Strangers on a Train (Nancy Drew Diaries #2)(32)

I glanced around, but there were no foxes in sight. Hearing a noise behind me, I turned around—and found myself face-to-face with an irritated-looking moose and her calf!





CHAPTER TWELVE




Final Answers at Last



“OH!” I BLURTED OUT BEFORE I COULD STOP myself. My mind raced; what had that guide told us about mother moose being dangerously protective of their babies? I wished I’d paid more attention. “Easy does it.”

The moose lowered her head, her ears back and her hackles raised. She grunted, moving her huge body between me and the calf.

I glanced over my shoulder, ready to scramble back up the slope. But it was steep and pretty high. Would I have time to make it to safety before the moose charged? Or was it better to stand still and hope she’d realize I wasn’t a threat? Those seemed to be my only two choices, since the moose were blocking any other escape.

Then I heard footsteps at the top of the rocky slope. Glancing up, I saw Alan peering down at me.

"Thank goodness!” I cried. "Alan, quick—toss a stone or something behind the moose to distract it, then help me up!”

Alan bent and picked up a rock. He wound up and threw it— right at the baby moose!

The calf bleated in surprise and pain as the rock bounced off its head. That riled up the mother moose even more. She took a step toward me.

"What are you doing?” I cried. "I said throw it behind them, not at them!”

Alan smirked. "I was hoping for a grizzly bear,” he said. "But thanks to Encyclopedia Bess, I figured Mama Moose here would do just as well.”

I gaped up at him, my brain not quite processing what he was saying. But he wasn’t quite finished.

“Maybe this will teach your father not to meddle in other people’s lives,” he growled, throwing another stone at the baby moose.

Luckily, that one missed. But the mother moose was pawing now, looking really angry. Alan picked up a large rock, tossing it from hand to hand.

“D-don’t do this, Alan,” I said, my voice shaky. "Bess and George will be along soon.”

“Don’t count on it,” Alan sneered. "I just sent them off looking for those imaginary fox kits—in the other direction.”

Despite the danger, my mind couldn’t help fitting this piece into the puzzle. “It was you!” I said as realization dawned. "You’re the one who was responsible for all those loose ends!”

“Ding-ding-ding! Give that lady a prize,” he said sarcastically. "Took you long enough to figure it out.” He hefted the rock. “You know—for such a fabulous detective.”

I gulped, glancing at the moose. If Alan threw one more rock at her baby, I was pretty sure it would be the last straw. I had to distract him.

"So you were the one who left that note in my suitcase?” I asked, trying to keep my voice from shaking.

"That was an easy one,” he said with a mirthless laugh. "I pretended I’d left my passport in my suitcase. Nobody even gave me a second look when I was pawing through our bags. I switched the tags on your suitcase and slipped that note inside.”

He actually sounded proud of himself. “Okay, good one,” I said, pressing back against the rock wall and trying to keep my voice calm. The moose eyed me suspiciously and let out a snort, but stayed where she was. "Um, so what about the mini-golf moose thing? Was that you too?”

“Of course. I was just bummed that the antler mostly missed you.” Alan looked at the real moose, seeming amused. “Who knew it was the real version that would finish you off?”

“And you pushed me off the walkway in Ketchikan, didn’t you?” Now that I thought back, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen it sooner. "I could have been killed!”

“Bingo!” His mouth twisted with amusement. “Not that it wasn’t fiin to mess with you in smaller ways too. Like changing your wake-up call, and bumping George so she’d knock your bagel on the floor, and getting all your clean laundry sent out. Oh, and canceling your reservations yesterday too.”

"And the glass all over my seat?” I waited for the answer, though I already knew it.

"That too.” Alan sounded impatient. “But enough chitchat. I know you’re stalling. Or are you just trying to get me to confess?” He barked out a laugh as he hoisted the rock again. “Because if that’s your game, you might as well give it up. You can’t prove any-thing, even if Mama Moose doesn’t trample you.”

“She won’t have to,” a confident but rather high-pitched voice rang out behind him. "We just heard you confess to everything!” Alan dropped his rock and spun around in surprise. Tobias stepped into view, with Wendy right behind him.



“The kid’s right,” Wendy said. "We heard it all.”



Tobias glared at Alan. “I came to look for you when our bus got here,” he said. "I wanted to ask you if there were any interesting spiders around this place.”

Alan didn’t respond. Casting a desperate look around, he shoved past Wendy and took off running. “Guys?” I called up as gently as I could, keeping one eye on the mother moose. “A little help here?”

“Right.” Tobias grabbed the rock Alan had dropped. He hurled it a few yards behind the moose, where it landed in some weeds with a thud.