Chapter Fifteen ~ Four Flat Tires

as told to WendyM by Knut

Mart, Brian, Jim and Knut headed back to camp after traipsing through the woods looking for some kind of lead on where Cap might be. It was a solemn group, each one lost in thought and each one concerned about where Cap had gone.

Knut was frustrated. Cap was one with nature. He wouldn’t just go off without checking in with the group no matter how upset he was. Something was wrong.

As they approached the truck, Knut realized something was wrong. He gasped and shouted, “Look at that.” And pointed to the truck. The tires on the one side of the truck were flat. When he walked around to the other side, he realized that all four tires had the air let out them.

“Who would have done this?” Jim asked. His face had turned red with anger and he started to pace.

Brian started examining the tires. The caps were off the tires and laying on the ground next to them. Mart started looking around to see if there were any other clues left behind.

While Knut and Brian assessed the damages, Jim and Mart continued to look for clues.

“It looks like someone might have gone off in that direction,” Mart said, pointing out across the clearing.

“I think you’re right,” Jim replied in shock.

“Hey,” Mart said trying to sound offended. “Trixie isn’t the only Belden that can find clues.”

“Let’s follow the trail,” Jim suggested.

Brian stood up from looking at the tires. “You two go check it out. Knut and I will stay here and try to figure out how to fix these tires. It looks like someone just let the air out of them and didn’t damage the tires. I just wish we had an air compressor or something.”

Knut smiled, “Your wish is my command. I saw that Cap had put a tire pump in his bag. I’m not sure why he thought he needed it but boy am I glad he did.”

As Mart and Jim took off in the woods, Knut and Brian started to take turns pumping up the tires.

“This is going to take a while,” Brian said as he began hand pumping.

Knut stood by watching Brian as he worked, ready to take over when he tired. He was amazed at Brian’s knowledge of vehicles. He was glad to be working with him and not Cap. While Cap could survive in the woods with very little, he would never survive in town. Cap had no interest in urban living. He would prefer to live totally off the grid. And he could do it. Thinking of Cap made Knut start trying to figure out where he could have gone. Despite his love of the woods and being far away from civilization he wouldn’t not check in with someone no matter how mad he was.

Suddenly, Knut heard noises coming from the woods behind him. He turned just in time to see Trixie, Honey, Di and Hallie skid to a halt in behind the truck.

“What happened to you?” Hallie panted.

“Some creep let the air out of all four tires,” Knut answered, red-faced from both anger and exertion. Sometime he wondered about his sister. It seemed obvious what had happened.

“We need that truck!” Di wailed. “We have to get out of here!”

“And then we have the drama queen,” Knut thought. He couldn’t understand how Hallie and Di had gravitated toward each other.

“We can’t go until the fires are filled,” Knut snapped. “Use your head.”

“Wait a second, Knut,” said Brian. “Girls, you look like a sasquatch just tried to eat you for lunch. What happened?”

“How’d you guess?” Hallie drawled.

“What?” gasped Knut, he was not convinced that sasquatch were real.

“It threw rocks at us,” Trixie simply said.

“It chased us,” Di shrieked. “It was trying to kill us just like it did Cap.”

“Don’t get carried away,“ said Hallie. “If it had meant to kill us, it would have used something bigger than a peashooter.”

Trixie spun around and grabbed Hallie’s thin arm. “Say that again.”

Knut shook his head. He hoped he wouldn’t have to come between his sister and his cousin. It was common knowledge that the two of them could rub each other the wrong way. Knut didn’t think they disliked each other so much as both of them thought they had to keep up with their brothers and prove their worth.

“Say what?” Hallie replied.

“It didn’t have a peashooter, if that’s what you’re getting at,” Honey said.

“But it had something,” Trixie argued. “Or else why did it raise both arms to throw one little old stone?’

“How did it hold its arms?” Brian asked.

Trixie imitated the beast’s action, raising both hands to eye level, the one behind the other.

“That looked like a slingshot to me!” exclaimed Honey.

“Jeepers, that’s It!” Trixie shouted.

“What are we dealing with here?” Brian wondered. “Animals don’t use tools and weapons.”

Knut thought for a minute before replying, “Except as an imitative action, usually taught,” he added.

Trixie shook head and looked at Knut. “That sounds far-fetched,” she said, “but could some human have caught and trained a young or disabled sasquatch?”

