“What’s that?” gasped Violet. She moved closer to her older sister.
“Don’t worry, Violet. It’s just a chipmunk. See?” said Jessie. She pointed.
“Oh,” said Violet in a relieved voice.
“Hold on tightly to Watch’s leash,” Grandfather reminded Benny. “We don’t want him to chase any of the animals.”
“Especially the bears,” agreed Benny.
“Woof,” Watch barked, wagging his tail and looking at the chipmunk.
“No, Watch,” said Benny. “Come on.”
Watch gave the chipmunk one last, longing look and then trotted just ahead of Benny as they hiked around Lake Lucille. At first they passed several trails leading down to the lake and the other cabins. But soon they didn’t see any trails at all except the one they were on. It went over rocks and around huge trees. It crossed a narrow stream that tumbled down the mountain into the lake. Through the trees and underbrush they could see glimpses of the lake down below.
“Look,” said Henry. “If we stand on this big flat rock we can look out over the whole lake.”
“Be careful,” Grandfather warned.
Cautiously the Aldens stepped out onto the flat rock. Lake Lucille was spread out before them.
Benny pointed. “Look,” he said. “There’s Lucille Lodge across the lake.”
“We’re halfway around, then,” said Jessie.
Suddenly Benny pointed again. “Look at that!” he exclaimed. “Is that a big fish down there?”
“Where?” asked Henry. He looked in the direction Benny was pointing. But he didn’t see anything except a few ripples on the mirror-smooth surface of the lake.
“It could be a fish. Or it could be an underground stream bubbling up into the lake,” said Grandfather Alden.
“Or it could be a monster,” said a gravelly voice behind them.
The Aldens all turned around quickly in surprise. Watch barked loudly and pulled at his leash.
Standing behind them on the trail was a man in faded clothes of brown and green that seemed to match the woods. A wide-brimmed hat was pulled low over his short grizzled gray hair. He had a deeply tanned and lined face. In one hand he held a walking stick made of a whittled branch. A deep basket woven of strips of bark was slung over his shoulders. Next to him stood an enormous dog with short brown and silvery white fur and one blue eye and one brown eye.
“Who are you?” demanded Jessie.
“It’s the Wild Man of the Woods!” cried Violet, shrinking back against her grandfather.
“Wild Man of the Woods? So you’ve heard about the Wild Man, eh?” said the man. His voice sounded like a growl.
Beside the man, the dog slowly wagged his tail and looked up at him.
“Nora told us about you,” said Benny. “Shhh, Watch! Stop barking.”
“Are you the Wild Man?” asked Henry.
The man shook his head. “My name’s Carl Nielson.” His teeth showed briefly in what might have been a smile. “I live up on the mountain, but I’m not the Wild Man.”
“Who is, then?” asked Jessie.
Carl reached down and patted his dog’s head. “He is. That’s his name. Wildman.”
Everyone stared for a moment. Then Benny started to laugh. “Oh, that’s a joke,” he said.
“Nora had us all fooled,” said Grandfather Alden. “We’re glad to meet you and Wildman, Mr. Nielson.” He stepped forward to shake hands.
Mr. Nielson looked down at Grandfather’s outstretched hand. Slowly, reluctantly, he shifted his walking stick to the other hand and shook hands with Mr. Alden. “You can call me Carl,” he said. “Everybody calls me that.”
“What did you mean about a monster, Carl?” asked Jessie.
“The monster that lives in the lake,” said Carl.
“A monster lives in the lake? Oh, no,” gasped Violet.
“Some say yes, some say no,” said Carl. “I’d say yes.”
Looking up at Carl, Benny said, “Have you seen the monster?”
“That’s another story,” said Carl. “I’ve got a delivery to make.” Without saying good-bye, he walked away from them down the trail in the direction from which they had come. In a moment, he’d disappeared from sight.
“What a strange man,” said Violet softly.
“I don’t think he liked us,” said Benny. “But I liked his dog. Maybe you and Wildman can play together sometime, Watch.”
Watch wagged his tail.
“You don’t think there is really a monster in the lake, do you, Grandfather?” asked Jessie.
“Well, some people believe that a monster lives in Lake Champlain,” said Grandfather. “It’s not all that far from here. They call him Champ.”
“And don’t forget Nessie. She’s the monster who is supposed to live in Loch Ness in Scotland,” said Henry.
“Well, I don’t believe in monsters,” said Jessie firmly.
“I know someone who might turn into a hungry monster if we don’t get back to the lodge for dinner,” teased Grandfather.
“Me,” said Benny, forgetting about the lake monster. “Let’s go!”
After putting Watch in Black Bear Cabin and giving him his dinner and some fresh water, the Aldens went quickly down the trail toward Lucille Lodge. They walked into the lodge through a narrow entrance hall with thick carpets on the floor. Doors opened off either side of the entrance hall. One door had a sign on it that said LIBRARY. The other door had a sign that said TELEPHONE.
