It only took a few moments of searching this time before TJ appeared, holding their harnesses. Frank directed them to put them on, while he tested the rope. Satisfied that it would hold, he slipped into his borrowed gear, and explained what he had in mind.

Hoisting himself up with his hands, he slipped both legs over the rope. Freeing his right hand, he clipped the carabiner attached to the harness around the rope. Then using the carabiner as a makeshift pulley, he pulled hand over hand for the other side. His feet stayed on the rope to balance him. At the other side, he repeated the struggle to unhook his carabiner, and then dropped to the ground. On the other side, Rebekah was on the rope, trying to hook her carabiner.

Frank disappeared into the undergrowth. When Rebekah looked over, she was slightly put out to see the last of his shirt as it faded out of sight in the green growth.

"Frank!"

TJ grunted with the effort that it took to steady boost and hold Rebekah close to the rope. "Don't worry, he's checking to make sure it's safe to cross over there."

* * * * *

Chet gaped at the rock slide for only a moment before going into action. Grabbing his daypack, he shoved Jared forward. "Run!"

Jared responded instantly, and the two teens rushed for safety. Once they cleared the slide, Chet turned back, his heart in his throat, expecting to see Joe and Biff smashing into the trees below the hill. It was a strange sight that met his eyes, however. Joe and Biff clung to a light rope and were being dragged out of the slide by Mike and Paul. Pumping the air with his fist, he cheered on the dual duo. "Hang in there fellows, you're almost there!"

Finally Mike and Paul managed to get the two beyond the cascade of rock and soil. Not long after, the slide stopped, and Chet and Jared picked their way carefully across to rejoin the rest of the group. Joe looked up and grinned at his friend as they arrived. "Come on in, the rocks are fine." he joked.

Biff just shook his head. "Warn me next time you want to surf the rockpile, I think I'll pass."

Mike laughed. "You're in good shape, considering. If we hadn't had the rope, you'd have smashed into those trees down there. As it is, you got out of it with only bumps and bruises."

Paul spoke up then, looking up from his pack where he was depositing his first aid kit after patching Biff up. "It still wouldn't have done anything if you had't thought so fast. I know I had the rope on my pack, but I didn't think we could do anything to help until you grabbed it off and told me to help." He turned to the others. "Mike yells, 'grab hold,' and I realize he's throwing it to Joe and Biff. Then I realized that if I didn't help him, Mike would probably go bye-bye with the others. So I grabbed hold too."

Joe stood and stretched, grimmacing as he did so. "Well, I don't think they came this way, let's try a different direction for a while." Affirmative nods met his statement, and the group gathered their gear together. Jared stared at his compass, and steered them at a ninety degree angle to their previous course, heading left into the trees.

* * * * *

Frank slipped silently through the brush beside the trail, looking for any sign of ambush. Seeing nothing, he headed back to the river, where the other two were waiting. Stepping into view, he waved, and Rebekah began to pull herself across, hand over hand. When she arrived, she glared at him. "I thought you were leaving us here! How could you!"

Sighing, Frank tried to explain while he helped her down from the rope. TJ hauled himself up and clipped on while Frank was speaking. "I needed to be sure that they weren't going to come back and catch us again. Sometimes crooks will lay an ambush a second time; I wanted to see if they..."

Rebekah interrupted him. "They didn't see us, why would they lay a trap for us? We could have been long gone for all they knew."

TJ arrived and dropped down beside them. "Suprise is a major weapon; we don't know for sure that they didn't see us. We think they didn't, but they still might have. They looked ready for anything, and we didn't find everything that they had at the cabin."

Frank nodded. "Our first priority is to get back to camp intact, we don't need to be kidnapped or knocked out again."

Silence descended on the group and without another word, Frank started forward on the trail, TJ and Rebekah following.

The trail, although faint, was straightforward. Frank had no trouble finding the way until after walking for an hour and a half, the path ended. No marks of any kind showed the way; the trail just petered out.

* * * * *

They were heading back to the campsite to check in with Donna and Joe T. when they tripped over a clue. Well, Chet did.

Walking along at the end of the line, the Hardy's stout companion was looking forward to a slight break, and hoping that Frank show up, when he felt something entangle his feet and he went down. Hard. The crash and Chet's yelp alerted the others to his predicament, and they rushed over to help him out. They stopped short when he sat up with a slightly dazed expression and lifted one hand from the brush and dead leaves near his feet.

For one moment everyone stood silent; then Joe pounced on his friend. "It's the rope!" Mike examined the rope and confirmed the exclamation. "Looks like we're on the right track anyways."

Paul and Jared shook out the roped and began to loop it together for transport back to the camp. When they finished, Biff offered to carry it. They looked at him doubtfully. "You sure? It's heavy."

Biff nodded, and hoisted the rope onto his shoulder. Chet and Joe laughed at the look on his face. "Suprise, suprise." Biff rolled his eyes and glared at them. "Watch out wise guys, you'll get a turn too. See how much you laugh when you have to carry it."

Mike stood up and turned to Jared. "Well, ready to get us out of this mess? I'd like to get back by lunch time; that is, if you don't mind, and it fits our schedule." Jared nodded and unfolded his map. For a few moments the others were silent, waiting while he plotted a course back to their campsite. Finally, folding the map and stuffing it back in his pocket, he joined the others and set his compass. "All set, guys."

Five minutes into the hike, Jared stopped and cocked his head to the side. Joe, walking beside him did likewise. Everyone else stood still, wondering what caught their attention. Joe turned swiftly to the others. "Somebody's coming this way." He pointed in a rough semi-circle. "Get under cover, maybe we'll get lucky again."

It took about fifteen minutes to make sure that everyone was completely out of sight. A soft murmer of voices drifted down with the slight breeze that managed to filter among the trees. Chet waiting beside Joe could feel the tension that vibrated from him. Shortly however, his attention was diverted to two strangers that stepped into the area between where the search party lay hidden.

Dressed in camouflage fatigues with neon green T-shirts, they stood out; especially the woman. Her auburn hair shimmered where the sun touched it. Chet touched his friend's arm. "Joe, that's the woman who was sneaking around our campsite last night!" Joe nodded and tried to memorize any outstanding features; the hair was, of course, a dead giveaway.

Fragments of conversation filtered to the group in their hiding places. "Shipment's due out in three days..."

"You're sure?" A vigorous nod from the man. "The bugs picked it up at the shipping point."

"Failure won't be tolerated, the boss will..."

Again a nod. "We won't have any problems with this assignment. Grenville will be able to see his newest factory within two weeks."

They walked out of hearing range then, and Joe puzzled over the strange conversation. Before he could make out anything, three more figures appeared. Joe nudged Chet. "Ready for some action?" Beside him, his friend nodded, wiping away the beads of sweat that threatened to trickle down into his eyes. When Joe glanced back at the figures, they were considerably closer, picking their way carefully along.

As they drew near, Joe leaped out of his hiding place and lunged for the leader!