The secret had been carefully kept from Dusty until Brit showed up at the ranch with the little blind burro. Then the rancher had overheard him tell Ascención that he and his father had discovered Villa’s cave.
And Dusty had cooked up his scheme to use Blondie to find the treasure himself.
Jupe was still shocked by the rancher’s violent death. But it was Dusty’s own greed that had killed him. If he hadn’t made that last desperate effort to get his hands on the pesos, he would still be alive.
They stopped at a creek to water the animals and let them graze for ten minutes. A few miles farther on Jupe heard a strange sound — the distant braying of countless burros. Blondie brayed in response and trotted eagerly forward. The sound grew louder as she emerged from the woods.
There, stretching across the hills, were miles of pasture land. And cantering, grazing, and mingling on those hills were more than a hundred wild burros.
Blondie came to a stop. Her long ears were standing up straight, twitching with excitement. She gave a high, loud bray. Jupe slid down from her back. He slipped off her bridle and patted her neck.
Blondie looked at him for a moment with her big soft eyes. She rubbed her nose against him as though thanking him for bringing her home. Then she trotted over to Brit, sitting on horseback, and nudged his foot. He bent down and patted her head.
And then she galloped happily away to rejoin her own wild kind.
Jupe climbed up behind Mercedes. The group pushed on. If they hurried, they would reach the village before dark. From there Brit could phone his father in Chihuahua. He could tell him that he and his mother were safe and that they and Ascención would wait for him in the village.
The next day the Three Investigators would take a series of buses back to Rocky Beach.
“I’ll see you in L.A.,” Bob, who was now riding with Brit on Dusty’s horse, promised his new friend “We’ll hit some rock concerts, hang out with the guys in the groups.”
“Super,” Brit said. “And I know a couple of girls in L.A. Maybe we can double-date.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Bob had a feeling he was going to be busy with his own girlfriends when he got back.
Pete, who was riding with Ascención, was thinking of Kelly. He had told her he would be away at least two weeks. Would her heart be fonder after only ten days? At least she’d have had less time to forget him. And she had given him a T-shirt with her name on it.
Hey, Kelly, he thought. Wait till you hear about how I escaped from a volcano.
Jupe was thinking about beans and rice. He never wanted to see another bean or another grain of rice as long as he lived. He knew he’d lost a good ten pounds, but his taste buds were bored to death. He couldn’t wait to taste his first tomato, lettuce, and pickle salad again.
But first he had to treat his friends and himself to a big juicy pizza. They all deserved it.
Pete glanced at Bob as he drew up beside him. The words on Bob’s T-shirt couldn’t be truer.
The Survivors.
After all they had been through in these mountains the Three Investigators had certainly proved to be that.
Survivors.