The Ghost at Camp David (4 page)

Anna came in carrying a tray. “I made scrambled eggs,” she said. “Or there’s cereal, if you prefer that.”

“Eggs are great, thanks,” KC said.

Anna set plates of eggs and toast in front of KC and Marshall.

“I have to drive to town for a few lunch things,” Anna told them. “I’ll be back soon.
Would you like to come with me?”

“No, we’ll be fine,” KC said.

They heard Anna close the door as she left.

Marshall stuck his fork into his eggs. “Oh, I heard it again,” he said.

“Heard what?” KC asked. She nibbled her toast.

“That bumping noise,” he said. “You know, under the bathroom floor.”

“Is there a basement under our cabin?” KC asked.

“I don’t think so,” Marshall said. “There’s no door to get to it.”

“We should ask Anna if she ever heard noises when she was over there,” KC said.

“First let’s ask Gus to take us to the beaver pond,” Marshall said. He had an orange juice mustache.

They finished breakfast and headed outside. Gus was standing next to a truck, talking to another man. A third man was working at a metal box at the top of a telephone pole.

“Don’t say anything about last night,” KC said.

“Why not?” Marshall asked.

“Because if it was all a dream, I’ll feel like a jerk,” KC said. “But if there really was someone creeping around in the cabin, it could have been Gus.”

The kids walked toward the men. When they got closer, KC read the words THURMONT TELEPHONE on the side of the truck.

“Morning, kids,” Gus said when he saw them. “The president had to leave real early, eh? I saw the helicopter take off.”

“Yes, but he said he’d be back soon,” KC said. “Are they fixing the phones?”

“Yes’m,” Gus said. “It’s a broken wire. Should be done in a jiffy.”

“Can you show us the beaver pond?” Marshall asked. “The president said we should ask you.”

“Be happy to,” Gus said. “Give me a while to wrap up a few things.”

“Let’s wait in Aspen,” KC said. “Maybe my stepfather will call me when the phone is fixed.”

Back inside the lodge, KC found a book and curled up on a sofa. Marshall walked around the room, poking at the walls and bookshelves.

“What’re you doing?” KC asked.

“Seeing if I can find the passage your stepdad told us about,” he said.

“Marsh, it’s supposed to be top secret,” KC said.

Marshall wiggled his eyebrows up and down. “That’s why I want to find it!”

Just then the telephone rang, making KC jump. She answered it. “Hello, Aspen Lodge. No, she’s not working today. She has a cold. Anna is taking her place, but she went shopping.”

KC listened for a minute, then hung up.

“Who was that?” Marshall asked. He rapped his knuckles on the side of a bookcase.

“Someone asking for Florence,” KC said. “When I said she wasn’t here, the guy said he saw her go to work yesterday. She was coming here, Marsh.”

“So maybe she got sick after she got
here, then went home,” Marshall said. He looked behind a small cabinet.

KC watched Marshall try to find the secret passageway to the tunnel. She thought about everything that had happened since they arrived at Camp David yesterday.

“Come on, Marsh,” she said.

“Where are we going?” Marshall asked. “I feel like I’m getting close to the secret door!”

“We’re going to find out what’s thumping under our cabin,” KC said.

“You said it was the pipes,” Marshall said.

“That was before weird things started happening around here,” KC said. She grabbed Marshall’s arm and headed for the door.

“Like what?” Marshall asked.

KC counted off on her fingers. “Like knocking noises under our bathroom floor, windows left open in rainstorms, bats in our cabin, guys creeping around while I’m sleeping …”

“I thought you decided that was a dream,” Marshall said.

“I changed my mind,” KC said.

They crossed the lawn and stepped inside Witch Hazel.

KC went into the bathroom. Marshall followed. They both stood and listened for strange noises.

“Do you hear anything?” KC asked.

Marshall shook his head.

KC ran to the chest and got her flashlight. She came back, kneeled down, and tapped the flashlight on the pipe under the sink. She waited a few seconds, then tapped again.

“Try turning on the water,” Marshall suggested.

KC turned on the water faucet, then turned it off.

Then they heard it. Soft bangs under the floor.

“It’s the pipes,” Marshall said. “You were right.”

KC tapped the pipe with her flashlight three times.

Three taps came back.

KC looked at Marshall. She tapped again, four times.

Four taps came back.

“Do pipes know how to count?” KC asked Marshall.

Marshall stared at KC with huge eyes. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“Marsh, someone is down there!” KC said. “Someone heard me tapping and answered with the same number of taps.”

Marshall licked his lips. “Who do you think it is?” he asked. “I mean, what if it’s some … some swamp monster or something!”

“Yeah, a monster who knows how to count to four,” KC said. She ran into the other room and began pushing one end of the sofa.

“What the heck are you doing?” Marshall asked.

“If someone is under our floor, how did they get there?” KC asked. “There must be a hidden door! Help me move this thing!”

KC and Marshall shoved the sofa off the rug. KC lifted the rug and looked underneath. “Not here,” she said, flopping the rug back down. “Check all the walls!”

