The Mount Rushmore Face That Couldn't See Read online

  Ms. Juniper screamed. I was pretty scared too. Sam tried to get closer, of course, but the old caretaker shoved his way through the crowd.

  “Out of the way,” he snapped. “Move aside.” He looked up at the sculpture. “Which of ‘em said it?” he said.

  “Huh?” Sam said.

  “Which president?” the caretaker asked. “Did their lips move?”

  “Are you serious?” Sam asked.

  The caretaker nodded. Then he looked at the cylinder. The cranks still turned.

  “It’s the ghosts,” the man said. “The ghosts of the presidents. Everyone out! Now! Before they get us!”

  “You heard him,” Ms. Juniper said. “Everyone out.”

  We started moving toward the exit, but something was shoving the crowd from the other side.

  “We want to see the ghost,” a voice said.

  “You haven’t paid,” said the woman at the door. “You have to pay the entrance fee to enter the studio.”

  The crowd got shoved back against me and my friends, and soon a bunch of the protestors were in the studio.

  One of them stood in the middle of the room. He watched the cylinder as the crank slowed and then stopped.

  “This was not the ghost of a president,” the protester said. “What reason would these men have to return?”

  He walked across the floor. The crowd watched him as he paced the room.

  “This ghost,” the protester finally went on, “was a Lakota spirit. You have to listen to the spirit’s warning and leave this Lakota land at once.”

  Just then, several security guards came in. “Everyone out, now,” one of them said. “And you protestors, if you don’t leave right away, you’ll be taken to the police station for entering without paying the fee.”

  The crowd and the protestors moved toward the exit. “I wonder if this haunting is related to Ranger Harrison being tied to his bed,” Sam whispered. Egg, Gum, and I leaned in closer as we walked slowly for the door.

  “They both sound like nasty pranks,” Gum said.

  “I know who you’re thinking about,” Egg said. “Anton Gutman.”

  “I’m not convinced it’s that simple,” Sam said.

  The crowd finally thinned out enough so we could get outside into the open air.

  “So what should we do?” I asked. “Start asking questions?”

  “I’ll interrogate Anton,” Gum said.

  Sam shook her head. “Not yet,” she said. “We need to start with the scene of the crime. We’re going back into the studio.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  SNEAKING IN

  “I don’t think that’s going to be so easy,” Egg said.

  The four of us were standing about ten yards from the entrance to the art studio. The rest of the History Club was standing around chatting. But up at the studio’s entrance, four security guards were blocking the door.

  “We’ll have to go around back,” Sam said. “There must be another way in.”

  We started toward the back of the building. To avoid being seen, we walked in a very wide circle, so it took much longer than it would have if the guards hadn’t been there. Of course, if the guards hadn’t been there, we could have just walked right in through the front door.

  “We don’t even know if there is a door back there,” Gum pointed out. “Maybe we should turn back.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Sam said. “How will we solve this mystery if we don’t investigate?”

  “I don’t see any door,” Egg said.

  He was right. I just saw that big window —the one Egg had been taking photos through. But Sam spotted something else.

  “Shh,” she said. She crouched down behind a pine tree.

  The rest of us followed her lead. “I saw someone,” Sam said. “Someone prowling around behind the building.”

  We all stayed quiet. “There,” Gum whispered. “Behind those bushes.” There was a figure there, skulking around in the plants behind the studio.

  “I can’t tell who it is,” Sam said.

  “Give me a second,” Egg said. He pushed a button on his camera. “I see him now.”

  He snapped about ten photos. Then he turned around the camera and held up the display for us to see: it was the caretaker.

  Egg clicked through the pictures he’d taken. On the last one, the caretaker was looking right at the camera.

  “Uh-oh,” Egg said. “He saw us!”

  We all turned and looked at the building. The caretaker was walking right toward us.

  Sam jumped to her feet and shouted, “Run!”

  We sprinted and dodged between trees, galloping down the hill toward the rest of the History Club.

  As he gasped for breath, Egg said, “I don’t think he can catch us.”

