tent and sleeping bags at least.”
“There are outfitters in West Yellowstone
and Jackson that sell camping gear. But why
not ask Martin Robbins at the ranger station? I
bet he could lend you what you need.”
“Good idea,” she said.
He put his arm around Nancy’s shoulders,
and she settled back against him. “I’m glad
you’re moving to the camp,” he continued
softly. “Having you so near will be the only
bright spot in this whole awful situation.”
“I can’t believe that you actually met Randy
Dean!” Bess exclaimed. “That’s too awesome!
What’s he like?”
Nancy yawned. The morning sun was
streaming through the window. “Really nice,
Bess. He acts like a regular guy. But you’ll have
a chance to meet him,” Nancy said. “He’s
staying right here in the hotel. And he invited
us to come watch him making his TV special. I
hope we can.”
“What do you mean, you hope we can?”
Bess demanded. “Wild horses couldn’t stop
me!”
Nancy smiled. “I don’t know about wild
horses, but we are here on an investigation,
remember.”
Bess stared at her, aghast, then immediately
brightened. “Oh, we’ll solve it in plenty of
time,” she proclaimed.
“Listen, Bess,” Nancy said as she ran a
brush through her hair. “I think the missing
marmots are being shipped out tonight.” She
told her friend about the phone call. “I know
you’re not going to like this,” she continued
slowly, “but we need to move to the campsite
to watch the situation more closely.”
“Oh, no!” Bess wailed. “Leave the hotel just
when Randy Dean arrives? And move into a
cold tent? I’ll die!”
“Oh, come on, where’s your sense of adven-
ture?” Nancy asked lightly. “Besides, if I’m
right that tonight is the night, it won’t be for
long.”
“Well-okay,” Bess said gloomily. “I’ll do
it, but don’t expect me to enjoy it.”
“After breakfast I’m going to head over to
the ranger station to talk to Martin Robbins.
Maybe he can assign some rangers to patrol the
campsite tonight. Ned also thought he might
have a tent and a couple of sleeping bags we
can borrow,” Nancy said.
Bess dusted powder on her nose, then
frowned at her image in the mirror. “What
about me?” she asked.
“I want you to track down the Turkowers,”
Nancy said. “See if you can find out what
they’re up to today. I’ll pick you up here when
I come back from seeing Robbins, and we can
go out to the campsite together.”
As she walked toward her car, Nancy no-
ticed a piece of paper tucked under the wind-
shield wiper. It might be a circular of some
sort, she thought, but she had a hunch it
wasn’t. Distinctly uneasy, she unfolded the
paper.
The message was short and to the point:
“Mind your own business, Nancy Drew. Mar-
mots aren’t the only things that can disap-
pear!”
Chapter Twelve
Nancy stared at the note. It had been
written in large, square letters with a red
marker on a piece of computer paper. It resem-
bled the paper they were using at the campsite,
but she’d have to compare it to be sure. Still,
with the key to the command post missing,
that hardly narrowed things down.
She leaned against the side of the car and
thought. The poachers were obviously desper-
ate to get her off the case. They’d tried to put
her out of commission twice the day before-
and now this note. She’d planned to watch her
main suspects closely, but it made her un-
easy to think that they had their eyes on her,
too.
Nancy put the threatening note in her pock-
et, got into the car, and started for the ranger
station. As she drove, she found herself fre-
quently checking the rearview mirror, but she
didn’t see any sign that she was being followed.
When she entered Martin Robbins’s office,
he was standing at the big wall map of Yellow-
stone with a sheaf of papers in his hand. He
turned and said, “Hello, Nancy. What brings
you here?”
“I wanted to fill you in on what’s been hap-
pening with the case,” she said, joining him