Letting his horses stand, Pete came trotting. Jed left his work on the house and came too. Alec, who hadn't missed any meals and was far too excited to eat anyhow, continued to plow. Cindy gave the men their portions and took her own. Too anxious to get back to work to have time for talking, the men ate hurriedly and silently. They took smaller second portions and handed their plates back to Cindy.
"Here you are, cook," Pete grinned.
"Would you like some more?" Cindy asked.
"If I eat any more, I'll bust."
"Will you plan supper for after dark?" her father asked. "We shouldn't waste any daylight. I want your mother and sister out here as soon as possible."
"And I want my father and mother," Pete said. "I know they're anxious to come, too."
"The important thing," said Mr. Simpson, "is to get the houses finished and vegetable gardens in. We'll have all summer to build barns for our stock and plow wheat land."
"We'll have to record our claims," Pete reminded him.
"That's true, but we can ride into Plains City and do that in a day." Mr. Simpson's eyes rested on Alec. "I hate to see that boy doing a man's work, but for a little while he must. There's so much to do and so few to do it."
"I'll help," Cindy offered.
Her father shook his head. "I don't believe in girls or women doing heavy field work, Cindy. You just see that our meals are ready."
Jed went back to work on the house. Pete continued plowing furrows around his own homestead, and Cindy spent the remainder of the afternoon cooking a big pot of beans. It was very nice to keep house for her father, Pete, and Alec. But it was also very boring. Cindy was glad when night fell and they came in from their work. After he'd eaten enough biscuits and beans to stuff a small horse, and washed it down with cold water, she looked hopefully at Alec. It would be fine to have a game, any kind of game, but Alec had worked very hard and now he nodded very sleepily. Cindy could not ask him to romp with her.
They slept in the wagon, which was much better and more comfortable than just sleeping on the ground. But Mr. Simpson was up and had the breakfast fire started before dawn. They had finished breakfast and were ready to go back to work by the time it was light enough to see.
"Just a cold snack at noon, Cindy," her father said. "We mustn't stop long enough for a hot meal."
"Yes, Daddy," said Cindy.
She washed the dishes and thought of the endless hours ahead. Mightily she wished she had someone to play with, but the only other youngsters around were boys like Alec who had to help their fathers, or children like the Wentworths', and what almost grown-up girl wanted to play with babies? The hardest work of all, Cindy found, was having nothing to do.
Finally a happy idea occurred to her, and she went to where her father was working on the house. Mr. Simpson stopped his work.
"Would it be all right," Cindy asked, "if I fixed your lunches and left them in the wagon?"
"What are you going to do?"
"I'd like to ride Sparkle to some places I haven't seen."
"Go right ahead, honey. I expect this must be pretty tiresome for you. Just be careful."
"I will," Cindy promised, "and I'll be back in time to make supper."
She prepared a cold lunch, then saddled and bridled Sparkle and rode toward a distant hill that rose to the west. Having done very little except eat grass, Sparkle was anxious for action too, and he set off at a fast canter. Everywhere were men who waved at Cindy as she passed, but they were too busy to stop and talk.
Then, after about two hours, there were no more people. Nearing the hill, the country became rough and broken. There were upthrust seams of rock, boulders, stones, and instead of rich grass, only brush and small trees. Nobody had staked this land, because it was too poor for good farming.
Cindy liked it, and it was fun to be alone. She'd had a secret hope of finding hostile Indians in Oklahoma and battling them, and she had been more than a little disappointed when told there weren't any. But she could imagine there were Indians here.
Reaching the top, Cindy found her path blocked by little evergreens whose branches were so thickly intertwined that Sparkle couldn't get through. It was dark beneath the trees, and mysterious, and far too interesting to pass by.
Tying Sparkle to a tree, Cindy got down on her hands and knees and crawled into the evergreens. A bunch of wild turkeys ran before her, squirrels flicked their tails, and a woodpecker hammered noisily. Cindy quivered with delight, for she had hoped to find just such a place.
