Chapter 30: Farewell, Purple Porcupine!

Once everyone was safely out of the subway, Frank didn’t waste any time radioing Zach their location.  “Get over here on the double,” he told his friend.  “Then, we’re off to the police station.”

In a town with few streetlights, Zach showed up in a minute, and in the same amount of time, the seven showed up at the police station.  There, they burst in and told the bewildered officers their story.  Anadarko’s police force seemed skeptical at first, but a call to their Oklahoma City counterparts quickly confirmed the kids’ story.  One of the older officers, whose nameplate identified him as Duensing, grew quite excited upon hearing the news.

“I used to work for Boeing in the ‘70s,” he explained.  “I know those tunnels like the back of my hand,” and he quickly wrote out a list of all the exits.  In additions to the ones at the stations, the ones at the yard, and the crash simulation exit, there were a few others the Andersons hadn’t heard about.  Anadarko didn’t have a lot of crime problems, and Chief Bryant soon had every traffic cop in town on the case—as well as the Caddo County Sheriff’s Office and whatever Oklahoma State Highway Patrolmen happened to be in the area.

Once the group was assembled, Duensing helped the officers map out a plan, which was promptly put into effect.  Each entrance to the base was covered.  Then, no effort was made to go in after the men.  Instead, the tunnels were filled with tear gas—not a deadly amount, but enough to make anyone down below mighty uncomfortable.

Struggling to see, desperate to escape, most of the criminals surrendered right away.  The lone holdout was Garrett, and after several minutes of waiting, a few of the officers donned gas masks and went in after him.  They found him lying on the platform of the Broadway and 1^st Street station, gasping for breath.  The gas was only part of his problem—he was choking with rage at his helplessness.

“What happened?” he finally barked, after the officers had dragged him out of the tunnel.  “Where did I make a mistake?”

“When you stole your first car,” Frank replied.  “From then on, the law was against you—and they weren’t going to stop searching until they’d had you trapped, like they do now.”

Garrett’s only response was a glare as he was unceremoniously dumped in the back of one of the Anadarko cop cars.

“No air conditioning,” laughed the officer, as he got inside, “but we’ll have that fixed next week.  Maybe when they take you to McAlester, it’ll be a little more comfortable, Garrett!”

Naturally, the Andersons and their friends had to stick around and answer a lot of questions for the police.  By the time they got back to Norman, it was very late, and all any of them wanted to do was sleep.  The next day, though, they all met for lunch at the Braum’s on Porter Avenue, where Frank succeeded in snagging the corner booth.  Everyone showed up, including Brittany and Auburn, who weren’t going back to Blackwell until later.

“Dad called from work this morning,” Frank said, as he gleefully licked his cookies and cream ice cream cone.  “He said they’ve recovered most of the cars.  They all look a little different now, but only a few have actually been sold, and they’ve got a record of each.  The police also have found all the other car dealerships the stolen automobiles were taken to.”

“I’m just glad you got Stephanie back,” Ashley said, giving her older sister a hug.  “I missed you terribly,” she told her.

“I still can’t believe you didn’t realize Brittany had been kidnapped when you went and checked out the subway stop!” Nancy told the older girl.

Stephanie laughed.  “Well, I learned it soon enough—but it didn’t do me any good at the time.  Thank you all so much for rescuing me.”

“What are they going to do with that subway, now that the car thieves have been rooted out?” Auburn asked.

Frank shrugged.  “I don’t suppose they know yet.  What they should do, though, is turn it into a trolley/subway museum.  It would be perfect for that.”

“You mean like they have in El Reno?” Nancy asked.

“Sort of,” her brother responded, “except that one’s not underground.  This one’s already got its own route, its own stations—even six vehicles—”

“Five of which are in running order,” pointed out Ashley.  “That sixth one got a little smashed up—”

“At least it passed its crash test, though,” Nancy said.  “When it mattered.”

“Actually, it didn’t,” said Frank.  “I overheard Duensing talking about it to one of the other cops.  He said the front of the cab caved in a little too much—”

“Who cares how much it caved in?!” Nancy exclaimed.  “Once Ashley and I got untied, we moved deep enough into the coach that we came out of it with just a couple scratches.  As far as we’re concerned, it passed!”

“Your support is heartwarming but not convincing enough for the Department of Transportation,” said Frank.  “I’m glad you enjoyed your ride, though.”

“Enjoyed it?!”  Nancy was indignant.  “That was one of the scariest moments of my life!”

