"You'd think we'd've seen Angus by now," Dori said uneasily, following in Hugh's substantial wake as they waded through heavy overgrowth. The trail had degenerated into a barely-visible footpath that often got swallowed by the abundant vegetation, and Colin and Dori had let Hugh take the lead, since he simply plowed through everything in his path without hesitation. "If you ask me, he's up to something."
"Angus has been 'up to something' all weekend," Colin grumbled. "There's a flag, Hugh, grab it. Look, we did all we could. If we don't see him by tonight, we'll tell Mr. Roarke, and he can have the police out looking for him. And if Angus tries something, well… we'll know about it long before tonight, I know that much." He shook his head.
"I just don't want us losing to those Carpenters on a technicality," Dori said. "I don't want us losing at all, especially to that lout Graeme, but if we cheat, we automatically lose, all four of us—even if Angus was the only one who did it."
"Are you comin', for cryin' out loud?" Graeme demanded for the fourth time since hitting the trail, turning once again and glaring at Melissa. She had been lagging behind, leaving Linda and Graeme to collect the green flags, a pensive expression on her face. She shot him a sharp, exasperated glare.
"Just leave me alone, Graeme, damn you," she snapped. "I'm here, so let me be. You just collect the flags." He shook his head, turned and pushed forward. Melissa returned to her own thoughts and the idea that had been growing in her mind ever since late the previous night when she hadn't been able to sleep. She knew she had only so long now before she was locked into her situation; if she was going to do it, it was now or never.
She cast one last glance at Graeme and Linda ahead of her, then nodded firmly to her-self. Showtime, Melissa Anne. She let out a loud cry and sank to the ground when her brother and sister stopped to see what was wrong.
"What happened?" Linda demanded.
"My ankle," Melissa moaned, rubbing it and wincing. "I think I twisted it. I stepped on something funny and it slipped out from under my foot."
Graeme cursed loudly; the jungle around them rang with his voice. "Maybe if you'd been up front with us instead of dragging us down back here…"
Melissa lost her temper then, and she didn't have to fake it. "If I'm dragging you down so much, Graeme Carpenter, then why don't you and Linda just go on without me? I'm sure you wouldn't miss me for a second—all you can think about is that stupid horse. So how about you just leave me here and send help when you've won—if you can be bothered?" She glared at her surprised brother.
"We can't just leave her," Linda said.
"You'll lose the race," Melissa protested. "Just go. I can tell Graeme's dying to get on with this anyway." Graeme and Linda looked at each other, and she insisted, "Go!"
Graeme gave in first. "Well, just remember, you're the one who told us to go on," he reminded her and started away without further ado. Linda glanced back and forth between him and Melissa, her face a mask of uncertainty.
"Come on, Linda, go," Melissa urged her. "It's not cold out and it's not a big island. The stables can't be all that far away. I'll be fine till you can send help."
Linda sighed deeply. "I don't like it, but all right, Liss. Just stay there and don't move so we know where to find you when we bring back help." She turned and followed Graeme down the trail; Melissa waited till she could no longer hear even an echo of their voices before rising to her feet and weaving her way through densely-packed tree trunks, hoping she was going in the right direction.
Dori suddenly stopped and cocked her head, a wary, alert look on her face. "Do you hear something?" she asked.
Colin and Hugh stopped too. "Like what?" Colin asked. They listened for a moment to the thrashing sounds of vegetation being disturbed, and peered at one another worriedly.
"Does Mr. Roarke have big dangerous animals on his island?" Hugh asked, just before Melissa Carpenter stumbled out of the bushes and almost collided with Dori. They all backed off a step or two, gaping at her.
"What're you doing here?" Dori finally demanded.
Melissa raked her unruly curls out of her eyes and essayed a silly smile. "Denying my father and refusing my name?" she suggested hopefully.
"Huh?" said Hugh blankly.
Dori stared at her; Colin began to grin. "What're you sayin'—you're comin' over to our side or something?" he asked.
Melissa reddened sheepishly. "I guess you could call it that. Graeme's got a nasty attitude and a one-track mind, and Linda hasn't the strength to stand up to him, even though she's older than he is." She smiled at Colin, clearly returning the interest that sparked in his eyes. "If you win, you don't have to put my name on the papers, but I'd just feel better if I could be on your side. Graeme thinks I'm stupid and Linda pays almost no attention to me most of the time."
"Then they're both a coupla dolts," Colin declared. "How 'bout it, Dori? Hugh?"
Hugh shrugged amiably. "It ain't nothing to me," he said in an agreeable tone. "Let's go now." He promptly resumed clearing the trail.
Dori threw her hands into the air. "Well, Hugh doesn't care and I guess Colin would throw a tantrum if I protested, so what the hell. Welcome to the Markham family." She gave Melissa a crooked little grin, and Melissa grinned back. "Let's get going before Hugh loses us in this benighted jungle."
±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±
The warm sun lulled Leslie into a half-dozing state, so she never heard a thing. In any case, her assailant had taken great care to sneak up on her. So when the hand clapped itself over her mouth and the barrel of a gun pressed against her temple, she was so stunned that she surrendered without a sound. "Get over here," hissed a voice in her ear.