Ten minutes after entering the evergreens, Cindy came to an arroyo, or canyon. About thirty feet deep, its walls were solid rock. Though they were steep, they were not too steep to descend or climb. The arroyo was perhaps forty feet from rim to rim, and on the far side was a roomy cave into which Cindy could see clearly. Water dripped into the cave, whose walls must have formed a natural sounding board, for Cindy could hear every drop as it fell.
She smiled happily. This was a marvelous discovery, and even though there were no hostile Indians, she and Alec could have a fine game of Indians in the cave. She must bring Alec here as soon as possible, but of course, some of the work would have to be caught up first. Cindy rode back to her father's homestead.
After several days, though the work was not done, it was quite far along. The house, with a tiny bedroom for Cindy and Mindy, a cubbyhole for Alec, a bedroom for their parents, and a large room that would serve as both kitchen and living quarters, was finished. The stove was set up and Mr. Simpson had even built shelves and cup-boards. Pete's house was ready too.
Cindy had spent hours on her knees, planting corn, melons, onions, everything that could be eaten and would grow. Alec and his father had planted a sizable potato patch. For the first time, Pete, Alec, and Mr. Simpson had quit work before darkness forced them to stop. Alec had wandered away somewhere, but Pete and Mr. Simpson were waiting for their supper.
"We can go into Plains City and record tomorrow," Mr. Simpson said happily. "The next day we can bring the other wagon and our folks up! I'll certainly be glad to see them!"
"I will, too," Pete said.
"Can Alec and I go with you?" Cindy asked.
"Wouldn't have it any other way," her father said. He jumped suddenly. "What the blazes is that?"
The hideous, wailing noise, when it arose, made the hair on the back of Cindy's neck prickle. It was a mournful sound, as though a condemned spirit had escaped and was wandering about to cry its torment. Pete's and Mr. Simpson's hands went to their guns.
A moment later, dangling something on a string, Alec appeared in the oak grove. When he swung the thing around his head, the noise sounded again.
"Alec!" his father gasped. "What the dickens!"
"Did I scare you?" Alec grinned.
"What in tarnation is that thing?" his father demanded.
"A bull-roarer," said Alec. "Gramps showed me how to make it."
He showed them an oak stick whose ends were whittled to thin blades that slanted in different directions. When he whirled it around his head, the thin blades made the unearthly noise.
"Shall I show you how it works?" Alec asked.
"Put your toy away," Cindy said loftily. "We're going to Plains City tomorrow."
Pete and Jed were asleep in the wagon. Completely enchanted by the night, Alec and Cindy sat outside.
A big round moon hung so low in the sky that it seemed to roll like a wagon wheel right across the tops of the hillocks. There couldn't possibly be such a moon anywhere except in Oklahoma. It shed so much light that Cindy thought she could count every hair on the picketed horses and mules. She could see the grass plainly, and had she had a book, she would have been able to read it.
But, though it was almost as light as day, it was wholly different. The moon's was a ghost light, and it was easy to imagine that witches and elves were abroad in it. Cindy shivered and hugged her knees.
"Do you know what I'd do if we weren't going to Plains City tomorrow?" she asked Alec.
"What would you do?"
"I'd go on a ghost hunt!" Cindy exclaimed.
"It would be fun," Alec agreed, "but we are going, and we'd better get some sleep."
"I couldn't possibly sleep!"
But she slept the instant she drew the blanket around her, and when she woke the sun was shining and Pete was cooking breakfast. Plains City was only two miles away, it would take just a short time to record the claims, and there was no need to get up before daylight. Cindy jumped out of the wagon, and Alec grinned at her.
"Thought you couldn't sleep?"
"Pooh!" Cindy made a face at her brother. "How do you know I did?"
"Maybe that was someone else snoring?"
"I don't snore!"
"Better get some breakfast into you," Pete said.
Everyone else had finished breakfast. While Cindy ate, Pete and Jed staked the work horses and mules in fresh grass and saddled Sunshine and the roan ponies. Alec started washing the dishes, and as soon as she was finished, Cindy handed him her plate.
"Hey!" he protested. "You might at least wash your own!"
"I have to pack a lunch."
"Not today," said her father, who had come back and overheard. "Everyone's been working hard, and everyone deserves a rest. We'll eat in a restaurant."
