“What makes you say that?” Mike asked quickly. “If I had to guess, I’d say it’s probably that way.” He pointed to the left. “Once I saw the ranger station on a map, and I think it’s farther south than this.”
“But the ranger station has a fire tower,” Tod argued. “They always build fire towers high up. And the trail to the right goes up.”
“I think you’re dead wrong,” Mike said flatly.
“Hey, you guys,” Ned said. “We’ve got to make a decision.”
“We could split up,” Ralph suggested tentatively. “Whichever group reaches the ranger station could get help for the others.”
“No way!” Sammy said. “With ten of us, we’re a big enough group to handle most situations. A smaller group might get into trouble.”
Ned nodded vigorously. “I agree. There’s safety in numbers.”
“Let’s vote,” George said. “I vote for going uphill.”
Nancy counted hands. The majority wanted to go to the right.
“I just don’t think I can walk uphill anymore,” Linda said, beginning to cry again.
“We don’t have any choice,” Ralph said, helping her up. “Come on. The sooner we get going, the sooner we’ll be there.”
“Well, we can’t count on getting there today,” Ned reminded them.
“You mean we’ve got to spend the night in the woods?” Linda asked.
“I mean that Paula told us that the ranger station was seven or eight miles away, once we got on the fire trail,” Ned said. “That’s a good five-hour hike, at the rate we’re going. And it’s going to get dark soon. We need to think about finding somewhere to camp.”
“Okay, everybody,” Tod said. “Let’s start keeping our eyes open for a campsite.” He shook their only canteen. “And a spring, too. We’re almost out of water.”
“Out of water?” Mercedes asked faintly. “What about the food?”
Ned shook his head. “We’ve got some beef jerky and some dried fruit left,” he said. “And three packages of instant soup. In other words, there’s enough for supper and maybe breakfast, if we’re willing to go on short rations tonight.” He frowned. “Let’s hope we find some ripe berries.”
“Remember what happened the last time we found ripe berries,” Bess reminded him.
The group gathered themselves together and set out along the trail.
Before long the sun began to drop toward the western horizon. In places, the trail was littered with rocks—some of them very large—and everyone had to pick their way gingerly across the unstable ground, trying not to trigger rock slides.
Nancy was walking a few paces ahead of Ned when suddenly she felt a peculiar prickle between her shoulder blades. She turned around, but there was only Ned behind her. He grinned wearily.
“Everything okay?” he asked. “You’ve been pulling farther and farther behind.”
Nancy wiped the sweat from her face. “I may be crazy, but I think we’re being watched—and I want to watch back.”
“That’s funny. I’ve been thinking the same thing.”
Nancy paused, listening. “Ned!” she exclaimed, looking up. “Someone’s—”
Her voice was drowned out by a loud crash, and a rumble that seemed to shake the earth. Nancy stood frozen. A huge boulder had broken loose from its place on the hillside above. It was hurtling straight at her!
Chapter Thirteen
“Nancy! Look out!” Ned shouted. He lunged at her, grabbing her arm and pulling her out of the path of the careening boulder. Nancy could feel the huge rock rumbling the earth beneath her feet as it thundered down the hill. When it reached the bottom, it tore like an out-of-control truck into two pines, splintering them at the base, before it rolled to a shuddering halt in a spruce thicket.
As Ned put his arms around her, Nancy began to tremble uncontrollably. Ned’s arms felt so strong and protective, as if they could shield her from anything the world could throw at her. She leaned against him, gazing up the hill, and caught a glimpse of shadowy movement, something darting into the trees. Was it an animal she had seen—or a human?
Suddenly she realized the enormity of what had just happened. If it hadn’t been for Ned’s quick action, she’d be smashed like those trees. She swayed dizzily and sagged against Ned.