“The scariest?” Auburn asked.

Nancy shrugged.  “I don’t know—I’ve had a lot of them ever since I started solving cases.  If I didn’t have God protecting me, I’d have had a nervous breakdown long ago.”

“You still might,” said Frank, mischievously.  He ducked a napkin thrown his way.

Auburn changed the subject.  “You know what else they should make a museum?” she said.  “Rudolph’s Auto Shop.  Well, maybe not make it a museum, but that guy’s art deserves to be displayed—”

“I’m way ahead of you on that,” Frank told her.  “One of the reporters for Fox 25 goes to our church—Nancy and I are pretty good friends with her—”

“Oh, Mrs. Saunders,” said Stephanie.  “Yes, I know who you’re talking about!”

“Yes, well this morning, before we came over here, I gave her a call and told her about Krause.  She’s planning to go visit him and do a special interest story on his art.  I don’t know exactly what will happen after that, but that should drum up demand for his creations at least.”

“Oh, I’m so happy for him,” Ashley said.  “Those were pretty good.  He deserves a reward.  Oh, and speaking of rewards, Ashley and I got you all some little somethings…”

“Aw, you shouldn’t have,” said Frank.

Ashley gave a wave of her hand.  “You guys saved our lives—it’s the least we could do.  Once we have more time, we’ll probably have something bigger for you all, but for now…”  She passed three envelopes around—one for Frank, one for Nancy, and one for Auburn.  Each of the recipients opened theirs at once, but Nancy was the first to see what was inside—

“A Subway gift card?”

“Good for twenty dollars,” laughed Ashley.  “It seemed appropriate, after this case.”

“Very appropriate,” said Frank.  “With all the confusion we had over that clue…it’s just like one of those old radio detective shows—”

“The Shadow knows!” boomed a voice, followed by a creepy laugh.  Grinning, Auburn held up her recorder.

“You know,” she said, “I think I’m really turning into a Shadow fan.  The stories are really neat, and often, they’re funny—especially people hear the Shadow’s voice, and they think it’s coming from a statue, or something—”

“Yes, those are some of the best!” agreed Frank.  “You know, for another funny one, you ought to listen to Boston Blackie.”

“What’s that about?” Auburn asked.

“Blackie’s an ex-safecracker who’s on the right side of the law now,” Frank told her.  “However, Inspector Faraday of the local police department always makes him his number one suspect—despite the fact that Blackie never does anything illegal in the shows.  There’s always some funny remark on the show—usually when he’s talking to Faraday.  I remember one where he walked into a hotel room and said ‘I’d like to speak to—well, Inspector Faraday!  I would not like to speak to you!’

“Then, there’s another one where he called Inspector Faraday and said, ‘I have the case you’re working on solved for you already.’

“‘Oh, you have, have you?’ Faraday replied.  ‘Well, what makes you think you’ve solved it, and how did you even know I was working on a case?’

“‘Oh, I didn’t say you were working, pal—I don’t expect miracles.’”

“Ooh, that’s rough!” laughed Auburn.  “What wordplay!”

“I’ll say!” said Frank.  “One of the best ones was this Christmas episode where these thugs wanted this really tough guy dressed up as Santa Claus to take Blackie to an alley and bump him off.  To make it look more realistic, they told Blackie to sing ‘Jingle Bells’ on his way there.  However, the thug didn’t speak any English, so Blackie just changed the words—without him realizing it!”

“Oh, how funny!” Auburn laughed.  “How did the new version go?”

“Let’s see,” Frank thought a moment.  “‘Give me help, I can’t yelp, but I’m on a spot.  Where we’ll go, I don’t know, but I know I’ll be sho—ot!  When I pass, jump him fast, oh listen to my squawk.  I have to sing this silly thing ‘cause he’ll kill me if I talk.  What you speak to him is Greek; he doesn’t know a thing.  So that’s why I must pass you by and let you hear me speak.’”

“And he thought that was Jingle Bells?”  Ashley couldn’t stop laughing.  “That sounds nothing like it!”

“I should definitely check that out!” agreed Auburn.  “Are there any other good ones?”

“Oh, there’s tons of them!” said Frank.  “There’s Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar—about ‘the man with the action-packed expense account, America’s fabulous, free-lance insurance investigator!’  The show’s narrated by him going through his expense account, then elaborating on all the different things he has to buy over the course of the case.  It’s actually really, really good!  He’s pretty clever, and he solves some difficult cases.”

