When the children returned to the laundry room, Sam Jackson had arrived for work.
Mrs. Crabtree was scolding Sam. “I’m pleased you were able to pick up the shipment of new towels, Sam. But I expected you back sooner. Was there a lot of traffic on the mountain roads?”
Sam looked at the Aldens, then down at his muddy hiking boots. “Kind of,” he answered. “I’m sorry. I’ll work later tonight in the dining room.”
For a second Mrs. Crabtree said nothing. Then she took a deep breath. “I needed you this afternoon more than I will tonight. After guests check out, we only have a few hours to clean the rooms before the next guests arrive. Thank goodness I had the Aldens here—and my husband—to finish the housekeeping chores.”
Now Sam perked up. “But I did a good job cleaning the rooms yesterday, didn’t I?”
Mrs. Crabtree sighed again. “Of course you did, Sam. You’re efficient when you’re here. But you’re often gone or late. Or something. In any case, every day at the lodge is a new one—new guests, new rooms to clean. Yesterday’s work starts all over again.”
“I’m sorry,” Sam repeated. “I’ll try to be around more.”
Mrs. Crabtree checked her schedule book again. “All right, then. In an hour I’d like you to meet the Aldens upstairs for the children’s hour. We have twelve children signed up this evening—six more than last night.”
Sam looked at the Aldens, then back at Mrs. Crabtree. “I can handle twelve as easily as six.”
But Mrs. Crabtree was firm. “No, Sam. You’ll need the Aldens, too. Some of the children asked for them as well as you. That’s final.”
Sam and the Aldens left the laundry room together, but they didn’t stay together. As soon as he was out of Mrs. Crabtree’s sight, Sam left the building.
“Should we have told Mrs. Crabtree about seeing Sam on the Lost Cabin Trails?” Violet asked.
“The important thing is that Sam brought Mrs. Crabtree the towels she needed from town,” Jessie said. “Maybe Sam just decided to help out Ranger Crowe on the way back. I guess it’s not our business that he also went hiking.”
Henry looked very serious. “There is something that is our business.”
“The map, right?” Benny asked.
“Right!” Henry answered. “It seems to me the map disappeared right after Sam cleaned the rooms yesterday. Maybe that’s how our trash wound up in the Dumpster. Do you think Sam saw the map, figured out where the cabin was, then spent the morning looking for it after going to town?”
“I’m going to get to the bottom of this,” Jessie said.
Jessie caught up to Sam outside. He was heading to the staff lodgings. “Hello, Sam. I wanted to ask you something.”
Sam kept right on walking. “What is it now? Does Mrs. Crabtree need me? Why do you keep bothering me?”
Jessie bit her lip. She wasn’t used to people being impatient with her. She looked Sam Jackson straight in the eye. “Did you clean our room yesterday and throw out a copy of a map when you were in there?”
Sam’s eyes darkened. He started to move away. “I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about. I clean rooms. I don’t throw out people’s possessions. Or maybe you’re suggesting I stole something from your room. Is that it?”
Jessie wasn’t sure what to say. “No, I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry I mentioned it. I just wanted to find out if you knew anything about a map, that’s all.”
Sam was silent.
“Sam denied knowing anything about the map,” Jessie said when she rejoined her sister and brothers inside. “I hope I didn’t make him out to be a careless worker or a thief if he’s not. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything at all.”
“Well, maybe it wasn’t Sam. Maybe it was Mr. Crabtree,” Henry said.
“Since we’re finished with work now,” Violet began, “can we go for a walk? We haven’t been to the Upper Basin area. There won’t be too many tourists, since it’s so misty and foggy out.”
“Sure,” Jessie said. “Then we can take another look at the map. Maybe we’ll see where we made our wrong turn today.”
The children walked by Old Faithful, then strolled to the Upper Basin area, where dozens of small geysers gurgled and steamed. The Aldens watched the hot springs from the wooden walkways. Clouds of steam gently rose from the ground. All the fog made it hard to see more than a few feet ahead.
“It’s pretty out here, even in the fog,” Violet said. “Can we walk a little farther? I like looking at the smaller geysers. Some of the colors of the hot springs are so pretty.”
Jessie took Benny’s hand. “Careful around here, Benny. Let’s not walk too fast. It would be dangerous to slip off these walkways.”
The Aldens seemed to be alone. Everything was blanketed in mist from the fog and from the hot springs bubbling nearby. The children stood by a railing, looking and listening to the odd little pools of water that simmered like teakettles on a stove.
“Shhh,” Benny whispered suddenly. “Somebody else is on this walkway. I hear voices. But it’s so foggy, I can’t see who it is.”
The Aldens stood still.
“Those kids saw the map,” the children heard a man’s voice say. “What if they get up there before we do?”
A woman’s voice answered. “We have to keep that from happening. I’ll report to work early tomorrow and sign up for trail cleanup. Meet me at the trailhead at seven. We’re so close. We can’t let anyone get there first. . . . What’s the matter?”
The two voices were silent for a few seconds.
The man finally answered. “I’m worried about my job. I haven’t been around much. Everything is taking much longer than I thought.”
“Don’t worry,” the young woman said. “I know the head manager at the lodge. I’ll tell him I need you for trail work. Maybe they can put those kids on your job tomorrow morning instead. I’ll get you back by afternoon.”
The Aldens heard footsteps coming toward them. They tiptoed down the boardwalk, careful not to make noise. Once they got past the foggy hot springs area, the air cleared. They looked back at the mist still covering the walkways.
Out of the mist walked two people: Sam Jackson and Ranger Crowe.
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