Then Came November

    I've read this book once before and for some reason I just knew I was going to love it, and I did! But for some strange reason I've come to believe I disliked it over the past few years that it's sat on my bookshelf. I remember quite a bit about it and the twist at the end. I'm excited to re-read it knowing about the twist and being able to notice everything leading up to it.

    High school junior Dulcy Rolff doesn't feel like she belongs. Although she wants to fit in with her peers she feels awkward and wordless and as though her friendship is unwanted. For this reason she pulls out a book and reads during any moment people usually use for socializing such as when she arrives to class early or on the school bus, which is where we first find her. 

    She gets on the bus to go home after the school day and as she's surrounded by the chatter of her schoolmates she pulls out her French vocabulary book. Suddenly the boy sitting across the isle from her asks if she is going to the football game that night.

    He is a popular boy named Paul Newson, or Polly as everyone calls him, and Dulcy is sure he must be speaking to her simply to laugh at her expense. His attention makes her blush in embarrassment but her face turns even redder when she drops her book, collides heads with Polly when they both go to grab it, and when she opens it upside down and Polly turns it right side up for her. Feeling humiliated she runs off the bus at the first stop.

    She's almost immediately approached by Elaine Totting, an extremely popular petite blonde who Dulcy only knows in passing. She asks Dulcy what Polly had said to make her blush so much and when Dulcy replies that he asked about the game Elaine assumes Polly was asking her for a date and claims she's suspected Polly has a crush on Dulcy. 

    

    Dulcy immediately corrects her, worried Elaine could have gotten some mistaken idea that popular Polly would ever be interested in someone like her. Elaine invites her over to talk about it but Dulcy declines.

    When she gets home she is greeted by her visiting 90 year old great-grandfather who is sitting barefoot on the front porch. Dulcy is embarrassed by this and rushes inside where she is greeted by King, her large elderly dog who Dulcy absolutely adores. Dulcy voices her embarrassment about her grandfather to her mother who doesn't understand her thought process on the matter. The girl and the dog then go to pick berries in the backyard and frolic together. When Dulcy returns her mother informs her she has a caller on the telephone, it's Elaine.

    Elaine invites Dulcy over for the evening but she declines with the excuse that she doesn't want to walk the distance. Elaine says she can come over instead but, panicked by the thought of the fashionable rich girl seeing her old fashion home and great-grandfather, she quickly says she'll get a ride to Elaine's then hangs up. 

    Once at the girls home, which is located in a brand new, expensive apartment building, Elaine sits Dulcy down in her room and then ignores her while she finishes a manicure. She pays attention to her guest long enough to tell her she needs to change her appearance then cuts Dulcys bangs, coats her face in makeup, and advises her on how she should dress, then ignores her for the next half hour.

    By that time the football game is about to end so the girls head over to the field to find out the outcome. Elaine leads them through the crowd and as their school gets the winning points everyone starts hugging in celebration. It's not until he speaks that Dulcy realizes she's hugging Polly. 

    Elaine gets a group together and they all decide to go out to eat. Dulcy doesn't go because it's almost her curfew. With Elaine jumping in someone else's car Dulcy doesn't have a ride home so she plans on walking to the bowling alley where her dad is. Polly stops her and insists it's too long a walk and that he can give her a ride in his car, which is nicknamed the purple pussycat. Before going to the bowling alley he drives around showing Dulcy his cars ability with high speed, quick breaks, and sharp turns, all of which make Dulcy nervous.

    The next morning she wakes up and rushes to her father's building company where she works as a secretary on Saturdays. Her older cousin, known as Young Bill, works there too. Her father had created a job especially for the young engineer graduate but is frustrated with the man for always trying to bring new methods and ways of thinking into his work. 

    Young Bill is married to Fan who Mr. Rolff doesn't like because of Fan's different ways; she likes to style herself simply without any jewelry or hair permanents, she doesn't decorate her house with knick-knacks or photos, and she has tea times and serves dinner at a "scandalously" late hour for a working class family.

    While working Dulcy receives a call from Elaine who is mad at her. Elaine complains about Dulcy and Polly leaving together and that Dulcy hadn't called her this morning to tell her how last night went. Dulcy is confused by this since Elaine and her had barely ever talked before yesterday and now she's acting as tho they're best friends. Although she finds it strange she decided to go along with it because she wants a close female friend, something which she has not had in years. 

    Elaine asks to meet up in town and go shopping. Dulcy knows she should stay and work but when her father and Young Bill go to check on a construction project she decides to take her lunch break early.

    Once Elaine sees Dulcy has a checkbook she goes ham picking out clothes, accessories, and makeup for Dulcy. Although Dulcy knows she needs to save her money for a new winter coat she is too meek to say no to her new friend. Elaine then insists Dulcy needs to be seen in her new clothes asap so arranges plans for that night.

    Dulcy arrives back at the office two hours later to find a handsome young man waiting inside. He's Roger Endicott and he's come to pick up some blueprints for his father. Dulcy finds him shy but friendly and feels very relaxed talking to him.
After dinner Dulcy is picked up by Elaine and Freddy, a short boy who feels like a big man in his fancy car. Freddy wants to go to a drive-in joint but Elaine insists they have to go to Pete's, a malt shop. Once there Elaine orders a bunch of food and has Freddy pay for it before running off to socialize with a bunch of other people there and letting the food be wasted. This, Freddy says, is why he wanted to go to the drive-in and not Pete's.

    Polly shows up and good-naturedly teases Dulcy about being there before pushing Freddy to the side so he can sit next to her. This is when Elaine suddenly makes her return and starts embarrassing Dulcy by implying Dulcy is only there in the hopes of seeing Polly.

    Finding the place crowded Polly and his friend decide to leave and bring the girls with them. Dulcy ends up in the purple pussycat wedged in between Polly and his friend Duke while Elaine, much to her displeasure, has to ride with Freddy. Once on the road Polly and Freddy start to race, making dangerous twists and turns around each other. Dulcy is terrified and fearful for her life but is afraid to tell Polly to stop because she doesn't want him to think she's a drip and thus lose her new friendship with him. 

    He finally does stop when the police start chasing them and he quickly pulls into a side road leaving Freddy to get busted. Dulcy covers her nervousness and the fact that she's about to cry by laughing and saying they should do that again. Polly is impressed with her nerve and that she didn't get scared like other girls would. They go to the drive-in restaurant and when taking Dulcy home Polly makes a move to kiss her but is interrupted when Mr. Rolff steps out on the porch.

