Royal Ransom (11 page)

I looked up and caught the silhouette of somebody coming out of the forest and moving toward the fire. Was it Albert? No, it wasn't. I didn't think it was Nigel either, and it definitely wasn't Ray. Who was it? Suddenly, the man turned toward me and I could see he was holding something in his left hand. I'm no expert, but it looked to me like it was a gun, a revolver.

Chapter Ten

M
Y MIND RACED
. Had I stumbled into the wrong site and then made a whole lot of wrong conclusions? That would have explained why nobody was there, why I didn't see them looking or calling for us. I felt a rush of relief. Somehow I'd managed to wander into the only other camp within a hundred kilometres of ours. What were the odds of that?

I slowly looked around the site. I was close to the last tent. It certainly looked like one of our tents. Actually, all three of them looked like our tents. They even seemed to be pitched in about the same spots. And the canoes … two red canoes up on the shore. My sense of relief was replaced by a chill that ran up my spine. This
was
our camp. But who was that man, and why did he have a gun? Maybe when we went missing, Albert and Nigel sent out word and brought in a search party … but they didn't have any way of calling in outside help, did they? And even if they did, how could anybody have got here so fast?

The man tossed a log on the fire and it threw sparks and ashes up into the air. He then turned and headed back into the forest, where he disappeared among the shadows. It almost looked like he was trying to hide. This was making less and less sense. I had to fight the urge
to slip further back into the woods. But then what would we do, sleep in the forest? Besides, my curiosity—my need to figure this out—was greater than any fear I was feeling.

Moving on all fours I began to creep forward again. The long shadows from the trees led all the way to the back of the closest tent. I moved slowly toward it. I didn't know what I hoped to find, but I couldn't think of anything else to do.

I moved without a sound. The only noises were the crackling of the fire, the wind through the trees and the lapping of the water against the shore. I tried to keep one eye on the tent and the other on the place where I'd seen the figure vanish. I didn't see him—of course, that didn't mean I wasn't visible to him. Then again, whoever he was, he wasn't going to be looking for anybody creeping into the campsite from the forest. His eyes would be on the lake, looking for our canoe to return.

I came up behind the tent, grateful that I'd finally reached cover. I slumped down to the ground so that I was as flat as I could possibly get. I suddenly felt exhausted. My breath was short and I felt myself shaking—was it from the damp clothes and the chill or from fear? Silently I took a deep breath, and then another and another. I just needed to steady myself before I went any farther, or— I heard a rustling sound, soft and muffled. I stopped breathing completely and pressed myself even harder into the ground, hoping a hole would just open up and swallow me. The noise came again … it sounded like it was coming from the tent. Somebody was
inside
the tent I was hiding behind.

The small back flap was open no more than a metre from my head. I had to look in. I had to. I pushed myself up on my hands, raising my head toward the little screen window and peered inside. It was darker inside than out and I couldn't really see anything. I pressed my face against the mesh. Still nothing …

“Jamie?”

I felt a bolt of electricity shoot through me.

“Jamie … is that you?” came the whispered voice from inside the tent.

“Ray?” I asked, my voice barely loud enough for me to hear.

“It's Albert.”

“Where's Ray?”

“I'm here.” This time it was Ray's voice.

“I'm sorry about what happened, and—”

“Be quiet!” Albert snapped. “Just listen. Where are Victoria and Andrew? Are they safe?”

“Yeah, they're in the forest. I'm sorry that—”

“Be still!” he snapped, his voice still a whisper, but threatening.

“Listen to him,” Ray said. “Just listen.”

I took a deep breath and kept my tongue still.

“Jamie, you have to take Victoria and Andrew and get away.”

“Get away? I … I don't understand,” I sputtered.

“There are men—four men. We are prisoners, tied and bound.”

“I saw one of them,” I whispered.

“They are all armed. They are here to harm the children, to kidnap or kill them. You can't allow that to happen.”

