"I love the great outdoors," broadcast Chet as he finished putting up his tent and stretched. "It's great that we are allowed to camp here, too."
"I know," Phil agreed. "Some of the parks don't allow this sort of thing."
"Where do we start?" Biff asked Frank, getting right to the reason they were there.
"There was a lake mentioned in the letter, so maybe we should start out by fishing," Frank suggested. "Maybe we can meet some of the counselors and find out where Joe is."
"What if Joe is there and he's been brainwashed?" Chet asked.
""Don't go borrowing trouble," Biff told him. "If we find Joe, we'll just pull him aside and demand to know what is going on."
"But we won't. Find him, I mean," Frank said. "Not without searching."
"You really think he's been kidnapped or something?" Chet asked, looking at him through worried brown eyes.
Frank nodded. "I just can't believe Joe would send a letter. I mean, if he felt he were in trouble, sure he would have written instead of the postcard. But that bit about Karen, not happening."
"Aw come on," Biff said. "He could have found another girlfriend."
"I looked Karen Blake up last night. There is no such person in Southport," Frank said.
"You looked her up?" Phil asked in disbelief.
Frank shrugged. "I had to call Vanessa and tell her about Joe's letter," he explained. "And I wasn't going to tell her not to believe anything she received from him unless I knew for sure he hadn't really met someone else."
"I bet she didn't like that," Chet said with a low whistle.
"Not at all," Frank agreed. "Vanessa has been good for Joe, and to him. It took me almost an hour to convince her she couldn't help if she came here."
"What did Callie say when you told her you were leaving?" Phil asked. He knew Frank and Callie had been having a few problems as of late.
"She doesn't think Joe is in trouble," Frank admitted. "She thinks he just forgot the code."
"And that's the real reason you checked on Karen Blake," Phil guessed. "You thought she might be right."
"No," Frank denied with a shake of his head. "Well, okay, that was part of it. Joe can be forgetful at times."
"But not this time," Biff stated.
"No, not this time," Frank agreed. "We have to find him and in order to do that, we will have to find out what Joe was doing around here besides his chores as counselor."
"Well, let's see," Phil said. "Outdoors, only camping; fishing; swimming; and hiking to do. No camping in Joe's case, though. Unless it is directly involved with the camp, we don't have many options to consider," he ended.
"Right," agreed Frank. "The camp is going to be the hardest to get into, but we shouldn't have any problem after dark. In the meantime, we can familiarize ourselves with the area. Let's head down to the lake since it is used by the camp as well as being a part of the park."
The foursome put on their swim trunks and headed to the lake. Arriving, they saw a large group of boys and several teenagers acting as lifeguards.
"Hi," Frank greeted the first teen he came in contact with. "Mighty hot today," he said, running a hand through his dyed red hair.
"Sure is," the boy agreed, his blue eyes friendly.
"What's with all the kids?" Frank asked.
"We're from Camp Braken," the boy answered, smiling at him. "My name is Tim Dalton," he introduced himself, sticking out his hand.
"Fred Croman," Frank said, shaking Tim's hand. "Camp Braken?" he asked feigning confusion. "I thought this was a state park."
"Oh, the camp is about half a mile that way," Tim told Frank, jerking his head to the side and back. "But the camp uses the park for our water activities."
"Just the water activities?" queired Frank. "Why not hiking?"
"Well," Tim kind of stretched the word out. "Jenny and Craig don't like us taking the kids hiking in the park 'casue they aren't allowed to bother the flowers, trees or rocks. On camp land, they can pick things up and study them, even keep an odd rock or pick a flower if they like," he explained.
"Sounds like there's a but in there somewhere," Frank commented.
"Yeah, well, Steve and Joe took their groups hiking in the park. They claimed they hadn't heard Craig telling us it was off limits."
"They get into trouble?" Frank asked.
"Not the first time," Tim said. "But Steve must have gotten mad 'cause he packed up and left." Tim was scowling now.
"What's wrong?" Frank inquired, seeing the transformation comeover him.
"It's Joe Hardy," Tim admitted. "After Steve left, Joe had to take over his kids too, with some help from Craig. Joe acted like he loved being in charge. But he started going into the park after the kids were in bed, which is why Joe and Craig started to not get along. It's against the rules for even us counselors to go hiking there," Tim explained. "The other day, I asked if I could go with him. I wanted to find out why he persisted in breaking the rules, but he said he needed some alone time and left by himself. I guess he needed a lot of time alone 'casue two days later, he split. Didn't even bother telling Jenny and Craig or the kids. He just packed up and hiked out of camp. I really had him peggged wrong. I thought he was a nice guy," Tim ended.
"You saw him leave?" Frank asked, his eyes alert as they watched Tim's face. "Didn't you ask him why he was leaving?"
"No man," Tim denied, shaking his head. "No one saw him leave."
"Then how do you know he hiked out of here?" demanded Frank.
"How else could he have left?" Tim asked. "All the vehicles are still at the camp."
Frank and his friends hung around the lake, swimming and getting to know some of the counselors. Frank even spoke to some of the kids. They were enjoying themselves but were resentful of Steve's and Joe's desertion.
"You mean Steve never said goodbye to you guys either?" Frank asked one of the boys.
"Nope, not a word," the boy replied. He wrinkled his face thoughtfully. "Steve and Joe were pals and Joe was upset when he found out Steve had left without saying goodbye," he continued. "Why would Joe want to do that to us?"
