“What?” Jersey said. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, we’ve decided that we don’t want to do this after all,” Joe continued, “so we’re just going to go back to Bayport. You guys can go on.”

  Suddenly Willy pulled a gun from his waist and pointed it at the Hardy boys. “I don’t think so,” he said. “Now start walking.”

  “Hey!” Joe shouted. “You can’t do this to us.”

  “Just watch me,” Willy said. “Jersey! Get back up here! Our plans have changed.” Willy waved his gun in the air.

  Jersey took out his gun and pointed it at the Wilkersons, who seemed genuinely surprised to see it—even though they knew who Willy and Jersey really were.

  Jersey herded the Wilkersons back up the slope to where Willy was standing with the Hardy boys.

  “What’s going on here?” Mr. Wilkerson demanded.

  “Shut up!” Jersey said.

  “Nothing’s going on here,” Willy said. “We’re taking all of you to Hidden Mountain, but now we’ll be behind you—so if you try anything, your final resting place will be where you choose it to be.”

  Without a word, the Wilkersons joined hands, turned around, and started back down the mountain.

  “What are you two waiting for?” Jersey shouted to the Hardy boys. “Get going!”

  Frank and Joe did as they were ordered.

  Joe knew that the two phony FBI agents would have trouble maneuvering down the slope and that he and Frank could get close enough to the Wilkersons to let them know that this was all part of their plan.

  “This will work,” Joe whispered. “We just need to stay as close together as possible.”

  “We need to keep as much distance as we can between us and Willy and Jersey,” Frank added, “but not enough to make them suspicious.”

  “Hey, slow down!” Jersey shouted. “I’ll send a bullet your way if you don’t.”

  “When they tell us to slow down, we need to slow down,” Joe whispered, “but then, after a few minutes, we need to put a little more distance between us and them until they tell us to slow down again.”

  Finally the Hardy boys and the Wilkersons reached the bottom of the valley. Willy and Jersey were still making their way down the slopes.

  “Slow down!” Jersey shouted again.

  “I have an idea. I’ll fall back, but you guys keep going,” Joe whispered. “If they see one of us dropping back, they might not get so agitated.”

  Joe slowed his pace, which seemed to placate Willy and Jersey—but as soon as they reached the valley floor, he started walking a little faster and was soon close enough to Frank that he could talk to him without being heard by the two phony FBI agents.

  “Once we start up Hidden Mountain, I don’t think Willy and Jersey will worry about how fast we’re climbing,” Joe whispered. “For all they know, everyone still thinks they’re the real thing, so they won’t be expecting what’s in store for them.”

  “Let’s hope you’re right,” Frank whispered back.

  Just then the river bank turned sharply. Within a few feet, they had reached a sight that very few people on Earth had ever seen.

  Towering above them was a side of a mountain that looked as though it had been sheered away by a huge knife. About halfway up was a city—or at least the facade of a city. Houses, many of them looking just like ones in Bayport, had been built into its side. From where they were standing, it looked as though streets leading from house to house had been carved out too.

  But, Frank and Joe realized, between where they were standing and their final destination lay some of the most treacherous mountain climbing they had ever seen.

  “Well, this is it,” Mr. Wilkerson said. “This is what we trained for.”

  The Wilkersons started up the side of the mountain. Behind them were the Hardys.

  Willy and Jersey were still several yards below, but now Frank was surprised to see that instead of being rank amateurs, the two phony FBI agents seemed to know exactly what they were doing as they began preparing for the climb.

  “We may be in a lot of trouble here if we don’t get higher up the mountain before they start up,” Frank said to the Wilkersons. “Try to climb faster.”

  For a while they seemed to be getting ahead of Willy and Jersey—but then it suddenly appeared that the two phony FBI agents found their rhythm, and they began catching up.

  “This isn’t good,” Frank whispered to Joe. “This isn’t good at all.”

  Just then Joe looked above them and saw movement among several huge boulders just below the houses on the side of the cliff. He quickly glanced down at Willy and Jersey. The two men were now in an unprotected place on the side of the mountain. Just above the Hardys and the Wilkersons were a couple of huge rock overhangs.

