Alaska Adventure (24 page)

Dr. Wells joined her at the door as she watched the plane dip lower and lower, the massive balloon-like pontoons on either side allowing it to land on the surface of the water.

“That’s Ben Seeger for you,” said Dr. Wells, chuckling. “John Torvold radioed him first thing this morning, and he’s already on the scene.”

Laurel’s reaction to the arrival of the seaplane was quite different. An uncomfortable knot had already formed in her stomach. With all the excitement of the bear’s attack on the cabin, she’d completely forgotten about the discovery she and Russ had made in Anchorage the day before. Now, she was reminded of the difficult task before her.

“Dr. Wells,” she said nervously, checking over her shoulder to make sure the others were out of earshot, “there’s something Russ and I have to talk to you about. In private.”

“Can’t it wait? I’m sure Ben’s going to want you to fill him in on what happened last night. No doubt there’ll be a written report to file—

“It’s pretty important.” Laurel drew in her breath sharply. “Dr. Wells, I think Russ and I have figured out who’s responsible for the bear poachings around Wolf Lake. Yesterday, when we were at the Department of Fish and Game—”

“I’m anxious to hear what you have to say, Laurel, but I’m afraid we’ll have to hold off until later,” Dr. Wells insisted. “Right now, I’d better see if Ben needs any help.” He hurried down the path to greet his friend, leaving Laurel standing in the doorway.

A few minutes later he and Ben Seeger were making their way up the path from the lake toward the cabin. “Sounds like you had some trouble last night,” Laurel heard Ben say as the two men drew near.

“That’s an understatement,” Dr. Wells replied.

“Torvold assured me that everybody was okay,” Ben said, climbing the steps to the cabin. “It sounds like your people all behaved like heroes. Danny, too.”

“Everyone’s fine,” Dr. Wells assured him as he went into the cabin, with Ben and Laurel right behind him. “A little shaken up, of course. But it could have been a lot worse. And as you can see, after a morning of hard work, we’ve got things pretty much back in order.”

Ben cast Laurel a friendly smile. “It looks like you put in a hard morning’s work.” Glancing around, he commented, “But it does look like you’ll need a new couch.”

Dr. Wells grinned. “That old thing was on its last legs anyway.”

“Hello, Russ,” Ben said, nodding toward the boy standing in the kitchen, wiping off the kitchen counter.

“Hi, Mr. Seeger.”

Laurel and Russ exchanged meaningful glances. Ben didn’t seem to notice.

“I’m hoping the witnesses will give me as much detail about what happened as they can,” he said. “I’ll need to file a report with the Department.”

“I’m sure that won’t be a problem. In the meantime,” said Dr. Wells, “there’s something else brewing that I think you’ll be interested in. Laurel seems to think she’s uncovered the mystery behind the bear poachings.”

Ben Seeger’s friendly smile faded. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m not sure. What is it you wanted to tell me, Laurel? This is as good a time as any, since this is Ben’s area of responsibility.”

This time the look Laurel cast Russ was one of alarm.

“Do you want me to start, Laurel?” he asked softly.

“No. I....” She swallowed hard. “Dr. Wells, Russ and I think Mr. Seeger might know more about the bear poachings than we thought.”

Dr. Wells frowned. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“Maybe you’d better show Dr. Wells the note, Laurel,” Russ suggested.

“I’ve got it right here.” Laurel drew the warning letter out of her backpack and showed it to Dr. Wells. “Maybe we should have shown it to you sooner, but we wanted to wait until we figured out who sent it. Look at the jagged edge—and the strange paper it’s written on.”

Dr. Wells held the note in his hand, peering at it. “This is a page out of a Write-in-the-Rain pad, isn’t it?”

“Exactly.” Biting her lip, she said, “Yesterday, when Russ and I were in Anchorage, I stumbled across Mr. Seeger’s pad. I couldn’t help noticing that there was a page ripped out ... a page with an edge that looked very much like this one.”

Ben Seeger’s eyes had narrowed. “What are you implying?”

Dr. Wells looked puzzled. “You must have brought along your Write-in-the-Rain book, Ben, didn’t you?”

Ben kept his cold gaze on Laurel a little longer before turning his attention to Dr. Wells. “To tell you the truth, I’m not sure I have it today.”