“Dollar spelled D-O-L-L-

“-A-R,” finished Frank.  “Then there’s Sam Spade—”

“Oh, that’s who The Maltese Falcon was about, right?” said Brittany.  “Humphrey Bogart?”

“Yes, but the shows are more light-hearted than the movie,” Frank said.  “Spade’s a really fast talker on the shows, and he has this ironic, sarcastic way of narrating the episodes—yet always upbeat.  One of the shows was actually called the ‘Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail Caper’—you should hear how much he confused his poor secretary when he was narrating the adventures to her.”

“With names like that, I’d have trouble taking him seriously,” Auburn responded.

“Philip Marlowe also has good sarcasm,” said Frank.  “He’s grumpier than a lot of the others, but the writers to that show were really good.  There was one episode where he was describing a fat suspect—‘He was five-foot-eight, whichever way you measured.’”

“Ouch!” said Stephanie.  “I don’t want to ever be described like that!”

Ashley stared at her older sister.  “You’re that only one way, and you’re invisible in the other direction!” she told her.  “You’ve got nothing to worry about!”

“Oh, and then there’s Nick Carter, Master Detective!” said Frank.  “He’s not witty, really, but his mysteries will keep you guessing, and they always have a lot of action.  I remember one where he posed as a prisoner, then made a daring prison break with a suspect he wanted to keep tabs on.  It involved them jumping off a bridge onto a train—”

“Kind of like what we did that time in West Virginia,”[1] Nancy said.  Noticing puzzled looks from the rest, she said, “Remind me to tell you about that sometime.”

“And, of course, let’s not forget the Sherlock Holmes radio show,” Frank said.  “Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce—the guys that really personified the role in the movies—also did it on radio for a while.  They were both really good, obviously.”

“So many to try,” Auburn said, writing the names down on a napkin.  “These’ll keep me busy for hours.”

“Speaking of hours,” said Brittany, “it’ll take us at least two to get back to Blackwell.  We probably ought to get going.  Remember, our parents haven’t seen us in days.”

“Have a safe trip!” Nancy told them.  “We’ll have to keep in touch!”

“Brittany’s really good at writing letters—” Stephanie began.

“Yes, we’ve noticed,” said Frank.  “While we were investigating your disappearance.”  He smiled at the Blackwellers.  “Do come and visit sometime, though.  It’s not every day we get to meet the Purple Porcupine!”

THE END

---

[1] As detailed in First Adventure, Book 1 in this series.

Chapter 29: The End of the Line

“What’ll we do?” asked Auburn.  “Run for it?”

Frank shook his head.  “We’re too far down the tunnel for that,” he said.  “We might make it, but it’s risky.  There’s got to be another way out.  If they did rescue practices, then there must be—”   He shone his light at the ceiling.

“Look!” he said.  “Ladders!”

There were two of them—steel rungs leading up to trapdoors a full two stories above the track.  That was great.  The only bad part was, the ladders didn’t start until about seven feet off the ground.

“That’s quite a reach,” Auburn said.  “I can’t go that high—”

“You won’t have to,” said Frank.  “None of us will have to.”  He glanced over his shoulder.  The train was coming again—it looked a lot closer now.  The little rays of light at the edge of the main spots was showing.

“Stephanie, Brittany, you two lift us up,” Frank said.  “Auburn and I will each grab one of the ladders.  Then, you can grab a leg, and we’ll pull you up until you can catch the bottom rung.  Can you manage that?”

“Anything to get away from that!” Stephanie glanced back up the tunnel.  “Let’s go!”

Frank took position under the ladder, then squatted.  As Stephanie hoisted, he pushed off the ground with his legs.  This vaulted him all the way up to the third rung, and Stephanie nearly had to jump to reach his leg.  Soon, she too was safely on the ladder.  Frank sprinted up, then pushed.  The door had a latch, but a spring where the knob should have been clicked it open, and he was soon climbing through to the floor above.  Moving over, he waited for the oldest Dale girl, then lent her a hand as she clambered out.

“Two down, two to go…”

Frank’s voice trailed off as he saw the other trapdoor.  It was exactly the same as the one he’d just come through, except for one small detail—a detail that wasn’t even part of the door itself, but one that made all the difference in the world.

There was a forklift parked on it!

“Oh, no!” Frank sprung into action.  “Push it, Stephanie, in case I can’t get it started!”  He leaped into the driver’s seat.