  “Head for those!” Joe shouted. “We don’t have any time to lose.”

  At that moment, the huge boulders that Joe had been looking at a few seconds ago began cascading down the mountain toward them.

  14 Hidden Mountain

  The Hardy boys and the Wilkersons reached the rock overhangs just before the boulders rained down.

  Joe could hear Willy and Jersey shouting frantically, but he didn’t have time to look around to see exactly what was happening to them. Fortunately their shelter went far enough back into the side of the mountain that they were protected when the overhangs broke off and fell down the side of the mountain.

  When Frank finally looked back down, all he could see was a pile of huge boulders at the base of the mountain. Willy and Jersey were gone.

  “Those poor men,” Mrs. Wilkerson said.

  Mr. Wilkerson looked at her. “What do you mean?” he said. “They were prepared to hurt us.”

  “I know that’s true,” Mrs. Wilkerson said, “but I still can’t keep from wondering where their lives took a wrong turn.”

  Mr. Wilkerson patted his wife’s arm and then looked at the Hardys. “I’m curious,” he said. “How did you manage to make sure that what happened to Willy and Jersey didn’t happen to us?”

  Frank took the top-secret letter out of his pocket and handed it to Mr. Wilkerson. “One of the real FBI agents gave this to us before they had to leave,” he explained. “We were only to open it if Willy and Jersey made it to Hidden Mountain.”

  Mr. Wilkerson quickly read the letter. “Oh, my goodness! It suggests a way to separate yourself from people who aren’t supposed to be coming—but it doesn’t guarantee that you won’t be killed with them.”

  Joe nodded. “We weren’t supposed to read it until we got to Hidden Mountain, but we decided to read it right before so we could be prepared,” he said. “I’m glad we did—because as it turned out, we had to act fast.”

  “We knew when we started climbing up the mountain that those boulders would rain down on us,” Frank added, “but Joe and I had already decided that the five of us weren’t going to meet the same fate as Willy and Jersey.”

  “I’m glad Frank and Joe were along, Mom,” Darren said. “We wouldn’t be here if they weren’t.”

  “Those are the rules of life at Hidden Mountain, I guess. A few might have to be sacrificed to save the lives of many,” Mr. Wilkerson said. He sighed. “Well, we still have a long climb ahead of us. We need to get started.”

  “Wait, Dad,” Darren said. “What about Frank and Joe? Why are they going with us?”

  Mr. Wilkerson looked at the Hardys.

  “Your father didn’t tell you the rest of the letter,” Joe said. “We have to have permission from the Supreme Council to leave once we’ve seen Hidden Moutain.”

  “We’re not special FBI agents, Darren. We don’t have the clearance needed,” Frank said. “Joe and I accepted that when Agents Martin and Sims couldn’t complete their mission.”

  “But you saved our lives,” Darren protested. “You’ve proven that you can be trusted.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Joe said. “Those are the rules, and we accepted them.”

  Mr. Wilkerson had already climbed out from under what was left of the massive overhang and he looked toward the houses on the side of Hidden Mountain.

  “Do you see anybody?” Mrs. Wilkerson called to him.

  “No, but we won’t see anybody until we get there, I’m sure,” Mr. Wilkerson replied. “I know they see us, though, and they’re probably wondering who among us survived—so we need to let them know we’re all right.”

  Soon the Hardys, Darren, and Mrs. Wilkerson were out in the open—visible enough that Joe was sure whomever was watching them could tell that they had survived the massive rock slide. With Mr. Wilkerson in the lead, they started back up the mountain.

  Joe was surprised that the rest of the climb wasn’t as treacherous as he had expected, but it was still challenging—as they had to climb up and down massive boulders, some piled one on top of the other. He could only surmise how Hidden Mountain had been formed, perhaps during some ancient cataclysmic activity in the area. The core of the Earth must have spit up thousands and thousands of these boulders so that they collected one on top of the other—like pockmarks on the face of the mountain.