When everything was ready, Pete mounted his roan pony and Jed swung up on Sunshine. After an argument, which Cindy won, about who was going to sit the saddle and hold the reins, Alec and Cindy rode double on Sparkle. The mules and horses had also worked hard, and they needed a rest.
They rode at a walk across the grasslands. Everywhere, in what only a short time ago had been such a lonely place, were sod houses and gardens. Not all the homesteads had men on them, but nearly all had grazing horses, mules, or oxen, and there were a few cattle. Then they mounted a hillock, looked down on Plains City, and halted in astonishment.
"Ooh!" squealed Cindy.
Alec said, "Gosh!"
"Beats all!" Jed Simpson exclaimed.
"Sure does!" Pete seconded.
Instead of a town or village, they looked down upon a city. True, for the most part it was a city of tents. But there were some wooden buildings, well-planned streets, streams of wagons going in and coming out, and more people than any of them had ever before seen in one place. The sounds were those of hammering, sawing, shouting, creaking, everything that could possibly be connected with a city in the making.
A little overwhelmed because they'd expected a baby and found a giant, they rode slowly into the city. A man on a running mule careened crazily among the wagons, and a man driving a four-horse span hitched to a heavy wagon spoke to him in terms that are never heard in polite company.
"Cover your ears, Cindy," Alec ordered.
"I didn't hear a thing," Cindy said sweetly.
Her eyes were big and growing bigger. A wagon piled high with lumber picked up at the railroad swerved to where some men were working frantically on a wooden building. Two of the workers, Cindy saw, were the carefree young men who had camped close to the Simpson wagon on the border and had taken little interest in anything except fun. They'd probably thought that getting land in Oklahoma was a huge joke too, and as a result they hadn't got any. Cindy supposed that most of the people who had no claims would either go back home or work for someone else.
Next to the building was a tent with "Poast Ofise" written on it in red paint. At least two hundred people who hoped to get mail stood in a long line outside it. Next was another tent with a sign, "J. C. Summers, Wholesale and Retail Grocer," and next to that a wooden building whose sign proclaimed that it belonged to Caldwell and Hunter, dry-goods merchants.
Everybody, including those who stood in various lines, for there was much pushing and shoving, seemed in a great hurry.
"What are they all doing?" Alec inquired.
"They are," his father said happily, "building Plains City." He called to a man standing beside a building, "Where's the livery stable?"
"Straight down!" The man waved his hand down the street.
"We'll leave our horses and walk around awhile," Mr. Simpson said. "It's worth seeing."
The livery stable, when they finally reached it, was merely a series of posts with ropes stretched between them. There were so many horses, mules, and ponies already tied to the ropes that there couldn't possibly be room for more. But just as they rode up, four horsemen rode away.
"Any room?" Mr. Simpson asked the lank, tobacco-chewing man in charge of the livery.
"Yup."
"How much?"
"Fifty cents a head."
"That include hay and water?"
"Yup."
"I looked from the top of a knoll," said Mr. Simpson. "I thought that town sites could be no more than three hundred and twenty acres. Plains City seems almost three times that."
"Plains City," the livery man said, "is igzactly three hun'ert an' twenty acres."
Mr. Simpson grinned. "Who do you think you're fooling?"
"Nobody," the livery man said. He waved a hand southward. "Down thar is South Plains City, an' that's igzactly three hun'ert and twenty acres too." In turn, the man waved his hand toward where East, West, and North Plains City were locating or would be located.
"That land should have been homesteaded," said Mr. Simpson.
"'Twas," the man said.
"Then how did you get it?"
"Most of them as staked was glad enough to sell," the man said. "City lots is wuth money. Them as wouldn't sell we reasoned with. They could sell at a fair price, or they could be tarred an' feathered an' rid' out on a rail."
"I see," said Mr. Simpson.
The man led their mounts away, and they set off on foot to view the wonders of Plains City. There was a big tent with "Plains City Hotel" written across it and a wooden frame with a canvas roof that was evidently Brown's Restaurant. There were all kinds of stores. A man sat on a wooden box behind another box bearing the sign, "J. C. Donnelly, Lawyer."