“Frank, the door won’t—”

“I’m working on it, Auburn!”  Frank found the ignition, and pushed a button.  The machine roared to life, and he quickly put it in gear.  It rolled forward, and he hopped out once it was off the square.  Kneeling, he turned the latch on the door, then started to pull the handle up.  Just as he did so, though—

“AAAUUUGGH!!!!”

The blood froze cold in his and Stephanie’s veins.  “Brittany!” Stephanie exclaimed.  “Did the train—”

“Couldn’t have yet,” said Frank.  “We’d have felt the impact, but something’s wrong!”  He jerked open the door, and the pair looked into the hatch, in time to see—

Auburn was still on the ladder, but Brittany had lost her grip and fallen off.  She was sitting on the tracks, staring horrified at the lights, which were getting really bright now.  The rumble from the tracks was getting louder—

“Be right there!” Auburn called up to Frank.  “Brittany, get up!  I’m coming down to get you!  You can grab for my leg again!”

“Hurry!” shouted Brittany.  “It’s almost here!”

As Auburn scampered down, Stephanie whispered to Frank.  “It won’t be enough if Brittany catches the ladder before the train hits.  That crash is liable to send some debris flying.  They’ve got to get through the door—”

“Pray, Stephanie, pray,” Frank told the girl.  To Brittany, he yelled, “Jump, Brittany!  You can do it!”

“She’s got my leg!” Auburn shouted.  “Okay, Brittany!  Grab the ladder when you can!”

Heaving determinedly, Auburn dragged her way up the ladder.  Every fiber in her arm muscles seemed to burn with tension, but she didn’t care about that.  All she cared about was getting up—getting to safety.  And when the hand came off her foot, she froze—but only for a moment, until she saw that Brittany had successfully caught the ladder.

“Hurry, guys, hurry!” said Frank.  “It’s like five seconds away!”

He was right, but Auburn was two seconds away from the top.  She sprung out, then swiveled around and helped the others catch Brittany.  They yanked the Conoco worker out, just as

CRASHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

With the noise of a—of a—well, of a railway train crashing, the car slammed into the wall.  There was the creaking and groaning of metal, the sudden cutoff of the engine, the sound of little pieces of debris hitting the floor and walls of the tunnel—

Then, nothing.  Just stillness.

Frank, Auburn, and Stephanie all relaxed.  Brittany, however, looked worried.

“Uh, guys?” she said.  “Just before that train hit, I thought I saw a face through the window.”

“Face?” Frank asked.  “One of the crooks—”

“No, someone about Auburn’s age—in fact, it looked a little like you, Stephanie!”

Frank and Auburn glanced at each other.  “Nancy and Ashley!”

Quickly, the two scrambled back through the open trapdoor.  Hurriedly, they started down the ladder, until they’d reached the roof of the disabled train.  The first quarter of it or so had flattened itself against the wall, but the roof was pretty much intact beyond that.

“Watch out for the antenna,” Frank said, leaping onto the roof.  “It could kill you!”

“You don’t have to tell me twice!”  Auburn scampered around the other side of it.

There was an emergency hatch on the roof of the train, and it was to this Frank now ran.  Skidding to a stop, he grabbed it and yanked it open.  “Nancy, Ashley!” he yelled.  “Are you alright?”

No answer.

“Nancy, Ashley!”

Again, no answer—for about five seconds.  Then—

“Oh, Ashley, there’s a roof hatch!  We didn’t need to break that window and squeeze our way up the wall after all!”

Ashley sighed.  “You picked the perfect time to tell me that—”

Frank glanced at the north wall of the tunnel, and a smile of relief came over his face.  “Nancy, you’re alright!”

“They said this car had failed four crash tests,” Nancy said, as she finally reached the roof.  She helped Ashley up, then headed over to the ladders.  “After its performance today, I’d give it an A for crash safety.  They must have fixed the problem.”

Chapter 28: Trapped in the Tunnel!

“So, this is what they meant by the Miller stop,” Frank said, as he and Auburn got out of the car.  “It’s not a street—it’s a movie theater!”

