In the excitement of making plans for the bear hunt, Jo Ann had forgotten about the blue-eyed boy, but now her mind drifted back to him and the mysterious way in which he and the rest of the family had disappeared. It was almost as though the earth had opened and swallowed them, she thought. She went over the events of the last two days in her mind and tried to plan some course of action. She did not intend to leave one stone unturned that might help in solving the mystery.
While she sat there dreaming, she was startled by a tiny stone hitting her on the arm. She glanced around quickly and saw Peggy pointing questioningly to the high range of mountains on their right. With difficulty Jo Ann turned partly around on the ledge. A tiny light flickering against the blackness of the mountains caught and held her attention. For a moment she thought it was a star falling; then she noticed that it did not move. What could it be? She looked at Peggy and shook her head to indicate that she did not know what it was.
For a while they watched the light. There was something mysterious about the way it flared up brightly then almost flickered out, only to brighten up again. That could not be a campfire, she decided. Florence had said no one lived up on the side of that mountain. It was too wild for habitation. At that distance a tiny campfire could scarcely be seen.
Suddenly a thought flashed through her mind. It was a signal light. Someone was trying to send a message across the valley. Perhaps the blue-eyed boy had been kidnaped, after all, and that was why the family had disappeared so suddenly.
She turned to tell this to Peggy, then realized she must not talk. The next instant she was half ashamed for being so suspicious. If that boy had been kidnaped, she felt sure those people had not done it—they were merely tools in the employ of someone else, she decided.
CHAPTER VII
THE CHARCOAL MAKER
Peggy and Jo Ann continued to wait silently for the stealthy appearance of the bear. Myriads of tiny stars winked down at them as they watched the full round moon sail slowly across the deep sapphire sky. Now and then the chirp of a near-by cricket or the croak of a frog could be heard above the constant splashing of the river.
In their hasty preparations for the bear hunt they had forgotten their sweaters, and now they shivered a little, both from excitement and the chill mountain air. The jagged edges of the rock felt anything but comfortable, and their muscles ached from sitting in one position so long. Jo Ann felt dizzy from trying to watch the light high on the mountain side and the dark shadows below her at one and the same time. Was there some connection between this new mystery and the mystery of the blue-eyed boy? she wondered.
When the girls felt they could keep still no longer, Juan stepped out from the shadows and called up to them in Spanish, “The bear no come tonight.”
Jo Ann shook her head. “No, I don’t think he’s coming either. Come on, Peg,” she said, turning around on the ledge. “Let’s get down and stretch our legs.”