"Need any law work done?" he asked when Jed, Pete, and the youngsters passed.
"Nope," said Mr. Simpson.
"I'm good at land titles."
"Nope," Mr. Simpson said again.
Another man stood behind a wooden counter upon which rested three walnut shells. "Triple your money," he chanted. "Pick the shell with the pea under it and triple your money." He lifted the center shell to reveal a green pea. "If you'd picked that one, friend, you'd have tripled your money."
"What's that?" Cindy asked.
"A game fools play," her father told her. "He holds the pea in his hand and cheats people."
"That isn't very nice!" Cindy exclaimed.
A wagon drawn by two small horses and piled high with prairie chickens, a wild game bird that is good to eat, lurched down the street. The driver called, "Fresh-shot prairie chickens for sale cheap!" Pete and Jed looked at the wagon with interest.
"Where'd you get them?" Mr. Simpson called.
"Shot 'em on the prairie, an' now I'm sellin' 'em. A body has to turn a penny somehow."
"It's something to think about," Pete remarked.
"It sure is," said Mr. Simpson. "If we run short of money, we can go hunting."
"I'd like that!" Alec declared.
Cindy shuddered. "I couldn't bear to kill them!"
"Aw," Alec scoffed. "That's just like a girl!"
They passed doctors', dentists', and more lawyers' offices. They saw a tent in which the Plains City Enterprise had already been printed for a week. They marveled at stores and shops, and after a while they became tired.
"Let's eat," Mr. Simpson suggested.
"Good idea," Pete seconded.
"Wonderful!" Cindy said.
They walked back to Brown's Restaurant, seated themselves on a rough, wooden bench at a long, wooden table, and a waiter in a clean white apron came.
"What'll it be, folks?"
"What do you have?" Mr. Simpson asked.
"Venison steak, potatoes, and coffee."
"That's what we'll have."
Cindy shivered suddenly. It was exciting to eat in a real restaurant, and venison steak would be a welcome change from what they'd been eating. Why should she feel so strangely uneasy?
"Do you feel anything?" she whispered to Alec.
"Hungry," Alec said.
"Oh! I don't mean that!"
"By gosh, Pete!" Their father sounded very happy. "We've come a long way in a short time! This afternoon we'll record. Tomorrow I'll bring Ann up."
"I'll bet," said Pete, "that it'll be wonderful to have your wife with you."
"I can hardly wait!"
Cindy, who still felt uneasy, turned suddenly to see three men rising from a table behind them. Two, who looked like rogues, she had never seen before. The third, unmistakably, was Tom LaMott. Cindy nudged Alec in the ribs.
"Look!"
"What?" Alec asked.
"The man with cat's eyes! And he heard every word we said!"
"What of it?"
"I don't like it!" Cindy exclaimed.
"Cindy! For heavens' sake! He has a right to be here!"
"I still don't like it!"
"Maybe you don't like your dinner, either," said Alec, "but here it is."
They did full justice to the venison steaks, potatoes with brown gravy, and mugs of hot coffee. Jed paid the bill, and they left.
"Now to record!" Jed said cheerfully. "Then we can go home!"
"Sure thing!" Pete agreed.
They made their way toward the American flag that rose over a small land office, and stopped in their tracks.
There had been many people waiting to get into the post office and some of the stores, but they were as nothing compared to the throng here. They were nearly all men, with here and there a woman or girl. A soldier appeared in the doorway, called a number, and a man left the crowd to go into the land office. Beside the doorway stood another soldier by a sign: "Get Your Numbers Here."
"What's it all about?" Jed asked the man standing next to him.
"You must get a number," the man said, "then wait your turn."
They went to the soldier, who gave Pete number 828 and Jed 829.
"Can we get in soon?" Pete asked.
"You must wait until your number's called," said the soldier.
"How long will it take?" Pete inquired.
The soldier said, "It's been averaging two weeks."
"Two weeks!" Pete exclaimed. "We might as well go back to our claims!"
"If your number's called sooner, and you aren't here, you have to start all over again."
"Oh, my gosh!"
