A Game Called Chaos (8 page)

Suddenly Frank stopped.

“What is it?” Joe asked.

“Shh! Listen.”

Joe listened and heard a faint rustling in the woods behind them. He and Frank turned and looked.

About thirty yards away, through the underbrush, they could just make out the form of a huge gray wolf.

“He's stalking us!” whispered Frank.

“I've got my pocketknife,” Joe said softly. “And a hand ax in my backpack.”

“Not enough,” Frank replied. “Maybe we could take him, but we'd get badly mauled in the process.”

“No way we can make it back to the van,” Joe said. “Look at the way he moves through the woods.”

“He's lived here all his life, probably,” Frank said. “Though I don't remember gray wolves being in this part of Massachusetts.”

“Well, one's here now,” Joe said. “At least he's not closing in.”

“Not yet, anyway. If we can't go back, we should press to look for shelter. Come on, Joe. We'll just keep a careful eye on him.”

“I'll keep
two
careful eyes on him,” Joe said.

The Hardys ventured deeper into the woods. Occasionally, they would spot the wolf trailing them, or ranging off to one side. All at once, though, the creature was in front of them, barring their path.

He stood on the path about a hundred yards away from the brothers, growling menacingly.

“Looks like this is the end of the road,” Frank said. “Unless you want to tackle Tall, Dark, and Furry.”

“At least he's not a bear,” Joe replied. “Chelsea said there were bears in Forest of Chaos.”

“Well, I don't want to fight either a wolf or a bear if we can help it—unless, of course, it was Bombo Bear,” Frank said. “I've got a feeling Bombo would be a pushover.”

Despite the tense situation, the quip brought a smile to Joe's lips. As Frank watched the wolf, Joe checked their map. “If we leave the trail here,” Joe said, “I think we can still get to the river.”

“I guess that's our best bet,” said Frank. “Assuming Mr. Fuzzy agrees.”

Joe nodded and the two left the path and stepped into the woods. Joe fished out his compass. “You know, I'd love to have one of those Global Positioning Systems right about now,” he said.

“I'd settle for a phone,” Frank said.

The wolf didn't move any closer, but the brothers could still see him through the woods, ranging off to their left. Kendall State Park was quiet for the summer, Frank thought. The only noise was the sound of their footsteps, the soft padding of the wolf, and the whistle of an occasional bird.

As the sun started to dip low in the sky, the Hardys continued to play cat and mouse with the wolf. The wolf didn't get any closer to them, nor did he veer away. He seemed to be watching and waiting.

“You know,” Joe said after a while, “that doesn't look like any wolf I've ever seen before.”

“Yeah,” Frank agreed. “I was thinking the same thing. His face isn't shaped quite right. Maybe he's a wolf-dog hybrid. Sometimes people keep hybrids as pets.”

“And sometimes they get loose,” added Joe. “That'd explain what a wolf is doing in this part of the country. Guess that's why they have leash laws.”

Frank cocked his head. “Joe, do you hear that?”

Joe did the same. “Those birds singing?” he asked.

“Not that,” Frank said.

Joe listened again, harder this time. “Running water. The river. Sounds pretty close. I didn't notice it before.”

“Let's go,” Frank said.

The wolf-dog didn't prevent them from reaching the water. Kendall River was about twenty feet wide and ran swiftly, babbling over numerous rocks and small boulders.

“Good whitewater, if it's deep enough,” Joe said.

“Mm,” Frank said. With his eyes, he was tracing a line of boulders that crossed the river. “Hey, Joe,” he said, pointing. “What's that look like to you?”

Joe looked where Frank indicated. In the woods nearby a large configuration of jumbled rocks cropped up out of the ground. From where the Hardys stood, the rock formation looked like the profile of a huge bird.

“Wow,” Joe said. “I'd say that must be Eagle Rock. According to the information Chelsea gave me, the eagle's head is supposed to point toward the Cave of Chaos.”

Frank squinted and peered into the woods. “I think I do see a large rocky mound that way,” he said. “Let's try it. Keep an eye on that wolf, though.”