  “Keep running,” Sam said. She led us behind a tall, thick bush. I guess she wanted to hide. Instead, someone jumped out at us, and we screamed.

  “Anton!” I shouted. Then I slapped him on the arm.

  It didn’t hurt him. I just couldn’t help myself.

  Anton couldn’t stop laughing. He looked like was practically in pain, the way he was bent over and holding his stomach.

  “You should have seen your faces,” Anton said. He wiped some tears of laughter from his eyes.

  “Whatever, Anton,” Gum said. “So you startled us a little. Big deal.”

  “Anyway,” Anton said, still smiling, “Ms. Jupiter —”

  “It’s Juniper,” I said.

  Anton ignored me. “She sent me up here to get you dorks,” he said. “We’re supposed to get our gear and hike to the campsite now.” Then he ran off down the hill again. He laughed the whole way.

  “He can’t ruin my mood,” Egg said. He held up his camera and pointed at the display screen. “This was the easiest mystery we’ve ever had. The caretaker did it, and I have the proof right here.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CAMPSITE

  The hike to the campsite was much more pleasant than the Ranger Walk had been. It was a nice flat trail, for one thing. For another, the sun was nice and low. It was very refreshing.

  “The campsite is just over this ridge,” Ms. Juniper said. Just as the sun set in front of us, we reached a large clearing in the pine forest.

  It was beautiful. Gum unrolled his sleeping bag and lay down. Sam immediately pulled out a deck of cards and started shuffling. Egg snapped lots of photos of the sunset.

  I knew none of those pictures would do the scene justice, though. It was too beautiful for a camera. So I sat down on a rock in the middle of the clearing and tried to enjoy it.

  Ms. Juniper and a few of the kids got a campfire going. Then she passed out hot dogs and veggie dogs to roast. It wasn’t the tastiest meal I’d ever had, but it was a lot of fun.

  “This is an amazing field trip,” I said. “I can’t wait to fall asleep staring up at that sky. I’ve never seen so many stars!

  “Don’t get too comfy,” said Anton. He crouched down next to me. “We might have to run if a cougar comes to eat us.”

  “Very funny,” Sam said. She didn’t even look up from her card game. “Now buzz off.”

  Anton walked off. We could hear him laughing as he wandered toward his sleeping bag. He’d set up with his thug friends, just inside the tree line.

  I climbed into my sleeping bag—it’s got a cozy flannel lining inside, and pictures of cats, of course. Lying on my back, I stared up at the sky. The stars were so bright. I decided that when this trip was over, I’d buy ten packs of glow-in-the-dark stars to hang on the ceiling of my bedroom.

  I was completely relaxed and happy. I probably would have fallen asleep smiling.

  But then there was a flash of light not far away, just a few feet into the forest. Then a low voice, just like the one we’d heard at the studio, boomed through the cool night air: “Go home! We are the spirits of the Lakota people. Go home!”

  Everyone screamed this time, except Sam. Sam isn’t really scared of anything. Egg calme
d down quickly. He and Gum asked me if I was okay.

  “I think so,” I said, looking around the area. “My heart is going a mile a minute, though.”

  Gum sat next to me. Egg grabbed his camera and took lots of pictures with the flash. As the flash went off and sent bright light into the woods, we could just see people moving around.

  “I see them!” Sam said. She darted into the woods.

  The low voice screamed, like it was scared or in pain. There was another flash of light, but this time it wasn’t from Egg’s camera.

  “What was that?” I hissed.

  Gum shook his head and said, “I don’t know.”

  Then the light flickered a little. Something crackled. Suddenly there was a little orange explosion. Then the woods were lit up in an orange glow. Something in those woods was on fire.

  CHAPTER NINE

  FIRE!

  Sam and Ms. Juniper were the only ones from the History Club who didn’t lose it. “Toss me a blanket,” Sam shouted. “A heavy one.”

  Ms. Juniper nodded. She found a dark heavy blanket. She rolled it up and tossed it to Sam.