Yes, it was—but it wasn’t in good shape, that’s for sure!  The little, one-story, abandoned theater building stood on the corner of NW 2^nd and Main, its sign still proudly displayed atop a tower of rusted metal that shot up on the Main Street side.  With architecture of mostly cement, save for the brick center post holding up the entryway on the corner, the building wouldn’t have been much to look at.  However, a brilliant red sign adorned with lights wrapped around the corner above the door, its unfaded color making the empty spaces where the movie titles had once been seem emptier.  The glass doors at the front were locked securely, but the window on the 2^nd Street side had holes in them.  With slight encouragement from Frank, there was soon an opening large enough for him and Auburn to pass through.

“I’m already liking this theater better than Blackwell’s,” Auburn said.  “You did hear about that part of the story, right?”

“I’m not sure,” said Frank.  “Wait—there was some movie—”

“The Brotherhood Club met at the old Rivoli Theater in Blackwell,” said Auburn.  “Richards had his offices there, and he used the screen to show—well, I won’t tell you what he showed—it was too horrible.  Fake, fortunately, but too awful.  I still can’t walk in that place without hearing his voice.”

“Well, they’re not showing anything here,” Frank said, pushing open the door to the main room.  “Get a load of that theater!”

A few red, overstuffed theater chairs still stood, arranged in front of a screen that had managed to maintain its white color.  The chairs probably were still their original red, but a thick layer of dust covered all of them.  In some places, stuffing leaked out, indicating that theater maintenance had been declining before the place had finally been abandoned.  Something small scurried in a corner—Frank got his flashlight over in time to see a mouse run into a hole.

“I still like this better than the Rivoli,” Auburn said.  “Feels more comfortable, without him around.  Well, how do we get to the subway?”

“Simple!” Frank shone his light to the front of the room, until he found an “Employees Only” door on the left.  “The basement wasn’t for houseguests, so the stairs will probably be somewhere back there.  Come along, and watch your step!”

They hurried through the empty aisles, Frank glancing a few times at the screen and wondering how many John Wayne titles had seen their debut here.  Reaching the back, Frank pushed open the door, revealing—

“Oh, there’s the staircase,” he said.  “Don’t fall down it!”

“That’s the last thing I’d want to do,” said Auburn.

They started down the dingy cement steps until they reached the basement.  Here, Frank put the flashlight up and shone it around the room.  It was about the size of the theater, but bare for the most part—except for—

“Cool!” Frank said, studying the walls.  “Movie posters!”

A bunch of the classic posters from movies the building had shown hung around—Red River, Angels in the Outfield, I Was a Communist for the FBI, etc.  The brilliant cover art, the scenes of excitement and distress, and the long-forgotten names caused Frank to almost smell the popcorn, to almost hear the voices of the famous stars named on the wall—

“I don’t see a door or anything,” said Auburn.  “How do you suppose they’d have gotten in?”

“Oh, you’re right,” said Frank, shining the light around.  “I can’t see one either.  He shone the light at the staircase, thought a moment, then pointed to the far wall.  “If there is one, it should be on that side.”

Auburn looked over.  “Posters all the way across.  If there is one, it’ll be behind one.  The question is, which one?”

“I dunno,” Frank surveyed the posters.  “We’ll have to check all of them, I guess…unless—”

Suddenly, he ran over to a poster on the left, then started tapping it, about doorknob level.  All at once, there was a click, and the poster slid down into the ground—revealing a yawning black cavern!  Frank pointed eagerly ahead.

“That’s it!” he said.  “That must be the subway!”

“Nice work!” said Auburn, “but how did you know it was Godzilla?”

“Simple,” said Frank.  “There’s a scene in the original where the monster throws a subway train around.  Whoever put the poster here had a sense of humor—and knew their films.”  He waved a hand.  “Come on—let’s take a look around.”

Carefully, the two worked their way into the abyss, using their lights until they’d crossed the platform and come to the edge of the track.  Frank switched off his light and glanced up and down the tunnel, Auburn doing the same.

“Nothing coming,” Frank concluded.  “We should be good to go—I can’t even see a light, yet!”

“There won’t be anything coming,” Auburn stated, switching her light on.  “Not from that end.  Look!”

There, to the north, a bunch of automobiles were lined up in a row.  None of them had license plates, and none were in disrepair, but that didn’t stop the two from concluding that these must be some of the stolen lot.  “Nancy said as much when we went down,” Frank said.  “It looks like we made the right move.”

“Why don’t we turn our walkie-talkies on?” Auburn asked.

“Not until we know what’s going on,” Frank said.  “I don’t see anyone, but that doesn’t mean someone’s not taking a nap around here.  We’ll keep quiet until we find something.”  He consulted his map.  “That loop interests me.  I think we ought to search it.

