Peril at Granite Peak by Franklin W. Dixon

Author:Franklin W. Dixon [Dixon, Franklin W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

TOO SLICK

9

FRANK

AFTER PARTING WAYS WITH JOE and Chet, I’d started looking for Rick. A few minutes later I still hadn’t found him, but I ran into Mr. Richmond in the hall leading toward the kids’ playroom, which was located near the side door across from the employees’ quarters.

“Find your son’s boots yet?” I asked with a smile.

He chuckled. “Not yet. I’m sure he left them somewhere and forgot where. He’s always misplacing his toys, and—”

He was interrupted by a faint shout. It sounded frantic and echoey—and kind of familiar.

“Is that Joe?” I muttered. “But where . . .”

Not bothering to finish the question, I rushed down the hall. Spotting the door leading to the back stairwell, I flung it open.

“Frank!” Joe shouted.

“Joe!” I took a step inside the stairwell and skidded. Glancing down, I saw a gleaming puddle on the concrete floor. No, not a puddle—a patch of ice.

“Careful, there’s ice in here!” Joe called. “On the stairs, too!”

He was clinging to the metal railing embedded in the wall about halfway up. His feet were slipping and sliding on the steps. I gulped as I realized what must have happened. Joe, in a hurry as always, had hit a patch of ice on the stairs. If he hadn’t grabbed the railing in time to stop himself, he would have gone flying down the rest of the way.

Mr. Richmond peered into the stairwell behind me and caught on right away. “Oh no! Hang on there, buddy. I’ll get help.” He took off in the direction of the lobby.

Meanwhile I stepped forward, being careful to avoid the ice on the floor. “Easy, bro,” I said. “Just hang on.”

“No, I’m okay.” Joe started lowering himself carefully, hand by hand, along the railing. “Stay right there to break my fall just in case, okay?”

I rolled my eyes. Then I held my breath as I watched him make his way down like an oversize spider monkey. As he reached the bottom step, I heard footsteps coming.

“Careful, there’s ice in here,” I said, stepping into the doorway. Mr. Richmond was back, accompanied by Mr. Gallagher, Chet, Nate and Cassie, and Josie, who was clutching her tiny dog.

“Ice?” Mr. Gallagher said. He pushed past me and looked around. “How’d that happen?”

“Don’t know.” Joe carefully lowered himself to the floor, picking his way to the safety of the carpeted hallway. “It goes almost up to the landing, though.”

Chet shivered and wrapped his arms around himself. “Why’s it so cold in there?”

“The window was open,” Joe said. “I closed it on my way down.” He shot me a look, and I guessed what he was thinking. If someone had done this on purpose, Joe had accidentally messed up any fingerprints that might have been on the window.

“Good thing you didn’t slip down the stairs and crack your head open, Joe,” Nate commented.

“He almost did,” I said grimly.

“Yeah,” Joe said. “I grabbed the railing just in time.”

“Are you all right, Joe?” Mr. Gallagher asked. Without waiting for an answer, he turned to Josie.

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