    The next morning is Sunday and Dulcy and King follow their usual routine of hiking out into the wilderness where King naps and Dulcy sketches wildlife. After being there for about an hour Roger Endicott shows up. Him and Dulcy had talked about their shared love of the hiking area and discussed possibly seeing each other out there sometime so it's not a surprise but Dulcy is very happy. They walk and talk and enjoy each others company but when they get close to the Rolff home Dulcy ditches him, embarrassed at the thought of him seeing her old fashion home, especially since her eccentric aunt Lavinia just arrived for a stay and has her strange old car parked outside.

    The next day at school Dulcy finds herself being snubbed by Elaine and has no idea why. Finally Dulcy sits next to her in class and Elaine refuses to talk until she sees Polly sitting on Dulcys other side. She begins being flirty with Polly over how mean he was to leave her with Freddy the other night. After class starts Dulcy continues to try and sort things out with Elaine but the teacher hears her talking and moves her to the front of the class. 

    Polly takes her seat next to the blonde and Dulcy feels terribly left out. Her mind preoccupied she gives a completely wrong answer to the teachers question, then accidentally trips the teacher from her long legs sticking out under her desk. Her teacher then kicks her out of the class with a written note which Dulcy drops and while picking it up knocks her books off her desk. All this has the class laughing and Dulcy is horrifically embarrassed, not only that this happened but that it happened in front of Polly and Elaine. 

    Too embarrassed to face her peers in the next class Dulcy stands by the front doors debating on leaving early when Elaine comes up to her saying her "act" in class was great and that Polly thought she was hilarious. Dulcy, happy to have her friend talking to her again, says she's gonna skip class and go buy a new winter coat and Elaine decides to join her. 

    Once again Elaine picks out her items for her and decides on an impractical red tweed coat which doesn't go with the new clothes Dulcy has already bought. The coat also cost $100 which is far out of Dulcy's price range. Not having the money does not stop Elaine though, she simply has a credit account opened at the store for Dulcy and tells her to hide the bill when it comes.

    Back at home Dulcy finds herself in trouble. Her teacher has called and said Dulcy had been acting up. Then when Aunt Lavinia disapproves of Dulcys new coat the girl loses control of her emotions and runs off upstairs where she cries herself to sleep. Upon waking hours later she finds a tray of food outside and, although she doesn't know who left it there, it makes her feel as though someone in the house is sympathetic towards her.

    At school the next day Elaine does Dulcy's makeup to look as though she's been crying then they go to the teacher, then principle with a story of how getting kicked out of class had caused Dulcy to breakdown in tears and become too ashamed to finish out the school day so Elaine had walked her home. 

    This story is accepted and the girls get off scot free for skipping classes the previous day.
Elaine mentions that the Old Home Week dance is coming up and since Polly will clearly ask her to it Dulcy will need to buy a formal dress. But not just a formal dress, she will also need to buy lots more clothes, Elaine insists. Dulcy reminds Elaine that she doesn't have anymore money after the shopping they've already done but Elaine tells Dulcy to keep opening up credit accounts at various stores.

    As the week goes on Dulcy begins to find herself feeling more confident and as though she's beginning to fit in and feel accepted. As the next football game arrives Polly invites Dulcy to go with him. Before she has recovered from the shock of him asking, Elaine announces that the two girls would love to go with him thus inviting herself along. 

    Elaine takes Dulcy's bus home after school where they plan to get picked up for the game and then have a sleep over. Elaine charms the family with the exception of great-grandpa who pretends to be hard of hearing and loudly makes insults about the girl.

    When Polly and his friends arrive they start giving Aunt Lavinia's antique car a look over and Polly's about to take it for a drive when Dulcy makes it clear her aunt will flip if he does. Elaine then hops into the purple pussycat front seat with Polly and cuddles up with him. Dulcy is shocked and confused by this. Her mind becomes lost in thought which causes her to absentmindedly laugh at something that wasn't a joke and the others begin to look at her strangely. 

    After the game they spend two hours with their peers at food establishments until a policeman tells them they need to be getting home. The cop follows Polly until after he's dropped off two boys. Once the police car is out of sight Dulcy tries impressing Polly by saying she thought he would have tried to out race the cop. Him and Elaine both admonish Dulcy for this which embarrasses her. 

    Once they pull up to the Rolff house Polly asks when Dulcy can fix it so that the boys can sneak Aunt Lavinia's car out for a joy ride. Dulcy tries to give excuses for why she can't but when Elaine says Dulcy doesn't have the nerve she agrees to do it next Saturday. 

    As the girls are falling asleep in Dulcy's bed Elaine gives Dulcy more advise on how to hook Polly. She tells her to act bold and sophisticated, to copy movie actresses, and say outrageous things.

    The next morning Dulcy is up early to go to the office with her father. Elaine is equally annoyed at her options of waking up early to get a ride home or sleeping in and being in the house without Dulcy. She chooses the former but takes her time getting ready which infuriates Mr. Rolff. 

    On the way to the office he sends Dulcy into the post office to get the mail where she is surprised to find a bill for her coat has already been sent out. She decides she must buy her formal dress for the dance then begin making small payments towards the debt. 

    At work Young Bill invited her to dinner with him and Fan that night. At their house Dulcy enjoys how different the environment is to her home. They sit down to tea for an hour where they mostly relax in comfortable silence. While helping Fan prepare dinner Dulcy opens up to her about her recent social life and Fan gently gives the girl advice to be herself.

    When Dulcy arrives home she finds Elaine had called. She calls her back while young Bill speaks with Mr. Rolff. Elaine is excited to tell Dulcy her plan for Saturday; she is going to give Dulcy sleeping pills to feed to King so that Dulcy can sneak out her window undetected to go on the joyride. Dulcy doesn't like the idea but says she'll think about it.

    Her call ends as Young Bill storms out of the house. He had suggested that Mr. Rolff should expand the business so that he himself would have more work to do and feel less like the man was giving him charity. With this suggestion rejected young Bill quits.

    Monday after school Dulcy goes to buy her formal dress for the dance. She decides not to bring Elaine with her because she wants to pick it out for herself but once there she feels unsure. She ends up settling on a mature, black, single strap dress which adds $79 more dollars to her store debt. She tries to sneak the dress into her room but is spotted by Aunt Lavinia who, along with Dulcys mother, are scandalized by Dulcys purchase. Mrs. Rolff declared Dulcy will not be allowed to wear the dress out of the house. Dulcy is upset and the three have words before Dulcy runs upstairs in tears. Her relationship with her family continues to be strained and she starts spending the majority of her time outside with King.

    Over the following week there is a noticeable change in Dulcy at school, her mood is unstable. Elaine tells Dulcy more of her plans for Saturday; Dulcy will have an early date then after returning home she will sneak out her window for the joyride. 

