“Paula seemed to be headed up this creek,” Ned pointed out, picking up his pack and adjusting it over his shoulders. “I think we should keep on in that direction. Tod, you and Mike are the ones who are most at home in the woods. I vote that you try to pick out the trail for us.”

They set off again with their packs, even more subdued this time, following Tod and Mike. The going got steeper and steeper, and the underbrush seemed to grow more dense with every yard. Just as Nancy had decided that she was too exhausted to climb over one more twig, the terrain flattened out and the forest opened up. Ahead was the dim outline of what looked like an old logging road, leading in both directions into the dense woods.

“Finally,” Linda moaned, sitting down in the middle of the trail.

“What luck!” Sammy said, dropping her pack wearily. “I was beginning to think we’d never find it!”

“This isn’t luck,” Tod said, grinning. “It’s superior woodsmanship!”

“Whatever it is,” Nancy said, “I’m grateful. Which way is the ranger station?” she asked Mike. “Right or left?”

Mike looked blank. “You’ve got me,” he said.

“Do you know?” Nancy asked Tod.

Tod frowned. “Not for sure. But I’d say it’s probably that way.” He jerked his thumb to the right.

“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!

“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.

He held her tightly, then lowered her gently onto a rock.

After a few minutes, Nancy pushed her hair out of her eyes. “I’m okay,” she said shakily. Then she laughed. “Lucky we let everyone go on ahead. At least they didn’t see me playing handball with that boulder.”

Ned grinned for a moment, tracing his finger along her cheek. But as he helped Nancy to her feet, he looked down at her, soberly. “I was scared, Nancy,” he said hoarsely. “You could have been killed!”

“Ned,” Nancy said, “I saw something moving up there, after the boulder came down. Do you suppose…”

“… that it was Max?”

Nancy nodded.

“I didn’t see what you saw, Nan, but it’s entirely possible.”

“Max might not have intended to kill Paula, but she’s dead. Now he’s got to worry about us. If we get out of here alive, he knows we’ll go straight to the police!”

“So he’s got to kill us?” Ned asked.

“If he’s guilty,” Nancy answered. “Or he might try to scare us so thoroughly that we keep our mouths shut.” Nancy shuddered. “Hey,” she said, “will you lend me your jacket for a little while? Thinking about Max out there loose gives me the chills.”

Ned wrapped his jacket around her. “We’ve got to let the others know what happened,” he said. “Otherwise I’d keep you warm myself.”

Nancy grinned at him. “Control yourself, Nickerson-for the time being anyway,” she whispered.

The rest of the group had already chosen a camping spot for the night and had divided up the responsibilities for getting settled.

Mercedes was bent over the fire, her cheeks flushed with the heat. She was stirring soup in a small aluminum pan, balanced carefully on three rocks.

Nancy sat down beside her. “Mmm, that smells good,” she said appreciatively. “Vegetable?”

Mercedes nodded. “I wish we had more. I’m afraid this is just going to be enough to whet everyone’s appetite.”

“Well, maybe we’ll get lucky tomorrow and find a berry patch,” Nancy replied, laughing. “Minus the bear. Or a creek-then maybe we could catch some fish or something.”

Mercedes laughed a little, too. “This has been some trip, hasn’t it?” she said gravely. She shivered. “I can’t believe what happened to Paula. When I get home, I’m going to have to tell her family…”

Nancy nodded sympathetically. Then, choosing her words carefully, she said, “Earlier, I asked if you knew about the contest. I was wondering if you remembered anything else about it.”