“Is your father here?” asked Henry.
Irene nodded, her ponytail bouncing.
“Can we talk to him?” Henry asked.
“He’s fixing a friend’s airboat,” she said. “I’ll take you over to him.”
The ramp had two airboats docked. Jessie figured one belonged to Irene’s father.
“Daddy,” said Irene, “these are the people I told you about. The ones trying to find Ranger Beldon?”
A big man wiped his hands on a rag and came over. He shook hands with Grandfather.
“Billy Osceola,” he said. “Nice to meet you.”
“James Alden,” said Grandfather in return. “Glad to meet you, Mr. Osceola. These are my grandchildren, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny.”
“Irene said you saw a man in the Glades last night,” Henry said. “Do you know who he was?”
Mr. Osceola shook his head. “He looked like Andrew Beldon. But when I called out to him, he ran away.”
Violet looked up at Mr. Osceola. “Why would he have run away?”
“I don’t know. I just hope he’s okay.” Irene’s father was grave. “It’s easy to become lost in the backwaters of the Glades.”
“Do you think Andrew is lost?” asked Jessie. All along, she was afraid this might be true.
Mr. Osceola shrugged. “I doubt it. Andrew Beldon knows many secret places of the Glades. That’s probably why no one has found him. He can be as quiet as the panther he likes so much.”
“Can you take us to where you saw this man?” Grandfather asked Mr. Osceola.
“Yes,” Irene’s father replied. “But it’s not a short trip. I think you should count on spending the night.”
“How can I do that?” asked Grandfather.
“The park has a chickee built nearby,” said Mr. Osceola. “They have several around the park for people who want to camp out overnight. But they are primitive. Bring everything you need with you. Irene and I will come, too. And you’ll need to get a permit from the ranger station.”
“I can do that now,” said Grandfather. “The station is just down the road.”
“Are we going to take canoes?” Henry asked. If the place was as far as Mr. Osceola said, poling a canoe would take them forever.
“I’ll take you in my airboat,” Irene’s father replied. “I can drop you off in the morning and come back later.”
“We’re going to ride in one of those?” Benny cried, jumping up and down on the dock. “Yippee!”
Mr. Osceola smiled. “Yes, airboats are fun to ride in. They are very fast.”
“I like to go fast!” Benny said. “Almost as much as I like to eat.”
Everyone laughed.
“Okay, Benny,” said Violet. “Let’s go to the snack bar for some pumpkin bread.”
“I’ll join you later,” said Grandfather. “I want to discuss the details with Mr. Osceola and then drive to the ranger station for our camping permit.”
The snack bar wasn’t crowded. The children purchased thick slices of pumpkin bread and cold drinks. They all sat at an empty table.
“You are in for a real experience,” Irene told them. “Not many people go where you are going tomorrow.”
“I’m glad you’ll be with us,” said Violet. “I’m a little nervous.”
“Don’t be,” Irene reassured her. “A chickee is very safe. You can bring sleeping bags if you want. I’ll bring along hammocks, too.”
“I want to sleep in a hammock,” Benny declared. He couldn’t wait to start this adventure.
A tour bus stopped out front. Irene had to leave the Aldens to wait on customers.
Henry picked up his trash. “I think we should go. Grandfather is probably waiting for us outside.”
He pushed his chair back. As he did, a man just behind him poured his drink down Henry’s back!
Instead of apologizing, the man muttered, “Why don’t you look where you’re going!” Then he hustled away.
Jessie grabbed a handful of napkins and dabbed at Henry’s shirt.
“It’s okay,” Henry said. “One minute in the sun and I’ll be dry.”
Violet stared at the rude man’s bushy hair. “I know that man! He was on top of the observation tower. He made me mess up my picture.”
“I’ve seen him, too,” Benny said. “Today, when I was looking at postcards.”
“And he was at the house at the end of our street,” Jessie added. “The first evening when we took a walk. Remember?”
Henry frowned. “Why would the same man always be in the same places we are?”
“Coincidence, maybe?” Jessie suggested.
“I don’t think so.” But before Henry could say more, Grandfather came in.
“We should leave,” he told them. “We have a lot of supplies to buy for our camp-out.”
The rest of the afternoon was spent buying sleeping bags, more insect repellent, cookware, food, a lantern, mosquito netting, and utensils.
