“But Mr Barron has guards watching the fence,” said Bob. “Will they let us pass?”
“They won’t know we’re going,” said Jupe. “We’ve gotten past guards before. We can do it again.”
“What about the soldiers?” asked Pete.
“We can keep out of their way easily enough,” Jupe declared. “They’ll probably be watching the gate any way.”
“Okay,” said Bob. “Anything’s better than just sitting here waiting for the sky to fall.”
“Then let’s go,” said Jupe. “Something strange is going on. I want to know what it is!”
6
The Blazing Cliffs
THE THREE INVESTIGATORS slipped quietly down the lane in the darkness.
“I can’t see a thing,” Pete complained. “It’s black as pitch.”
“It won’t be for long,” Jupe predicted.
Even as he spoke, the moon crept up from behind the eastern cliffs. A faint silvery light touched the valley, and the gravel lane suddenly appeared grey-white. In the citrus groves to one side there were shadows under the trees–deep black shadows, sharply etched on the ground.
“Everyone off the drive!” ordered Jupe. “Someone could see us out here.” He led the way to the shadows under the orange trees. The three boys went on silently towards the southern boundary of the ranch, where the fence enclosed the property.
Fifteen minutes later they saw the fence, grey-white in the moonlight beyond the dark hedge of oleanders. The boys crept up to the hedge, and standing in the shadows of the bushes, they cautiously looked over them. Now they could see the road beyond the hedge, and the dark undergrowth of the wilderness on the other side of the road. They watched, and they waited.
For a minute or two nothing moved on the road. But then there were headlights. A jeep came along slowly. A searchlight was mounted on the jeep, and the boys had to duck to avoid the beam that swept across the hedge and then swung to the south to probe the wilderness there.
As the jeep passed, a beam of light flashed from the cliffs far to the west of the gate. It danced along the edge of Barron’s property.
“Someone’s up there watching the fence,” said Bob.
Jupiter sighed. “Probably one of Barron’s men.”
“He might spot us if we try to go over the fence,” Pete observed, “and there’s a guard near the gate. I can see him from here.”
The jeep turned and came back past the gate. It stopped in the road near the spot where the boys waited. Again the watcher on the hillside sent his light stabbing through the night. It rested on the men in the jeep. There were three of them. One looked up towards the cliff, then took his rifle from his shoulder and checked it, as if to be sure it was loaded. After a moment the jeep rolled on. It topped a small rise and then dipped out of sight in the hollow beyond it.
“Why would Barron’s men stop us if we go over the fence?” Bob asked reasonably. “Why would they bother? Doesn’t Mr Barron just want to keep people from coming in?”
“Probably,” said Jupiter, “but if Barron’s guards see us, they might make some noise that would attract the attention of the soldiers.”
“Well, would they care?” said Bob. “We’re just pedestrians. We wouldn’t get in the way of any military vehicles on the road.”
“But suppose it isn’t really military vehicles the lieutenant is concerned about,” Jupe countered. “Suppose what he really wants is to keep the staff of Rancho Valverde bottled up?”
“You sound like Mr Barron,” said Pete, “and I think he’s nuts!”
“Perhaps he is, but I feel he’s right about one thing,” said Jupe. “The lieutenant’s main interest is the ranch, not the road. He’d probably keep us from leaving. But if we can get across the road into that wilderness area, we could get away.”
“Hold it!” cried Pete. “We’re only a few miles from the main highway, but if it’s a few miles of scrub brush, you can count me out! We’d be cut to ribbons in the dark!”
“You’re probably right,” said Jupe. “Okay. When I looked at the map before we left Rocky Beach, I saw another road. It’s to the north of the ranch. If we could climb the cliffs, we could get to it easily.”
Pete turned and stared at the nearest line of cliffs, to the west. The moon was high now, and the cliffs looked bleak as they loomed up in the ghostly light. There were black shadows in the places where gullies and ravines broke the surface.