    After making a scene in class which makes Polly laugh she asks him for that early date on Saturday. He accepts and says he'll bring someone for Elaine too. At the principals office Dulcy is told to look in the mirror then write a 500 word essay on what she sees. Dulcy finds this an upsetting task and wants to go wash her makeup off but Elaine and Polly's praise for her actions in class keep her attached to her new ways.

    After school she goes to Young Bill and Fans house, mostly in the hope to anger her parents. There she notices the effects Bill's unemployment is having on the family. Back at home Dulcy announces her visit hoping it'll make her parents mad but when it doesn't she makes up a lie about Young Bill starting his own rival building company which gets the effect she wanted.

    On Saturday night Polly picks Dulcy up and stops on the side or the road to kiss her. They pick up Elaine and Duke and go to the drive-in movie where Elaine makes up excuses to first get Polly and Dulcy to move apart and then she crawls into the front seat between them. Dulcy starts catching on then and, possibly after all the emotion strain with her family and school problems, breaks and spends the night in a fit of hysterical laughter and acting loopy. They take her home and she sneaks Aunt Lavinia's car keys from her purse then goes to get a scrap of meat to put the sleeping pills in for King.

    Great-grandpa catches her in the kitchen and assumes she's looking for a snack. When she quickly retreats he assumes he scared her off. In her room she gives King the sleeping pills then scurries out her window while Polly and Duke silently push the ancient car down the street. Once they're all in the stolen care Polly takes off for the countryside at high speeds. When a cow appears in the road he makes a quick turn to the side which causes the car go on two wheels before crashing back down. All shaken they solemnly get the car back into the driveway.

    Dulcy is concerned when she sees a light on in her room and upon re-entering the window she sees grandpa in the room. Feeling bad about her leaving the kitchen without eating he was bringing her a snack to leave outside her door, as he had previously done, when he heard King's strange breathing. He tells Dulcy he thinks King is passing. Horrified, Ducly confesses what she's done and wakes her father. They rush King to the vet where he is given a stimulant and the family is told it's a waiting game from there.

    Luckily King pulls through and upon returning home with him Aunt Lavinia says a boy had stopped by to check if Dulcy was alright. Dulcy, sure it was Polly, is touched by this thoughtful action and calls him up to thank him. However once on the phone Polly rudely accuses Dulcy of trying to pin the car damage on him, says he wasn't with her last night, and that he has "witnesses" to back him up if she tries saying he was. Dulcy is confused by his actions.

    On Monday Polly and Elaine are both late for class, acting strangely, and seeming to avoid her. In the girls bathroom a girl tells Dulcy that Polly asked Elaine to the Old Home Week dance. This is when Dulcy fully accepts the fact that Elaine had been using her to get to Polly. 

    Elaine had liked Polly but he wouldn't notice her so she attached herself to Dulcy, who Polly did like. She then worked to turn Dulcy into the exact opposite of what she was while Elaine took on Dulcy's original characteristic thus stealing Polly for herself. She confronts Elaine in the women's lounge and Elaine emotionally admits to her treachery before running away.

    After school Dulcy returns her formal dress and then heads home where she finds everyone gone. Her mother then calls saying Young Bills house caught on fire causing Fan to go into early labor. She is at the hospital with her, Mr. Rolff is at work, and Aunt Lavinia and Grandfather have left. It's Dulcys responsibility to run the house for the next few days while her mother stays with Fan. Dulcy also has to prepare the house for all the guest who are going to come to see the new baby and to help rebuild the fire damaged home.

    Dulcy is so busy she doesn't have time to cry over her social life. Grandpa also comes back with an orphaned dachshund puppy and requests Dulcy take care of it. King immediately adopts the puppy. Soon Aunt Lavinia returns and with her she brings a formal dress that had been a part of her mother's wedding trousseau. It's of gorgeous yellow material and Dulcy feels more beautiful in it than she did the black dress. 

    While she is trying it on there is an arrival at the front door and Aunt Lavinia says it's the young man who had come calling before. Dulcy knows it couldn't possibly be Polly and finds it's Roger Endicott. They arrange a movie date for that night and it's clear he will be taking her to the Old Home Week dance. Dulcy realizes she happier being herself and better enjoys the company of a boy she doesn't have to change herself for.

- The ages of Mr. And Mrs. Rolff are not mentioned but I would assume they are older since Dulcy's sisters are fifteen years her senior. It's unfortunate that this wasn't mentioned more as a reason for their lack of understanding of the social customs of Dulcy's peers.

- It's kind of ridiculous that the teacher would call Dulcy's parents and say she's misbehaving when all that happened is she gave a wrong answer and accidentally dropped her books. The teacher tripped over Dulcy's feet but that's not Dulcy's fault, she's long legged and when sitting in the front row there's really no where for them to go. I speak from experience.

- While spending the night at Dulcy's it's revealed Elaine has a nighttime routine where she cleanses her face and uses all types if creams for her face, eyes, elbows and knees, etc. She says it's to prevent wrinkles. I actually was surprised the first time I read this because I didn't know wrinkles were something you prevented early, I thought you could only treat then when they inevitably came. So I looked it up and actually ended up adopting a nightly skincare regiment with lots of moisturizing. I bet Nan Gilbert never thought someone would be getting advice from her book 50 years later.

    Elaine also says she does exercises for 10 minutes twice a day. Dulcy finds this and the skincare ridiculous and Elaine is suppose to appear pitiful because she spends so much time on her appearance but by 2020 we all know Elaine is taking care of her physical health which is smart. 

- The Totting's treatment of their previous dog is horrifying. Elaine claims her mother would give it sleeping pills so it wouldn't bark during the day and she got rid of it when moving upon finding out the town did not have a Kennel Club for her to socialize in.

    I think out of all the Whitman Novels for Girls this one is the most relatable and realistic. Dulcy is not some rare beauty that happens to be shy, neither is she the sister of the most popular girl in school, or any of those clichés. She's just a normal awkward girl who some boy happens to like. To be honest maybe I am biased since Dulcy and my seventeen-year-old self had a large amount of uncanny similarities right down to the elderly golden-fur dog and dachshund puppy, I however was never dumb enough to steal a car.

    I feel like this book does leave me with some questions; does Elaine still want to be friends with Dulcy, what new opportunities will Dulcy being on the year book staff bring, when will she have paid off the debt for her coat, what becomes of Elaine and Polly's relationship, how does the Old Home Week dance go, was Aunt Lavinias car badly damaged, will Polly fall for Dulcy again when she goes back to being her true self, and so many more.

The Mystery at Rustlers Fort

    Cousins Phil McKenny and Buzz Fletcher are spending the summer camping at the grand canyon with the Fletcher family. Mr. Fletcher, or Chief as everyone calls him, is a college professor who spends every summer out in the wilderness doing field research on a selected animal. This year he is researching mountain lions.

