The Mystery of the Death Trap Mine - M. V. Carey [40]
Feeling somewhat better, Allie and Pete grew more alert. They heard the faint call of a desert bird, and saw a kangaroo rat stick its head out of the ground, then scurry back out of sight. Several lizards crawled by the truck in search of food. All around, the flat expanse of wasteland shimmered in the hot sun. After what seemed like hours Pete lifted his head.
Then Allie perked up! “I heard it too!” she
said. Far away, they could hear the
unmistakable clatter of a helicopter.
“They’re coming!” Allie cried. She and
Pete scrambled out from beneath the truck
and ran out into the open. But the faint
chattering noise had died away. They
searched the sky, but they could see nothing
but blue. “I know I heard a helicopter,” said Allie.
They both listened again, but they no
longer heard a sound.
“Oh, why don’t they come?” Allie cried.
“We’re as good as dead if they don’t get here
soon.”
“Stop that, Allie,” said Pete. “They’ll find
us — I’m sure of it.” But his voice didn’t
sound as hopeful as his words.
Then they heard the sound again. A
chopper was flying in the distance. Pete and
Allie jumped up and down, waving their arms
and yelling wildly. “We’re here!” screamed
Allie. “Down here.”
Now the helicopter had spotted them. It swerved and flew in their direction. As it settled slowly to the ground, Pete and Allie ran forward, bending to avoid the whirling blades.
Sheriff Tait scrambled out of the chopper. “Are you kids all right?” he demanded.
“We’re fine,” said Allie. “Really!”
Pete pointed across the desert. “The crooks went that way — on foot!” he said.
“They decided to hike for it after they wrecked the truck,” Allie added.
The sheriff laughed. “Reckon they’re sorry now.”
Jupiter and Bob were bursting to get out of the helicopter and grab their friends. But the sheriff climbed quickly back into the front seat and said something to Jim Hoover. The pilot nodded and spoke into his radio. Then he leaned out of his window and shouted to Pete and Allie above the roar of the chopper’s engine, “We don’t have enough room to get you two in here. But I’ve called for one of the other helicopters. It’ll be here in five minutes.
We’re going after your kidnappers!” With that, he handed a canteen out to Pete, lifted the helicopter up, and headed west in search of Manny and Gasper.
Pete and Allie grinned at each other.
“I’ll bet those creeps didn’t get very far,” said Allie with satisfaction.
Chapter 19
The Millionaire’s Secret
ALLIE WAS RIGHT. An hour later Manny and Gasper were brought into Twin Lakes and deposited in the clearing near Wesley Thurgood’s cabin by a helicopter pilot and a deputy.
The disgruntled crooks were sunburned, blistered, and exhausted. They had managed to walk only a few miles through the desert before collapsing from the heat. Allie and Pete, who had been airlifted back to Twin Lakes earlier, smiled with glee as the handcuffed thugs were led out of the helicopter.
A moment later, Sheriff Tait arrived with Jupe and Bob. The boys jubilantly greeted their friends, and said hello to a relieved Uncle Harry. Magdalena was there, busily passing sandwiches around and fussing over the two Mexican labourers. They had returned to the mine compound during the night and now sat on the steps of Thurgood’s cabin, subdued and frightened and refusing to speak to anyone. Thurgood’s dog lay chained beside the cabin, panting quietly. Thurgood himself stood nearby, looking strained and bewildered.
“Now that everyone is back,” he said, “would someone please tell me who those men are” he nodded to the manacled crooks — “and what’s been going on here?”
Ignoring Thurgood, Allie turned to Jupe and exclaimed, “We guessed right about Gilbert Morgan! He was in on that armoured car holdup in Phoenix five years ago — and those two guys were in it with him! They admitted it last night, when we were driving over the mountain.”
“We didn’t say a thing,” declared Manny.
“Yes, you did,” said Allie. “When I told you that we knew about the robbery, you said you ought to dump us. Knock