No Way Out Page 5

  “I saw him put it in his desk in the library,” Ray answered. “We can check it out when we get back to the house.”

  “So far, MacLaren has gone after your father through the legal system. But that scene on the field was different.”

  “Frank’s right, Ray,” Joe said. “It might have all been an act, but it looked like he was going after your folks with that lance. Who knows what might have happened if Frank hadn’t stopped him.”

  “And shooting fire over a crowd of people was a really risky move,” Frank pointed out. “If Bruce MacLaren was the archer, the dispute between him and your dad may have escalated to a new and dangerous level.”

  After Abiyad had rested, Frank and Joe entered the jousting competition. A natural athlete and a practiced horseman, Joe got better with each heat, ultimately eliminating everyone else and taking home the prize for his division of amateur jousters.

  Riding Khayyam, Frank came in fourth, so dinner that evening with their hosts and the other winners was a celebration. Joe’s prize was an authentic burgonet, a lightweight steel helmet once worn by Scottish highlanders. One of the most popular helmets of the sixteenth century, it had a long, wide visor but was very open in front, offering plenty of fresh air for the long rides. Frank won a leather belt with a dragonhead buckle.

  After dinner, Alan and Ray went to the maze to oversee the repairs, and Penny and Kay ran the evening games in the stadium.

  Frank and Joe divided their time between being spectators and investigators. They split up and canvassed all the vendors for news of Vincenzo Black-stone. Several said they wouldn’t be surprised to find out that he was on the island, but no one admitted to actually seeing him.

  Frank also checked with Shorty, who reported that the original piper had shown up claiming to have been knocked out and tied up by someone. “Frankly, I don’t believe him,” Shorty confided. “I’ve got a feeling he was paid off by MacLaren to stay out of the way.”

  Joe checked in with Skip Jennin at the film studio, who said the Hardys could come in any time on Sunday and view all the footage they wanted.

  When the Hardys finally hit the sheets that night, they agreed that they knew more than they had the night before. But their investigation had rustled up a new twist—in the shape of a redheaded piper.

  “Joe! Frank! Wake up!” Kay’s frantic voice jolted Joe to an instant alert. He sat straight up in his bed and shook the Saturday night sleep out of his brain.

  “Joe!” Kay’s voice called again from the other side of the door. “Oh, please wake up.” The sound of a pounding fist against the old wooden door got him out of bed.

  “Coming,” he called back. “Just a minute.” He pulled on his jeans and headed for the door, punching Frank’s shoulder along the way. “Let’s go, Frank. It sounds like trouble.”

  When Joe opened the door, Kay was already in the middle of a sentence.

  “—and then we finally realized,” she said. Her voice was loud and her words were fast. “We can’t figure out what happened! There’s nothing, no clue. You’ve got to help us!”

  “Slow down,” Frank said gently as he joined Joe at the door. “Of course we’ll help. What happened?”

  “It’s Dad,” Kay said. Her glance darted from Joe to Frank and back to Joe again. Her voice was suddenly soft and shaky, as if she were trying to swallow her words. “He’s disappeared!”

  7 Which Way to China?

  “You don’t know where your dad is?” Joe asked. “Have you checked the maze? the stables? that secret study upstairs?”

  “No, it’s not like that,” Kay insisted. “He’s really gone. I’m afraid something’s happened to him. I just know it. Come downstairs—Mom and Ray are in the sunroom.”

  “Okay,” Frank said. “Let us get cleaned up. We’ll be down in a minute.”

  The Hardys cleaned up, pulled on fresh jeans and sweaters, and were in the sunroom in minutes.

  “Hey man, thanks,” Ray said, clapping Frank on the back as he walked in. “This is really serious. I’m glad you guys are here.”

  “We are too,” Frank assured him. “Okay, what’s going on?”

  “Mom, tell them about last night,” Kay urged.

  ‘Well, I got a headache during the last jousting match and came back to the house early,” Penny said. She rubbed her head while she talked, and her hand trembled.

