Thunder Valley (4 page)

“Why doesn’t this surprise me?” Jeremy sighed. “Keep trying to find him, Hans. When he does turn up, send him to my grandfather’s office. I want to talk to him.”

Jason cocked his head. “Hey, you sound like a natural-born administrator. Grandpa would be proud.”

“Not if he heard about David Watts quitting.”

Jason followed his brother into the comfortable office and closed the door. “I thought David
wanted
to work here.”

“He did until he suddenly got a better job offer. And that’s not all. Grandpa was right about the bank statements. Something’s screwy.”

“What do you think it is?”

“I don’t know. But you and I better figure some things out before this whole place goes under.”

There was a loud knock on the door. Jeremy yelled, “Come in,” and an enormous, unshaven man with greasy brown hair sauntered into the room.

The man put his large hands on his hips and sneered at them. “You little boys shouldn’t be playing around in your granddaddy’s office. You might break something.”

Jeremy ignored the comment. “Where have you been, Simms? I’ve had people looking for you. We had a problem on one of the lifts.”

“Working. Where else would I be?”

Jeremy gritted his teeth. He was about to tell Simms off when he noticed something familiar
on one of his hands. It was a tattoo of the same symbol that was on Corky’s medallion.

Jason didn’t wait. “My brother and I are in charge around here until our grandparents get back. So if you want to keep your job, I suggest you give us a straight answer.”

Simms leaned over the desk and stared threateningly at the boys. “I don’t work for no kids. If the old man has a problem with me, tell him to let me know in person.” The big man turned and lumbered out of the office, slamming the door behind him.

“Are we just gonna take that?” Jason demanded.

Jeremy tapped the desk, deep in thought. “Jason, do you get the feeling that we’re missing something? I don’t know, maybe we’re in over our heads.”

“What are you talking about? That guy’s not a problem. As soon as we get a chance to talk to Grandma, he’s history.”

Jeremy explained about the symbol he’d noticed. “The chances of two guys as different as Corky and Simms wearing that same emblem are probably about a million to one.”

“You think those two are behind the problems the lodge has been having?”

“Who knows? One thing’s for sure, we better stay on our toes. If there is a connection, we may be in for a lot more trouble.”

Jason sat down on the other side of the desk and propped his feet up on it. “I sure will be glad when Grandma gets back. It was a lot more fun to just cruise around and enjoy myself on the slopes than it is running this place.”

Jeremy frowned. “The thing is, we can’t worry Grandma with any of this right now. She’s got enough on her mind.”

“Then what are we gonna do?”

“For now, just keep your eyes open. Everybody at the lodge is under suspicion. This thing could be bigger than we know.”

“Would you mind paying attention, Mr. Parsons?”

Jeremy blinked. He was sitting at the dining room table and Mr. Stern, their tutor, was standing in front of him with a sour look on his face. “This era of ancient history is especially fascinating given our current archaeological data. In fact, I’ve been thinking of having you and your brother write a lengthy report discussing the implications of the latest findings.”

Jason groaned and kicked his brother under the table.

Jeremy sat up straighter in his chair and tried
to collect his thoughts. “Sorry, Mr. Stern. I was thinking about something else.”

“So I see.” The tutor walked around the table and picked up the piece of notebook paper Jeremy had been doodling on during the lecture. “Mr. Parsons, you surprise me. Where exactly have you seen this sign before?” He held up the picture of the symbol Jeremy had drawn.

“Why?” Jeremy asked cautiously. “Do you know what it is?”

“My dear boy, as I’ve said before, my specialty is ancient history. Of course I know what it is. It’s the symbol of a primitive pagan religion called the Broken Tree, which disappeared thousands of years ago. They were tree worshipers, very similar to the Druids, but with a twist. They only allowed the criminal element to join their ranks. Not just any criminals, mind you, only those with very special talents.”

Jeremy was excited but tried not to show it. “Could there still be members of this Broken Tree thing around today?”

“That would be highly unlikely. Not in the truest sense, anyway.”

“Mr. Stern.” Lila was standing in the doorway.
“I don’t believe you should be filling the boys’ heads with this sort of nonsense. Mrs. Parsons would be very upset if she knew.”

“Quite right.” The tutor cleared his throat. “Now, where were we … Oh, yes, page ninety-five.”

The next two hours of tutoring dragged by for Jeremy. The information Mr. Stern had given him made it even more difficult to concentrate on his studies. What if there were actual members of this Broken Tree group working at the lodge?

Thankfully, the tutor let them go when a car pulled up outside. It was their grandmother. She had taken a cab from the city.

The woman who walked through the front door was not the same one who had left in the ambulance that morning. Grace Parsons was smiling and back in control. She assured her grandsons that their grandfather was out of danger and doing so well that he was already giving the nurses a hard time about the food. She had only come back to pack an overnight bag so that she could return to the hospital.

