STORY SO FAR: It’s 1972. Having found the money bag that Ed Goddard stole and dropped while parachuting, Gillian has decided that she had best bring it home. Jamie is still looking for the bag.

CHAPTER NINE
Trapped!

From the middle of the field, Ed Goddard could see nothing but low hills covered with trees and rocks. That made it impossible to see any great distance. And his knee hurt more than ever.

He looked up, expecting any minute to see low-flying police helicopters sweeping along the route the Keystone plane had taken. Certainly by now they had started searching for him.

They won’t find the parachute, he reminded himself. I can still get away easily. But the million dollars. It’s nearby, somewhere. I’m not leaving it!

He climbed another hill. As he walked, he kept twisting about, searching the widest possible area. At the hilltop he turned a full circle. That’s when he saw Gillian walking through a gully.

At first he thought she was the boy he had seen before. Only when Gillian turnedponytail whipping aboutdid he realize he was wrong. Then again, he thought, I suppose it could have been a girl.

Suddenly only one thing mattered: this kid was holding the money bag. “Hey!” he shouted.

Surprised, Gillian squinted up to see who was calling. For a second she thought it was Jamie. But it was someone she had never seen before. She gasped. The man coming toward her was dressed in a torn, filthy, and disheveled suit. He was carrying a thick stick, and his tension-filled eyes were staring straight at her. Alarmed, she began to clamber up the side of the gully.

Goddard was too quick. He leaped the last few feet, grabbed hold of her heel, and gave a yank. Gillian tumbled down but managed to keep her grip on the bag handle. Stunned and very scared, she looked up from the ground.

“Don’t move!” Goddard yelled, brandishing the stick over her head.

Gillian cowered.

“I want that bag,” Goddard shouted, taking a step forward. “It’s mine!” With a lunge, he used his free hand to rip the bag from her grasp, all the while holding up the stick.

Gillian, up against the rock, an awful sickness rising inside her, was too frightened to move.

“Where’d you find this?” he demanded.

“Over there,” she whispered. “In the rocks.”

“Did you see it fall?”

“What?”

“I said, Did you see it fall?'” His voice rose, as did the stick.

Gillian shook her head.

“But you saw me drop, didn’t you?” he shouted.

“I don’t understand,” said a bewildered Gillian.

“You saw me land when I parachuted. From the sky, you idiot! I saw you!”

Gillian gasped. From the sky! Jamie had been telling the truth. She swallowed hard and shook her head. “No, I didn’t see you.”

“Liar!” he cried.

Gillian, her stomach in knots, clenched her teeth. She wanted to run away, but the man kept holding the stick before her, as if ready to strike.

Goddard shifted his gaze and looked about. “What’s the nearest town?” he demanded.

“Stoneville,” Gillian whispered.

“Stoneville,” Goddard repeated, trying to create a map from memory. “Mansfield is five miles from here,” he said. “Springfield is eight. Right?”

Gillian nodded.

“Where’s the nearest road?”

“That way,” she said, motioning.

“There’s a bus station in Mansfield. Am I right? Answer!”

“Yes,” she managed.

“Okay,” he said. “Now listen: you’re going to show me how to get to Mansfield. Not by roads. They’ll be watching them by now. You’ll get me to Mansfield without roads.”

“I don’t know how,” said Gillian.

“Listen here,” cried Goddard, “I’ve got to get there, it has to be fast, and you’re the one who’s going to show me how to do it.” The stick went up. “Understand?”

Gillian, trembling, nodded yes.

“Okay,” Goddard said, calming down. “You do that, and things will be fine. Just don’t fool around or run away. I don’t want to hurt you, but I’ve got to get this whole thing together.”

Gillian, swallowing to catch her breath, watched as Goddard put the bag down, looked inside, and closed it. As he did this he kept glancing up, freezing her with his ferocious look. Hardly believing what was happening, Gillian tried to figure out how she could get away from the man without getting hurt. She looked about cautiously. Even if she could get away from that stick, she wasn’t sure she could outrun him. The fact was, she was trapped. If only Jamie would appear.

Her next best hope, Gillian figured, was to tell Jamie where they were goingto leave some clue, some message. Then, if he found it, he could get help. Cautiously, she stole a look at Goddard. Good! As he tied the arms of his jacket into a knot around the bag, he had momentarily stopped keeping a close eye on her.

Legs unsteady, Gillian slid down the rock until she was on the ground. Drawing up her knees to hide what she was doing, she began to write in the damp dirt with a finger. First she drew an arrow. It pointed in the direction of Mansfield.



Next she began to spell out the word Mansfield.

M A N S

“Hey!” Goddard called.

Gillian jumped.

“Let’s go!”

Gillian got up instantly, hiding her message with her body.

“Come on.” Goddard poked her with the stick. “Lead the way to Mansfield.”

Gillian moved from the rock. Her one hope was that Jamie would find the note, read it, and get help. But she had not taken five steps when she remembered: Jamie could not read!



(To be continued.)