Just then the second man reached her. He was built like a short redwood and had the ruddy complexion of someone who spent a lot of time outdoors.

"Yeah, sure," the tall man said, twisting Nancy's arm behind her.

Nancy had to bite her lip to keep from crying out.

"Looks like we caught ourselves a thief," the short, burly guy said, taking a step toward her. An ugly grin contorted his face. "And we know just what to do with her. Right, Richard?"

"Right," his buddy replied.

Chapter Two

“Come on, you," Richard growled. He wheeled Nancy around and started pulling her toward the fire pit.

"Get your hands off me!" Nancy said, furious.

"Not a chance," he replied, tightening his grip. "Should we take her to the truck, Piker?"

"Yeah," the other man replied, giving Nancy a shove.

Nancy swung her leg out and brought it up, slamming her knee into Richard's stomach.

He bent over, giving her the chance to pull away. She was just taking off when she heard a familiar voice call her name.

She whirled around to see Ned hurrying down the path toward her. "Am I ever glad to see you!" she said with relief.

Ned glanced at the two grim-faced men and put his arm around Nancy. "What's going on here?"

"These guys accused me of being a thief," Nancy told him.

"What?" Ned was incredulous. "This is my girlfriend."

Richard shrugged. "If you say so, but she was nosing around camp. Right, Piker?"

"Right," Piker said. "We were just looking out for your group," he told Ned. "We heard there'd been some trouble around here."

"Well, thanks," Ned replied. "But like I said, Nancy's my girlfriend."

Nancy watched Piker nervously shift his weight. At last he nodded and said, "Well, okay. Let's get back to work, Richard." With that, the two men headed off.