Captive Witness by Carolyn G. Keene Read Free Book Online Page A

beet-red. “Oh, is that so?” he snarled. “We’ll see how impressed you are when we start questioning you.”
    “Oh, please don’t question us,” Ned cried mockingly.
    Gutterman grew extremely angry at his prisoners’ refusal to show fear. His anger finally intensified to the breaking point when Herr Burger, negotiating another dangerous, screaming turn, caused Herr Gutterman to bang his head sharply against the window.
    The big man let fly a stream of German invective mixed with French and German phrases that gave Nancy the impression that Gutterman was calling Burger a lunatic and moron. Burger was so upset, he wound up swerving into the opposite lane where the car faced a huge truck coming the other way.
    For a split second, it appeared the two vehicles would collide but at the last moment both drivers veered sharply and barely missed each other. The danger of a head-on smash, however, was avoided at the price of a worse possibility. Herr Burger, completely rattled, was now driving straight toward the edge of a cliff!
    “Look out!” Nancy and Ned cried with one voice as they both dropped down to the floor and covered their heads to minimize injuries in an accident.
    As they crouched there, doubled over, they felt the car veer violently again, and heard a splintering, crunching sound. The car stopped, and there was silence.
    Nancy was the first to bring her head slowly up to look out the window. “Oh, Ned,” she gasped quietly, “We’d better start praying. Look where we are.”

8
    Danger in the Alps
    “Don’t move!” It was Gutterman’s voice, trembling and filled with fear. “Don’t even breathe.”
    All four passengers had good reason to obey the order because the car had gone partially through the guardrail and was teetering over the cliff. It’s right rear wheel hung out in space and the left one was poised on the very edge.
    “Let’s get out of here,” Burger cried, starting to climb out on his side, which was safely on the road.
    Gutterman stopped him with a snarl. “If you lay one foot on the ground, I’ll make you wish you were never born!”
    “But what can we do?” Burger whined.
    Gutterman pondered the question carefully. “It seems to me that you and I can’t get out because the weight of our friends in back will then topple the car right over the edge.”

    “You could open the back door on your side, Herr Burger. Just push the switch and unlock it, and Ned and I will get out slowly. Then you can get out, too,” Nancy said steadily.
    “No, you don’t,” Gutterman responded. “You two might make it and Burger could jump. With all the motion, the car would go over and take me with it. ”
    “Well, you can’t get out your side,” Nancy pointed out. “You’d step into space, just as I would.”
    “No,” Gutterman decided. “This is what we will do. Both of you should move as far over to the left as you can. I will climb over Burger and stand on the running board. Then, Burger, you start it up and see if the four-wheel drive can pull us out of this.”
    “Wait a minute,” Ned protested. “If that doesn’t work, you and Burger can jump free, but Nancy and I will go over the edge with the car.”
    “How clever you are,” Gutterman sneered. “You do catch on quickly. That should make you both want to hug the left side of the car with all your might. ”
    With no other choice, Nancy and Ned flattened themselves against the left side. The car tilted and rocked slightly.
    “The worst is yet to come,” Nancy breathed through her almost clenched teeth, “when that big galumph Gutterman tries to crawl over Burger. If he makes one slip, we’ll really rock!”
    “Don’t think about it,” Ned said. “Just squeeze yourself against this door.”
    Holding their breath, they froze as Gutterman, with surprising grace, managed to climb over Burger and out onto the left running board of the car. He hung off as far as he could, bearing his weight down fully, then told Burger