All the happiness had gone out of the day, and sadness had entered in. While Cindy and Alec watched nervously, their father and Pete talked in low tones. When they finished, they called the youngsters to them.
"It'll mean two more weeks without your mother," Mr. Simpson said unhappily, "but there seems to be no way out of it. The claims must be recorded and the sooner the better. Can you two make out all right on the homestead?"
"Sure," Cindy said.
"We can," said Alec.
"Then go back and take the horses with you. No sense boarding them if we don't have to. We'll walk, and we'll be there as soon as possible."
Cindy looked around to discover one of the men who had been with Tom LaMott standing very near. Again, he must have overheard everything.
Unless she kept her wits about her, Cindy told herself, this whole day might very well be lost. A little wisp of black smoke curled up from the skillet in which she was cooking bacon. Alec, standing beside her, shouted, "Hey! It's burning!"
Hastily Cindy slid a fork under the burning bacon and flipped it over. Alec said, in true big-brother style, "You've burned it and we have no food to waste."
"It's only burned a little," Cindy said.
"A little is too much. We may have to get along with what's here until Dad and Mr. Brent come back from Plains City."
Cindy said, "Now, as I told you, Alec, the cave—"
"And as I've told you at least fifteen times," Alec broke in, "there's work to be done."
"Father didn't say so," Cindy reminded her brother.
"Father doesn't have to tell me every move to make," said Alec. "Don't you know we have a farm to build up?"
"Of course I know," Cindy said. "But do we have to spend every single second building it?"
"We do until it's ready. Right now we need a corral for the mules and Sunshine. I'm going to start cutting fence posts."
"But it will take such a very little while to reach the cave."
"How long?" Alec demanded.
"Oh," Cindy said lightly, "somewhat more than fifteen minutes."
"Fifteen minutes there, fifteen back. I can do a lot of work in half an hour."
Cindy gave Alec his biscuits and bacon and lost herself in thought. Ever since yesterday afternoon, when the two youngsters had returned to the homestead, she had been scheming to get Alec out to the cave for a game of Indians. Alec was equally determined to stay home and work. Cindy set her jaw. The faint-hearted never got what they wanted. She fired another round.
"You know, Alec, I think it's a genuine Indian cave."
"Really? Gosh now!" Alec stifled his flash of interest. "No, sis. The work comes first."
"Why, of course it does," said Cindy, who knew very well that she had finally succeeded in putting at least a small dent in his armor. Alec would not be able to stop thinking about a genuine Indian cave. "And if you're finished with breakfast, you'd better get at it."
Carrying a double-bitted axe, a maul, a buck-saw, and three iron wedges, Alec went into the oak grove. As she washed the dishes, Cindy heard him chopping. There was indeed, she told herself, work to be done, and work was a noble thing. Reverend Thomas, back in Missouri, had always said that labor was blessed in the sight of the Lord. But Cindy was sure in her own heart that the Lord might look with understanding upon those who yearned to explore caves too.
Cindy bided her time. In his own way, Alec was stubborn as any mule. His mind had to be changed in much the same manner as a mule's. Cindy thought of the five big fish still trapped in the pool.
Alec liked fish. Today, as a special treat, she had intended to catch one and cook it for him. It would still be a good idea, Cindy thought, if it were changed a bit. There came the scrape of Alec's saw as he began cutting a tree into fencepost lengths.
Cindy wandered down to the creek, and now she didn't have to worry nearly as much about being seen. Almost all the men were in Plains City awaiting a chance to record their claims. Cindy stripped to her underwear, waded across, snared another fish, and took it back to camp. Alec came in for a drink of water, and he used a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his face.
"Getting warm," he said.
"We mustn't mind," said Cindy. "After all, we do have a farm to build up. If you've had enough water, you'd better get right back to work."
Cindy cooked the fish and nothing else for midday dinner, and she purposely did not put any salt on it. She called Alec, who took one bite and made a face.
"What is this?" he asked.
"Fish," said Cindy, "and I'm so ashamed because I burned the bacon this morning. We do have nothing to waste, and I thought that fish cooked the way Daddy and Mr. Brent and I ate it would sort of make up for the bacon I nearly spoiled."