  Sam darted into the woods. In seconds, the orange light died down and was gone.

  Egg, Gum, and I ran over to Sam. “What started this fire?” I asked.

  Gum chuckled. “This might sound crazy,” he said, “but Anton and his two dork friends were setting up their camp right near here.”

  “Normally, I’d be happy to see Anton and his goons in trouble,” Sam said. She stood up and dusted herself off. “But look at this.”

  She was holding a long cable. The end of it was frayed. Bare wires stuck out in every direction. “Here’s your fire starter,” Sam said.

  “An electrical cable?” Gum said. He reached out to grab it.

  “Careful!” Sam said, pulling it away. “It might be alive still.”

  Gum jumped back. “Okay then,” he said. “But I don’t think Lakota ghosts usually use electricity. It might still have been Anton.”

  “No,” Sam said. “I think I know who put this here. And it wasn’t Anton. Follow me.”

  Egg, Gum, and I followed as Sam kept her hands on the wire. She followed its trail as it wound under the leaves and twigs on the forest floor.

  The cable led right back toward our campsite. Sam suddenly stopped just inside the trees. “Aha!” she said.

  We gathered around. Ms. Juniper stood right behind and peeked over my head. “What is it?” she asked.

  Sam put her hands on her hips. “It’s just what I thought,” she said. “A speaker.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  ONE MORE ACTIVITY

  We all woke up a little after sunrise. Even those of us who could have slept in bright daylight woke up from the heat.

  “Everyone up!” Ms. Juniper said. “Pack up your gear. We’ll put everything back on the bus before breakfast.”

  “On the bus?” I repeated. “Is the field trip over already?”

  “It can’t be,” Egg whispered to me. “We haven’t caught the culprit yet!”

  Sam stroked her chin. “I think we’re close,” she said.

  Egg and I squinted at our friend. She didn’t say another word.

  “Not to worry, Cat,” Ms. Juniper said. “We’ve saved the best for last. After breakfast, we’ll take a tour of the Lakota Heritage Village.”

  After we’d all finished eating, Ms. Juniper blew her whistle. “Everyone,” she said, “this is Ranger Betty.”

  Ranger Betty was a short lady with dark hair, wearing tan ranger pants and a blue ranger shirt. She also had on a tan hat with a big brim. “Hi, kids,” she said. “Ready for your tour?”

  Ranger Betty led us up a trail to the heritage village. It was set up to look just like a real Native American village. There were teepees and everything.

  “This heritage village is the newest exhibit at Mount Rushmore,” Ranger Betty told us. “It was set up to show how the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota nations lived before the United States began its growth to the west.”

  Egg was snapping loads of photos. I ran over to a teepee. “Get a picture of me!” I called. “For my parents.”

  My family is from Mexico. That means we have a lot of Native American blood in our veins. I knew my parents would have loved to visit this place.

  Before Egg could take a single shot, though, there was a great boom from the hill at the top of the village.

  We all watched the woods. A great cloud of smoke came shooting down the mountain.

  There was another loud boom, and then that voice — the same deep, deep voice — shouted, “Go home!”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  HOME!

  Everyone screamed. Only my friends and I, and Ms. Juniper, stayed calm.

  Sam jogged to the back of one of the teepees. I followed as she got down on her knees and scraped around in the dirt. Very carefully, she pinched at a tiny spot of ground. Then she lifted her fingers, still pinched together. She smiled.

  I leaned down and squinted at Sam’s fingers. Then I saw it. “Fishing line!” I said.

  Sam nodded. “This is how some of these hauntings are happening,” she said.

  “What about the voice?” I asked.

  Sam got up and took my hand. “Come on,” she said.

  We hurried down to the rest of the History Club. “Ms. Juniper,” Sam called out. “Get one of the security guards.”

  “Why?” the teacher asked.

  “Sam solved the crimes,” I said. “Uh, I think.”

  Ms. Juniper, a park guard, and Ranger Harrison gathered around me and the rest of the field-trip mystery solvers.