Angus Markham, she realized, terror promptly exploding in her gut. Hugh tried to warn us about him—he knew Angus was up to no good. She complied with Angus as he pushed her towards the placidly grazing horse, knowing full well that she was completely alone here. There was no one to come to her aid if she screamed; and besides, that could push Angus over the edge. She was certain he was crazy enough to kill her should she let out so much as a squeak; so she did as he ordered, swallowing rapidly in an attempt to keep from losing her breakfast from sheer fright.
Angus stopped her next to the Phantom. "Now get out your walkie-talkie and get Roarke on the other end, and you tell him that the Markhams won this race and you had me sign the ownership papers. Understand me? And you better make sure your voice is nice and steady when you talk to him." She actually shot him a look that clearly said fat chance, buster! but consciously tried to settle her jumpy stomach, making slow and deliberate motions in the process of pulling out the walkie-talkie and breathing deeply in the hope of calming her voice. She wasn't at all convinced she could fool Roarke; but maybe she could fool Angus without also making Roarke think everything was all right.
Angus watched her closely as she cleared her throat and took one more deep breath. But her voice cracked slightly when she pressed the button and spoke Roarke's name into the little device, and she automatically braced herself for the gun to return to her temple.
However, Angus didn't move, apparently waiting for Roarke's reply. It took a moment; then his voice came through the speaker, accompanied by quite a bit of static. "Leslie, is that you?"
"Yes, it's me," she said, raising her voice. "The Markhams have won the race…and they had Angus with them, so he s-signed the papers." This time Angus noticed her nervous slip and did indeed press the gun against her head.
"I'm sorry, Leslie, I…" Roarke's voice dissolved in a crackle of static; she tried to raise him again, but it was clear he was too far out of range.
"Get him back!" Angus barked at her.
"I can't!" she cried. "He's too far away. I don't think he heard me any better than I could hear him. I can't do anything about it!"
Angus backed down, realizing she was right. "All right, all right." He raked a hand through his hair and glanced in several different directions before taking on a look of resolution. "In that case, we're goin' for a little ride—and if you try to warn anyone, I promise you this'll be the last day of your life. Get on the horse and take any jungle path that goes to the closest marina." She shot him a panicked look, and he lost whatever patience he had, seizing her arm and brutally jamming the gun barrel against her temple again. "I said do it!" he cracked at her. She let out a cry of pain and terror, but somehow she managed to get her-self aboard the Phantom. It wasn't easy, since the horse sensed Angus' desperate fury and Leslie's burgeoning fear and kept sidestepping away from them in a nervous little dance.
Once Leslie was in the saddle, Angus hoisted himself up behind her and returned the gun barrel to a spot on the back of her head. Grabbing one of the reins, he jabbed the Phantom in the side with one heel, and the horse loosed a protesting neigh and broke into a trot towards the jungle where the competing families were expected to emerge. Angus tugged on the reins with one hand and jammed the gun painfully against Leslie's head with the other, cursing the air blue all the while. He didn't quite realize he was butting her head with the gun barrel, so that inevitably she reached up, more from instinct than any conscious thought, and tried to push his hand away.
"You stupid sheila, keep your hands to yourself!" Angus railed at her and cocked the gun. The sound froze her completely and sent a tidal wave of pure fear washing across her, so that it drove out all other emotion and thought. She stared wide-eyed at nothing, her eyes seeming to glaze over. Having immobilized her, Angus shifted his attention back to turning the Phantom in the opposite direction so he could make his getaway.
Graeme and Linda Carpenter fortuitously chose that moment to pop out of the jungle, Graeme with a handful of green flags. What they saw made them stop short. Linda gasped and covered her mouth with one hand in horror; Graeme stared in disbelief and dawning rage.
"What the hell—?" Graeme blurted.
His words made Angus yank back on the reins, bringing the Phantom to an abrupt halt; then he whipped his arm out and shot at Graeme. Both he and Linda dove to the ground; the noise drove Leslie over the edge and she started to scream. The stallion panicked as well, prancing and trying to rear up enough to throw off the two humans on his back, but unable to do so due to their combined weight. Angus, cursing again, hauled back on the rein over and over.
The bushes parted and out stepped Hugh, Dori and Colin Markham with Melissa Carpenter. "Get down!" shrieked Linda. "He's got a gun!"
Angus dropped the rein and slammed a hand over Leslie's mouth. "Shut up, you crazy sheila!" he roared, still pointing the gun in the general direction of his siblings and the Carpenters. "Just shut up!" Leslie subsided, but continued whimpering as if she couldn't turn off her voice once it got going.
"Turn her loose, you madman!" Colin shouted at his brother. "She's not involved in any of this. Have you totally lost your mind?"
"Don't risk your life, Colin," Melissa cried, watching him advancing in the direction of Angus, Leslie and the horse. "Watch out."
"Just let him have the Phantom," Dori shouted at Colin. "As long as he lets Leslie go, he can have the damned horse. It's not worth her life or anyone else's."
"I've all the advantages," Angus taunted them, grinning maniacally. "I've the gun, I've the horse, and I've a very convenient hostage. If Roarke doesn't want to lose his precious daughter, he'll negotiate with me. He'll give me the horse to get her back." He put the gun to Leslie's head again and sneered at the others, who gaped helplessly.