The Eskimo's Secret (7 page)

“I called to tell you to go back to Seattle,” Alana reminded her.

“I can’t,” Nancy said simply. She looked up at the man who’d returned from the rear of the lodge with a plate of brownies. He was a young man of Eskimo descent and his dark eyes and smile seemed quite friendly.

“This is Ben Qinggoq,” Alana said. “His grandfather was the master artist who created the Tundra.”

Nancy shook hands with the young man, but her frown stayed in place. “I don’t understand,” she admitted. “What’s the discovery you made at Firebird Lodge?”

“When I was cataloging the individual carvings in the Tundra, I kept feeling I’d seen some of them before,” Alana began. “It haunted me. Then the day you called me, I remembered where I’d seen such carvings. They were here.” She pointed to the mantel.

“Here?” Nancy got to her feet and crossed to the huge, smoke-darkened slab of wood that stood above the inlaid stone fireplace. As soon as she drew close, she could see what Alana meant. There was a whole series of creatures carved in the edge of the mantel.

“My parents brought me here when I was just a child. They were visiting Uncle Clement, but all I remembered were those carvings. I loved them so much.”

“They’re exquisite,” Nancy murmured tracing one with the tip of her finger. “But I still

don’t understand why it was so important.” “When the Firebird Lodge was being used for tourists, the mantel was quite a celebrated piece,” Ben Qinggoq said, coming to stand beside Nancy. “My grandfather was an angry, stubborn man. He’d refused to show any more work after the villagers sold the Tundra, but his name and his talent were still known to collectors and this was the only example of it still available. People came here to see the mantel and to talk about the legend of the Tundra.” Alana nodded. “The owners of the lodge even had a brochure printed up showing the mantel and telling the legend about the man who’d carved it. I had the brochure, and when I came upon it recently, I had the whole story. That’s when I knew why the Tundra was stolen and by whom.”

Nancy stared at the quiet brunette in shock. “You know who stole the Tundra?” she gasped.

Alana’s gray eyes warmed and she smiled. “As soon as I knew why it was taken, it was easy to figure out who took it,” she explained.

“But why didn’t you call someone?” Nancy demanded. “The authorities suspect you or your uncle of stealing it, Alana. And your uncle is frantic with worry about you.” Then Nancy suddenly remembered the tape recording of her father’s voice and the warning she’d been given.

“It’s not quite that simple, Nancy,” Alana said.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve been hiding here ever since I escaped,” Alana answered. “And I can’t go home because I can’t go to the authorities.”

Nancy made a sputtering noise of frustration as all the questions tripped over her tongue. “Escaped from whom?” she finally managed.

“From Jasper Cole and Felix Borge,” Alana answered.

“Cole?” Nancy frowned.

“A nephew of the original purchaser of the Tundra,” Ben supplied.

Alana nodded. “They were also former partners of Franklin Cole,” she explained. “Junior partners, I’d guess, since they’re men in their late thirties, and Franklin Cole was in his seventies when he died. Anyway, they told me they’d worked with him on his collection when they approached me with offers of information about the history of the Tundra.”

“They approached you?” Nancy began to see the first outlines of the pattern of what Alana was telling her.

“At the time, I just thought they were being helpful,” Alana admitted ruefully. “They did give me some information. I just didn’t realize they were getting as much information from me as they were supplying.”

“What kind of information?” Nancy asked. Alana’s expression grew sad. “It doesn’t matter. I finally realized what was happening and that’s when I talked to you the first time. At that moment, I thought you might be able to help; but it was already too late.”

“Too late for what?” Nancy frowned, not liking the turn of the conversation.

“An hour later I was kidnapped,” Alana answered simply.

“Kidnapped?” Nancy felt a chill at the similarity between Alana’s story and what had happened to her father.

“Lured from the house by a phone call, then I was knocked out. Anyway, one minute I was sitting in my car waiting to talk to someone about the Tundra, and the next minute I woke up in the hold of an old boat. I never saw anyone or heard anything. There were no portholes in the boat and the door was barred. There was food and water. I don’t even know how long I was locked in.”

“How terrible.” Nancy shivered. “How did you escape?”