    They will be staying at an isolated new deluxe campsite which has a fancy outdoor oven and running water on site. It's important that Chief camps here because after it's been used consistently by tourist the mountain lions will stop frequenting the area.

    The site is already being occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Post but the park ranger informs Chief that he has a letter for them which is calling them back home. Chief is suppose to deliver the letter which will free up the campsite for him and his family.

    Upon receiving the letter Mr. Post becomes angry. Although he admits the letter requires him to leave he still refuses to give up the campsite. He attempts to have his wife remain there while he is gone but she refuses to remain in the wilderness alone.

    After they leave the family sets up camp over the next few days including making a temporary shower behind the trees and bushes of the campsite. 

    Mr. Post later shows back up. He's in a better mood now and says he had to leave because his jewelry store was robbed. He's back for a short fishing trip and has come to the campsite to get his tackle box which he claims to have left behind however the box has not been seen and can not be found.

    Mr. Post tells the children about an old fort near camp which had been used by horse rustlers 50 years ago. The kids later venture over to it and see the back of a mysterious man in a suit as he's sneaking off through the tress. Phil notices that the location of the fort overlooks their camp and wonders if the man could have been spying on the family. 

    Once the three arrive back at the camp they see the same man in a suit talking to Chief. Phil and Buzz remark the man looks like a dinosaur and that becomes their name for him. Chief explains the man said he came just to look at the new campsite. Once the kids tell him about the man possibly spying on their camp Chief decides to tell the park ranger about him and ask to have a Private Road sign placed so no one else comes along and disturbed them.

    But he forgets when the ranger comes by that evening with a baby mountain lion for Buzz's little sister, Kitsy. The lion is an orphan and the ranger needs someone to bottle feed it every few hours. But Kitsy will have to return the lion at the end of the summer so it can eventually be released back into the park. Kitsy is excited and takes to her role as mother immediately and names the lion Oliver.

    Later that evening a group of teenagers show up asking for help getting their car out of a rut down the road. The whole family goes except for Kitsy who has to stay with the lion. When the family returns they find the little girl hiding under the picnic table with Oliver. She says that she was in the tent getting ready for bed when a man appeared behind the tent looking around by the shower. Kitsy turned on the water faucet, which is located in the middle of camp, to scare the man off then hid. Chief is eager to suggest what Kitsy really saw was a deer but she insists it was man.

    Buzz and Phil are directed to go fill up the deep ruts in the road the next day so no one else gets stuck and Buzz notices the piles of dirt on the side of the road indicating someone purposely dug the holes. Chief talks to the ranger about the goings-on at the camp but the ranger insists they're over reacting. He does however give them a Private sign to put on the road.

    One day the boys head with Chief into the woods where they help him rig up a camera trap to take a picture of an notorious mountain lion named Three Toes. While out there they find the body of a missing dog and Chief says something looks suspicious about it. 

    That evening everyone, including Oliver, drive out to an observation point of the grand canyon. When they pull back into their campsite it's dark but they can see a shadowy figure moving away. They assume its Lulubelle, a curious deer that keeps wondering into their camp. They soon notice that Chief's watch is missing from the table where he placed it which gets Phil wondering if it really was Lulubelle they saw fleeing.

    The next morning the boys and Chief go check the camera trap and see it's gone off. They then continue through the wilderness and observe some squirrels before going behind their camp to look for a pack rats nest which is where Chief thinks his watch has gone. He is right and the watch is found. 

    

    When they come back into camp Mrs. Fletcher is worried and says she and Kitsy had returned to camp earlier to find an intruder trashing Buzz and Phil's tent. Two men's boot prints are in the ground under where the tent had been secured. Chief insists it was just Lulubelle and Amy quickly goes along with this even though she clearly doesn't believe it. Kitsy insists several times it was a man and not a deer but Chief gaslights her.

    The whole family is going into town the next day so the boys decide to set up a camera trap to catch any prowlers. In town the boys secretly purchase a Geiger counter before the family goes and visits Mr. Post at his jewelry store. When leaving Buzz and Phil see the dinosaur staring at them from the window of the restaurant across the street. They tell Chief but he doesn't believe them. 

    Back at camp they find their camera trap has gone off. Chief is annoyed with them but the three go to the Park Rangers house to develop the film and find it was the Ranger himself who had stopped at the camp for a drink of water. That night Kitsy pulls them aside to tell them she still is firm in her conviction that a man had been prowling around their camp the other day and not a deer.

    The next day the boys go with Chief to study some bats and when they return to camp Mrs. Fletcher says they have had two visitors. First Mrs. Post came to bring them groceries but her car stalled down the road so Amy and Kitsy walked to pick them up. When they returned they found the dinosaur lurking about. He talks to them and says he's planning on building a motel in town and uses this excuse to pump Amy for information about what they're doing there.

    The next day the garbage man shows up baring a note for Chief from the park ranger. It's asking for him to come see him that afternoon. Chief is annoyed because this means he will miss a whole day of field work. However the ranger shows up soon and claims he never sent a note. The two men decide to go to the ranger station and ask the garbage man where the note had come from. 

    While they're gone Buzz and Phil discover foot tracks in the woods just outside their camp, both coming and going. They follow them all around the outside of their camp and it's clear someone had been there spying on them. They decide to walk up the road and meet Chief on his way back and tell him about their discovery. 

    After they do Chief explains that the garbage man claims the note had been left in his truck and he didn't know who it came from. Him and the rangers now believe something strange is going on so they've decided to have a man keep an eye on the campground. Chief also decides to postpone his field work until the situation clears up so that he can be around to protect his wife and daughter is something else happens. 

    Since he won't need the boys help he arranges for them to take a two day trip at Phantom Ranch; a resort ranch located in the Grand Canyon. Although they want to stick around camp and help with detective work they know this trip will be a good chance to use their Geiger counter.

    Not long into their hike the next day the Geiger counter goes off indicating they've found ore. They debate on going back to camp to tell Chief but decide he'd be mad at them, both for purchasing the Geiger counter and for the wasted money on ranch reservations. They decide to continue with their trip. They stop at a river to eat their lunch when a man approaches them. He's noticed their Geiger counter and informs them prospecting is not allowed in the park and they could get in trouble if a ranger sees it. He also informs them you have to be 21 to register a mine claim. The boys are quite disappointed both over losing their just discovered claim and having spent the money on a Geiger counter they can't use. They're moody for the rest of the hike. 