"That's right," Alec said, but he did not say it enthusiastically. "Uh, just happens I'm not hungry."
He ate only half his fish and threw the other half in the fire.
"If you're finished, hadn't you better get back to work?" Cindy questioned. "There's no time to waste, either."
"Uh," said Alec, "guess I'd better."
There came the thudding of Alec's maul as he drove the iron wedges into a section of tree and began to split it into fence posts. Cindy walked down the steps into their dugout, banged a pan up and down two or three times to make Alec think she was working, and lay down on her bed. She didn't know how long Alec would work, but he should be in any minute. However, he held out longer than she thought he could, and it was past midafternoon when he finally came. Hearing him, Cindy leaped up, grabbed the broom, and was sweeping furiously when he appeared. Cindy managed to look surprised.
"Alec! Why have you left your work?"
"I've been pretty selfish, sis." He also sounded pretty tired. "It isn't right to keep you here all the time. Let's go look at your cave."
"Oh, no!" Cindy protested. "There's so much to be done and only us to do it!"
"Now, Cindy, Dad wouldn't like it if I let you overwork."
"Do you really think we should go?" Cindy questioned.
"I'm sure of it," Alec said. "Come on."
Cindy allowed herself to be persuaded. She saddled Sparkle, Alec took Sunshine, and they started out. After forty-five minutes Alec said, "Thought you said the cave was fifteen minutes' ride?"
"I never did!" Cindy exclaimed. "I told you it was somewhat more than fifteen minutes!"
"We're wasting a lot of time." Alec worried.
But after another fifteen minutes he forgot about all the work that had to be done and gave himself entirely to this adventure. He liked the rough and broken land, was enchanted with the hill, and fascinated by the little trees. He shivered, and because the place was dark and mysterious he whispered instead of talking out loud.
"Where's the cave?" he asked.
"Through the trees," Cindy whispered back, "but we'll have to tie our ponies and crawl."
Cindy leading, Alec following, they crawled among the closely spaced trees toward the arroyo. Just before they came to it, they crossed a little clear space beyond which was a fringe of trees. Cindy crawled through the fringe and flattened herself on the ground. Very plainly, because the cave was a sounding board, she heard a voice she had heard before.
"I no like," said Tom LaMott. "I no like to fool weeth weetch girl."
"I tell you she's no witch girl, Tom," a second voice said. "She was just doing some simple tricks."
"I see her keel herself."
"She did not kill herself. That was another trick."
Cindy and Alec crawled just far enough forward so they could see. Sitting side by side in the cave were Tom LaMott and one of the two men Cindy had seen with him in Plains City.
"You sure she no keel herself?" Tom LaMott demanded.
"Look, you—"
"No say 'look, you' at me!" LaMott growled.
"I didn't mean it, Tom. I'm sorry. Now, we heard Simpson say he was going to record in the afternoon and bring his wife up the next day. We both know that he won't be able to record before ten days or two weeks, and he sent the kids back. Why, it's like stealing milk from a baby!"
"You sure she no weetch girl?"
"I'm sure. Now, we've sent Bum to grab her and bring her here, and Bum may have her by this time. You and Bum keep her here. Tomorrow I'll ride into Plains City and manage to let Simpson and Brent know that, unless they turn their claims over to us, they'll never see the girl again. It's as simple as that."
"Why no get boy, too?"
"We don't need 'em both, and I'm sure Bum will know how to handle that kid if he gets fresh."
"S'pose Bum bring wrong girl?"
"He won't. He had a good enough look at her in Plains City so he'll know her again."
Cindy and Alec slipped back to their tethered ponies. Alec was pale and shaken.
"Gosh, sis!" he breathed. "Am I ever glad we left! They intend to kidnap you!"
"We must let Dad and Mr. Brent know right away!" Cindy whispered. "Let's ride past the claim just to make sure everything's all right before we go into Plains City."
"Suppose we meet this 'Bum'?" Alec objected.
"We'll run away from him. He won't have any horse able to catch Sparkle and Sunshine."