“That’s where Ben comes in,” Alana said. The Eskimo smiled shyly. “I fish at dawn most days,” he said. “I’d noticed the old boat anchored near the island and I was curious. The fish weren’t biting, so I went closer for a look. I heard someone beating on the hull and screaming for help. It was Alana.”

“And you rescued her.” It wasn’t a question. Hope flooded through Nancy. If one kidnap victim had been placed in a boat, why not a second? “Where is this boat?” Nancy asked. “Whom does it belong to?”

Ben looked startled. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know where it is?”

He shook his head. “I went back to check it once Alana was safely hidden here with my friends, but it was gone.”

“They must have gone out to get me,” Alana said, smiling. “I’ll bet they were surprised to find the cabin empty.”

“Who are they?” Nancy asked.

“Cole and Borge,” Alana answered without hesitation.

“If you know, why haven’t you gone to the authorities?” Nancy demanded.

“I can’t do that to Uncle Clement,” Alana an-swered.

“What does he have to do with it?” Nancy asked.

“When I got here, the TV and the papers were full of details of the robbery,” Alana said.

“That’s when I knew what the kidnappers had demanded as the ransom for me—the Tundra.” Her smile was sad. “Uncle Clement gave it to them in exchange for my life.”

“Well, if that’s true, why can’t you go to the authorities? Once they know the whole story, your uncle won’t be blamed.”

“Without proof?” Alana asked. “Do you think they would believe me?”

“Well, Ben would tell them about finding you,” Nancy reminded her.

Alana considered, then shook her head. “I don’t think they would believe us,” she said. “And even if they do, do you think any collector would ever trust the Steele Gallery again? My uncle would be ruined and it would be all my fault.”

“It wasn’t your fault you were kidnapped,” Nancy protested. “Besides, none of this makes any sense, Alana. If those men were Franklin Cole’s partners, why didn’t they just buy the Tundra from his widow? Why would they steal it?”

“That’s the piece of the puzzle that Ben gave me,” Alana said. “Will you explain it to her?” Ben sighed. “The Tundra, beautiful as it is, has a value beyond itself. The legend is true. The secret that gives the location of the treasures my grandfather took from Seal Bay is concealed within that sculpture. That’s why those two were so anxious to have it.”

“But how did they know?” Nancy asked. “Franklin Cole probably,” Ben answered. “I imagine he knew the story well, since he was a part of it in the beginning. That’s why he never would show the Tundra. I guess he always believed he’d figure it out someday.”

“But he didn’t, did he?” Nancy said.

“No, and so his partners are trying to complete Franklin Cole’s dream,” Ben agreed.

Nancy nodded. “But where do you fit in, Ben?” she asked.

“I came to Victoria for the same reason,” Ben replied. “Only I was just going to look at the Tundra while it was on display.”

“Do you know the secret of the sculpture?” Nancy gasped.

“According to the old men of Seal Bay, I do,” he answered. “They gave me a message from my grandfather, words he told them when he knew he was dying. You see, he’d never told anyone where the treasures were hidden. That was his punishment to them for having sold his treasures—that and the fact that he told them the Tundra was the key. Unfortunately, what he told them makes no sense at all to me. I came here hoping that if I studied the Tundra carefully, I could figure out what his words mean.”

“And now it’s gone and Ben won’t have the chance,” Alana said. “Again, it’s all my fault, Nancy.”

“Do you think Cole and Borge can find the treasure now that they have the Tundra?” Nancy asked.

Alana shrugged, then looked to Ben for the answer.

He shook his head. “I doubt it. Franklin Cole had years to study it. Without the secret my grandfather knew, it is just a beautiful master-piece—a priceless collection of his carvings.”

“I guess that explains something else,” Nancy said.

“What do you mean?” Alana said.

Nancy took a deep breath and explained about her father’s disappearance and the call she’d received at the hotel.

“You mean they want me?” Alana gasped.

Nancy nodded. “They seem to think you know the secret of the sculpture.”

Alana closed her eyes as though in pain. “They’re wrong, of course.”

“But they have my father.”

“Even I couldn’t help them solve it,” Ben said.