  “I certainly hope that none of the other boulders is loose,” Mrs. Wilkerson said. “I don’t see any place to hide from another rock slide.”

  “I think they must have this pretty well figured out,” Frank told her. “I’ve noticed some spots that look as though traps have been laid.”

  “What do you mean?” Mr. Wilkerson said.

  “Some of these piles of boulders are ready to rain down on anyone who starts up this mountain uninvited,” Joe said. “It’s very ingenious how they’ve done it.”

  “Could we accidentally set them loose?” Darren asked. “What if we trip over something?”

  “Don’t worry about it, Darren,” Frank said. “It’s a very sophisticated setup.”

  “That’s good to know,” Mrs. Wilkerson said.

  For the next hour, everyone concentrated on conserving their oxygen. The air was beginning to get thinner. Once Darren started coughing, and everyone stopped to let him get his breath. Mrs. Wilkerson had a concerned look on her face.

  “Your body adjusts to the altitude,” Frank said. “It may take a few days, but after a while you won’t notice it.”

  “It’s not far now,” Mr. Wilkerson said. “I’m surprised that we’ve not seen anyone yet.”

  Actually, Joe was surprised too. He thought by now there would be a welcoming party—but maybe something like that only happened in the movies or on television.

  Just then, a man with graying hair, dressed in what looked like work clothes, appeared at the door of the nearest house. He watched the group climb for a few more minutes, then he waved.

  Everyone waved back.

  “Well, that’s a good sign, I guess,” Mrs. Wilkerson said.

  In a few minutes, a woman and a small child came to stand beside the man. He didn’t take his eyes off the group as they climbed up the last few yards that still separated them from what looked like the start of a street carved into the side of the mountain. Finally, when they were within a few feet of the house door, the man said, “Welcome to Hidden Mountain. I’m Angus Hardesty. I’m more or less the official gatekeeper.”

  “We’re glad to be here, finally,” Mr. Wilkerson said.

  “You’re home,” the woman behind Angus Hardesty said. “I’m Anne. This is our daughter, Melinda, and this is”—she stood aside to let a boy who looked the same age as Darren and the Hardys stand next to Mr. Hardesty—“our son, Jonathan.”

  Jonathan nodded politely, but Joe could tell that he kept his eyes on Darren. He’s glad that somebody new his own age is here, he thought, so he can find out what’s going on in the world he left behind.

  “You’ll all need to follow us,” Angus said. “I know you’re tired, but there are formalities to be taken care of.”

  “We understand,” Mr. Wilkerson said.

  As they stepped into the doorway of the Hardestys’ house, Frank was stunned by what he saw. It could have been a house anywhere in suburbia. In a way, it reminded him of their house in Bayport. But the thing that surprised Frank the most was that the house had “windows.” Behind the sheer curtains, he could see the outlines of trees and even of houses across the street, but he knew he was just seeing an illusion. He wondered how in the world whoever had built this house had been able to do it.

  With the Hardestys leading the way, they went through a back door and stepped into a world that now reminded Joe of the narrow streets he and his family had seen in medieval European cities. Bordering the street were the facades of houses out of the latest issue of an architecture magazine. It was amazing, Joe thought. He started to say something to Darren, but he saw that he and Jonathan were talking animatedly about something—and he didn’t want to interrupt them. Joe was just glad to see Darren coming out of his despondency.

  They continued up the narrow street. People appeared in the doorways of their houses or looked out the windows and waved, but no one said anything.

  Finally they reached the end of the street, turned a corner, and started up an incline. The road they were now on ended abruptly at the door of a facade that looked like an official building.

  “This is the Registry Building,” Mr. Hardesty said. “We’ll leave you here—but I’m sure that we’ll be talking to you soon.”

  “Thank you very much for welcoming us,” Mr. Wilkerson said.

  “I’ll talk to you later, Darren,” Jonathan said. “I’ll have you over, and I’ll start introducing you to everyone.”

  “That’s great,” Darren said.

