The Quicksand Question Read online

  “Um, you wouldn’t happen to know which way he turned on River Road?” Dink said. “Did he have a blinker on?”

  Mr. Pocket shook his head. “Nope. Didn’t have any lights on at all. That’s why I didn’t see him till he almost ran over my toes!”

  Mr. Pocket leaned forward. “And if you want my opinion, the driver never meant to turn on River Road,” he said. “I truly believe he aimed his jeep straight for the river!”

  Dink gulped. “Right into the water?” he said.

  The old man nodded. “Yep. Unless that jeep knew how to fly.”

  “That would explain why the guys in the fire truck didn’t pass the jeep,” Dink said.

  “I’d like to make a donation for your duck bridge,” Mr. Pocket said. He fished a small leather pouch from his pocket and took out four quarters. He leaned over and handed them to Josh. “Always liked ducks.”

  “Thanks a lot, sir,” Josh said as he accepted the money. “If we find the bank, I’ll put it in for you.”

  The kids and Pal left Mr. Pocket sitting on his porch with his dog. They walked to the corner of Main, then turned left and headed for the river.

  Between the edge of River Road and the water, there was a patch of weeds. Some of them were crushed flat, lying toward the river.

  When the kids were close enough, they realized that there were actually two flattened strips, side by side.

  Josh bent over the smashed grass. “They sure look like tire tracks to me,” he said. “Mr. Pocket was right!”

  Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose sat and looked out over the river. Pal put his front feet in the river and began lapping up water. Josh held the leash so Pal couldn’t go out any farther.

  “Could the jeep drive right across the river?” Ruth Rose asked.

  “Sure,” Josh said. “On TV I’ve seen guys in jeeps plow right through water deeper than this.”

  “We should go look on the other side for more tracks,” Dink said.

  Josh frowned. “But how do we—”

  “Look,” Dink interrupted, pointing to a flat-bottomed rowboat coming down the river. The man rowing the boat seemed too big for it, like a grown-up sitting on a kid’s bike. The man rowed slowly, peering over the sides into the water as he moved.

  The boat slowed, then stopped. The man removed one of the oars from the oarlock. He began poking the oar into the water. He did it several times, on both sides of the boat.

  Then the man set the oar back into the oarlock. He stretched a long arm into the water. He paused a moment, then suddenly laughed.

  The man splashed some water onto his face and head. He shook his hair like a wet dog, grabbed both oars, and began rowing for the opposite shore.

  When he reached land, he got out and dragged the boat behind him. The man and the boat disappeared into the trees.

  “Did you see how big that guy was?” Dink asked.

  “Not only that,” Josh said. “Did you notice his ears? Mushrooms!”

  “That was the thief!” Ruth Rose said.

  “But what was he looking for?” Dink asked.

  “Maybe the bank fell out of the jeep when it was crossing,” Ruth Rose suggested.

  “That duck is pretty big,” Josh said. “Wouldn’t he be able to see it just lying in the water?”

  “Well, he found something,” Ruth Rose said.

  “And I’m going to find out what,” Josh said. He looped Pal’s leash around a tree, pulled off his sneakers, and started wading into the river.

  “Wait for me!” Dink said, yanking off his own sneakers.

  “I’m coming, too!” said Ruth Rose, kicking off her sandals.

  They pushed their feet through the warm, shallow water. Dink could feel the fine sand between his toes. The water was so clear he could see the tiny pebbles on the bottom.

  “It’s getting kind of muddy,” Josh said, a few yards ahead of Dink.

  Suddenly Josh stopped. He turned around with panic on his face. “I’m stuck!” he cried.

  As Dink watched, Josh started to sink. The water was up to his knees!

  “I can’t pull my feet out!” Josh yelled. “I think it’s quicksand!”

  “Wait a minute!” Dink said. He lunged ahead and grabbed Josh’s arm.

  Then Dink felt the sand closing over his own feet and his ankles, climbing steadily to his knees. He was stuck, too!

  “Ruth Rose!” Dink shouted. “Don’t come any closer!”

  “I’ll run for help!” Ruth Rose yelled. She turned and splashed back to shore.