“What are we going to do?” Alana asked. “I don’t know anyone to ask for help. I tried to call Tod to ask him to tell my uncle I’m all right, but there was no answer at his apartment.”

“Tod is in the hospital,” Nancy interrupted. “Besides, I think his phone may be tapped.” She quickly explained about Tod’s accident and the break-in that had occurred that afternoon. Alana was even more upset by this news.

“I know how they got into the house,” Alana said sadly. “They took my keys when they kidnapped me.” She sighed. “But why would they do that? Why search the house?”

“They were evidently looking for your notebook.” Nancy explained how she had found it in Alana’s room.

“But it wouldn’t have helped them to solve anything,” Alana protested.

“I’m sure they know that now,” Nancy told her. “They didn’t get it the first time because I had it in my purse, but they did get it the second time. I left it in the room when I went to visit Tod.”

“These people are so desperate now,” Ben said. “I wonder why they didn’t just buy the piece from the widow. Surely she would have let them have it since they were her husband’s former partners.”

Alana shook her head. “I don’t think so. She was very adamant about the sale of the Tundra. She told Uncle Clement that it wasn’t to be sold to anyone who wouldn’t display it. I got the feeling that it was something she and her husband had quarreled about for years.”

“I’m surprised they didn’t have someone else make an offer for them,” Nancy said. “A slightly fraudulent purchase would certainly have been less risky than an out-and-out theft, even with your uncle forced into helping them.”

“They probably did,” Alana said. “Mrs. Cole warned Uncle Clement to check out every pro-spective buyer very carefully.”

Nancy sighed wearily. “We have to stop them,” she said. “And we have to get Dad back.”

“But how?” Alana asked.

The sound of a car door loudly slamming out in front of the lodge interrupted her.

“Could that be the men who were chasing you earlier?” Ben remarked, his gaze going to Nancy.

She could only shrug as he flipped off the overhead lamp and moved on tiptoe to the window. The light from the flickering fireplace made eerie shadows and they could all hear the sounds of footsteps on the creaking boards of the wide front porch.

Nancy got to her feet and joined Ben at the window. The car was parked in a patch of moonlight bright enough to show the marks of mud that had dried nearly halfway up the sides.

“It’s those men,” she whispered.

“What’ll we do?” Alana gasped.

“You two go out the back door and circle around to the front,” Ben ordered. “They don’t know me, so I’ll talk to them.”

“We’ll stay near my car,” Nancy said, “in case we have to leave in a hurry.”

The girls nodded, and Nancy followed Alana toward the rear of the old lodge. Once they left the lobby, the darkness was so complete she could see nothing but the pale blur of her friend’s blouse. The halls were uncluttered and Alana moved with confidence until they reached the dimly lit kitchen. Here Alana paused for a moment.

Nancy slipped by her and peered out the kitchen window. The area beyond was dark, and tall evergreens shadowed the house. There was no sign of movement there. “I think it’s safe,” she whispered, even as the pounding sounds came from the front of the house.

Alana opened the door and the two of them stepped out into the cool darkness. The sound of the pounding was still audible. A man’s voice shouted for admittance. Then abruptly the sounds ceased. Nancy followed around the crossed-log corners of the house toward the front.

“What do you want?” Ben asked, somehow managing to sound both angry and sleepy.

“We’re here to see Nancy Drew,” one of the men said.

“There’s no one here by that name,” Ben told them calmly.

“Her car is out in your lot,” the man grumbled, not giving up.

“I can’t help that. She’s not here.” Ben didn’t yield an inch.

“I don’t believe you.”

“I don’t really care whether you do or not.

Now if you’ll just get on your way, I’d appreciate it. All this noise will disturb the people who live here. We—” Ben s words were interrupted by the sounds of a scuffle, then the door slammed. Nancy peeked in the living room window and saw two men standing in the lobby with Ben.

“Are those two Cole and Borge?” Nancy whispered to Alana.

Alana peeked in, and then shook her head. “I’ve never seen them before, but that voice is familiar. I heard it once when I met with Cole and Borge to discuss the history of the Tundra. I’m sure he works for them, so they probably both do.”