  Sam got right to it. “All right, everybody. I know who’s been causing all the trouble,” she said.

  Egg raised his hand. “It’s those protestors,” he said. “Right? They have the motive. Plus, it makes sense they’d pretend to be Lakota spirits, since they speak for some of the Lakota nation.”

  “That does make sense,” Sam said, “but they don’t have the opportunity.”

  “That’s right,” I said. “They couldn’t have gotten into Ranger Harrison’s house.”

  “Or the studio,” Gum pointed out. “You all saw how the security team reacted when they went inside.”

  “They didn’t pay,” the park guard said.

  “Only one person has motive and opportunity,” Sam said. “The caretaker.”

  Ranger Harrison and the park guard looked shocked.

  “Think about it,” Sam said. She started pacing, like an old-time detective. Sam loved all those old movies. “The caretaker has a set of keys that opens every door in the park.”

  “That’s true,” the park guard said.

  “But what motive does he have?” Egg said.

  “He’s a grump,” Sam said. “You saw how he looked at us, and how he talked to us. He doesn’t like kids. He wants us out of here. And he doesn’t want any more groups showing up, either.”

  That got me thinking about kids.

  There was one kid at the park who wasn’t here with a class trip. She’d never be going anywhere.

  “This makes sense,” the park guard said. He reached for his walkie-talkie. “I’ll give the order to arrest the caretaker at once.”

  “Wait!” I said. “It wasn’t the caretaker.”

  Sam looked at me, her eyes wide.

  “Then who do you think it was, Cat?” Egg said.

  I didn’t answer right away. I looked over his shoulder and saw a girl peeking out from behind a teepee.

  “There’s one person who has the best motive of all,” I said, looking right at the girl. She looked back at me. Now I knew what I’d seen in her eyes before, at the gift shop. “Homesickness.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CASE CLOSED

  “I just wanted to go home,” Ruthie Harrison said. She sat with her father on a bench near the entrance to the gift shop.

  Ranger Harrison cleared his throat and tried to smile. He was obviously upset and embarrassed. “I thoug
ht you were having fun here, Ruthie,” he said.

  Ruthie shrugged. “It was fun at first,” she said. “But now I miss home. I miss the city, and all my friends.”

  Ranger Harrison sighed. “I wish you’d told me,” he said.

  “I don’t get it,” Egg said. “Why did you go all this trouble? Why make it look like Lakota ghosts?”

  “Yeah,” Gum said. “You didn’t think you’d fool anyone, did you?”

  Ruthie shook her head. “I wanted the guards to think the protestors were causing the trouble,” she said. “I figured that way I could get the park shut down, and the protestors would get blamed.”

  “But why did you tie me up?” Ranger Harrison asked. “That was you, wasn’t it?”

  Ruthie looked at her hands in her lap. She nodded, and a tear fell. “I figured if you were late to the tour,” she said, “you’d get fired. Then we’d have to go back to the city.”

  “But you left me there,” Ranger Harrison said. “Someone was bound to find me.”

  “I was coming back for you!” Ruthie said. “But when I got to the house, the guard was already banging on the door. I ran.”

  The ranger looked at his daughter for a long time. Then he put his arms around her. “I’m sorry, Ruthie,” he said. “I didn’t know how much you missed home.”

  I decided Ruthie and her dad should have some privacy, so I grabbed Sam’s elbow and pulled her away. Then I hissed at Gum and Egg to come too. The four of us walked down the hill toward the parking lot.

  “So how did you figure out it was Ruthie?” Sam asked. “I was so sure it was the caretaker.”

  “The ghost gave it away,” I said. “It always said ‘Go home,’ and that reminded me of Ruthie. I realized how homesick she seemed when we saw her at the gift shop.”

  Sam nodded. Then she patted me on the back. “Nice job,” she said.

  “Do you think Ruthie will get in big trouble?” Egg asked.

  “If I pulled a stunt like that,” Gum said, “I’d be grounded for a hundred years.”