They went through the entrance into the great room. It had a high ceiling and an enormous fireplace on one side with big, comfortable chairs pulled up around it. On the other side of the room was the registration desk.
The dining room in Lucille Lodge had two huge fireplaces. At a small table near one of the fireplaces, a young woman with very short black hair was reading a book and eating slowly without really looking at what she ate. Every few minutes she put down her fork and picked up a pencil and made a note in the book.
“Hello,” Nora greeted them as they walked into the dining room. “You can sit anywhere you’d like. The menu is on the blackboard on the wall over there. I’ll come take your order in a few minutes.”
The Aldens chose a table on the porch. When Nora came to take their order, she said, “I can recommend the trout. I know it’s fresh. Carl caught it and brought it today.”
“That’s the delivery he was going to make!” Jessie whispered to Violet.
Henry said, “Carl Nielson?”
“Oh, did you meet Carl?” asked Nora, her eyes twinkling.
“We met Carl and Wildman,” Jessie told her.
“It was a good joke,” Benny said. “Violet was afraid we were going to meet a real Wild Man of the Woods. Weren’t you, Violet?”
“Maybe a little,” Violet admitted, smiling.
“Carl told us about a monster, too,” Jessie said. “A monster who lives in Lake Lucille.”
The twinkle disappeared from Nora’s eyes. “That’s ridiculous! I don’t understand why Carl picked this summer to make up all these crazy stories about a monster in the lake,” she said. “He’s going to hurt my business if he’s not careful.”
“Then there is no monster that lives in Lake Lucille?” asked Violet, looking relieved.
“Of course not,” said Nora. “In all the years I’ve been coming to this lake, I’ve never seen or heard anything that even remotely resembled a monster!”
She turned and walked quickly away, looking upset.
“I guess there isn’t a monster,” said Benny, a little disappointed. “But why would Carl make it up?”
“I don’t know, Benny,” said Henry. “Maybe he was just trying to scare us.”
“Maybe. After all, he didn’t seem to like us very much,” said Jessie.
Violet said thoughtfully, “But what if Carl isn’t making up the story about the monster? What if Nora is just pretending that it isn’t true, so people won’t be afraid to come stay at the lodge?”
Henry said, “The lodge has a small library, remember? Maybe we can go visit it after dinner.”
“Yes,” said Jessie. “We can see if we can find out anything about Champ and Nessie. That might help us figure out if the monster in Lake Lucille is real.”
After dinner, Grandfather took a cup of coffee into the great room and the Alden children went to the small library.
“Look,” said Jessie. “There’s an old set of encyclopedias.”
“We can read all about monsters in there, can’t we?” asked Benny.
“Monsters?” A tall, thin teenage boy with long black hair and dark brown eyes who had been slouched in an armchair in one corner of the library sat up. He looked scornfully at the Aldens. Then he shrugged. “Oh, well, I guess lots of little kids believe in monsters.”
Henry’s cheeks flushed. “We’re not little kids. And we don’t believe in monsters.”
“Jason, Mom and Dad and I are here. It’s time for dinner,” said a girl’s voice.
The Aldens turned to see a girl who was about Violet’s or Jessie’s age standing in the doorway of the library. Like Jason, she had black hair and brown eyes. Her hair was pulled back in a long dark braid. She gave the Aldens a friendly smile. “Hi, I’m Nicole. Nicole Dubois. We’re staying with my mom and dad in Moose Cabin for the whole summer. Who are you?”
“I’m Henry Alden, and these are my sisters, Jessie and Violet, and my brother, Benny,” said Henry. “We just got here. We’re in Black Bear Cabin.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” said Nicole. “Now I’ll have someone to do things with. Jason never wants to do anything but sit in the library and read. And the only other person staying here is Dr. Lin. She is a biologist who is doing research.”
“There’s nothing to do here except read,” said the boy. “This place is so boring.”
“It’s not boring, Jason!” Nicole cried. “It’s fun to hike and swim and fish and take the canoe out on the lake.”
“Little kid stuff,” said Jason with a yawn. He stood up and walked out of the room. “Anything would be better than being here — even summer school.”
Nicole rolled her eyes. “He’s going to college this fall,” she said. “Suddenly he thinks he’s so grown-up.”
“Most grown-ups don’t act like that,” Jessie blurted out. Then she stopped, embarrassed. “Sorry,” she said.
“That’s okay,” said Nicole. “I have to go to dinner, but maybe I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Okay,” said Henry.
“We’re in the library to do research on the monster,” Benny said suddenly. “Do you believe in monsters?”
Nicole’s eyes widened. She stepped forward. “You’ve heard about Lucy?” she asked in a low voice.
“Lucy?” asked Violet.
“The monster of Lake Lucille,” said Nicole.
“Have you seen her?” asked Jessie. “Have you seen Lucy?”
Nicole whispered, “No, I haven’t. But I know someone who has.” |