“This looks like a big job,” Nancy com-
mented. “How long have you been at it?”
“Since first thing this morning,” he said.
“Why?”
Nancy acted puzzled. “No reason, except
that I thought I saw you in Gardiner this
morning.”
Richard chuckled. “Must have been my
double, because I’ve been here all day.”
Nancy and Bess headed through the woods
to the campsite. Jack was beside the command
post, checking out the assignment sheet. When
he saw them, he smiled and yelled, “Well, hello
there.”
His gaze moved warmly from Nancy to Bess
and back again. Bess moved close to him and
said, “Hello yourself. It seems like ages since I
saw you. Have you been having an exciting
day?”
Nancy smothered a laugh. Bess might be
falling in love, but as promised, she was trying
to help out with the case.
“Oh, very exciting,” Jack replied, his smile
broadening. “This morning Ned and I started
packing up station four. Then came the high
point-I repaired a park service slide projec-
tor. I tell you, the life of a park ranger is full of
thrills!”
Bess giggled.
“Is Ned still around?” Nancy asked.
“He was up at feeding station one a while
back,” Jack told her.
“I think I’ll hike up there,” Nancy told Bess.
“Go ahead,” she replied. “I’ll stay here.”
Nancy was about halfway up the hill when
she heard a shrill whistling sound. Startled, she
stopped and looked around. It came again
from a clump of bushes about sixty feet to the
left of the path. She made her way there and
cautiously parted the scraggly branches, then
let out a cry.
Under the bushes was a wire trap just like
the one Ned had showed her the day before.
Inside was a little marmot. One of its hind legs
was caught in the door and was badly swollen.
Nancy’s first impulse was to run for help,
but she couldn’t bear to leave the suffering
creature. She knew that handling an injured
animal could be dangerous, so she took the
scarf from around her neck and wrapped it
around her hand. Even if the marmot tried to
bite her, the scarf would keep its teeth from
breaking her skin. She knelt down and opened
the door, gingerly freeing the marmot’s leg.
“There, there,” she crooned as she slowly
withdrew her hand. “You’ll be all right now.”
Just then she heard Bess’s voice shouting.
“Nancy, where are you?”
“Over here,” Nancy yelled. She shut the
cage door and stood up as Bess and Jack came
hurrying up the path.
Bess was huffing when she reached Nancy’s
side. “What happened? We heard a terrible
noise.”
Jack came to a stop behind Bess. “I told her
it was a marmot,” he said.
“You’re right, it is a marmot. See? Its leg was
caught in the trap.”
“Oh, no!” Bess gasped. “Is it badly hurt?”
Jack bent down and carefully examined the
animal, then stood up, his face angry. “His
leg’s not broken, but he’s definitely hurt,” he
told them. “Let’s take him back to camp. We’ll
clean the cut and bandage it.”
“Can I help. Jack?” Bess asked, her eyes
fixed on the injured animal.
“Of course.” Jack’s face relaxed into a smile.
“With a pretty angel of mercy like you, this
little guy will recover in no time.”
“Are you coming. Nancy?” Bess asked.
Nancy shook her head. “I’m going up to the
feeding station to see if Ned’s still there.” As
she made her way up the hill, she kept thinking
about the marmot. Had the thieves overlooked
that trap when they collected the other mar-
mots, or were they starting to trap more?
When she approached the fenced-off area,
she saw Ned and Jennifer, their heads close
together, making some adjustments to one of
the time-lapse cameras. The sight made her a
little uneasy. She took a deep breath, pasted a
confident smile on her face, and called out,
“Hi, guys.”
“Nancy!” Ned dashed over and gave her a
big hug and a quick kiss.
Nancy’s spirits soared; Ned wasn’t angry
with her any longer. She turned to find Jenni-
fer watching them, a hint of challenge in her