The Preposterous Adventures of Swimmer by Alexander Key Read Free Book Online Page B

can’t do anything but look pretty in a picture.”
    â€œIt’s a palomino,” said Clarence, “and Doc thinks he looks pretty riding it. But you miss the point, old pal. To a poor guy who’s never seen much money, twenty thousand dollars is a whale of a wad. Up in this country it’ll look like a million. By tomorrow these mountains will be crawling with folks carrying everything from nets to pitchforks. Lord help any poor otter they happen to see!”
    â€œI’ll be safe. I’m with friends. We’ve a great place to hide.”
    â€œYeah?” Clarence cocked a shrewd eye at him. “It wouldn’t be back yonder under that big old beech tree, would it?”
    â€œOops! How’d you guess?”
    â€œPshaw, I was raised in the country. The tree looked like a good place, and those trout fins near it were a dead giveaway.” Clarence scowled. “We’ll have to get rid of those fins. And maybe I’d better go back and make camp under the tree—at least until we’ve figured out the best thing to do. It’ll sort of throw people off if they find me camping there.”
    â€œWhat about this dratted bell and harness? Can you get ’em off for me?”
    â€œNot without tools. It’ll have to wait till I bring the van over in the morning.”
    Swimmer glanced uneasily at the creek. Here the water was racing down into another big pool, frothing white in places where it smashed against rocks. How could he ever fight his way back to the tree against all that rush of water? Yet he hadn’t gone half as far as he should to leave a decent false trail.
    He explained his problem to Clarence. “We’re both sort of beat,” he said. “But if I can make it as far as the beaver pond, will you carry me back to the beech tree?”
    Clarence groaned, but nodded. “It’s a deal, old pal.”

5
    He Sees an Old Enemy
    W ith the coming of night it was pleasant to be back in the snug den, with Willow and Ripple near, and Clarence dozing in a sleeping bag just outside. He couldn’t hear Clarence, but he was very much aware of his comforting presence; occasionally he could even catch the faint odor of woodsmoke from the small campfire as it drifted past the hole above. A cricket chirped near the hole, and back in the unexplored chambers under the tree he could hear the faint squeaks and rustlings of tiny rodents. All other sounds were lost in the steady crash and rush of the stream.
    Gradually the aching in his leg subsided, and he slept. But it was a troubled sleep, filled with vague dreams that became more unpleasant as the dawn approached. He awoke suddenly, and found that all the contentment he had known earlier had fled. In its place was uneasiness.
    Just below him the tunnel of water leading outside was turning from black to blue, and a thin shaft of greenish light was filtering down from the hole above. He knew without having to look that Clarence was gone. At the same instant he was aware that Willow and Ripple were watching him, and that they shared his uneasiness.
    Is there danger? they asked.
    Not yet , he replied. It is far away, but I feel it coming .
    Now he could feel the uncertainty in Willow. The den was important to her. It had always been her main refuge, and her children had been born here. But if trouble were on the way, wouldn’t it be better to leave?
    Do you know of a better hiding place? he asked.
    The creek has many places to hide, but this is the best. It has another entrance .
    Swimmer hadn’t even thought of such a possibility. The other entrance, he learned, was downstream in what may once have been a woodchuck burrow, though various other creatures had been known to use it.
    Then we will stay here , he told them. Soon strangers will come, searching. We must be very careful not to be seen, or even to leave a sign of ourselves around .
    He wondered how he was going to manage about food. But maybe