AN EERIE TWIN-TOWERED CASTLE of white stone on an ice-bound island on a frozen winter lake, a nearby English manor house haunted by a flute playing ghost who roams the halls at night accompanied by a wolf, and a mysterious kidnapped girl from the p...
Louise turned the ignition key and the big sedan roared to life. She shifted gears and the car jumped ahead, flying out of the parking lot in pursuit of the horse-drawn sleigh.
"She's headed north," Louise muttered, struggling to keep the auto under control on the slippery road. "The old reservation is up this way. Perhaps that is her destination."
"Chakwanna may still live there," Jean agreed. "And that's where she may be hiding Lorraine."
They could see the Indian woman's sleigh up ahead as Louise drove out of town and the road curved away from the lake into heavily wooded terrain. This was a more remote region than the area south of the town, from where they had come, and the road had not been plowed as thoroughly because there was a great deal less automobile traffic.
"That horse is making better time than we are," Louise complained. "If the condition of this road gets any worse, we'll have to stop and put chains on the wheels."
Jean groaned in dismay. "I hate doing that!"
"It is not a pleasant task," Louise agreed. "But we'd be better off doing it than to get Uncle Ned's car stuck in the snow out here in these hinterlands."
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Jean leaned forward, peering ahead. "The sleigh is turning down that road to the left. Hurry, we must not lose sight of it."
Louise gunned the engine a little more but the wheels spun and the car fishtailed. She was forced to keep her pace at a slower measure. "The road must lead to the north shore of the lake where the reservation is located," she said. "I think it's almost exactly across the waters from Spirit Island."
The girls learned that Louise's conjecture was correct when they reached the side road a couple minutes later. A weathered sign nailed to the bare trunk of a tall old fir proclaimed:
OJIBWAY RESERVATION 2 MILES
An arrow underneath the words pointed down the road, which was little more than a lane, in the direction the sleigh had gone. But there was no sign of the sleigh now. It had disappeared around a bend up ahead. Louise swung the car onto the narrow snow-covered road and immediately regretted it. She slammed on the brakes, bringing the sedan to a sudden halt.
"This road hasn't been cleared at all," she snapped in dismay. "There's over a foot of snow on it!"
Jean stared ahead at the melange of tracks in the deep snow. "The Indians obviously use only sleighs and dog sleds. It's not likely that they have many automobiles."
A laugh escaped Louise's lips. "If they do, they are smart enough not to drive them around here in the winter! We'll never make it down this road, with or without chains."
"Let's hope we can can back off of it and onto the highway again," Jean added.
Louise shifted the car into reverse and skillfully backed up, slowly but surely. The wheels spun and the engine whined. She had to pull forward a couple times and then back up again in order to traverse ruts and mounds in the snow. But in the end the big car was finally out on the highway again, safe and sound.