    When they get to the ranch they go for a swim in the pool and end up spotting the dinosaur which worries them. After dinner they encounter him on a bridge where he asks if the family is still at the camp grounds. They say yes and quickly flee back to their cabin. The next morning when they're returning from breakfast they spy the dinosaur in their cabin going through their backpacks. Once he's left they grab their things and flee back to camp as fast as possible.

    After spending a whole day resting back at camp Chief, Buzz, Phil, and Kitsy all go to bat cave 20 miles away. There they will catch and tag bats, then the park ranger will take them in cages to Amy back at camp who will release them. Chief and the kids will be spending the night in the cave and check the bats in the morning to see if the tagged ones have found their way home, this testing their homing ability. 

    Once there Buzz realizes he forgot to pack their food supply so Chief sends Phil and Kitsy back to camp for the night with the park ranger. They have him drop them and the bats off by the shortcut that leads past rustlers fort to their camp. The cousins stop at the fort and get a drink of water from the spring inside the building when someone closes the door and piles rocks up against it locking them in.

    Phil and Kitsy write help notes on postal stamps Phil has in his wallet then stick them to the bats and release them hoping they will find their way back to the cave and Chief will see. There plan works and Chief and Buzz show up the next morning before they all rush to camp to check on Mrs. Fletcher. She says camp was unbothered during the night, most likely due to her falling asleep with the lantern on.

    Chief is furious about what was done to the kids and wants to go immediately to the ranger station and have the police alerted but Amy suggest he wait and the two sit down to talk about moving camps first. While they are doing this Phil and Buzz go lay down in the tent and Buzz absentmindedly plays with the Geiger counter and is surprised to get a positive reading from below the middle of their tent.

    Just then the park ranger shows up saying he's had news that the lost dog Chief found in the woods had rabies (which explains what Chief said was suspicious). This means Three Toes also has rabies and it is no longer safe for the family to stay in the area. They immediately start packing up and the boys subtly dig up the ground after disassembling their tent. Buried in the ground they find Mr. Posts missing tackle box and inside is an array of jewelry, including watches with radium dials which is what triggered the Geiger counter.

    Once everything is packed up the ranger asks Chief to go out in the woods with him to try and find Three Toes but Chief insists he's not skilled with a gun and Phil goes instead since he's on his schools rifle team. Kitsy, who has been sitting playing with her mothers binoculars, announces that she's just seen Mr. Post in the woods. The ranger and Phil then dash over to warn him about the lion but he flees from them. Suddenly Phil realizes that it was Post who had robbed his own store and hid the jewelry in camp. This explains why he was so angry about leaving it and why someone was always sneaking around; he was trying to recover the valuables. 

    While fleeing Mr. Post comes upon the lion who Phil and the ranger shoot just as it's leaping upon the criminal. The two then start to bring the man back to the rangers truck at gunpoint when Buzz comes running saying they've captured the dinosaur. When driving out of camp Buzz spotted the man up by the fort so Chief and Buzz snuck up on him by the shortcut and trapped him in the fort while Amy and Kitsy drive into town for a policeman. 

    Once they get to the fort everyone begins to talk and it comes out that the dinosaur is a detective for Mr. Post's insurance company. Knowing that the robbery was an inside job he's been trailing Post to the camping spot for weeks. Seeing him be friendly with the family caused suspicion that they were in on it and that's why he followed the boys down the canyon. Post confesses to his crime and the book ends.

- Phil wants to buy a Geiger counter with the allowance his parents give him but Chief not only tells him he's not allowed to but he forbids him from even talking about it.

- Phil remarks that he likes that they all sleep in the clothes they wore for that day. I assume they're wearing jeans and sleeping in jeans is very uncomfortable. Why not just toss on a pair of sweats for the night.

- The trip to Phantom Ranch is fourteen miles each way. They're walking it two days in a row, how exhausting!

- Phantom Ranch is real and still exists. I'm unsure if the pool is still around though as I could find no modern photos of it and no mention. From what I read they didn't start requiring reservations until 1961 but Chief says the boys have to have reservations and this was published in 1957. Also you now have to make reservations 15 months in advance and you only can do that if you win the reservation lottery.

- When the boys reach Phantom Ranch a man working there asked if they're the two boys that have reservations there for the night and Phil gets suspicious, wondering how does this man know so much about them. Phil's not the brightest.

- I'm not sure why Post was so eager to reclaim the tackle box with the stolen jewelry. Surely it would be safer hidden than it would be in his possession. And he wouldn't be able to sell it while the robbery is still being investigated.

    Overall this book is good. It's a fun setting, eventful enough to keep the reader interested, and the details of the grand canyon are extremely accurate which is great. It was more fun to read the first time when I didn't know the ending. I only remembered half of it this time so it was still fun but I'm not sure how it would be on a third reading when I remember it all.

Annie Oakley in the Ghost Town Secret

    Although I've read this book once before I remember absolutely nothing about it so this will be like reading it for the first time all over again.

    As it starts out we learn that Annie is taking care of her uncle and guardian Luke Mactavish who has recently been shot in the shoulder by one of three trouble makers who have come into town. As Annie is waiting for the doctors daily visit her little brother Tagg shows up with torn clothes and smeared in dirt. 

    

    He tells Annie that while he was out for a horseback ride on their ranch he came across two men camping out. They shot at him which caused his horse to get scared, toss him off, and run away. Tagg finally caught him and hurried home. Annie suggest the men were probably trying to scare him and not actually shoot him but she is worried and decides to check on the men the next day. 

    However when Doc arrives he shares information that the three men, Brink Kincade, Jake Lacey, and Timothy Bannon, are murderers who've broken out of prison. Doc has wanted pictures for all of them and Tagg is able to identify two, Lacey and Bannon, as the men who shot at him. Luke plans on getting together a posse the next day to search for them.

    Doc has also brought out the family's mail and among it is a letter for Annie from a man who claims he had done her father wrong years ago and has something of great value that belongs to her. He asks her to visit him at Signal Buttes. Uncle Luke tells Annie she will have to wait until next month when he can make the trip with her. Since Signal Butted is near a gold town he doesn't feel safe with her going alone. Tagg convinces himself the thing of great value is a gold mine.

    As Luke is riding his horse into town in the next morning Lacey and Bannon spot him as they are heading towards town to break Brink out of jail. Lacey decides to try and shoot the Sheriff but he misses and Luke has time to duck for cover as Annie comes down the road in a wagon. She shoots Lacey's gun out of his hand and him and Bannon flee. Once in town a posse is formed to hunt for the men but they're not found.

    Deputy Lofty decides he better get Brink out to Bonanza City penitentiary the next day to avoid a jail break but Annie suggest they do it that night. They dress Brink up in a long cape and bonnet so Lacey and Bannon, who they assume are watching the jail, won't recognize him when put him in a wagon with Annie who then drives him to the ranch. 

