Dunc and Amos and the Red Tattoos (5 page)

Dunc shook his head. “He’s moved everything that was on the desk. But I know there’s something here. We’re just missing it somehow.”

They looked around the walls of the infirmary. Nothing seemed out of place. Amos took a
step backward and knocked down a stack of the white medical boxes.

Dunc picked up one of the boxes. “Amos, you’ve got to be more careful—wait a minute, look at this!”

The top of the box had been stamped with an exotic red flower.

“Let’s open one,” Amos said. “It’s probably drugs or something illegal.”

Dunc opened a box. “Medical supplies.” He opened several others. “They all have medical supplies.”

Amos scratched his head. “I don’t get it. Why would anybody go to the trouble of putting that red stamp on a bunch of medical supplies?”

Dunc was deep in thought. He snapped his fingers. “It all fits together. Amos, we’ve got to get the sheriff up here.”

•
11

“It’s time. Everybody’s over in the dining hall now. Do you know what to do?” Dunc asked.

Amos was sitting at a desk in front of the camp’s intercom system. “I know what to do. You’ve made me go over it five thousand times.”

They had waited until everyone from the administration office had gone to lunch and just walked right in the front door. Dunc used the phone to call the sheriff. Amos was about to use the intercom.

Dunc started for the door.

“Give me five minutes.”

He ran as hard as he could to the dining hall and positioned himself behind a tree.

Amos watched the clock. The seconds ticked by. He took a deep breath and flipped the switch. A loud crackling noise came over the system.

He cleared his throat. “Attention, all campers! May I have your attention please!”

Amos grinned. Part of him wanted to do what Dunc said, but another part was starting to get into it. The microphone was too much.

“All you boys and girls out there in Gitchee Goomee-land. This is your lucky day. I’m comin’ at you with an announcement that is guaranteed to blow your socks off.”

From behind his tree Dunc could hear the intercom clearly. He frowned—what was Amos doing? Man, if he messed this up …

By now, Amos had the microphone in one hand and was whirling around the room, talking like a disc jockey on a radio.

“Be glad you tuned in today, kiddies. We have a way-out news flash just for you. The stolen money has been found. I repeat—the concession stand and equipment fund money has been found.”

Dunc had his eyes on the door of the dining hall. He could still hear Amos.

“Stay tuned to this station for further events. Reported straight to you as they happen. But now let’s get down. Back to the music. Our request line is open twenty-four hours a day. We play the hottest tunes. Completely uninterrupted by commercials.”

Amos looked at his watch. Five minutes exactly. Sadly he put the microphone down and raced out the door.

Dunc was starting to wonder if their plan was going to work.

He needn’t have worried.

The front doors of the dining hall flew open. Chuck, Adolf, and Mr. Phillips came barreling out. Dunc followed at a distance.

They ran past the bushes where Amos was waiting. He fell in behind Dunc.

The men ran to the infirmary and burst in, leaving the door open.

Dunc moved to one side of the door, put his fingers to his lips, and motioned Amos to listen at the other side of the door.

Mr. Phillips yelled into the doctor’s face.

“What was that all about? How could anyone have found it? You were supposed to have hidden it!”

Chuck stuffed about five pieces of gum into his mouth. “Yeah, Major. You said it was hid real good.”

The doctor pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the medicine cabinet. He moved some of the items and felt around on the bottom shelf. He pulled out a blue zippered pouch and opened it.

“It’s all here safe and sound. That intercom stunt must have been a joke. Just some punk kids playing around. Don’t worry.” He put the pouch back in the medicine cabinet.

Dunc smiled—he and Amos had them. Everything was going exactly the way he had planned.

Or it was until Amos hiccuped.

Amos clapped his hand over his mouth, but it was too late. Everyone in the room turned and looked in their direction.

The boys turned to jump off the porch, but Adolf and Chuck grabbed them in midair and held them up like dead fish.

“What have we here?” The doctor looked at them over the top of his glasses. “You two have been here before. Perhaps once too often.”

The two counselors threw them into the middle of the floor in a pile.

Dunc rubbed his sore throat. “Excuse me, gentlemen. We were trying to locate the rest room. Could any of you direct us?”

Chuck grabbed him by the front of his shirt. “Shut up, dog breath! You speak only when the major speaks to you. Got it?”

Dunc nodded.

Mr. Phillips was nervous. He kept chewing the same fingernail and repeating, “What are we going to do?”

“Get ahold of yourself, Theo,” the doctor ordered.

He looked at Adolf. “Sergeant, close the door and pull those curtains shut.”