The sun went down and the moon rose, big, round, and shiny. The children rode in the moonlight, keeping their ponies at a walk or trot. When and if they met Bum, they'd have to ride fast enough.
When they reached the homestead, the mules, Pete's pony, and Pete's big horses raised their heads to look. But so did two other mules and two ponies that hadn't been there before. There was a second wagon and the house's window was aglow.
Cindy and Alec looked questioningly at each other. Then, leaving their ponies rein-haltered, they bounded down the steps into the house.
"Mother!"
Mrs. Simpson and Granny Brent sat side by side on chairs that they must have brought with them. Both looked pale, but the children's mother smiled and held out her arms.
"Hello, children!"
Cindy and Alec rushed forward, and hugged and were hugged, and kissed and were kissed by their mother. Cindy asked anxiously, "Where's Mindy?"
"I wish I knew," and Cindy and Alec discovered why their mother and Granny Brent were pale. "She's lost. She went for a walk two hours ago, shortly after we arrived, and she simply hasn't returned."
Cindy and Alec looked at each other. But, though both had the same thoughts, to voice them would really worry their mother. Granny tried to be very calm.
"Mindy must have got herself turned around and just didn't know how to find her way back," she said. "Gramps and all the other men we could find around are hunting for her, and I'm sure they'll find her."
"Of course they will," said Mrs. Simpson, but she sounded as though she were trying to convince herself.
Alec said, "Dad and Mr. Brent are in Plains City waiting their turn to record, Mother. They may be gone for almost two weeks more."
"I knew there was some good reason why your father did not come to get us," his mother replied. "But I just couldn't stay away from my family any longer. I'm here and I'd be so happy if only Mindy weren't lost."
Cindy said gently, "Mother, exactly how was Mindy dressed?"
"Her blue jeans," Mrs. Simpson said. "Her red-checked shirt, her brown shoes, and her hair caught at the back of her neck."
"Did she have a hair ribbon?" Cindy asked.
"No," said Mrs. Simpson, "though goodness knows she should have had one. I'll be glad when you girls dress like girls again instead of running around in boys' clothes. Why do you wish to know how Miranda was dressed, Cindamine?"
"Alec and I are going to look for her." Cindy tried very hard not to sound excited. "If I know exactly how she's dressed, I'll spot her more easily."
"No," her mother said firmly. "One lost child is enough. You and Alec stay right here."
"But, Mother, we won't get lost," Cindy assured her. "We've been here long enough to know this country pretty well. Why, we're almost sure to find Mindy."
"That's right, Ann," said Granny. "Young eyes often see what older ones pass by. The child speaks sensibly."
"Sure, Mom," said Alec. "We'll find Mindy and bring her back."
"Do you think so?" Mrs. Simpson asked worriedly.
"I know so," Alec said, "and nothing will happen to us. The moon's 'most as bright as day. Everything will be all right."
"Well, you're level-headed, Alec," his mother said. "If you can watch Cindamine, you may go."
"I won't be a second," Cindy called.
She scooted into her room and put on a red-checked shirt and brown shoes. Since she already wore blue jeans, and her hair was already caught at the back of her neck, she had nothing else to do. She danced up to her mother and kissed her, and before Mrs. Simpson could change her mind, Cindy grabbed Alec's hand.
"Be careful, children," their mother called, "and don't stay too long."
Alone in the moonlight, Cindy faced Alec.
"Bum thought Mindy was me and kidnaped her!"
"That's right," Alec agreed.
Cindy said, "They don't know about us being twins!"
"It looks that way."
"Get your bull-roarer, Alec."
"Do you have an idea?" her brother asked.
"Yes," said Cindy. "If there were any men with guns, I'd take them with us. But all the men who aren't in Plains City waiting to record are off hunting Mindy, and there's no time to lose. Get your bull-roarer."
Alec got his bull-roarer from the wagon. Cindy sprang on Sparkle. Alec mounted Sunshine, and they raced away. With the ponies running so fast, it took less than an hour to reach the little trees and tie their mounts. Cindy turned to her brother.
"When I raise my hand, start your bull-roarer!" she said.
Alec said, "Count on it."