“Why don’t you check your backpack?” Dr. Wells suggested. “Maybe it will help get this settled once and for all.”

“Well, I—” He hesitated, looking from Dr. Wells to Russ and then back to Laurel. With a loud sigh, he dropped his pack on the wooden floor and began rifling through it. “Here it is. Now if you’d just tell me what this is all about—”

“May I see it?” Laurel took the book from him. She opened it, expecting to see the same jagged edge she’d stumbled upon yesterday. Yet much to her amazement, it was gone. The only thing the least bit unusual about the book was a single even edge, about a half-inch wide, that stuck out near the binding. It was clear that a page had been ripped out—but whatever telltale signs had been left behind had been trimmed with a razor.

“But—but I thought ... yesterday, in your office....” Desperately Laurel looked at Russ. He was wearing a look of confusion that echoed what she was feeling.

Dr. Wells was frowning. “Laurel, Russ, I think you need to go back to the beginning and tell me what this is all about.”

She could feel her face turning red. “There has to be some explanation.”

“There is,” a male voice suddenly boomed. “A perfectly good explanation.”

She whirled around. Looming in the doorway was Jim Whitehorse. In his hand was a large manila envelope.

“Whitehorse!” Ben Seeger said. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough to hear what these two had to say. And to realize that it’s time for my long silence to end.”

“Keep out of this, Whitehorse,” Ben said. “None of this is your concern!”

“As a matter of fact, it’s very much my concern.” Jim Whitehorse’s cold gaze rested on Ben for a long time before he turned his attention to the others. “Dr. Wells, what Laurel and Russ thought they figured out yesterday happens to be one hundred percent true. Maybe they can’t prove it ... but I can.”

Dr. Wells looked astonished. “Surely you’re not saying you think Ben is responsible for the bear poachings!”

“I’m afraid our state official here has discovered there’s more money to be made by breaking the laws then by upholding them.”

The tall man spoke in a low, even voice. “Over the past six or eight months, Ben has been regularly leading visitors to the Kenai out on adventurous expeditions. He guarantees them a front-row seat in a bear-hunting expedition—one that just happens to be illegal. He gets the opportunity to make a great deal of money. The tourists, meanwhile, get the thrill of watching an ‘expert’—an expert who deftly chases and herds bears. They even get to bring home a claw as a souvenir. It makes a lovely paperweight, a real conversation piece. Of course, some people prefer to wear them around their necks, on a chain. Kind of like a trophy.

“Yes, Mr. Seeger here had a nice little sideline going. And carrying it off was simple. He had access to the planes, no one looking over his shoulder.... As for the tourists, they had a grand time. There was only one rule: no photographs. Fortunately, that rule doesn’t apply to those of us who only hunt bears according to the rules.”

Ben Seeger looked as if he were going to burst. “Why, you.... Lies! These are all lies, I tell you!”

Dr. Wells held up his hand for silence. “Let him speak.”

Jim Whitehorse glared at Ben before going on. “Three or four months ago, when I first discovered that Ben was padding his own pockets by taking tourists on these little hunting trips, I confronted him. He tried to blackmail me, saying that if I didn’t keep my mouth shut, he’d find a way to pin the poachings on me.

“A threat like that was something to think about. After all, I don’t have the political connections this man has. I’m not pals with the local police, the way he is. If it ever came down to my word against his, there’d be no contest.”

Jim shook his head slowly. “To tell you the truth, I’ve been wrestling with this problem for a long time. I’m a man who likes to keep to himself. I’m happy having as little to do with the outside world—especially the government—as possible.

“But I can’t keep silent any longer. I’ve been having a hard enough time living with myself. I find my happiness living off this land, just like the bears and the other animals around Wolf Lake. If they aren’t safe here, then neither am I.”

“So you were right,” Dr. Wells said to Laurel and Russ. “This little investigation of yours really did lead you to the guilty party.”

Jim nodded in their direction. “These two did a fine job. In fact, knowing that these kids were willing to invest their time and energy trying to get to the bottom of this dirty little mystery was a big factor in helping me decide to come forward with the truth. Frankly, I was kind of worried about what might happen to them. Ben knew they were sniffing around, trying to come up with some answers. He saw them that day they came to my cabin. He was there, looking for me. He’d come around every now and then to make sure I wasn’t getting any funny ideas. I guess that’s the day he left them that note.”