  Dink watched her climb the bank and race across River Road in her bare feet. Pal was straining on his leash and barking.

  Josh pulled out of Dink’s grasp, struggling to walk back toward the edge. But the more he struggled, the deeper he sank.

  “Don’t move!” Dink yelled. “Get on your back.”

  To demonstrate, Dink fell backward into the water. He floated on his back, facing up. His legs were still stuck, but at least he wasn’t sinking.

  “Do it—it works!” he called to Josh.

  Dink heard a splash as Josh fell over into the water. He could hear his own heart pounding in his ears. Trying to calm himself, he closed his eyes and let his body float.

  Suddenly Pal began to bark even more wildly Turning his head, Dink saw Jake and another man running toward the river carrying a ladder. Ruth Rose was right behind them.

  At the river’s edge, the men flopped the ladder into the water.

  “Don’t move!” Jake yelled out to Dink and Josh. “Just stay the way you are. Lenny and I will have you out in a jiffy.”

  The firefighters shoved the ladder out into the water toward Dink. When it was near enough, he grabbed the last rung.

  “Hold on, kid!” Jake yelled.

  The men pulled the ladder. Dink could feel suction on his legs, as if the quicksand didn’t want to let him go.

  But Jake and Lenny were stronger than the quicksand. Suddenly Dink’s legs oozed free of the muck. When Dink’s feet touched solid river bottom, he splashed ashore.

  Immediately the men thrust the ladder back out over the river. Jake waded in and pushed the ladder until Josh could grab a rung. Pulling the ladder hand over hand, he and Lenny hauled Josh out of the river like a fish. Dink and Josh sat side by side, catching their breath. They were both sopping wet and red-faced. Pal lapped Josh’s face and jumped all over his muddy legs. “Don’t ever do that again!” Ruth Rose said.

  “Don’t worry,” Josh said. “I’m never even taking a bath again!”

  Everyone burst out laughing.

  “By the way,” Jake said, slapping the other man on the back, “this is Lenny.”

  Lenny smiled at the kids. “Glad to meet you,” he said.

  “Not as glad as we are,” Dink said, standing up to shake Lenny’s hand.

  “What were you kids doing out there?” Lenny asked.

  “That’s where the jeep is!” Josh said.

  “It is?” Dink asked. “Josh, we don’t know—”

  “It’s there,” Josh said, pulling on his sneakers. “When I was lying in the water, something sharp stuck me in the leg. I reached down and felt the jeep’s antenna! That must be what that guy in the boat found!”

  “We have to go get Officer Fallon,” Ruth Rose said.

  “No need to,” Jake said, holding a hand in the air. “I called him from the station. Listen.”

  They heard a siren coming closer. Twenty seconds later, a cruiser roared up to the river and stopped. Officer Fallon jumped out and practically slid into the river in his haste.

  “You kids all right?” he said, looking from one face to the other.

  “We’re fine,” Dink said. “And Josh found the crook’s jeep!”

  “You did? Where?”

  Josh pointed out into the water. “Out there, buried in quicksand.”

  “I never even knew there was quicksand in Connecticut,” Ruth Rose said.

  “Quicksand can be anywhere there’s water and sand,” Lenny said
. “I was a Navy SEAL, and I saw plenty of the stuff.”

  “But we’ve waded in the river lots of times,” Josh said. “I never got stuck before.”

  “Sometimes you find it only in small pockets,” Lenny explained. “In fact, right here is a perfect spot for it. Lots of sand under shallow, slow-moving water.”

  “But how did you know to look here?” Officer Fallon asked the kids.

  “We went to see Mr. Pocket,” Dink explained. “He told us it seemed like the jeep went straight instead of turning on River Road. So we came here and found tire tracks.”

  “Then we saw a guy in a boat,” Josh added. “He was looking for something in the water. He found it, then took off.”

  “That’s when Josh decided to take a mud bath,” Ruth Rose said with a grin.

  The three men and three kids looked out over the river. The blue sky, sparkling water, and golden sand looked so peaceful.

  “If you’re right about the jeep,” Officer Fallon said, “the duck bank is probably down there, too.”

  “But how can we get it out?” Ruth Rose asked.

  Officer Fallon scratched his chin. “That’s a good question,” he said.