  “I had some tea and toast, took some medicine, and went to bed,” Penny continued. “I didn’t hear any of you come in—I was really out, I guess.” She got up and walked over to the window. The sun shot long streaks of warm light across the marble floor.

  ‘When I woke up this morning, I realized that Alan had never come into the room during the night,” she concluded, turning back away from the window. “His side of the bed was undisturbed. The clothes he’d worn last night were missing. His wallet and cell phone were not on the dresser—but he always puts them there when he goes to bed.”

  Penny looked at the twins. “He’s gone,” she said simply. “Just gone. I’ve called his cell phone a dozen times and always get the voice mail. I’ve left a message each time, but he hasn’t called back.”

  “But that doesn’t necessarily mean something’s happened to him,” Frank said. He tried to keep his voice calm and assuring. Penny looked as if she was barely controlling her feelings and might break down any minute.

  “Isn’t it possible that he’s just working somewhere on the grounds and forgot to check in?” Joe asked. “Maybe he left his cell phone off and just hasn’t picked up the messages yet. He’s doing everything he can to get the maze opening back on schedule. Maybe he started working out there and didn’t feel like stopping.”

  “That’s the first place I looked,” Ray said. “He’s not there, and there’s no sign that he was there last night.”

  “There’s a half-eaten sandwich in here,” Kay said. She led the others into the kitchen and showed them the plate on the extra-long wooden table that ran down the center of the huge room. “And this is his mug—there’s some coffee still in it. But I don’t know whether it’s from last night or this morning.”

  ‘We’ve called all over the estate,” Ray told the Hardys. “Shorty’s apartment is above the stables. He said Dad wasn’t out there last night, and the horses are all accounted for.”

  “None of the security people saw him,” Kay said.

  “We’ve got fifteen vehicles altogether,” Ray added. “Three cars, three trucks, two tractors, four golf carts, one motorcycle, and two ATVs. They’re all here, all parked where they should be.”

  “We’ve got lots of bikes, and they’re all out there too,” Kay pointed out.

  “The scary thing is that there’s no note, no phone call,” Penny said quietly. She poured coffee for everyone and passed around a tin of raisin scones. “He always calls or leaves a note if he’s going to be late or gets tied up somewhere,” she added.

  Frank took a swig of hot coffee. “Okay,” he said. “He’s out there somewhere. Let’s find him. Penny, you take another look through the maze. No offense, Ray, but it pays to double-check each place. Kay, go over everything. Look for new damage, any branches that have been broken since the mess from the night before last.”

  “And check the security shed,” Joe told them. “See if everything looks normal there. If someone got in the maze last night, he or she would have to disarm the security system.”

  “Okay,” Kay said. “What are you guys going to do?”

  “We’ll check around the estate again and make some calls to people in the village,” Frank answered. “Is there a landscaper we can call, for instance? Where would your dad go to get replacement hedges for the maze? We can also check with taxi services. We’ll call the police, too, and see if your dad’s reported anything about his confrontation with Bruce MacLaren.”

  “Take your cell phone,” Joe told Kay. “Call right away if you find anything.”

  Kay and Penny left for the maze, and the Hardys and Ray went right to wo
rk. Frank asked Ray to check with the local landscapers, gardeners, and taxi services.

  “We don’t actually have any real cab companies,” Ray said. “But there is one guy in the village who will drive people places for a fee.”

  “Close enough,” Joe said. “See if your dad contacted him last night.”

  “Or if he saw your dad at all,” Frank added.

  “Do you want me to call the police, too?” Ray asked.

  “That’s probably a good idea,” Frank said. “You might get more out of them than an outsider would.”

  While Ray made the calls from the library, Joe and Frank set out on their search of the house. The first place they went was Alan’s secret study. The hidden door in the back of the closet was locked, but with a few twists of Frank’s lockpick, they were in. They jogged up the stairs into Alan’s retreat.

  There were no clues as to his whereabouts, but because of Alan’s disappearance, the brothers had no qualms about giving the place a thorough once-over. Frank was especially interested in the room because he had been stopped by Alan before actually getting inside. Joe turned on the light and small fan hanging over the long table.