“Yes,” said Laurel, nodding. “That’s exactly when we found it.”

Jim Whitehorse held out the envelope. “These photographs are all you’ll need. Just hand them over to the authorities; they’ll know what to do.”

Before pressing the envelope into Dr. Wells’s hand, he added, “I know Ben’s a friend of yours. I’m sure you must feel torn over this. But I hope that, in the end, you’ll do what’s right.”

Slowly Dr. Wells opened the envelope. His expression grew stricken as he looked through the black-and-white photographs. The one that Laurel glanced at was a picture of two planes, flying low to the ground. Not far below them was a bear. A man was leaning out of one of the planes with a hunting rifle pointed at the bear. And the identity of the man was unmistakable.

He slid the photos back into the envelope, then cast a questioning look at his old friend. Ben Seeger, in turn, was unable to meet his gaze.

“Yes,” Dr. Wells said simply. “I have no choice but to do what’s right.”

He glanced first at Laurel, then at Russ. He said nothing, but his eyes were filled with sadness.

* * * *

The next morning, an air of lethargy hung about the cabin. Dr. Wells left the lake early, not even taking the time for breakfast. Mariah sat on the front porch, distractedly massaging her sore ankle as she watched him climb into the Jeep. She was struck by the slump of his shoulders and his look of grim determination as he headed into Anchorage to do a job he was hardly looking forward to, yet knew had to be done.

She gradually became aware that she wasn’t the only one watching his departure. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that Laurel stood right behind her. She was leaning in the doorway and shielding her eyes against the sun, pale and round as it hovered low in the gray-blue sky.

“You know,” Laurel mused, “when I opened that notebook and saw that the jagged edge was gone, I was almost relieved. My first thought was that I’d been wrong, that Mr. Seeger really didn’t have anything to do with the bear poachings.”

“Jim Whitehorse took care of any doubts you may have had,” said Mariah. “Those photographs of his made it clear that Seeger was taking would-be hunters for joyrides. I can’t believe we all misjudged him so badly. I know Trip and the others feel just as betrayed as I do—not to mention Dr. Wells.

“I can’t stop thinking about those poor bears! Can you imagine how terrified they must have been, having not one but two planes hunt them down?”

“I still can’t quite believe it.” Shaking her head slowly, Laurel came over to the edge of the porch and sat down next to Mariah. “This whole thing has been like a dream. Or maybe I should say a nightmare. All of it seems so unreal: finding the dead bears, launching our own small-time investigation, finding that note....”

She fell silent, picking up a twig and drawing designs in the dirt below the porch. “You know, Mariah,” she said slowly, “I have a confession to make.” She kept her eyes down as she said, “For a while, I suspected that you were the one who sent me that note.”

“Me?” Mariah repeated, incredulous. “How on earth did you ever come up with that conclusion?”

“Your pen. The note Ben Seeger left for me to find had been written with a Rapidograph. Right after you hurt your ankle, when I was getting paper out of your backpack, I found yours.”

“It’s true that I happen to own a Rapidograph. But so do a few million other people. That still doesn’t explain why I’d go around leaving weird notes for you to find.”

Laurel shrugged. “I thought you were jealous.”

“Well, of all the....” Mariah let her voice trail off. “You’re right, Laurel. I was jealous of you.”

For a moment Laurel was silent, trying to digest the full meaning of her confession. “I guess that explains a lot. About why you and I have never been able to be friends, I mean.” Glancing over shyly, she asked, “But why, Mariah? Why would someone like you ever be jealous of me? You’re smart, you’re accomplished, you’re a whiz at science—”

“Dr. Ames’s research project, for one thing. I wanted to be picked for that so badly.” With a cold laugh, she added, “Mainly because I figured it’d look good on my transcript when I applied to medical schools.”

Laurel nodded. “It probably would have. But you’ve just finished your freshman year. You’ve still got lots of time for special projects that’ll help your applications stand out.”

“Funny thing about that.” Mariah swept away a strand of long dark hair that had fallen into her eyes and gazed off into the distance, “Last night, when I was up in the loft and that bear was looking right at me, for the first time in my life I really understood that we’re all on this planet for a limited time. At our age, it’s hard to comprehend. But when a thousand pound monster’s staring at you from less than ten feet away, that fact suddenly seems incredibly real.