I felt like I'd been hit in the head with a hammer. I understood the words he was saying, but none of them seemed real.

“Do you understand?” Albert asked.

I didn't answer.

“Jamie?”

“Yes?”

“You have to get away.”

“Away?” I repeated. “Back home?”

“No,” Ray said. “That's what they'd expect. Go the other direction. Head for the fishing lodge up Bass Lake, McGregor's. And stay off the lake. They have a plane. They'll spot you if you go out on the water.”

I really didn't have much choice, but this probably wasn't the time to tell him about the canoe.

“You have to go through the forest. Can you do that?”

I didn't answer. That was a long way, and I'd never covered it on the ground.

“Can you do that, Jamie?” Albert asked.

“I can try,” I said, hoping I sounded more confident than I felt. “But what about you and Ray and Nigel?”

“It's just me and Albert,” Ray said.

“Nigel got away?” I asked. Maybe I could catch up with him and he could help me take care of everything.

“Nigel is dead,” Albert said. “He was shot, and—”

Albert stopped as we both heard the same sound—footsteps coming toward the tent. I heard the zipper open, a faint light came in, and I ducked down away from the window.

“Where are they?” a voice demanded. It wasn't loud, but there was a forceful, scary feeling to it. He had an accent. Was it an English accent?

“I shall tell you nothing more than the nothing I have told you thus far,” Albert said. He sounded calm, in control.

“Your loyalty is admirable,” the man said. “But ultimately you will tell us the information we require or pay the consequences for your—”

“Hey, buddy,” Ray said, cutting him off. “I ain't got no reason to protect those kids. It isn't like the Royal Family has done anything for us Natives except steal our land.”

The man laughed. “As they have stolen from many peoples around the world.”

“Do not tell him anything!” Albert said. “Nothing, or—auugggghhh!”

“You will be quiet,” the man snapped, “or you'll get it again.”

“Like I said, buddy,” Ray said, “I don't care about those kids. My friend, the other guide, will be bringing them back soon, tomorrow at the latest. All you have to do is sit right here and they'll come back.”

Ray wasn't making a deal with them, he was just trying to get them to stay put so we'd have a chance to get farther away.

“And when my guide brings them back you can take those kids and go. You can just leave us here. It isn't like we can get help. You smash our canoes and it'll take us two weeks to get anyplace where we can tell anybody what happened. Sound like a deal, buddy?”

“I am not sure what you have to offer by way of a deal,” the man said.

“I just thought I could help you find them,” Ray said. “And then you'll let me and my guide go.”

“Not a particularly noble sentiment.” The man chuckled. “Regardless, we will locate them.”

“Don't be so sure of that,” Albert said.

“I am sure,” the man replied. “Technology is a wonderful thing.”

Technology? What did that mean?

“Now both of you … silence.”

I heard the sound of the zipper being done up again, and then footsteps moving away. Finally silence. I pushed myself back up so I could peer in through the mesh again.

“Albert? Ray?”

“Jamie,” Albert said softly. “Go … get away.”

“But what about you two?”

“Forget about us,” Albert whispered.

“No, don't forget about us,” Ray insisted. “Get help and get it fast. That's the only chance we have.”

“Now go,” Albert said. “You are the only hope any of us has. It is up to you.”

Chapter Eleven

I
CRAWLED AWAY FROM THE TENT
, leaving Ray and Albert behind. I really wanted to stand up and run for all I was worth, but I couldn't. I had to move slowly, silently. If they saw me, there was no way I could outrun a bullet. Was that what had happened to Nigel?

I made the bushes and felt a sense of relief. I got to my feet but stayed hunched over. I'd have preferred to stay on all fours, but I couldn't very well crawl back to where the others were waiting. I quickly put a layer of trees between the camp and me. Then another layer of trees, and another. With each step I was making myself safer and safer … safer from four men with guns … four men who were trying to kidnap or kill Victoria and Andrew … four men who had killed Nigel … killed him. How could that be possible?