  “Any thoughts on what’s going on with Alan?” Joe asked his brother.

  “No, not really. But it doesn’t look good.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking too.”

  “In the last two days he’s been threatened anonymously with a flaming arrow, his maze has been vandalized, and he’s been nearly attacked by Bruce MacLaren,” Frank summed up.

  “And don’t forget the phone call I almost overheard,” Joe said, opening another drawer. “Empty. The phone’s gone too.”

  “We need to find him, Joe. Soon.”

  “He had these strange papers out when I was here before,” Joe said, walking over to the drawing table that stretched along one wall. “They were like diagrams or schematics.”

  “Maybe his maze plans?” Frank guessed.

  “That’s what I thought,” Joe said. “But he never confirmed that. In fact”—Joe opened one of the wide drawers in the table—“he dumped them into this drawer before I got a really good look at them. Said they weren’t for anyone else’s eyes, or something like that.”

  Joe pulled the drawer all the way out, but it was empty. Then he went to the trunk where Alan had said the golden gauntlet was being kept. It was unlocked. Joe lifted the lid, and the trunk was still empty.

  “Looks like this room has been cleaned out,” Joe murmured.

  “Not entirely,” Frank said. He had opened the second wide drawer in the drawing table. I found this stuck in the back corner of this drawer.” He showed Joe a crumpled fragment of paper, which he smoothed into a wrinkled rectangle on the tabletop. The page was divided into curved bands. Each band contained short black lines in various groupings. Some lines were used as the four sides of a square, some formed an L-shape, and some just stood vertically by themselves.

  “Could be a maze design,” Joe said. “If we had the whole piece of paper, these arcs could be parts of circles within circles, like in a maze. And the lines in the circles could indicate where the paths would lead to dead ends, or where they would lead to the center of the maze.”

  Frank nodded. He smoothed and folded the piece of paper and put it in his pocket. The Hardys finished their search of the secret study, but found nothing to indicate where Alan might be.

  They continued checking the rest of the house, including doors and windows, but found no clues. Finally, they rejoined Ray in the library.

  “I’ve got nothing,” Ray said, slumping back in the large leather wing chair at the library desk. “Nobody’s seen or talked to Dad since the end of the jousting matches last night.”

  Frank pulled out the piece of paper. “Do you know what this is?” he asked.

  “That looks like some of the designs I’ve seen Dad working on,” Ray answered. “He doodles that stuff all the time—I figure it’s for a maze.”

  “That’s what we thought too,” Joe said, as Frank put the paper back into his pocket. “Have you seen the golden gauntlet since your mom brought it back to the house Friday night?”

  “No, why?” Ray answered.

  “Your dad was going to show it to me in a trunk in his secret study, but it wasn’t there. He acted kind of funny about it, but said he’d told your mom to put it somewhere else. Check with her on that when they call in, okay?”

  “They called a few minutes ago,” Ray answered. “Kay said the security shed at the maze looked okay, and the alarm system was activated. I’ll ask about the gauntlet the next time they call.”

  “Okay, let’s go,” Frank said. “It’s time to check the rest of the estate.”

  “What are we looking for?” Ray said. “We’ve got one hundred eighty acres. All the vehicles are parked. You don’t think he’s out somewhere on foot, do you?”

  “Probably not,” Frank conceded. “But I’m not ready to rule it out.” He exchanged glances with Joe and knew that his brother was having the same thoughts. Although it was unlikely Alan was out there walking around, he could still be out there without wheels—and he might need help.

  Ray led them to the vehicle shed. He and Frank took one ATV, and Joe drove the other. Frank reported their plan to Penny and Kay, who were still making a painstaking tour of the enormous maze. Penny told him she’d put the gauntlet in the secret study trunk, and hadn’t seen it since.

  The Hardys and Ray first checked all the outbuildings, but they yielded nothing—nor did exploration of the stables, the stadium, or the medieval bazaar. The latter was already full of customers even though the vendors were just beginning to set up.