  Mr. Wilkerson opened the door, and everyone stepped inside. The interior of the Registry Building looked like something out of a space movie. There were computers and television monitors everywhere. One wall was covered with a huge map of the world.

  A woman sitting behind a desk just inside the entry looked up and gave them a smile. “Robert! Sandra! Darren! Welcome to Hidden Mountain. I’m Julia Sonntag. We’ve been expecting you.” She looked at Frank and Joe and added, “But I’m afraid the Supreme Council will need to meet about your two young friends here.” She looked at her watch. “A session is slated to start in about five minutes.” She stood up. “In the meantime, you’ll all need to be debriefed—but I want to make you as comfortable as possible. Won’t you follow me?”

  Mrs. Sonntag led everyone down a long hallway to another door, opened it, stepped away so everyone could enter, and then followed and shut the door. “This will be your home for a few weeks, until you decide where you want to live.”

  Frank and Joe looked around. They were in an apartment that could have been in a high-rise in some major American city. Across the luxuriously appointed living room, Frank could see the nighttime skyline of some major city. He couldn’t recognize any landmarks, such as the Empire State Building, so he thought it might just be a generic skyline—but he was impressed just the same. He was amazed at how the mind could play tricks on people and make them believe they were somewhere else instead of inside an isolated mountain in the wilderness of northern British Columbia.

  “Incredible,” Darren said.

  “Yes, it is, isn’t it?” Mrs. Sonntag said. “Just make yourselves comfortable.” She gave them another big smile and left the apartment.

  Darren walked over and turned on the television set. One of the season’s top sitcoms appeared.

  “Oh, man! I’ve been wondering if I’d ever get to see this again,” Darren said. He looked over at Frank and Joe. “Come on. Let’s watch it!”

  Since Frank and Joe enjoyed the comedy too, they joined Darren on the huge couch in front of the television set.

  In the middle of the program the doorbell rang, and Mr. Wilkerson went to answer it.

  Three men with briefcases asked if they could come in to visit with him. With only a moment’s hesitation, to adjust to the fact that this was now their apartment, Mr. Wilkerson said, “Of course.”

  Even with all the incredible surprises they had seen so far, the Hardys were anxious about their situation, so both Frank and Joe tried to listen to as much of Mr. and Mrs. Wilkerson’s conversation with the three men as possible. The television was loud, but Joe was able to pick up his and Frank’s names from time to time, so he knew that in addition to the debriefing, the fate of the Hardy boys was also being discussed.

  Finally Darren said, “I’m hungry. What about you guys?”

  It was then that Frank realized just how famished he really was. He turned to Joe. “I am. What about you?”

  “Well, do we order out, or do you think the kitchen is fully stocked?” Joe asked.

  “This is our apartment,” Darren said. “I suppose it’s all right for us to start opening cabinets and refrigerator doors.”

  Just as the three of them stood up, Mr. Wilkerson said, “Frank, Joe—we need to talk to you.”

  The Hardys looked at each other. Together they realized that the moment of truth had come.

  Frank and Joe walked over to where the three men were sitting with Mr. and Mrs. Wilkerson.

  All three men stood up and smiled at the boys, and they all shook hands.

  “We know your father very well,” one of the men said. “In fact he helped me get into my first Witness Protection Program.”

  Frank nodded. He knew this was not a place to ask questions. In fact it hadn’t been lost on them that none of the three men had told them their names.

  “The Supreme Council has met and decided that the sons of Fenton Hardy can be trusted to keep the secret of Hidden Mountain,” one of the other men said. “You’ll stay here with the Wilkersons tonight, but you will leave early in the morning so that you can make it down Hidden Mountain, retrace your journey back along the river and over the next mountain, and then radio the FBI helicopter to pick you up.”

  “No air traffic of any kind is allowed within fifty miles of Hidden Mountain,” Mr. Wilkerson said. “I wish we could send a helicopter to have you picked up from here.”

  “That’s no problem,” Frank said. “Joe and I can make it just fine.”