The Hardys cautiously made their way through the woods to the rock mound. It jutted out of the landscape like the back of a whale. Several smaller boulders lay beside its base, but to one side of the mound the brothers could see an opening just big enough for a person to squeeze through.

“That's it!” Joe said. “We've found it!”

Frank glanced back the way they had come. He didn't see anything, and when he listened, all he heard was the faint singing of birds. “I think our wolfish friend has given up on us,” he said.

“You know,” Joe said. “We ought to thank that wolf. If we hadn't left the path, I doubt we'd have ever spotted Eagle Rock.”

Frank and Joe squeezed inside the opening. Just beyond the entrance, the cave opened up into a small “room,” with one narrow passageway leading back deeper into the rock.

“Did you notice those boulders near the entrance?” Frank asked.

“Yeah,” Joe replied. “Looked like they'd been moved recently: the ground around them was disturbed and the moss was growing on the wrong side of them. What I wonder is, who moved them and why?”

“Maybe to open up the entrance to the cave. Those boulders could have prevented anyone from discovering it,” Frank said.

“I suppose one guy could have moved them with a decent lever,” Joe said.

“Royal, you mean,” Frank said. “The question now is, is there anything in here, or is he just leading us on a wild-goose chase?”

“Only one way to find out,” said Joe. He pulled his flashlight from his backpack and switched it
on. Then he and Frank ventured into the passageway beyond the room.

“Looks like a glacial cave,” Joe said, running his hand over one rough wall. “Formed by the movements of rocks during the last ice age.”

“Yeah,” Frank said. “Nothing like Carlsbad, or the Cave of the Mounds. No stalactites or stalagmites. Pretty big for a glacial system, though.”

“Not too big, I hope,” Joe said. “I'd still like to get out of here before dark. Hey, Frank, I've been thinking.”

“Yeah?”

“About something Chelsea said earlier. Didn't she mention the ghost of Katherine Chaos's sister being in the new game?”

“I think so,” Frank said. His eyes lit up. “Are you thinking that maybe McLean isn't so crazy after all?”

Joe nodded. “We know that she couldn't have seen a ghost, but maybe she did see someone who
looked
like Sakai.”

“A relative, you mean,” Frank said. “I wonder if Regina Cross is related to Sakai. Usually people's heirs are their relatives.”

Suddenly Joe stopped walking. “Of course, it may not matter.”

“What do you mean?” Frank asked, shifting his gaze from his brother to where Joe's light was shining into another “room” ahead of them. His
eyes followed the flashlight beam to a gold disk resting atop a small pillar of rocks. “The prototype disk!” they said, and rushed into the chamber. With their flashlights, they could even pick out words printed on the disk in plain block lettering: “A Town Called Chaos: Master.”

Just then a loud hissing caught the Hardys' attention. Not more than two yards away, a large yellowish snake sat coiled and poised to strike.

“Cobra!” Joe whispered.

“In this cold, damp climate?” Frank said. “I don't think so. Stay here.” He took a few steps back down the tunnel and picked up a large rock with both hands.

“What are you going to do if you're wrong,” Joe asked, glancing nervously from Frank to the snake and then back again.

“Run,” Frank said. “And try to figure out a better plan. Do something to distract it, will you?”

Joe tossed his flashlight near the snake. As the reptile turned toward it, Frank heaved his rock at the cobra. The snake reacted, but not in time; Frank's rock hit it with a loud crunch.

Frank and Joe stepped carefully forward, making sure no more snakes were around. Joe leaned down to retrieve his flashlight and examine the carcass. He picked up the snake's tail; a few bits of metal and small gears fell out of it. “Mechanical,” he said. “Just like the spider.”

“I thought so,” Frank said. “I would have been surprised if there wasn't one last trap before the treasure.”

“So, let's get the disk and vamoose,” Joe said. He sauntered forward and plucked the golden computer CD from its resting place. He turned back toward Frank and smiled, holding the disk up.

As he did, the chamber began to shake. Dust fell from the ceiling and a low rumbling sound filled the space.

“Look out, Frank!” Joe cried.