“Either that,” said Knut, “or one of them could have picked up some of man’s bad habits, just as a matter of survival.” He wasn’t really sure if that would even be possible.

Trixie looked around and then pulled something out of her pocket. She handed it to Brian. “It looks like some sort of fur,” she said. “One more to add to our collection.” She explained where they had found it. “And remember that man who wanted to be the first man in history to shoot a sasquatch? Well, he’s got a gun and he’s standing guard. This fur makes it look as if he got his wish.”

Knut’s head snapped to attention. “Maybe we better go ask him a few questions,” said Knut. He started to head in the direction that the girls had just come from.

“After we eat,” Brian said. “My stomach is eating my stomach.”

Knut hung back as the rest of the gang headed to the picnic table.

Hallie asked, “Did you guys find anything?”

Brian shook his head. “Nothing. We didn’t get to the river. We had the creepy impression that we were being followed, so we turned around and came back. Then we found the truck with four flats.”

“Evidently somebody doesn’t want us to go anywhere,” Trixie said.

Knut’s patience was wearing thin and he bit his lip not to say something sarcastic. He couldn’t help but wonder where Cap could have gone.

“Or just plain malicious,” said Brian.

“Where are Jim and Mart?” Honey asked worriedly.

“They’re scouting around to see if they can pick up the trail of the sneak who let the air out,” Knut scowled. It really frustrated him that they had to spend all this time fixing the tires when they could be out looking for Cap.

By this time they had reached the kitchen area, where they found foil-wrapped food on the camp table.

“I wasn’t sure when you’d return,” Miss Trask told them, “so I thought I’d have something ready for whenever you came.”

Knut started to reach for the stack but Hallie beat him to it.

She began tearing into the pile of sandwiches. “Bless Miss Trask,” she said. “Help yourselves everybody. I’ll whomp up some lemonade.”

“It’s already whomped up,” Brian said, lifting a covered plastic pitcher. “Hold your glasses and I’ll pour.”

Knut tried to add some levity to the situation and said, “We’ll call the society editor of the ‘Sasquatch Gazette’ and tell her you poured.” He couldn’t muster a smile.

Knut heard movement right before everyone else. He looked up hoping it would be Cap. He sighed in disappointment when it turned out to be Jim and Mart.

Knut rushed over to the two Bob-Whites, almost demanding he asked, “What did you find?”

Mart shook his head and said, “Nothing.”

“Not even a track,” Jim added. “All of us have been tramping around so much that a dozen thieves could have come and gone, mixing their tracks with ours and we wouldn’t know the difference.”

Knut’s frustration almost boiled over. He bit his tongue but Hallie didn’t

“Cap would know the difference,” she said.

Mart’s shoulders drooped as he dejectedly said, “Well, Cap’s not here.” Then he hastily added, “Although I’m sure he soon will be.”

As they finished eating the group gathered around to share all the information everyone had.

“Everyone report even the littlest detail,” Trixie said. “You never know if something is an important clue.”

Knut added, “It could also mean the difference of being safe or not. We don’t want anyone else missing.” Despite his frustration he was impressed how the Bob-Whites worked so well together. The guys were always teasing Trixie and Honey about being the Belden-Wheeler Detective Agency but when the chips were down they all chipped in to help.

“Well, who’s ready to go to the mine to check on Tank?” Hallie asked. “We can get back before dark if we don’t waste time.”

Knut polished his thick glasses and carefully formulated his response. “Hallie, I know you’re worried about Tank, and so am I. But we both know he could have gone out tramping around someplace without locking his door. A bear could have gotten into the cabin and messed things up. It’s happened before. For us, Cap must come first. I think we have to follow every possible clue while the trail is fresh enough to follow. I’m going back over the ground to look for that nugget bag, and then I’m going to check that man with a gun.” He started to head back where they had recently come from.

“Wait!” yelled Di. “Cap was at Tank’s – I found the cookie to prove it, remember?”

Knut shook his head in disgust. “Cap wasn’t attacked by the sasquatch for a bear-grease cookie,” Knut said. He tried to control his anger and frustration. “He should be home by this time. Cap’s a loner, but he just wouldn’t leave Hallie and me to worry if he could prevent it. If he could mark his trail, he would. That’s why I keep thinking that nugget bag is a trail marker.”

He turned and determinedly started across the campground on the trail to the creek. He didn’t look back but one-by-one the young people along with Miss Trask followed him.