  “I think I have the answer,” Lenny said.

  Everyone looked at Lenny.

  “Quicksand is just a kind of soup made of sand and water,” he explained. “Beneath the quicksand there’s a layer of hard clay or rock. The quicksand lies on top of that hard stuff because it can’t drain out.”

  “But how far down is the hard layer?” Officer Fallon asked.

  “The only way to find out is to get out there in the stuff,” Lenny said. “But if these kids found the antenna sticking up, the jeep must be just beneath the surface of sand.”

  “So we’ll get a hook on that baby and pull it out, right, Lenny?” Jake asked.

  “Yeah, if I can find the bumper,” Lenny said. “I’ll go out there and see what’s what. You go back to the firehouse and get the truck.”

  Twenty minutes later, everything was in place. Jake had backed the rescue truck to the riverbank. A long cable with a big hook on one end lay on the ground. The other end snaked into the winch on the back of the truck.

  Standing at the water’s edge, Lenny held the hook end of the cable.

  “Okay,” Jake called to Lenny. “Go fishing!”

  Dragging the cable and hook, Lenny half floated, half swam out into the river. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose hunkered down under a tree and watched. Pal’s head was resting on Josh’s knees.

  Officer Fallon sat in his cruiser, talking into his car phone.

  A small crowd of people stood watching on the edge of River Road.

  “I sure hope the duck bank is still in the jeep,” Dink said.

  “And I hope Lenny doesn’t get stuck in the quicksand,” Josh added.

  “Okay, I think I’m right over the rear of the jeep,” Lenny yelled. He took a deep breath and plunged under the water.

  A minute passed. Everyone stared at the spot where Lenny had disappeared. Dink glanced at his watch.

  “The quicksand must have him!” Josh yelled.

  “Let’s not panic,” Jake said. “If he gets in trouble, we’ll haul him out by the cable.” But Jake looked worried.

  Suddenly the surface of the water erupted. Lenny popped up like a cork on a fishing line. He began spitting and shaking mud from his arms and shoulders.

  “What took you so long?” Jake yelled to his partner.

  “The jeep sank at an angle,” Lenny called back. “So unfortunately the bumper is lower down than I thought.”

  “Did you get the hook on it?” Jake asked.

  Lenny grinned. “Of course I did! Pull her in, Jake!”

  Jake ran to the truck and threw a lever, and the cable began to inch backward into the winch. As the cable tightened, the winch strained, making a noise like fingernails on a chalkboard. Everybody stared at the river.

  Out in the water, the back end of a yellow jeep suddenly broke the surface.

  “There it is!” Ruth Rose cried.

  Officer Fallon had come to stand behind the kids. “Well, I’ll be darned,” he muttered.

  They all heard a sucking sound as the quicksand gave up the jeep. Inch by inch, the jeep oozed toward the river-bank like some yellow sea monster. Water and sand cascaded off the metal and glass.

  Finally the jeep’s rear tires came to rest against the riverbank. In the passenger seat, wet and muddy, sat the duck bank. The coins were barely visible through the clear plastic because of the sand and water that had seeped in.

  “This bank must weigh a ton with all that water and muck inside,” Lenny-said. “I know I can’t lift it.”

  “Let’s haul the jeep back to the firehouse,” Jake suggested. He climbed into the driver’s seat of the rescue truck. “We’ll use the hoist to lift the bank, then empty out the money and let it dry.”

  “And I’d like to see what’s in that glove compartment,” Officer Fallon said.

  Lenny nodded. He opened the jeep’s doors, letting muddy water flood out onto the ground. With it came a soggy mixture of old hamburger wrappers, a T-shirt, and a ragged green towel.

  “Okay,” Lenny said. “Take ’er away.”

  The rescue truck slowly pulled the jeep toward the firehouse. Water was still oozing out. Officer Fallon followed in his cruiser. With the excitement over, people began to wander away.

  “Let’s go watch them empty out the bank,” Dink said.

  “Could we get some lunch first?” Josh asked as he untied Pal’s leash from the tree. “I swear I’m losing weight here.”

  “Okay, we can go to my house and eat,” Ruth Rose said. “I wouldn’t want Josh to get any skinnier.”