I reached the stream and started to splash through the shallow water. I instantly regretted the noise I was making but I was far enough away that I figured I couldn't be heard from the campsite. Besides, at that point, whether I was heard or not there was no way that anybody was going to figure out the direction of the sound and catch me before I got away. I rounded a bend in the stream. More distance. More safety. I just
had to find Victoria and Andrew and then—and then what?

“Jamie!”

I practically jumped up into the air as I spun around. Victoria and Andrew had been sitting in some bushes off to the side of the stream and I'd gone right past them.

“So, can we go to the camp now and—?”

“We have to leave,” I said. I grabbed Victoria by the hand and started to pull her upstream, away from the camp.

“Wait! What are you doing?” she demanded.

“Keep your voice down!” I pleaded. “We have to get farther away. We have to hide in the forest!”

“We can't do that!” Andrew exclaimed. “I need to get into dry clothes and—”

“We can't go back to the camp!”

“I am sure that Ray and Albert and Nigel are mad, but—”

“Nigel isn't mad,” I said. “He's dead.”

There was a pause. I could almost hear the two of them thinking about what I'd just said, not able to believe their ears.

“He's dead,” I repeated.

“But … but how?” Victoria sounded really shaken.

I shook my head. “I don't know. Albert told me.”

“You spoke to Albert?”

“I sneaked up to the tent. He and Ray have been taken prisoner. They're in the tent all tied up.”

“Then we have to free them,” Victoria said.

“There are four guys holding them, and they must have guns. How else could they have overpowered them?
There's nothing I can do. Nothing. They told me the only way to get help is to get away and let the authorities know what's happened.”

“But surely—”

“There's nothing.” I paused, not wanting to say the rest, but knowing I had to. “Albert said that the men … he said that the men are here to … to …”

“To harm Andrew and me,” Victoria said.

I nodded my head.

“Albert said it was up to me to protect you and your brother, to lead you to safety.”

“Lead us to safety?” Andrew asked. “Where are you going to take us?”

“There's a fishing lodge.”

“And we'll be safe there?”

“There'll be people and a radio. They can call the RCMP, call my father to come in and get us out.”

“How far is it?” Victoria asked.

“About forty kilometres from here.”

“Forty kilometres by water or on foot?”

“We'll have to travel a little farther than that, but not too much farther.”

“There must be an alternative,” Andrew said.

I shook my head.

“There has to be,” he whined. “There
has
to be!”

“There is,” I said. “I'll walk to the fishing lodge. Your sister can come with me.”

“And what about me?”

“You can either stay right here and wait, or you can go down the stream to the camp and give yourself up. I'm sure they'll give you dry clothes … before they do
whatever else it is that they're planning to do to you.” I paused. “So, what's your choice?”

Andrew didn't answer. He seemed to be speechless— something I really hadn't seen before.

“Let's go,” I said. I started upstream, away from the camp.

I turned around and Victoria was right behind me. She was with Andrew, leading him by the hand.

V
ICTORIA AND ANDREW
were starting to fall behind. I stopped walking and waited for them. We'd travelled for close to an hour and we'd put a safe distance between us and the guns.

“How are you doing?” I asked as they caught up.

“I am exhausted,” Andrew sighed.

“And you?” I asked Victoria.

“Tired.”

“We're going to stop now,” I said.

“We can keep going if we have to,” she said.

I shook my head. “We shouldn't. It's getting too dark.”

“It has become difficult to see,” she agreed.

“And it's going to go from difficult to impossible soon. We'll stop for a few hours and start again when the sun rises.”

“Are we stopping right here?” Andrew asked.

“It's as good a place as any.”

“But are we safe?”

“They're not going to find us.”

“What about bears?”

“They won't bother us either.”

“Shouldn't we have a fire … just in case? Bears won't come up to the fire, right?” he asked.