"I know," Phil agreed. "Some of the parks don't allow this sort of thing."
"Where do we start?" Biff asked Frank, getting right to the reason they were there.
"There was a lake mentioned in the letter, so maybe we should start out by fishing," Frank suggested. "Maybe we can meet some of the counselors and find out where Joe is."
"What if Joe is there and he's been brainwashed?" Chet asked.
""Don't go borrowing trouble," Biff told him. "If we find Joe, we'll just pull him aside and demand to know what is going on."
"But we won't. Find him, I mean," Frank said. "Not without searching."
"You really think he's been kidnapped or something?" Chet asked, looking at him through worried brown eyes.
Frank nodded. "I just can't believe Joe would send a letter. I mean, if he felt he were in trouble, sure he would have written instead of the postcard. But that bit about Karen, not happening."
"Aw come on," Biff said. "He could have found another girlfriend."
"I looked Karen Blake up last night. There is no such person in Southport," Frank said.
"You looked her up?" Phil asked in disbelief.
Frank shrugged. "I had to call Vanessa and tell her about Joe's letter," he explained. "And I wasn't going to tell her not to believe anything she received from him unless I knew for sure he hadn't really met someone else."
"I bet she didn't like that," Chet said with a low whistle.
"Not at all," Frank agreed. "Vanessa has been good for Joe, and to him. It took me almost an hour to convince her she couldn't help if she came here."
"What did Callie say when you told her you were leaving?" Phil asked. He knew Frank and Callie had been having a few problems as of late.
"She doesn't think Joe is in trouble," Frank admitted. "She thinks he just forgot the code."
"And that's the real reason you checked on Karen Blake," Phil guessed. "You thought she might be right."
"No," Frank denied with a shake of his head. "Well, okay, that was part of it. Joe can be forgetful at times."
"But not this time," Biff stated.
"No, not this time," Frank agreed. "We have to find him and in order to do that, we will have to find out what Joe was doing around here besides his chores as counselor."
"Well, let's see," Phil said. "Outdoors, only camping; fishing; swimming; and hiking to do. No camping in Joe's case, though. Unless it is directly involved with the camp, we don't have many options to consider," he ended.
"Right," agreed Frank. "The camp is going to be the hardest to get into, but we shouldn't have any problem after dark. In the meantime, we can familiarize ourselves with the area. Let's head down to the lake since it is used by the camp as well as being a part of the park."
The foursome put on their swim trunks and headed to the lake. Arriving, they saw a large group of boys and several teenagers acting as lifeguards.
"Hi," Frank greeted the first teen he came in contact with. "Mighty hot today," he said, running a hand through his dyed red hair.
"Sure is," the boy agreed, his blue eyes friendly.
"What's with all the kids?" Frank asked.
"We're from Camp Braken," the boy answered, smiling at him. "My name is Tim Dalton," he introduced himself, sticking out his hand.
"Fred Croman," Frank said, shaking Tim's hand. "Camp Braken?" he asked feigning confusion. "I thought this was a state park."
"Oh, the camp is about half a mile that way," Tim told Frank, jerking his head to the side and back. "But the camp uses the park for our water activities."
"Just the water activities?" queired Frank. "Why not hiking?"
"Well," Tim kind of stretched the word out. "Jenny and Craig don't like us taking the kids hiking in the park 'casue they aren't allowed to bother the flowers, trees or rocks. On camp land, they can pick things up and study them, even keep an odd rock or pick a flower if they like," he explained.
"Sounds like there's a but in there somewhere," Frank commented.
"Yeah, well, Steve and Joe took their groups hiking in the park. They claimed they hadn't heard Craig telling us it was off limits."
"They get into trouble?" Frank asked.
"Not the first time," Tim said. "But Steve must have gotten mad 'cause he packed up and left." Tim was scowling now.
"What's wrong?" Frank inquired, seeing the transformation comeover him.
"It's Joe Hardy," Tim admitted. "After Steve left, Joe had to take over his kids too, with some help from Craig. Joe acted like he loved being in charge. But he started going into the park after the kids were in bed, which is why Joe and Craig started to not get along. It's against the rules for even us counselors to go hiking there," Tim explained. "The other day, I asked if I could go with him. I wanted to find out why he persisted in breaking the rules, but he said he needed some alone time and left by himself. I guess he needed a lot of time alone 'casue two days later, he split. Didn't even bother telling Jenny and Craig or the kids. He just packed up and hiked out of camp. I really had him peggged wrong. I thought he was a nice guy," Tim ended.
"You saw him leave?" Frank asked, his eyes alert as they watched Tim's face. "Didn't you ask him why he was leaving?"
"No man," Tim denied, shaking his head. "No one saw him leave."
"Then how do you know he hiked out of here?" demanded Frank.
"How else could he have left?" Tim asked. "All the vehicles are still at the camp."
Frank and his friends hung around the lake, swimming and getting to know some of the counselors. Frank even spoke to some of the kids. They were enjoying themselves but were resentful of Steve's and Joe's desertion.
"You mean Steve never said goodbye to you guys either?" Frank asked one of the boys.
"Nope, not a word," the boy replied. He wrinkled his face thoughtfully. "Steve and Joe were pals and Joe was upset when he found out Steve had left without saying goodbye," he continued. "Why would Joe want to do that to us?"