The Mystery of the Death Trap Mine - M. V. Carey [36]
The sheriff’s car raced in after it and braked
abruptly. Sheriff Tait got out and glanced at the
wreck of the shack, which was now a glowing
heap. “Looks like the emergency’s over, Sam,”
said the sheriff to the man at the wheel of the fire engine. Then Tait came toward Wesley Thurgood. “What happened?” he demanded. “Sounded in town like the whole mountain fell on you.”
Jupiter stepped forward quickly. “I set fire to the shack,” he said. “There were two men breaking into Mr. Thurgood’s cabin and I wanted to attract some attention — but that’s not important now! Those men have Allie Jamison and Pete Crenshaw with them! They took Mr.
Thurgood’s truck up the Hambone road. They’re armed … and they seem desperate!”
Sheriff Tait stared off into the darkness that now shrouded the mountains. “Somebody took Allie?”
“And our friend Pete Crenshaw,” insisted Jupiter. “At gunpoint!”
The sheriff rubbed a big hand across his chin. He scowled. “How long have they been gone?”
“Just a few minutes. You can catch up with them if you hurry. They’re driving without lights, so they can’t be going very fast.”
“They’ll go fast enough if they see me behind them. Might well run off the road.
Chasing them is mighty risky when they’ve got those kids along.”
“Then wait for them on the other side of the mountain,” urged Jupe. “When they reach Hambone, they’ll certainly keep going. If the road is blocked on the far side of the ridge …”
“Which road?” said the sheriff.
Jupiter gaped. “There’s more than one road?”
“Son, if they make it to Hambone, they’ve got a dozen different routes they can take.
There’s lots of little dirt roads on the other side of the hills. They branch off from the main Hambone road and run to little cabins and some old mines. Then they meander on down to the desert. Those guys can stay hidden in the hills for weeks if they want to.”
“But they can’t,” shouted Bob. “They’ve got Allie and Pete!”
The sheriff went to his car and reached in to take the speaker from his two-way radio.
“I can have a helicopter from the highway patrol here in less than half an hour,” he said.
“And I’ll tell them to cover the foothills on the far side by car. Let’s just pray those bandits don’t decide they can move faster if they get rid of a couple of hostages!”
Chapter 17
Breakdown
JIM HOOVER, the helicopter pilot, grinned and nodded when Jupe and Bob begged to go along on the search for the fleeing thugs.
“I don’t like it,” Sheriff Tait complained. “It could be dangerous.” But he stood aside so the boys could squeeze into the helicopter and kneel behind the seats for pilot and passenger. The sheriff climbed into the passenger seat and laid a rifle with a telescopic sight across his knees.
“All set?” said Hoover. He lifted the chopper off the road near Thurgood’s mine.
Except for the pale light of a crescent moon, it was now pitch dark. As soon as they were airborne Hoover flipped a switch. The blue-white beam of a searchlight stabbed the night.
“You can control the light from there,” said Hoover to Sheriff Tait. He indicated a lever in front of the sheriff’s seat.
Sheriff Tait leaned forward. “They must still be running without lights.” The sheriff manipulated the handle and the searchlight swept across the slope below. They could see rocks, huge boulders that cast grotesque shadows. They could see parts of the narrow, twisting ribbon of road that led from Twin Lakes to Hambone. It appeared almost white among the dark evergreen trees that crowded close to it on either side.
“Unless they ditch the truck, they’ve got to stick to that road at least as far as Hambone,” said Hoover.
The helicopter veered toward the mountain and Jupe felt his stomach lurch. He gasped.
“Take it easy, kid,” said Hoover. “Make believe you’re riding in an ‘elevator that goes sideways instead of just up and down.”
“I’m fine!” declared Jupe. “Perfectly fine!”
The helicopter covered every inch of the road between Twin Lakes and Hambone.
There was no truck.
“Man, they were making time to get over the ridge this fast,” said the