They wriggled back through the trees, bumping trunks here and there because, though it was almost as bright as day in the open country, it was black night among the trees. But the blackness had its advantages. The little opening they had crossed earlier in the day, where Alec would have room to swing his bull-roarer, was moon-sprayed and easy to find. Cindy whispered to Alec, "Stay right here until I raise my hand. Then give us as much noise as you can."
"Sure thing," Alec whispered back.
Cindy crawled through the final fringe of trees, looked down on the cave, and saw three men in it now. They were cooking around a small fire. Back of them, standing all by herself, was Mindy.
"Better eat something, girl," called the man who had been with Tom LaMott.
"Eat it yourself, you big baboon!" Mindy said fiercely.
Cindy gasped. The gentle Mindy, in a situation as terrifying as this, should be wilted and nearly hysterical. But instead she sounded fighting mad.
"Mind your tongue, girl!" the man said threateningly.
"When my father gets through with you," Mindy flared, "you won't have any tongue to mind!"
The man rose angrily, strode over to Mindy, and raised his hand to slap her face. But before he could, Mindy kicked him smartly in the shin. The man said, "Ow-w!" bent over to rub his shin, and Mindy kicked him in the other one. The man straightened to advance grimly.
"Leave her 'lone!"
"I'll teach the little spitfire," the man started angrily.
"Leave her 'lone!" Tom LaMott repeated.
The man said, "She's no witch girl, Tom!"
"She may be weetch. You don' know for sure."
Cindy raised her hand. Alec went into action. The bull-roarer gave out with a moaning "Owoo-ooo-ooo!"
The startled men leaped up and peered into the moon-sprayed arroyo. Cindy rose to her feet and cupped a hand on each side of her mouth. She tuned her voice to the bull-roarer.
"I'm-m-m-m the spir-r-r-i-i-t!" she sobbed. "Gi-i-i-v-ve me my bod-d-d-y-y!"
All three men saw her at the same instant.
In the cave, Mindy heard and understood at once. She began to dance.
"Come, spirit!" she cried. "Come and get me! Come, spirit!"
"She here! She there too!" Tom LaMott yelled. "Weetch girl sure! Aaaaa-hhhh!"
With a shriek of mortal terror, Tom LaMott raced out of the cave and started scrambling up the far side of the arroyo. The other two men were only a split second behind him, and if there were horses waiting on the far side, there was no sound of galloping hoofs. Probably, after a fright such as this, horses were much too slow. Mindy came to the mouth of the cave and called, "Hi there!"
"H-h-hi," Cindy gasped.
Weak and trembling, she sank down and buried her face in her hands. Then Alec was beside her, and Alec's strong arm was comforting her.
"We're here, Mindy," Alec called. "Come right across and up."
"I'm coming."
Three minutes later she climbed out of the arroyo, sat down beside her twin, and hugged Cindy tightly.
"I wasn't afraid!" she said happily. "I like being a tomboy!"
"G-g-gosh!" Cindy shivered.
"What's the matter, Cindy darling?"
"I was just th-thinking that, from now on, I'll never be anything but a l-l-lady."
"Let's rest awhile," said Alec, wise beyond his years. "Then we'll go back."
They rested, but their rest was broken by Mindy's "Ee-eee!"
"What's the matter?" Cindy asked hurriedly.
"Look!" Mindy pointed.
A big brown beetle was crawling up her shirt, Cindy plucked it off and threw it away.
"It was nothing," she assured Mindy. "Just a beetle."
"Shall we start back now?" Alec asked.
"I think we'd better," Cindy and Mindy said in the same voice. Mindy added, to Cindy, "May I sit in the saddle and hold the reins?"
"Why, of course," Cindy said.
Mindy climbed into the saddle and took Sparkle's reins. Cindy climbed on behind and put two loving arms around her twin's waist. "We're ready," Cindy called.
"Let's go," said Alec.
He grinned as he followed his sisters. He did not realize exactly what had taken place. But it seemed to Alec that, from now on, each of his sisters would be a pleasing mixture of lady and tomboy.
Considering everything, Alec decided, the Simpsons just couldn't have done better.