The boys were careful not to worry her with
any of the day’s events, other than to explain about David Watts and to ask her to fill out a payroll check for him.

When she was through packing, Jeremy carried his grandmother’s small suitcase to the waiting cab and deposited it in the open trunk.

Jeremy let his grandmother give him a parting hug as he opened the cab door for her. “Umm …” He hesitated, not sure how to ask her what he wanted to know. “Is Grandpa still depressed?”

“Depressed?” His grandmother raised an eyebrow. “Where on earth did you get that idea? It would take a lot more than accidentally taking the wrong medicine to depress your grandfather.”

Jason came around the back of the cab. “But I thought Lila said—”

“You better go, Grandma,” Jeremy interrupted. “The meter’s running, and we know how impatient Grandpa gets.”

Grace Parsons laughed. “That’s putting it mildly.” She hugged them both again and stepped into the cab. They waved until she was out of sight.

“All right, start talking,” Jason ordered. “Why did Lila say those things about Grandpa if they weren’t true?”

“Lower your voice,” Jeremy whispered. He led his brother away from the house to a group of tall pine trees on the other side of the yard. When he was sure they were out of hearing range, he confided, “I don’t understand it all yet. But I’m convinced that someone, or maybe even a lot of people, are trying to ruin Grandpa.” He looked back at the house. “And now they’re starting to play rough.”

“Maybe we better call the cops.”

“Do you think they’d believe us? We don’t have much to go on. Besides, I’m pretty sure Lila listens on the extension.”

“No problem.” Jason rubbed his stomach. “Suddenly I feel very hungry. Don’t worry, I’ll keep her busy cooking for a while. You go into Grandpa’s room and make the call.”

Jason held his stomach as he closed the bedroom door. “Man, I’m hurting. For once in my life I think I overdid it. Tell me it was worth it.”

Jeremy was sitting at the desk with a pencil and pad, trying to organize everything that had happened into some kind of logical order. He swung around and faced his brother. “We’re not going to get any help from the cops. I called every agency in the phone book, including the FBI. The sheriff’s department said they’ve never heard of the Broken Tree. The city police thought I was making a crank call. The FBI took
my name but told me to have an adult call if an actual crime occurs.” Jeremy shook his head. “It’s no good. We’re in this alone until we can come up with something solid for the police to go on.” He stood and grabbed his coat from its Peg.

“Where do you think you’re going? It’s ten o’clock at night.”

“
We’re
going up to the office to search the files. There’s got to be a clue somewhere that can tell us why these things are happening, and we’re gonna find it if it takes all night.”

Jason moaned as he reached for his jacket. “I hope you realize what a sacrifice I’m making here.”

Jeremy stuffed his notes into his pocket. “Some sacrifice. You’ll probably be hungry again in an hour.” He opened the door and stepped into the hall just in time to see Lila disappearing into the kitchen.

Jason saw too. “Do you think she was listening?”

“I don’t know. But starting now, we better be a lot more careful.”

Jason opened one eye. The yellow rays of the sun were just beginning to peek over the top of the snow-covered mountains. He raised his head off his grandfather’s desk, where it had fallen a few hours earlier, yawned, and stretched as far as he could.

Jeremy was sitting in the middle of the floor going through a box of papers he’d found on the top shelf in the closet. “Have you ever heard Grandpa mention anything about Timothy Ryland Enterprises?”

Jason opened his other eye. “Have you been up all night?”

“Almost. Ever heard of it?”

“Nope.”

“Me neither, but it could be something. This Ryland guy has made a couple of offers to buy the lodge. His company’s in New York.”

“Must not have meant much to Grandpa if he stuffed the offers in a box.”

“You’re probably right.” Jeremy wrote down the address and phone number from one of the letters. “But just in case, I think I’ll make some calls and see what I can find out.”

Jason pushed himself away from the desk and stood up. “I’m starving. How about breakfast?”

“You go ahead. I’ll get a doughnut or something later. After I clean up here, I’ll make those calls and meet you over at the beginners’ runs.” He checked his watch. “It’s two hours later in New York. I hope it’s not too early.”

He dialed the number and waited. A woman with a friendly, singsong voice answered. Before he could say anything she informed him that he’d reached an answering service and
should leave a message. He decided to hang up without leaving one.

But then he thought again. He dialed the number again. He listened to the message, waited, and then spoke slowly, “This is the Thunder Valley Ski Lodge. We have found the Broken Tree.”

Students young and old were starting to assemble for lessons on the flat beginners’ area. The Thompson brothers were already pounding each other with snowballs when Jeremy arrived. For the sake of the rest of the class he decided to let Jason teach while he kept the troublemakers apart.