  Pal was sniffing the wet hamburger wrappers that had just poured out of the jeep.

  “See, even my dog is hungry,” Josh teased.

  “Wait a minute, guys,” Ruth Rose said. Using the toe of her sandal, she kicked at the wet towel.

  Only it wasn’t a towel. It was a green apron. And flashing in the sun was a name tag, pinned to the material.

  Three words were printed on the name tag: HI! I’M MARTIN.

  The kids stood looking down at the name tag.

  “I’ve seen an apron and name tag like this before,” Dink said. “In the supermarket!”

  “Martin must work there!” Josh said. “Let’s go arrest him!”

  “We can’t arrest anybody,” Ruth Rose said. “We have to tell Officer Fallon!”

  Ruth Rose scooped up the apron and wrung out the water. Then the kids raced up the grassy slope and across River Road. Pal loped alongside Josh.

  On the firehouse driveway, they saw Jake, Lenny, and a couple of other firefighters. The jeep was standing in a puddle of river water.

  “Have you seen Officer Fallon?” Dink asked one of the firefighters.

  “You just missed him,” the man said, pointing to the jeep’s open glove compartment. “He grabbed some papers and left.”

  “Do you know if he went to the police station?” Ruth Rose asked.

  The firefighter shrugged. “He didn’t say.”

  Dink looked at Josh and Ruth Rose. “What should we do?” he asked.

  “If Martin is the crook, we need to let Officer Fallon know,” Ruth Rose said.

  “But it might be too late,” Josh said. “If Martin works next door, he might have seen the jeep being dragged over here.”

  Josh quickly glanced toward the supermarket. “He could be watching us right now!”

  Dink thought for a minute. “We saw Martin in a rowboat a while ago, so maybe he isn’t working at the market today,” he said. “He might not know we found the jeep.”

  Ruth Rose was still holding the damp apron. She looked across the lawn toward the supermarket. “Come on,” she said. “If Martin isn’t working today, maybe we can find out where he lives. And even if he is working, we’ll tell Officer Fallon.”

  They crossed the lawn that separated the fire station from
the supermarket. Josh left Pal tied to the bike rack again, and the kids hurried inside.

  “Keep your eyes peeled for a big guy with mushroom ears,” Josh whispered.

  But the store was packed with Sunday shoppers. Dozens of workers in green aprons scurried around. Many of the male employees were pretty big.

  “How will we ever find him?” Ruth Rose asked. “Martin could be anywhere!”

  “I have an idea,” Dink said. “When we were here before, I saw a bunch of pictures of employees. Let’s check ’em out.”

  Josh and Ruth Rose followed Dink toward the back of the store. They cut through the pet food aisle, took a right at the dairy department, and stopped in front of the wall of photographs.

  “There he is,” Dink said, pointing. The man they’d seen in the rowboat was in the bottom row of pictures. He was the only one with huge ears.

  “Martin Fleece,” Dink said, reading the name under the picture.

  “What should we do?” Josh asked.

  Ruth Rose held up the apron. “We have to find out if he’s here,” she said. “Let’s see if Mr. Robb is in his office.”

  The store manager’s office was only a few yards from the wall of pictures. The door was open, and Dink could hear Mr. Robb’s voice.

  “Someone’s in there with him,” Dink whispered to Josh and Ruth Rose. They stood just outside the door.

  “Marty, I just don’t understand,” Mr. Robb was saying. “Yesterday you were happy to work here, and today you want to quit.”

  “I’m sorry,” a deep voice responded. “But I have to go out of town. My … my grandmother is in the hospital, so I have to leave today. And I’ll need my paycheck, too.”

  Josh peeked around the corner. When he looked back at Dink and Ruth Rose, his eyes were huge. “Martin Fleece!” he whispered.

  “What can we do?” Ruth Rose asked.

  “Let us take it from here,” a quiet voice said, this time from behind Ruth Rose.

  It was Officer Fallon with Officer Keene. “Did this come from the jeep?” Officer Fallon asked, pointing at the wet apron.

  Ruth Rose nodded.

  He took the apron and walked into Mr. Robb’s office. Officer Keene followed and closed the door.