back to camp. You guys can stay in touch that way.”

  Lucas didn’t want to tell her that his grandparents didn’t own a computer. The only ones he got to use were the ones at school, and that was mostly just for school stuff. He thought about maybe asking Maggie for Alex’s phone number, but the idea of calling him out of the blue from Indian Hole, or wherever he ended up once there was no Indian Hole, already seemed strange. What could he possibly have to talk about with someone from DC? The only thing he and Alex had in common was the camp and getting lost. And even that adventure was going to fade away fast once they went back to their own lives.

  Yep. He’d probably never even talk to Alex again.

  They drove in silence for a few miles until they crossed a narrow concrete bridge over a shallow creek, coming to a stop at a crossroads where the gravel road met pavement. A sign in front of them pointed west to town. Next to the sign was a gray historical marker, something about a church named St. Mary’s. Where the church had once stood, there was now only an abandoned gas station, its rusty pumps barely visible through a tangle of blackberry vines.

  Alex’s ambulance pulled up alongside them, blocking the view. Maggie honked her horn and the driver waved. Then he turned the ambulance, and Alex, west toward town.

  Maggie waited for a truck to lumber past the intersection, heading for the gap through the mountains. On Lucas’s side of the road was a wooden stand where an old woman was selling jars of honey. The honey jars sat out by the roadside, lined up atop a sagging board suspended between two short logs. The morning sun lit up the jars from the behind, making the honey glow like liquid gold.

  Lucas thought once more of the treasure. Like Creech said, it’s just a story. No one will ever find it.

  CHAPTER 27

  Lucas and George rode silently beside Maggie for a long time. The trip back to Camp Kawani seemed like it was taking forever, and the miles made Lucas realize how lost they’d really been. Maggie had been mostly quiet, and Lucas figured she was still more than a little angry with them for run
ning off. He wondered what punishment awaited them back at camp.

  Finally Maggie broke the silence. “Just so you know, the search-and-rescue crew found your packs down in the brush. Below the ledge where your group had lunch.”

  “What?” snapped Lucas. “We left ’em up on in the rocks, so we could find the trail.”

  Then it hit him, what Maggie was trying to tell them.

  He looked at George and said, “Zack.”

  “Are you kidding?” said George. “This was all because of him?”

  “Uh, don’t forget who wandered off in the first place,” Maggie reminded him. “But yeah, I guess you can thank him for the worst of your little adventure. The rescue crew said the packs were banged up, like someone had just heaved them off the ledge. When they found the first one, they thought maybe one of you had fallen. But later, a couple of the other boys said Zack hung back when Aaron and Rooster weren’t looking. One even saw him knocking down cairns when he was catching back up. They didn’t say anything to Aaron at first because they were scared of Zack. Either way, I guess he was pretty determined to help you get lost.”

  “What a butthead,” muttered George.

  “Yeah,” agreed Lucas, “but why didn’t Aaron just come back for us when we didn’t catch up?”

  Maggie grimaced. “Believe me, Aaron was really kicking himself. He’s been leading that trip for years and never lost a camper. But when he yelled back to find out if you guys had caught up, Zack told him you were just up the trail. Unfortunately, Aaron believed him, and nobody ever turned around to see for themselves. By the time Aaron figured it out, that lightning was closing in, and he couldn’t go back up on the ridge.”

  “So where’s Zack now?” Lucas asked, hoping he’d get one last chance to take a swing at him.

  “Oh, that was definitely the final straw. After that and the trouble on the zip line, we figured he needed to be home. His dad’s driver is supposed to pick him up this morning.”

  Lucas glanced at George and saw he was thinking the same vengeful thoughts. Without Alex, he doubted George would be good for much against Zack, but he’d take all the help he could get.