They began tapping on the walls. They found no hollow spots, no strange cracks, nothing that looked like a hidden door.

“Let’s check my room,” Marshall said.

While Marshall was knocking on the walls, KC pulled his bed away from where it was standing. “It’s here!” KC whispered.

In the corner of the room, under the head of Marshall’s bed, was a trapdoor. It had been cut into the floor. There was a ring for pulling the door up.

“Oh my gosh!” Marshall croaked. “I was sleeping right on top of it! Something could have reached up and …!”

“Marsh, chill and help me open it,” KC said.

“Are you nuts?” Marshall asked.

KC raced into the other room. She came back with her Swiss Army knife and handed it to Marshall. “Okay, now let’s see what’s down there.”

She put two fingers inside the ring and pulled. The hinged door came up. KC and Marshall stared into a dark hole. They could see dirt walls on both sides. It smelled damp and felt cold.

“This is what we smelled when we came here yesterday,” KC said. “Dirt.”

KC shone her flashlight into the hole. A short wooden ladder led down. The floor was also dirt. KC could see footprints.

“What’s that white thing?” Marshall asked. He grabbed KC’s hand and aimed the light at a different spot.

“It looks like a food container,” KC said. “Like Chinese food.”

Marshall giggled. “Do monsters eat Chinese takeout food?”

“I’m going down there,” KC said. “You coming?”

“No, I’m getting ready to faint!” Marshall said.

KC shoved her flashlight into her sweatshirt pouch. She sat at the edge of the hole and placed her feet on the top step. “Last chance,” she told Marshall.

“Okay! Okay! What do you think, I’m staying up here alone?” he asked.

In a minute, both kids were standing at
the bottom of the hole. It was a dark, damp, and smelly place. KC felt shivers creeping up her spine.

She aimed the light around the walls. “Someone dug this,” she said. The dirt was reddish brown, flecked with small stones. The hole was narrow and about five feet deep. KC could touch both walls with her hands. She shivered. It was cold down there.

“I hear something!” Marshall whispered.

KC listened. She heard a sort of humming noise.

She aimed the light beam in front of her. The hole was really the beginning of a tunnel. Seven feet ahead of them, the tunnel turned a corner.

KC walked forward, with Marshall nearly stepping on her heels. The humming noise grew louder when they went around the bend.

They both saw it at once. At the end of the flashlight beam lay a large white bundle. Rope tied the bundle to a black pipe that ran down the side of the tunnel. The bundle was moving. The humming sound turned into a moan.

“Oh my gosh,” gasped Marshall.

KC tilted the flashlight upward. The white bundle had a face and long, dark hair. Its mouth was covered with tape. Wide, frightened eyes stared right at KC and Marshall.

KC and Marshall ran to the prisoner. On their knees, they began to work on the ropes.

“Wait,” Marshall said. He had slipped KC’s knife into his pocket. Now he pulled it out and started to cut the rope.

KC peeled the tape from the woman’s mouth. She had been wrapped in a sheet. Her arms and legs were also tied.

“Thank you. Thank you,” the woman whispered.

In a few moments she was untied. She rubbed her wrists and ankles. “I’m so cold,” she said.

“Who are you?” KC asked.

The woman looked at her. “I am Florence,” she said. Florence had a long, thin body. Her arms, legs, and gray dress were stained from the red dirt.

“Can you walk?” KC asked. “We can go up to our cabin.”

“I think so, but I twisted my ankle when they threw me down here,” Florence said. “If you help me, I might be able.”

Marshall and KC helped Florence stand on one foot. She had to crouch so her head wouldn’t bump the tunnel ceiling. Then they helped her up the ladder. Soon she was lying on Marshall’s bed with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Marshall replaced the trapdoor.

“I am thirsty,” Florence said.

KC ran into the bathroom for a glass of water.

“What happened to you?” Marshall asked.

“Anna and her husband,” the woman said. “They put me down there yesterday. They are bad people.”

“But Anna told us you were sick,” KC said. “She said she was taking your place as housekeeper for the president. He’s my stepfather.”

“I know. The president has told me about you,” Florence said. “But Anna told you lies. They tied me up so they could steal all the good silver from Aspen Lodge! The husband—his name is Casper—he has been digging a tunnel under this cabin all week. The tunnel will connect to the one under Aspen. They planned to take the silver out through this cabin today or tomorrow.”

“Marsh, Anna said she went into town,” KC said. “She might be back any minute! We can’t let her find us!”

“Let’s get out of here!” Marshall said. “We have to hide somewhere!”

“I’m sorry,” Florence said. “I don’t think I can walk very well.”

“I have an idea,” Marshall said. “Come on!”

They left Florence on the bed and raced to the front room. “Let’s move the couch in front of the door,” Marshall said.

Each taking one end, they were able to shove the sofa until it blocked the door.

KC pulled down the window shade, then peeked out. “I don’t see anyone at Aspen,” she said. “But Anna could be back by now. Marsh, we need help. One of us should climb out your bedroom window
and go find either Gus or a marine guard.”