“We lost what was in Max’s raft, of course,” Paula said. She and Max were sitting together. From time to time Paula had looked at Nancy intently, and once Max had seemed to be getting very angry. He had looked over at Nancy at that point too, as if they were talking about her. “But we’ve got enough for one more day, if we’re careful. We’ll leave most of it with the group that’s staying here, since it’ll be a day or so before we can get back with another raft.”
Tod reached in his pocket for his knife. “We can always go hunting,” he said, flipping the knife open and running his thumb down the edge of the shiny blade. “Last year I got a squirrel with this thing.”
“I wish you’d keep that knife in your pocket, Tod,” Linda said irritably. “It makes me nervous.”
“Everything makes you nervous, little lady,” Tod teased, leaning toward her.
Ralph put his hand on Tod’s shoulder. “Give me the knife,” he said softly, “or I’ll take it away from you.”
“You and who else?” Tod scrambled to his feet.
Without warning, Ralph stepped forward easily, his open hand ramming Tod in the chest. Tod’s arms flew up as he tumbled backward. His knife fell at Ralph’s feet.
“Just me,” Ralph replied pleasantly, picking up the knife. He turned to Mike, who was sitting open-mouthed. “Here. Why don’t you keep this for your friend. He’s a little careless with it.”
“A smooth karate style,” Nancy said, staring admiringly at Ralph. “He reminds me of a certain mild-mannered reporter.”
Ned laughed. “Yeah, Clark Kent in disguise.”
Tod had picked himself off the ground and was brushing himself off. He snatched his knife out of Mike’s hand and glared at Ralph. “Next time,” he threatened, “it won’t be so easy, hotshot.”
“Well, I know what’s going to be easy for me,” Ned said, yawning. “Sleep.”
“Good night, Nancy,” he whispered tenderly, bending over to kiss her. “And remember, no matter what happens on this crazy vacation, at least we’re together.”
“Right,” she said softly. “At least we’re together.”
Nancy, George, and Bess bedded down close to the fire, huddling under blankets. “I’m beginning to wish I’d listened to Bess,” George mumbled.
Bess pulled her blanket up over her chin. “I’m glad you didn’t. If we’d gone to the beach, I’d never have met Max.”
George sat up. “You can still care about that guy after what he did to us today?”
Bess sat up, too. “How do you know that the capsize wasn’t an accident!”
“How do you know it was?” George asked, folding her arms.
“I wish you guys would go somewhere else to argue,” Nancy said.
In the distance, an owl hooted eerily, and Bess dived under the blanket. Nancy and George laughed, and they all fell into a restless sleep.
There was no moon that night. The faint star-shine hardly penetrated the deep shadows of the gorge. So, when Nancy awakened to the sound of footsteps crunching stealthily on the gravel, her eyes opened to darkness.
Then, an odd ripping noise and a muttered curse. Had a man spoken—or a woman?
Nancy slipped from between George and Bess, who both were sleeping soundly, and headed for the noise. She’d almost reached the river when she saw a figure—little more than a deeper shadow in the darkness—moving in front of her.
“Who is it?” Nancy asked.
The only answer was a blow to her shoulder as the figure rammed past her, to melt into the night and disappear.
Chapter Nine
Noiselessly, Nancy tried to follow, but after a few moments, she had to admit that she had lost whomever it was she had seen and had no choice but to crawl back under the blanket and try to get some sleep.
She was awake as soon as the sun touched the lip of the sheer cliff on the other side of the river. Quietly, trying not to disturb Bess and George, she crept out from under the blanket and pulled on her tennis shoes, which were still damp from the day before.
George stirred reluctantly. “What are you doing up at this hour?” she asked sleepily.