    Luke and Lofty meet up with her there. Lofty is going to take the man by horseback to Bonanza City twenty miles away and Annie suggests she and Tagg go along so Lofty can accompany them on a quick trip to Signal Buttes after. This is agreed upon and they set out.

    During the trip Tagg tells Lofty that a gold mine is waiting for them in Signal Buttes and Kincade, who overhears, takes great interest in this and decides he must get his hands on it.

    After 10 miles they stop for a coffee break and Kincade uses the coffee to wet his leather bonds and stretch them out thus freeing himself. He manages to get Lofty's gun in a scuffle and takes off on a horse with Tagg hostage. Annie's goes after him on horseback and throws her Colt revolver at his head which causes him to drop Loftys gun and break his grip on Tagg. The boy then jumps off the horse and, worried about his safety, Annie stops to check on him, letting Kincade get away.

    The siblings go back to check on Lofty and find his ego is quite bruised. Annie says they can easily go trail Kincade but Lofty insists she and Tagg go straight to Bonanza City and wait for him at the hotel while he trails the prisoner alone. Unfortunately he does not have Annie's tracking skills and loses the trail quickly. Although he knows he should go get Annie for help or go notify the Bonanza City sheriff that there's a criminal lose he instead decides to keep trying to track Kincade alone just because he wants to look like a big man.

    Meanwhile Kincade has luckily run into Lacey and Bannon. Together the three rob some camping cowboys of their guns, money, and supplies then they begin to head for Signal Buttes. Kincade wants to go to steal the alleged gold mine and to get revenge on Annie. Bannon, who is from that area, also wants to get revenge but on a man who he claims helped put him in prison for a murder he did not commit.

    The next morning Annie and Tagg are having breakfast at the hotel when the waitress informs them that the mines in Signal Buttes had flooded months ago and it's now a ghost town. Annie decides it would still be worth going to see if the man they're to meet with is still there. She also decides uncle Luke wouldn't mind the two going alone now that it is no longer a wild gold town.

    Two days later Lofty walks into town in rough shape and says the three men had jumped him and stolen his gun and horse. He tells the authorities the criminals are heading towards the Mexico border and everyone soon gives up worrying about loose convicts being in the area.

    On the first night of their journey Annie and Tagg set up camp in a cave after noticing a rainstorm is on the way. Annie awakes in the middle of the night to her horse making noises. She goes outside to see what had disturbed her horse and notices hoof-prints of 4 horses. She now knows others are within the vicinity but is unaware that the men are the 3 outlaws and a pack-horse. After their camp gets flooded they have continued onward to a cabin. Annie and Tagg travel at a leisurely pace and come across the cabin two nights later.

    Annie hopes to find some friendly prospectors there that they can spend the night with but when they get closer Annie recognizes Lofty horse tied up outside. They retreat and then Annie sneaks up to the glassless window where she overhears the men talking about their plans to rob Silas Akers, the man the Oakleys are going to meet. 

    The sibling have no choice but to keep going for the night. As they pass by the cabin a flash of lightening illuminates the two and Bannon sees them but decides not to tell his two partners because he doesn't want the criminals to hurt a girl and a child.

    Annie and Tagg continue until the get to a river crossing. The river is still raging from the storm and they can't cross it until it goes down so they set up camp under the porch of an abandoned inn next to the river. Annie awakes to the three men's voices. As they are crossing river Lacey injure Bannon's horse causing it to buck him and run off. Bannon falls into the water, hitting his head hard on a rock, and is carried down stream unconscious. 

    Lacey and Kincade happily continue on their way without checking to see in Bannon is alive or not. Once the two men are out of view Annie and Tagg rescue Bannon. They nurse him for a day and night and in the morning he wakes up confused and suspicious. He is hesitant to believe Kincade would abandon him. The siblings feed the young outlaw and Annie sends him in the direction of his runaway horse before continuing on their journey.

    Once they come within two miles of the town they spot hoof-marks which show the two outlaws had been met by someone else before turning in a different direction and the newcomer had gone back the way he came. Annie assumes it was someone coming to tell them they're headed for a ghost town and the men, realizing there was no one there to rob, headed elsewhere.

    Once in the ghost town Annie meets Denver, a former military man who is Captain Silas Akers servant, companion, and friend. Annie and Tagg have supper with the two men but the topic of why he has called them there is not discussed due to the siblings being tired from their journey. Annie and Tagg go to sleep in the cabin next to the military men and during the night Annie awakes to someone trying to get in. With her rifle in hand she sees Tim Bannon walking away, stopping to glare at the captain's cabin.

    The next morning Annie looks around the cabin and finds school book with Bannon's name inside indicating this had been his home. Annie tells Denver about the incident and he tells her she's not to tell Akers anything about it. After supper that evening Akers informs Annie why he asked her there. He tells her he had stolen her fathers medal of honor many years ago out of jealousy and wanted to return it. 

    

    While this is happening Annie looks up and sees Bannon's face in the window, she runs outside and shoots over his head as he runs away. She then tell Akers about Bannon coming to rob him and he tells Annie that Tim Bannon is his adopted son. 

    He had trouble with the law growing up so when he was framed for murder by his two friends Akers believed it and didn't defend him against the law. After Bannon had been taken away to serve a life sentence Denver, Akers, and a private detective had worked to clear his name and find the real murderers. Tim has since been cleared of all charges but has no clue since it happened after he broke out of jail. Akers asks Annie to find him so he can be informed.

    The next morning she locates Bannon but Kincade and Lacey show up before she gets a chance to talk to him. They talk their way out of the fact they had attempted to kill him and then they all make plans to go into the Ghost Town and steal anything worth value that they can find. 

    While Annie is gone Tagg spends the morning talking to Denver who says he's found a secret gold mine in a tunnel that runs above the underground river and therefore isn't flooded. Tagg instantly guesses that the tunnel is under the towns hotel since it's the only building with a Keep Out sign on it. Denver tries claiming he made the whole story up but Tagg doesn't believe him and sneaks into the hotel while Annie goes to inform Denver and Akers about Tim joining back up with the two outlaws. 

    Annie spots the three men sneaking around the ghost town and asks Denver to bring Tagg inside but when Tagg is found missing Denver knows he must have sneaked into the hotel. He informs Annie that he has set up a trap in the tunnel, a pitfall into the river, to protect it from claim-jumpers. Worried that Tagg is about to fall victim to the trap or the outlaws Annie runs down to the hotel.

    Meanwhile the three men are headed to the hotel after becoming suspicious of the Keep Out sign. Tagg runs to hide behind the reception counter as they break in the door but he trips on the tunnel ladder and bangs his head. The men find him as he's returning to consciousness. Annie comes in then and tells them to take off their gun belts. Tagg gathers the belts and is bringing them to her when one falls out of it's holster and goes off. 

