Peril at Granite Peak by Franklin W. Dixon

moment later part of the blob broke free and bounded forward—it was Blizz, leaping through the drifts as she raced toward the door, barking.
    â€œHelp!” Cody’s voice came, barely audible over the wind. “I can’t drag him much farther!”
    â€œCome on!” I rushed outside, barely noticing the cold wind ripping through my clothes or the snow soaking through my sneakers. Frank and Rick were right behind me.
    It was hard going through the storm, but finally we reached Cody. A man was leaning heavily on him as he stumbled through the snow.
    â€œGot him!” Frank said, slinging the guy’s other arm over his shoulder.
    Working together, he and Cody rushed the man towardthe door. I led the way, shouting for Chet to open wide. Blizz raced back and forth, barking.
    It was only when we were all safely inside, with Rick shoving the door shut, that we all got a good look at the guy we’d just rescued.
    My mouth dropped open as I recognized him.
    â€œStanley!” I blurted out.

CLOSE CALL
7
FRANK
    J OE SOUNDED STUNNED AS HE said Stanley’s name. I knew how he felt.
    Stanley’s teeth were chattering, and his face was very pale. He had to be at least half-frozen despite his coat and hat.
    â€œAre you all right?” I asked him.
    â€œWhat were you doing out there?” Rick demanded at the same time.
    â€œYou okay, dude?” Chet asked Cody, who nodded. Blizzard shook the snow off her thick coat and then danced around all of us, letting out an occasional bark.
    Meanwhile doors were opening up and down the hall as the commotion woke people. Mr. and Mrs. Gallagher were among the first to arrive.
    â€œWhat’s going on out here?” Mrs. Gallagher asked, tying her robe shut as she hurried over to Cody. Then she saw Stanley and gasped. “Oh, my! What happened to you?”
    Stanley’s teeth were still chattering, but his face was already returning to its normal sallow shade. “I could have f-f-frozen to d-d-death!” he exclaimed. “I’ve b-b-been locked out there for hours!”
    A gasp went up from the people gathered around us. Mrs. Gallagher rushed back into her room and returned with a blanket, which she threw around Stanley.
    Meanwhile Blizzard perked up her ears and bounded down the hall, wagging her tail. Josie had just emerged from her room with her little dog clutched in her arms. As I watched the big dog and little dog touch noses, I realized Toy Toy wasn’t a Chihuahua after all—he was a poodle. But I wasn’t too concerned about that at the moment.
    â€œOh, you poor man!” The lodge’s head chef, a heavyset woman with a beet-red face, stared at Stanley. “You must be absolutely frozen!”
    â€œYes. But how did you get outside in the first place?” Mr. Gallagher sounded confused.
    Stanley turned to glare at Josie. “I only intended to step outside for a moment,” he said. “Someone failed to empty the wastebasket in my room, and I couldn’t sleep from the smell of my old banana peel rotting away in there. I figuredthere had to be a Dumpster out there somewhere.” He waved a hand in the vague direction of the door. “But I couldn’t find one, and when I tried to come back in, the door was locked!”
    â€œOh, dear,” someone said.
    I glanced around. It was Mrs. Richmond. She and her husband had just emerged from the back stairwell, both of them wrapped in fluffy white robes with the Granite Peak Lodge logo on them. Clearly the noise had carried from the employees’ quarters up to at least some of the second-floor guest rooms.
    â€œThe door must lock automatically, eh?” Nate Katz spoke up. He was right behind the Richmonds, dressed in sweatpants, a T-shirt, and bare feet, though his wife was nowhere in sight.
    Rick frowned. “No,” he said. “This door doesn’t do that—it’s an emergency exit. It can only be locked with a