“Okay,” said Pete. “We can go out over the cliffs. But not at night, Jupe. Not without a flashlight. It’s too steep and the light’s too tricky. One mistake there could be our last.”
“True,” said Jupiter. “All right. Let’s go back to the ranch, get some rest, then start out at first light.”
The boys began to walk back through the citrus groves towards the ranch house. It was easier going now, with the moonlight and the lamps in the houses ahead to show them their path. When they were a hundred yards or so from the Barron house they got back on to the lane.
“Jupe?” Konrad came around the corner of the ranch house. “Jupe, are you there?” he called. “Pete? Bob?”
“We’re here, Konrad,” said Jupe.
“Why did you not come into the house?” asked Konrad. “Where did you go? I have been looking for you.”
The back door of the Barron house opened and Charles Barron came out. “Who’s wandering around out here?” he called.
“It’s only us, Mr Barron,” said Pete.
And then he saw a sudden, dazzling blue-white flare of light behind Konrad.
“Jupe!” cried Pete. “Look!”
The cliffs to the north of the ranch were enveloped in strange blue flames! The eerie fire leaped skyward like sheets of cold brilliance.
“What on earth?” cried Charles Barron.
For an instant the fire almost hid the bare granite surface of the cliffs. Then dense billows of white smoke gushed from the land beyond the reservoir.
Doors slammed. Feet pounded on the road. There were cries of wonder and of fear. Then, from out of the billowing, gleaming cloud on the land, an oval-shaped object rose. It hovered in the air, silver in the light from the blazing cliffs. Then it lifted upward. In seconds it was above the cliffs, vanishing into the night sky.
The blaze on the cliffs dwindled and died. There was silence at the ranch–a frozen moment when no one dared to move. Then, “Holy cow!” said Pete. “A flying saucer!”
7
An Innocent Victim
“PREPOSTEROUS!” said Charles Barron.
No one answered him.
Mrs Barron came out of the house and down the steps. “Charles!” she said excitedly. “Did you see it?”
“I’m not blind,” said Barron. “Whatever it was, I saw it. Hank! Rafael! John!”
Barron pointed towards the northern cliffs. “We’re going to see what in tarnation is going on!” he announced.
Jupe heard the roar of a car engine on the road. He turned to see the soldiers’ jeep spurting up the lane. It stopped with a lurch just short of the ranch house.
“Mr Barron?” Lieutenant Ferrante leaped from the vehicle and started towards the ranch owner. “Are you all right?” he said. “What happened? We saw the fire!”
“I will keep you informed of all developments that concern you,” snapped Barron. “In the meantime, take yourself and your jeep off my property.”
“Charles!” exclaimed Mrs Barron. “Really! You needn’t be so rude!”
“I’ll be as rude as I choose, Ernestine,” said Barron. “Lieutenant, I’m waiting.”
Ferrante climbed back into the jeep. The driver threw the engine into reverse and the jeep backed away from the people who had gathered on the drive. It made a tight turn and sped down the lane.
“Pablito!” said Barron. He beckoned to a thin boy who had been watching the scene.
“Yes, Mr Barron?” said the boy. He appeared to be eight or nine years old.
“Go down to the fence and find your father and tell him that the guards are to shoot the tyres of that jeep if the soldiers try to bring it through the gate again.
Immediately one of the women spoke up. “Pablito will not go with such a message,” she said. “If there must be such a message, I will go.”
“Charles, all of this hardly seems necessary,” said Mrs Barron. “That poor young man with the jeep is only trying to do his job.”
“He’s trespassing and I will not put up with trespassers, whatever their age, status, or government affiliation,” announced Charles Barron. “We had better get that clear immediately or we’ll be up to our hips in refugees and parasites.”
Barron turned again to Detweiler. “Hank, you and Rafael and John and I will go to the upper meadow and see what in the name of fury has been going on there.”