Look at all of you!” Miss Ida scolded. “You look like something the cat dragged in!”
Christy, Fairlight, Clara, and John were gathered in the mission house parlor. Miss Ida had made them hot tea, and David was putting the finishing touches on a fire in the hearth. Miss Alice had found cozy quilts for each of the rain-drenched mountain climbers.
“I’m so sorry about your coat, Miss Ida,” Christy said. “I feel just terrible—”
“Nonsense. A coat’s a coat, a person’s a person. The important thing is that you’re all right,” Miss Ida said, in a rare moment of sentiment. “Still,” she added brusquely, returning to her old self, “I can’t imagine why you chose today to go for a walk in the mountains!”
“It just felt like something I had to do,” Christy explained.
She hadn’t told anyone that the mountain she’d been climbing was Boggin Mountain, and fortunately, nobody had asked. Like Fairlight, she felt obligated to protect Edward’s privacy. Still, in her heart, it made her sad to think of him all alone in that little, silent hut.
“Well, we should be heading on home,” Fairlight said, getting to her feet. “Jeb’s goin’ to be wonderin’ what’s happened to us. You take care of that ankle now, Christy.”
“I will. Don’t forget we’re getting together tomorrow evening for another walk in the woods.”
“Christy!” Miss Alice exclaimed. “Don’t you think you should stay off that foot for a few days?”
“I’ll be fine, Miss Alice.” Christy winked at Fairlight and the children. “Tomorrow, then?”
“Tomorrow,” Fairlight said, waving. “We’ll be there.” John and Clara exchanged knowing looks and grinned from ear to ear as they followed their mother out the door.
“They’re in a mighty fine mood,” David said as he closed the door behind them. He sighed. “At least somebody is.”
“David,” Miss Alice said kindly. “Please stop thinking about that telephone. Perhaps down the road in a few months, when things have calmed down, you can try again.”
“Or even sooner,” Christy said with a secret smile. “Who knows?”
“I feel like a real, live spy!” Clara whispered the next evening.
“Hush!” John chided. “Real, live spies know how to keep their mouths shut.”
Christy, Fairlight, Edward, and the two oldest Spencer children were crouched behind bushes, near the little stream where Bird’s-Eye had put his still. It was twilight, and the woods were shrouded in shadows.
“You’d make a fine spy, Clara,” Edward said, his eyes glued on the still.
Christy thought back to her history lessons for a moment. The Seventh Cavalry? Why did that ring a bell?
She started to ask, but just then, the sound of rustling nearby silenced her.
Crouching low, they all waited, holding their breath.
“False alarm,” Edward announced after a moment. He pointed toward a blur of movement in the trees. “It’s just a curious doe.”
“Maybe we should go over our plan again,” Fairlight said. “Does everybody know what they need to be doin’?”
“We done went over it a hundred times already, Ma,” Clara complained.
“You did some scoutin’ when you were in the Seventh Cavalry, Edward,” Clara said. “I could be a spy, couldn’t I?”
Fairlight laughed. “All right. I’m sorry. Guess I’m not used to bein’ so sneaky.” She nudged Christy. “How’s that ankle o’ yours holdin’ up?”
“The swelling’s down. It’s practically back to normal,” Christy replied. “Edward, do you think it’s about time to take your place?”
He nodded. “I got my kerosene lamp and my sheet.”
“You be careful not to catch yourself on fire,” Christy warned. “John, have you got your paper cone?”
“Just like the one you made for the telephones, Miz Christy. Only bigger.”
“And Fairlight and Clara and I have plenty of Miss Ida’s kitchen utensils. All right, then. I think we’re all set. You sure you can make it up into the tree all right, Edward?”
“John’ll give me a hand. ’Sides, I may be old, but I’m spry as they come.” Edward stood. “Well, here we go. You really think this’ll work?”
“Just remember,” Christy said. “Tonight, you’re not Edward Hinton. You’re the Boggin.”
Edward laughed. “I might as well be him. Everybody figgers I am, anyways!”
Edward climbed into position. John stationed himself nearby, behind a tree. Christy, Fairlight, and the children made certain they were well-hidden by bushes.
The sky was darkening fast. Already a few stray stars blinked through the trees. The leaves whispered softly.
Before long, the sound of footsteps and loud voices floated on the air.
“Here they come,” John whispered. “Keep low—” he glared at Clara, “and no more talkin’!”
“What I needs,” came a gravelly voice Christy recognized as Bird’s-Eye’s, “is to find myself a hundred o’ them hornets’ nests. Better ’n cannonballs, they is!”
The next voice was Lundy’s. “Funniest thing I ever did see, all them folks a-runnin’ like scared rabbits!”
Bird’s-Eye and Lundy reached the still. “Think I’ll have a swig or two o’ brew before we get to work,” Bird’s-Eye said. He jerked an elbow at Lundy. “What’re you lookin’ for, boy? Ain’t nobody comes to this mountain but us.”
“Us and . . . and the Boggin,” Lundy said nervously.
Bird’s-Eye spat on the ground. “Fool! You and me is the Boggin!”
“Still and all, Pa, there’s folks who say they’ve seen him, lurkin’ around these parts.”
Bird’s-Eye gave a sharp laugh. “My uncle once swore he saw a three-headed mule. You think I believed him?”
Suddenly, an eerie light appeared, high up in the branches of an oak tree. Above the white glow, a face scowled.
“Believe this, Bird’s-Eye Taylor!” came a deep voice.
“There is only one Boggin! And here I am!”