  The grounds of EagleSpy included hills, valleys, meadows, gardens, the shore along Golden Arm Lake, a waterfall and brook, and a small forest. As the boys raced across the property, Ray reached under the seat and pulled out a hunter’s horn. He periodically blew the Horton family distress call, but there was no answering call.

  “Oh man, I’ve got to stop and walk for a few minutes,” Ray finally declared. He seemed really stressed. Frank knew exactly how it felt to be searching for a missing father. He and Joe had been there, and it wasn’t pleasant.

  Frank gestured to Joe, and they both stopped the ATVs near a small hill. Ray jumped out of the passenger side and just ran off without a word. Then he broke into a sprint and raced to a distant tree. He turned around and raced back, then started a second loop. Joe crouched a few times, did some calf stretches, and began running the same laps.

  Frank knew how the other boys felt. It was great to straighten his knees and get out of the cramped ATV. He took a few deep breaths and was surprised that he tasted salt in the air. Golden Arm Lake must be nearby, he reasoned, and started a steady trot in the direction his nose led him. He loped along about fifty yards to the hill, then turned and began circling around its base.

  The air was even more pungent on the other side of the hill, so he decided to keep going. After a few more yards, he noticed a strange sensation in his feet. At first he thought his ankles were giving way, but then he realized it was the ground: It seemed spongy and uneven, although it looked perfectly level.

  Frank slowed his trot to a walk. “The ground must be wet here,” he mumbled to no one. “Maybe it’s sandy or something. Like I’m close to the lakeshore or a bea … eee … no … nooooo!”

  In an instant, the ground beneath him gave way completely, and he plunged straight down into the earth.

  8 Hack, You’re It

  “Frank!” Joe called, as he and Ray walked up the small hill. “Frank! Where are you?”

  It seemed like a crazy question, because the land was clear and open on the other side of the hill. There appeared to be no place for Frank to hide.

  “The mine!” Ray yelled. “Frank! Frank!” He tried to blow the hunter’s horn, but nothing came out but sputters and spits.

  “What mine?” Joe called over to Ray. “What are you talking about?”

  “Don�
�t move,” Ray warned. “Just stand still for a minute.” Ray took a few tentative half steps, tapping his toe on the ground. “Frank? Can you hear me?”

  “Yeah, I’m over here.” Frank’s voice sounded far away and hollow. His words were repeated in a low echo.

  “Hey man, you okay?” Joe called.

  “I think so,” Franks voice returned from a spot about twenty yards away. Joe could barely make out a large patch of fresh brown dirt in the middle of the bright green grass. “I fell into some kind of tunnel. I can see a little with the light from the opening I fell through. Just a minute, let me get my flashlight on.”

  There was silence for a minute or two, then Frank’s voice sounded again in that hollow echo. “I’m about ten feet down, I guess,” he said. “There’s some wood framing along the walls. I think I’m in some kind of mine.”

  “It’s a marble mine,” Ray yelled to him. “It crisscrosses under the whole estate. Can you see very far into it?”

  “I can,” Frank said. “I’ve got my pocket flash on and I can see ahead about thirty yards. I can tell from your voices that I’m facing in your direction. There’s nothing but wall behind me and on both sides.”

  “I’m afraid for us to come over to you,” Ray said. He and Joe stood about twenty yards away. “If the ground gives under us, it could cave in on you.”

  “Absolutely,” Frank said. “Just stay where you are. I’m going to walk along the tunnel. It looks like there’s some kind of pale light farther along. Maybe it widens out there, or there’s another sinkhole in the ground.”

  “If you’re facing us, you’re looking toward the lake. The hill slopes down in that direction,” Ray said. “There might be an opening to the mine tunnel there.”

  “Okay,” Frank called out. “Here I go. If this doesn’t work, I’ll come back to this spot, and we’ll try something else.”

  “Oh man, I don’t like this,” Joe muttered. “Be careful,” he called out louder. “If it looks even a little weird, come back.”