und. Now and then he found a hummock, but there were
times when he sank to the knee in clinging goo. Fortunately, there
were only a few feet of swamp to navigate.

He reached the end of the fence and stopped, peering around it.

There were lights on the pier, and the _Albatross_ was tied up to it,
but the lights were too dim to illuminate anything over a few yards
away. He crouched and moved over a little, making room for Scotty.
Together they surveyed the terrain.

"We can't see much from here," Scotty said, lips against Rick's ear.
"We'll have to get closer."

Rick nodded. He motioned along the fence, indicating that they should
follow it, then he took the lead again. In a dozen muddy steps they
were out of the marshland and on dry ground again, but Rick had to
exercise utmost care because there was a litter of dry junk that
crackled underfoot. He picked his way carefully, hardly daring to
breathe loudly.

Once he froze and felt Scotty tense behind him. Brad Marbek and Red
Kelso walked from the hotel to the pier and stood looking upstream.
Their backs were to the boys. Rick started moving again. There were no
lights in the hotel on the fence side. He wanted to reach the safe
darkness of that area before planning their next move. As he went, he
wondered where Carrots was, and what had happened to Brad's crew.

They reached the dark space between the hotel and the fence without
incident and Rick straightened up with a little breath of relief. Now
what? He reviewed the photograph of the hotel grounds in his mind.

Scotty tugged his sleeve and pointed. Rick looked up and saw that a
window was open on the first floor. The room behind it was dark. For a
second he was tempted, then he shook his head. Going into the hotel
was dangerous, even though they probably could make their way to an
upper floor and have an unobstructed view from a window. If they were
trapped inside ... he didn't like the thought. At least their retreat
was open while they were out of doors. The top of the fence was within
reach if they jumped. They could swing over it and run. Once outside
the fence, the Kelsos would have a hard time catching up with them.

He remembered that the front of the hotel and part of the area on the
creek side contained shrubs, relics of its original landscaping. The
shrubs would give them cover. He touched Scotty and motioned. Then he
started around the front of the hotel, crossing the driveway, which
led into the g