“We have a lot of this stuff at home,” Jessie remarked as they loaded the bulky sacks into the trunk of their car.
“Yes, but our old sleeping bags are getting a little worn out,” Grandfather said.
“Can we keep the old ones in our boxcar?” Benny asked. “For sleepovers?”
“Good idea.” Grandfather rumpled Benny’s hair. “Although after tomorrow night, you might not want to camp out again for a while.”
“Why? What’s going to happen tomorrow?” Jessie asked. “Irene told us the Glades are noisy at night.”
“Mr. Osceola told me the same thing,” Grandfather said. “I just think none of us will get much sleep, that’s all. There’s nothing to be afraid of or we wouldn’t go. According to Irene’s father, the place where he saw the man who looked like Andy is deep in the Glades.”
“And we’ll have to search for him,” Henry added. “So we can’t make this trip all in one day.”
“Exactly.” Grandfather got behind the wheel. “Let’s go back to the hotel and think about where we want to eat dinner.”
But the children were too excited to eat when they reached the pink hotel. This time tomorrow they would be deep in the Everglades. Anything could happen!
They sat out on the porch and signed Benny’s postcard.
To their surprise, an old man came up the walk. It was Gus Hummer.
“Mr. Hummer!” Jessie said, getting up to give him her seat on the glider. “Did you come to see us?”
“I did indeed. Just let me catch my breath.” The old man sat down and took a few shaky breaths. “It’s farther over here than I thought!”
“You should have called us,” said Violet. “You could have left a message with Mrs. Johnson. We would have come over to your house. Can I get you a drink?”
“Water would be fine,” said Gus.
Violet came back moments later with a pitcher of ice water on a tray and several glasses. Gus drank an entire glass, set it on the tray, and wiped his mouth with his handkerchief.
“I had to come over here,” he told the Aldens. “I can’t talk freely at my boardinghouse.”
“Why not?” asked Benny.
“Because Old Lady Applegate eavesdrops. That woman is always listening at doors. She hears everything!” Gus remarked.
Henry poured their guest a second glass of cold water. “What do you want to tell us? Does it have to do with Andrew?”
Gus nodded. “Old Lady Applegate was snooping in Andrew’s room. He hasn’t been back in days, you know.”
“Yes, we know,” put in Jessie. “Do you think the landlady took something from Andrew’s room?”
Gus waved a hand. “She takes things from all our rooms. Little things, like pocket change, knickknacks. She once took a picture of my late wife. I think she sold the frame. I wouldn’t have minded so much if she’d left the picture.”
“That’s terrible!” Violet cried. “Did you tell the police?”
“I didn’t have any proof. It would be her word against the word of an old man,” Gus said. “Anyway, she does it to all her boarders, not just me.”
“But you all should do something!” Jessie exclaimed.
Gus shook his head. “The rent is cheap. Where else would I go that I could afford?” He tugged an envelope from his pocket. “That’s not why I came. Andrew gave me this the day before he disappeared. I think it’s important. Maybe you kids can figure it out. I can’t make heads or tails of it.”
Henry took the envelope as Gus rose to leave.
“Won’t you stay longer?” Violet asked, concerned about the man. “You could go to dinner with us.”
“Thanks, but no,” said Gus. He walked slowly down the block.
“Poor guy,” said Jessie. “It must be awful to live there.”
Henry was opening the envelope. He held up a piece of paper. On the paper were two sets of numbers.
Benny frowned. “What is that? Math?”
Violet stared at the paper. One column had single numbers in order — one, two, three, four, and so forth. The second column had rows of numbers all jumbled up.
“What does this mean?” she asked, perplexed.
“There’s something about these numbers,” Jessie said slowly. “But I can’t think what.”
“I know!” Henry cried. “The cat collars!” He pointed to the first row of numbers. “These are the numbers assigned to the cats.”
“That makes sense,” said Violet. “Nelda Pearson said the cats were numbered one, two, three, like that. But what is the second set of numbers?”
“The frequency of each cat’s radio collar,” Henry said. “When they want to tune in to a certain cat, the rangers use the numbers across from the cat’s number.”
Jessie tapped the bottom of the page. “Number Twenty-seven is circled in red. Something must be wrong with Cat Number Twenty-seven.”
They all looked at one another.
“Andrew is on the trail of Cat Number Twenty-seven,” said Violet.
“And tomorrow, we’ll be on his trail,” added Jessie.
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