Frank turned in time to see a huge boulder separate from the other rocks above the entrance-way to the chamber. The boulder fell straight toward him.

Frank dove toward Joe, and the boulder missed him by inches. It did, however, seal off the entrance to the chamber. Frank and Joe put their shoulders to the rock, but it was too heavy to move.

“A pretty shoddy way to treat your publisher's agents,” Frank noted.

“There must have been some kind of trigger system connected to the disk,” Joe said. “I should have looked.”

“No sense worrying about it now,” Frank said. “I thought we'd seen the last of Royal's tricks as well.”

“Well, this one seems pretty final to me,” Joe said. “I don't see any way out of this cave.”

Frank looked around. Joe was right. The chamber they were in appeared to be a dead end. “I can't believe that Royal would lead us all the way here just to trap us,” Frank said. “What would be the point?”

“Maybe he thought he'd be trapping someone else,” said Joe.

“Could be. But with all the careful planning that's gone into this scheme, why leave to chance who gets trapped? If it was someone who worked with him, or one of his old ‘friends,' I'd understand. But I can't believe we could get this far without his knowing it was us—or at least, that we weren't who he expected.”

“Yeah. Seems crazy to set up a complicated game like this and not know who's playing against you.” Joe stooped to examine the pillar that had held the CD. He uncovered a transmitter unit. “Here's what set off the trap. More technology. If Tochi was right about Royal's skills, someone else
must
have helped him set all this up.”

“Maybe Tochi himself, you think?” Frank asked. “He seems most likely. Could be he and Royal have made up and are working on some kind of video game together—despite what Tochi said.”

“Or maybe,” Joe said as he continued to check the pillar, “whoever did this doesn't want us to be
trapped here forever . . . Frank, there's a wire attached to this pillar and it runs down into the rock.”

“How could that be unless . . .”

Joe smiled. “The rock isn't really rock at all.” He gently wobbled the rock pillar back and forth.

“Careful, Joe,” Frank said.

“I will be,” Joe replied. “Though I don't see how things could get much worse.” A few more wobbles and the pillar broke off in Joe's hands. “Plaster,” he said. “Painted to look like the surrounding rock.”

“The wire continues out the bottom. Part of the floor must be plaster, too,” Frank said.

Joe nodded and took his hand ax out of his backpack. Frank did the same. Together they methodically chipped the painted plaster away from the floor until they found the wire, which led into the wall.

“Do you think the wall could be fake, too?” Joe asked.

“Only one way to find out.”

The brothers attacked the wall with their axes. Sure enough, part of it was plaster as well. Soon they'd chipped a hole big enough for both of them to get out. They went through the hole, following the exposed wire into a larger tunnel beyond
the fake wall. The wire led to a large battery hidden in a small niche on the other side of the wall.

“You know,” Joe said as they stood up in the passage beyond the wall, “if I'd been thinking, I would have remembered that there are a lot of fake walls in the Chaos games. That battery must have powered the trap.”

Frank nodded. “It was still a pretty dangerous stunt. That rock might have crushed us.” He checked the compass from his backpack. “This passage seems to head back the way we came,” he said. “Let's hope it leads out.”

Joe nodded and the two set off down the tunnel. Soon, they emerged into the cool night air near Eagle Rock. “I hope that wolf-dog isn't still around,” Joe said.

“I'd be surprised if he is,” Frank said. “I have a feeling his job is done.”

“You think he was part of Royal's plan?” Joe asked.

“Think about it. He chased us all the way to the cave and then took off. Plus, now that I'm thinking about it, those bird songs I heard earlier were awfully strange.”

“You're right,” Joe said. “I was too concerned about the wolf to notice at the time, but they could have been command whistles—like people use when they train dogs.”

“So we were being led by the nose during this whole game,” Frank said, kicking a rock in frustration. “Come on, let's get back to the van. At least the game is over.”

“And we won,” Joe added.

• • •

An hour later the Hardys reached the parking area where they'd left their van. They opened the back door and flopped inside, exhausted. It was night by then, and starlit darkness shrouded the New England woods.