    Kincade uses the distraction to wrestle Annie's gun from her then they all go down to the tunnel. With matches they're able to see a pile of gold sitting prettiley on the middle of the ground. Kincade and Lacey start to hurry to it when Annie calls out warning them about the trap. Lacey refuses to believe her and goes down the pitfall but manages to hold on to a rock. Tim runs up to the edge of the trap and calls for him to hold on while they grab some rope. However Kincade quickly bust Tim on the head with his gun and after Tim's unconscious Kincade grabs the gold, threatens to throw the tied up Oakleys into the pit, and says he'll take care of them after going and robbing Akers.

    Tim wakes up and Annie tells him about his father exonerating him of his murder charge. He unties them as they begin to smell smoke; Kincade has started a fire in the hotel. They climb the ladder out of the tunnel and Tim is able to stomp out the fire which isn't catching hold due to the recent storm.

    Once the three run outside a gunshot immediately hits the ground infront of Tim. It's from Lofty and the Bonanza City deputy marshal who are riding into town. Grabbing Lofty's riffle Annie starts taking aim at Kincade who has taken refugee behind an old shed on the path up to Akers cabin. She keeps him covered while the two lawman stealthily head up the trail to apprehend him. Suddenly the tall grass 10 feet from the shed moves. Annie thinks Kincade must be crawling away so she takes aim at the top of the grass to scare him. Suddenly a mountain lion jumps out of the grass and attacks Kincade who runs out and directly into the lawmen's arms.

    Father and son become reunited, a nice supper is had, and plans to start the journey home and reunite with Uncle Luke are made for the next morning.

- At first when Luke's bullet wound is mentioned I thought it was referring to the bullet wound he got in the last book. I was about to be very happy with this continuity but then it explained it was a different situation and that this book takes place a year later.

- I said it in my last review and I'll say it again; the Diablo police force is terrible. It consists only of Luke and Lofty who could stand a lot more training. Although in this book Luke actually deputizes citizens to help look for criminals, it's clear they need more permanent members of the force to do everything that needs doing. 

    For example why is Lofty transporting Kincade alone? This man is dangerous and has already shot the sheriff at point blank range in broad daylight. There should be two men guarding him but if they did that then no one would be in town to handle anything that comes up. 

    Annie is also much more skilled than either man when it comes to shooting, riding, tracking and trailing, and critical thinking. Instead of having Annie help them or teach them they tend to brush her off as a mere woman even though they've seen her in action. Luke can be excused for this because he is her uncle and guardian and often worries about her well-being and does not want her in dangerous situations even if she can handle herself. But Lofty seems to feel personally insulted by Annie's skills.

- The fact that's Kincade tried to shoot Luke, point blank, in the heart is forgot almost immediately. Annie and the others talk about how Kincade is dangerous because he escaped from prison and stole Lofty's gun and horse but it's never once said he's dangerous because he shot the Sheriff in broad daylight in front of witnesses. I find that very strange.

- One thing I couldn't help thinking about is how Tim Bannon is similar to Blair Murdoch of the third Annie Oakley book in that they both are living the life of an outlaw because they falsely believe they are outlaws.

    This was the last of the three Annie Oakley books that I had to read and I'm sad that there's not more. I find these books to be fun and they have a level of action and adventure that tends to be absent from girls' books.

    I stated in my review of Double Trouble that it had previously been my favorite of the three but I would say my favorite now is Ghost Town Secret. Although I like the setting of Diablo I found them being in a new location a lot more interesting after reading two books set in Diablo. Of course I also read the series out of order so if I had read it correctly this would have been the second book and broken up the monotony.

Annie Oakley in Danger in Diablo

    Seventeen year old Annie and her 9 year old brother Tagg have spent the last two months on a wagon trip from the Midwest out to "Indian country" to live with their uncle, Sheriff Luke, in the town of Diablo.

    Towards the end of their journey they stop at a stage to spend the night and overhear someone accusing the sheriff of being in cahoots with criminals. The man accusing this has just been the victim of a stagecoach robbery and claims a prominent citizen of Diablo told him the sheriff will not arrest these outlaws because he is crooked. Annie is shocked to hear this and worries if there could be some truth to it.

    The next day as they are nearing their destination two outlaws, Rube and Rufe Horton, try to steal Annie's horse, Target. Annie is able to capture Rufe but Rube gets away and goes to the office of John Shanley, a wealthy business man who had hired the brothers to rob the stagecoach the previous night. 

    

    The robbery is one of many things Shanley is doing to try and make Sheriff Luke look like a corrupt and/or incompetent man and thus run him out of town. Luke and Shanley have been good friends but Shanley has committed a fraud by selling Luke's land in a newspaper advertisement in Boston, without Luke's knowing. The people who purchased it will be arriving in a few months to claim their land and Shanley needs to gain possession of it before then. Luke has refused to sell it at any price since he will now have Annie and Tagg living with him so Shanley has decided to get it by underhanded means.

    Annie takes Rufe to her uncle who puts him in a cell. He doesn't remain there long however. Rube rides in that night and, under orders from Shanley, helps Rufe escape.

    Meanwhile Shanley has called Dude Rango over from Jumpoff to discuss how to proceed with Luke. Rango advises murdering Luke and then forging IOUs on the land. But Shanley is hesitant to take things that far. He has ordered his spoiled 17-year-old daughter, Edith, home from her vacation from boarding school. He plans to have her act friendly with Annie and try to encourage Annie to want to move away.

    Once Edith arrives Shanley throws a party in honor of Annie hoping he can spend the evening convincing Luke and Annie to let him send Annie to boarding school with Edith. This plan doesn't work as Annie is happy at the ranch. Edith also has requested Annie to wear a white dress to the party believing Annie has no fashion sense and hoping to humiliate her when she shows up in the wrong type of outfit. However Uncle Luke suggests Annie wear her mothers wedding dress which everyone at the party admires. This infuriates Edith.

    Since his plan did not work Shanley has decided to go ahead with Rangos plan and murder the Sherrif. They concoct a plan that will get Luke and Rango out in an isolated spot outside town the next morning. Luke will not tell anyone where he is going but does tell Annie he might soon be able to buy her all the things she deserves.

    Later that day as Annie and Tagg are coming home from a horse ride they spot Rufe Horton making a hasty exist from their house. Annie chases after him but after Rufe shoots at her she loses distance and he gets away. Back at the house the siblings find nothing missing but dirty boot prints show that Rufe had been in Uncle Luke's room.