“It seems to be just a bit south of us,” said Auburn, gesturing with her flashlight.  “We should reach it in a minute.”

“I see,” said Frank.  The two started slowly forward, no sound but their footsteps for the longest time.

“Here we are!” Auburn suddenly exclaimed, pointing with her light.  Frank moved his in the same direction, then flicked it off.

“Turn it out,” he whispered.  “Just in case anyone’s in the tunnel.”

The two started down the switch—a short loop that quickly reached the main track.  As they got closer, Frank sucked in his breath.  “Hey, it’s getting brighter!” he said.  “Someone’s coming—”

“What’s that rumbling?” Auburn just had time to ask.  Suddenly, a subway train flew by on the east-west track ahead!

Frank watched it go, then let out a sigh of relief.  “Whew, that was a close one!” he said.  Leaning out, he watched the taillights get slowly smaller and smaller.  “I guess they still use this track—”

“Frank, look!” said Auburn.  “The other way!”

Whirling around, Frank followed her gaze.  The red light lit the tunnel’s eastern end for several feet, but the very end of it was in darkness.

“What’d you see?” he asked her.

“Two figures,” Auburn said.  “Way down on the dead end of the tunnel.  And if I’m not mistaken, they were tied up—”

Frank switched on his light.  “You weren’t mistaken!” he said.  “Can you tell who they are?”

Auburn shook her head.  “Too far off!”

“Same here, but if they’re tied up, they’re probably friendly.  Let’s go help them—switch out your light, though.  We’ll put it on again once we get closer, and we’re sure no one else is around.”

The two turned their lights out, then broke into a run.  Flying through the darkness, they might have been expected to hit something.  However, the tunnel was built perfectly straight.  As long as they didn’t alter their course, they could get through it without any accidents.  Thus, they were almost at the wall before Frank flicked on his light again—

“Stephanie!” he exclaimed.

“Brittany!” Auburn called at the same time.

Both girls were tied and gagged against the wall—a wall Frank and Auburn now noticed was covered with black and yellow stripes, plus scratch marks.  Their friends looked worn out, thinner than usual, weak—but oh, so excited to see people they knew.  Hope went surging into their eyes as Frank and Auburn darted up.

“I’ve got a knife,” said Frank, reaching into his pocket.  “I’ll have you untied in just a second, Stephanie.  Auburn, do you need one, or—”

“I’ve got my own, thank you very much,” said Auburn.  “Brittany!  I’ve found you at last!”

“Took you long enough!” said Brittany, as her friend got the gag off.  “How did you discover the subway?  I didn’t even know about it until they took me here.”

“You can thank my friend Frank and his family for that.”  Auburn nodded at the oldest Anderson.  “His sister found the clue in Stephanie’s library book—”

“Which, I assume, is how you figured out where Brittany was,” Frank said, as he untied Ashley’s sister.

Stephanie took a deep breath before answering.  “Oh, it feels so good to get that gag off,” she said.  “Believe it or not, I didn’t even realize Brittany was missing until they threw me in here!  The day I disappeared, I got a letter from her about the car thieves.  She mentioned in it that the gang was working all over the state, and she thought that they must have some big, secret base where they were storing all the cars.  I’d been reading that Planes, Trains, and Automobiles book, and I instantly thought of Anadarko.  That night, I drove out here and decided to investigate...” Stephanie shook her head, meekly.  “Boy, was that a stupid move!  I guess I didn’t think about how hard it would be to slip into a criminal’s lair and investigate it without getting caught.  You can guess what happened next.”

“They caught you, tied you up, and forced you to tell how they found them?”

Stephanie grimaced.  “They were so rough—I didn’t know what to do.  I just answered all their questions…”

“…and that’s how they found out about the library book,” Frank said gravely.  “Well, it doesn’t matter now.  They stole your copy, but we found another one, and that’s how we found you two.  Ashley and Nancy are around—you’ll see them soon, I’m sure.  Right now, though, we’ve got to—what’s the matter?”

Stephanie’s face hadn’t had a whole lot of color in it to begin with, but what little there had been had vanished.  With a trembling finger, she pointed down the tunnel.  “Look!” she said.  “On the tracks!”

Frank and Auburn whirled around, then gasped.  Far off in the distance, two specks of light twinkled in the blackness.  They grew bigger and bigger as a subway car rushed over the rails, ready to smash them all against the wall!