Secret Of The Fortress

"We must have traveled five miles by now," reasoned David. The window was open, and the sun was starting to come up as he peeked out. "I see the marsh up ahead." "Wait a minute," stated Joe. "We don't know where they hid Milton. The marsh goes on for miles." "You're right," replied David, "But they know where he is." "Yes, that's right. We'll follow them, and then they'll check on him to see if their secret is still safe." "Good idea, they would never suspect that we're trailing them!" The train began approaching the marsh stop. It was a scientific research area, so the stop was primitive. The deputy asked for this stop earlier. As the train pulled up to the well-worn steps, the deputy and his companion disembarked from the train. "Another train comes back every two hours," announced the engineer. "Thanks," replied Sid the deputy's accomplice. At that the train continued on its way. The deputy radioed the sheriff. "No sign of the kid." "Check the old man," the sheriff replied. "Get rid of any evidence. I don't want any slip-ups." David and Joe had jumped off the train earlier to avoid being detected, and were lying low in a ditch. "I see the platform and the deputy. He's talking to his partner," stated Joe. David replied, "Can you hear anything?" "No. But let's get closer." The deputy took a step off the platform and onto the path leading into the marsh. He and his accomplice had been here before. They easily retraced their steps back to their camp. Joe and David crept up behind them, and tried to see what the men were up to. The two boys could see a shed. One man was standing near its door, talking to someone inside. Suddenly, shouting erupted from within the structure. It was a man with a foreign accent. The boys ducked down to hide. David whispered, "I think they are holding Milton inside that shed." "You're probably right, but we have to be sure," replied Joe. David crept up to the back of the shed. It was barely dawn, so the sun was just beginning to light up the morning sky. They had been on the run all night. David leaned up against the back of the shed. He was trying to reach the window a few feet away. If he could just peek in the window, he could verify who was inside. Joe took a lookout position nearby. He would warn David with his bird whistle if someone was approaching. David leaned over to sneak a peek through the dirty window. As he moved into position, he was startled by a high pitched bird whistle. David looked over at Joe, who was shaking his head, looking confused. David was frozen in his stance, his heart beating very quickly. He looked back at Joe, who was pointing to a bird in the tree above David. The bird made a similar noise to Joe's bird whistle, and had interfered with their signals. David swallowed hard and made a second attempt to peek in the window. The same high pitched whistle sounded again. David froze, looking over at Joe, who was pointing angrily at the same bird. David looked up at the corner of the shed's roof. "Of course," he snickered quietly, "a bird's nest." He peered closer and saw three tiny eggs inside. One thing was certain, David did not want an angry mama bird attacking him and revealing his hiding spot. He crept back to Joe, who was still lying in the ditch. "Did you see anything?" his brother asked hopefully. "Not enough to be sure. That bird is protecting her nest, so I can't get near it," David sighed. What could they do? The sheriff was probably on his way, and they still couldn't verify if it was Milton in that shed. "We need to divide and conquer," Joe whispered. "What do you have in mind?" David asked. "Create a diversion. We need to lure them away from the shed to get inside." David gave the idea some thought, and then spoke up. "I'll go over on the far end of camp and create a diversion, and you sneak into the shed." "What are you going to do?" asked Joe. "I'll think of something. You'll know when you see it. Just be ready." Joe nodded and the two split up. David headed over to the far side of camp. Joe waited for the signal. After several minutes, Joe became restless. To him, waiting was torture. He hated it. "Let's go David, what are you waiting for?" he muttered to himself. Just then, he smelled smoke, a lot of smoke. "Fire!" yelled the deputy's accomplice, who ran over to the shed from the spot where he was napping. "What? How?" asked the puzzled deputy. They both grabbed buckets of water and ran away from the shed, leaving the shed unguarded. Joe crept up to the door. "Nice going, David," he said. He carefully pulled on the rusty handle and stared into the dim room.