The doctor was clearly in charge. He put his hand on Dunc’s shoulder.

“We have an unfortunate situation here. But not one that can’t be easily remedied.”

He patted Amos’s head. “These children will simply have to be held until it’s safe.”

Amos looked at Dunc.

The doctor went on. “Our operation is far too cost-effective to let a little problem like this get in our way.” He jerked his thumb toward the side room. “Lock them in there for now.”

•
12

Amos sat down on the bed. “I don’t guess our getting caught figures into your overall plan.”

Dunc was listening at the door. “Not so you could tell it.”

“The sheriff
did
say he was coming, didn’t he?”

“I don’t know how seriously he took my call. He said he’d send a unit as soon as one became available.”

Amos started to worry. “What if that’s not until next month?”

The conversation from the other room started to get loud. The doctor was trying to convince the rest of them to ship the medical
supplies tonight, then just tell everybody the boys were making it all up.

“Our contacts in Mexico will pay double if we can pull this off tonight.”

“What’s he talking about?” Amos whispered.

Dunc frowned. “Somehow these guys are using this camp as a base for stolen medical supplies. Their symbol is that red flower. They ship the stuff to somewhere in Mexico. Wiggleston must have gotten suspicious, so they tried to get him out of the way.”

Amos put his head in his hands. “What are they going to do to us?”

Dunc rubbed his chin. “Let’s try not to think about that right now. Help me find a way out of here.”

He looked around the room. There were no windows because it was an add-on to the original cabin. The only door was the one they had come through. A rock fireplace took up one whole corner. The only furniture in the room was a bed and a dresser.

Dunc moved over to the fireplace. “Help me move this screen.”

Amos looked at him. “I really don’t think this is the time to redecorate.”

“Get over here.”

“Okay, okay.”

They moved it to the side. Dunc bent down and looked up the chimney.

“You’re not going to do what I think you’re going to do, are you?” Amos asked.

Dunc crawled inside the fireplace. “I think one of us might be able to squeeze through here.”

“
One of us?
”

“The top gets a little narrow.”

“
One of us?
”

“Amos, you’re our only hope. You may be thin enough to get through. I’d get stuck for sure.”

Amos shook his head. “Things always happen to me.”

“Hurry, Amos. I think they’re through talking. You’ve got to go. Now.”

Amos crawled into the fireplace. The inside rocks gave him footholds and helped him work his way up.

He was almost out when the door burst
open. Adolf grabbed Dunc’s arm. “Where’s the other one?”

“What other one?”

“Don’t get smart with me, kid! Where’s your friend?”

“Dunc!” Amos screamed. “I’m stuck up here! I can’t move!”

Adolf reached up into the fireplace. He grabbed Amos’s foot and pulled his tennis shoe off. “Come out of there, you little runt!”

Amos was wedged in tight. He could just see over the top of the chimney. He saw Mr. Wiggleston walking across the exercise field with a deputy sheriff.

“Over here!” Amos yelled. “Help!”

•
13

They were home. Amos was stretched out on the bed watching Dunc unpack.

“I still can’t believe we pulled it off,” Dunc said. “That gang of crooks has been into black marketing since their days in the war together. It kind of gives you a good feeling to know they’re behind bars.”

Amos arranged the pillows. “Right now, there are only two things that give me a good feeling. One is being able to lie on this bed. Just because I want to. The second is not being stuck in that stupid chimney.”

“That was bad. Especially when that forest
ranger grabbed your legs to pull you down. You should have had your belt tighter.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Those pants came right off.”

“I said I don’t want to talk about it.”

“It wouldn’t have been so awful, except they finally ended up pulling you out from the top.”

“I
really
don’t want to talk about it.”

“Who would have guessed that the whole camp would turn out to watch?”

“Dunc!”

“I can understand how you feel. If a couple hundred people saw me covered with soot, running around on a roof in my underwear, I might be a little upset too.”

“Are you through?”

“I’m only trying to sympathize with you. Tell you what a bad deal I thought it was.”

Amos sat up. “You’ve told me. Now, if we never talk about that dumb camp again, it will be too soon.”

“I just need to tell you one more thing.”

“Only one?”

Dunc held up his hand. “I promise.”

“Okay. But only one.”

“We got a letter from Mr. Wiggleston.”

“That’s nice.”

“He was so grateful to us that he sent us a reward.”

“Really? How much?”

“It’s not money.”

Amos started to lie back down. “Well, if it’s not money, what is it?”

“He gave us five free summers at camp.”

Downstairs the front door slammed and Dunc turned around.

Amos was gone.