    Annie feels uneasy about uncle Luke's secretiveness so she goes into town to talk to Lofty about it. While she is in the sheriff office Rango comes riding into town with a slight flesh wound and says the sheriff had shot him. As the townspeople gather around Rango and Shanley, who has shown up, tell their story. They claim Rango was transporting $20,000 for Mr. Shanley and Luke had insisted he go along to guard Rango but once they were out in a desolate area Luke and his gang of outlaws attacked Rango, stole the money, and have ran off.

    Some people in the crowd believe the story immediately due to Shanley's secret campaign against Luke. But others are hesitant to believe the word of a strange against a well known citizen. Annie, of course, does not believe it and goes along with a posse to view the crime scene. There she notes some strange things such as her uncles horses tracks disappearing suddenly. If he had ran off after getting the money there would be a trail.

    Seeing Annie's suspicion Rango claims there's probably evidence at Luke's homes so Annie invites the posse back there to search. In Luke's wardrobe they find a bag from a recent bank heist. Annie and Tagg realize that Rufe had planted it but the men in the posse accuse the two Oakleys of trying to cover for their Uncle. A warrant for grand larceny and attempted murder is made out for the Sherrif and Shanley insists Annie and Tagg come stay with him instead of remaining alone at the ranch. Annie plans on talking to Shanley about Rango credibility that night at dinner but Rango turns out to be a dinner guest. After the meal him and Shanley go into the library so Rango can finally tell Shanley what really happened to the sheriff;

    Once Luke and Rango were out of town Rube and Rufe Horton had been laying in wait to shoot Luke from a distance. However their shot missed and Luke immediately started racing towards them. That's when Rango shot Luke in the back. Luke fell off his horse and rolled over a cliff with a 200 foot drop.

Shanley then has Rango appear to leave for the night but really he is to wait outside by the barn so he can come back later to work on some forged notes that would entitle Shanley to Luke's ranch.

    After a small altercation between Rango and the Oakley's Annie speaks with Shanley, says she doesn't trust Rango, and shares her plans to go to Jumpoff the next morning and make inquires about him. This worries Shanley so he and Rango spend the night forging a letter from Luke admitting guilt to stealing $20,000 from Rango, commiting other robberies, and being head of a gang. The letter also instructs Annie to sign over his ranch to Shanley and ship Annie and Tagg "back to where they came from". The letter is then wrapped around a rock which Rango throws through Shanley's library window. 

    The crash causes Annie to come running and although she still thinks something strange is going on she feels there's too much circumstantial evidence to be able to keep arguing with everyone's belief that Luke is a criminal. She agrees to sign the ranch over to Shanley who will have the papers drawn up the next day.

    In the morning Annie and Tagg are given rude treatment by the Shanley's servants because of Luke's current reputation. They decide to go back home to the ranch and get packed to leave Diablo.

    Once there a wagon pulls up with an elderly couple named Brewster. They've stopped to ask directions and spend some time chatting with Annie and Tagg. They say they've bought some land from Mr. Shanley and have come all the way from the east. They say Shanley had instructed them not to come for several months due to the desert heat but they couldn't wait as they were coming west to help with the husbands medical condition. They show Annie the map with their land and Annie shocked to see it is actually a part of Uncle Luke's ranch.

    Annie decides to go talk to Shanley about this but she finds he still hasn't arrived home so she waits in the library. She ends up accidentally kicking over the wastepaper basket and finds a paper that Rango had used to practice forging Luke's handwriting on. Everything becomes clear to Annie, then Edith barges in. She accuses Annie of snooping, rips the paper out of her hand, runs upstairs and throws it in her bedroom fireplace, then locks Annie in her room. Annie is able to climb out the window by tying Edith's bed sheets together and using it as a rope. Once off the Shanley's property she tells Tagg to go inform Lofty of the situation and have him round up a posse to go look for Uncle Luke. She herself is going straight to the crime scene to try and find him.

    Meanwhile Shanley and Rango have been congratulating themselves on a job well done when Rube Horton knocks on the back door and tells them they can't find Luke's body and that he's clearly still alive. The men head out to go look for him, stopping on the way at Shanley's house where Edith informs them what has happened.

    Meanwhile Annie has arrived at the scene and sees Rube Horton show up and tell his brother Shanley and Rango are coming to help them look. Annie silently follows them down a trail leading over the cliff and is able to pick up her uncle's trail. 

    As she's nearing a large hill covered in boulders and rumble she trips, falls, and lets out an exclamation of pain which echoes all around. Uncle Luke, who is hiding in a well camouflaged abandoned mine shaft, hears and calls Annie to him. As she is telling him about the four men on their way to gun him down one of the Norton's appears in the entrance with a gun on them. 

    Annie is able to kick dirt in his face while uncle Luke clubs him with Annie's rifle. Shanley and Rango arrive just as this has happened and Annie is able to keep them back with her sharpshooting while her and Luke plan an escape through the mine's air-duct. They climb up the narrow opening and on to the hilltop just as they see Lofty and Tagg arriving alone. They evidently couldn't get up a posse and now they're about to walk into gunfire. 

    Thinking fast Annie takes aim at some boulders just as the four men bum-rush into the tunnel. This blocks the entrance and with the air duct entrance also now blocked they head back to town.

    Shanley goes to prison after Rango testifies against him in exchange for a lighter sentence. His house and all it's belongings are auctioned off to pay back the peoples who's money he had fraudulently took. The Brewster's purchase the large house and turn it into a boarding house. Luke is re-elected Sherrif and Annie and Tagg settle into their new home.

- My favorite parts of these books are Annie's sharpshooting. She shoots a gun out of a mans hand twice and the heel off a mans boot.

- I'm not sure Luke or Lofty should be working in law enforcement. Even though they're being set up they still kind of suck at their jobs. Luke complains there's too much crime happening at once for them to catch it but he doesn't bother to enlarge the police force to more than him and Lofty, even though the Governor has encouraged him to deputize more people.

- There's an error on page 231. The town of Jumpoff is called Diablo.

- When Annie smells cigarette smoke by the Shanley's barn she thinks of Rango because he's the only one in Diablo who smokes cigarettes. But the next day when she sees the burnt out cigarettes by the barn ground she can't recall who she remembers smokes cigarettes.

    When compared to the last Annie Oakley book I read, Double Trouble, I would say this one is better in terms of story telling and action which surprised me because the last time I read these books I thought Double Trouble was far superior. 

    However a problem I've had with this book both times I've read it is the fact that we, the reader, are aware of the situation going on from the start but are helpless to watch Annie fall right into this trap. It's very frustrating and little stressful, I actually had to put the book down several times because of it.

    But that is just a personal problem and without that the book is actually quite good.