The Penny Parker Megapack: 15 Complete Novels (103 page)

“She means to be kind,” Louise commented, drawing figures in the dirt with her shoe. “But isn’t it funny she never invites us into the house?”

“It’s downright mysterious,” Penny added. “You notice Jay Franklin didn’t get in there either!”

“Why does she act that way?” Rhoda asked in perplexity.

“Penny thinks she’s trying to keep folks from discovering something,” explained Louise. “The old lady is queer in other ways, too.”

Thoroughly enjoying the tale, the girls told Rhoda how they had observed Mrs. Marborough removing the flagstones surrounding the base of the wishing well.

“There’s been more digging!” Penny suddenly cried, springing up from the bench. “See!”

Excitedly she pointed to a place where additional flagstones had been lifted and carelessly replaced.

“Mrs. Marborough must have been at work again!”Louise agreed. “What does she expect to find?”

“Fishing worms, perhaps,” Rhoda suggested with a smile. “Under the flagstones would be a good place.”

“Mrs. Marborough never would go fishing,” Louise answered. “Sometimes I wonder if she’s entirely right in her mind. It just isn’t normal to go around digging on your own property after night.”

“Don’t you worry, Mrs. Marborough knows what she is about,” Penny declared. “She’s looking for something which is hidden!”

“But what can it be?” Louise speculated. “Nothing she does seems to make sense.”

“She’s one of the most interesting characters I’ve met in many a day,” Penny said warmly. “I like her better all the time.”

“How about those apples?” Rhoda suggested, changing the subject. “I’m sure Mrs. Breen could use some of them.”

As the girls started toward the gnarled old tree, a battered automobile drew up in front of the house. A man who was dressed in coat and trousers taken from two separate suits alighted and came briskly up the walk.

“Who is he?” Louise whispered curiously.

“Never saw him before,” Penny admitted. “He looks almost like a tramp.”

“Or an old clothes man,” Rhoda added with a laugh.

Observing the girls, the man doffed his battered derby.

“Is this where Mrs. Marborough lives?” he asked.

“Yes, she is inside,” Louise replied.

Bowing again, the man presented himself at the front door, hammering it loudly with the brass knocker.

“Mrs. Marborough will make short work of him,”Penny laughed. “She’s so friendly to visitors!”

Before the girls could walk on to the apple tree, Mrs. Marborough opened the door.

“Mr. Butterworth?” she asked, without waiting for the man to speak.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Come in,” invited Mrs. Marborough, her voice impersonal.

The caller stepped across the threshold and the door swung shut.

“Did you see that?” Louise whispered, stunned by the ease with which the man had gained admittance.

“I certainly did!” Penny murmured. “That fellow—whoever he is—has accomplished something that even Riverview’s society ladies couldn’t achieve! Maybe I was puzzled before, but now, let me tell you, I’m completely tied in a knot!”

CHAPTER 13

A SILKEN LADDER

As Penny approached the school grounds the following morning, she heard her name called. A moment later, Rhoda Wiegand, breathless from running, caught up with her.

“Penny, the most wonderful thing has happened!” she exclaimed.

“Your Texas friends have left town?” the other guessed.

Rhoda shook her head. “Unfortunately, it’s not quite that wonderful. They’re still here. This news is about my brother, Ted. He has a job!”

“Why, that’s splendid. Exactly what you wished for yesterday afternoon at the well.”

“Penny, doesn’t it seem strange?” Rhoda asked soberly. “This makes twice my wish has come true. How do you account for it?”

“I suppose your brother could have obtained the job through accident,” Penny answered. “That would be the logical explanation.”

“But it all came about in such an unusual way. Judge Harlan saw Ted on the street and liked his appearance. So he sent a note to the Camp asking if he would work as a typist in his office.”

“Ted is accepting?”

“Oh, yes. The pay is splendid for that sort of work. Besides, it will give him a chance to study law, which is his life ambition. Oh, Penny, you can’t know how happy I am about it!”

At the mid-morning recess, Penny reported the conversation to Louise. Both girls were pleased that Ted Wiegand had obtained employment, but it did seem peculiar to them that the judge would go to such lengths to gain the services of a young man of questionable character.

“Perhaps he wants to help him,” Louise speculated. “Ted is at the critical point of his life now. He could develop into a very fine person or just the opposite.”

“It’s charity, of course. But who put the judge up to it?”

“Mrs. Marborough heard Rhoda express her wish.”

“Yes, she did,” Penny agreed, “but I don’t think she paid much attention. She was too angry at Jay Franklin. Besides, Mrs. Marborough doesn’t have a reputation for doing kind deeds.”

“If you rule her out, there’s nothing left but the old wishing well,” Louise laughed.

“I might be tempted to believe it has unusual powers if ever it would do anything for me,” grumbled Penny. “Not a single one of my wishes has been granted.”

“A mystery seems to be developing at Rose Acres,”Louise reminded her.

“I’ve not learned anything new since I made my wish. Mrs. Marborough hasn’t decided to cooperate with the Pilgrimage Committee either.”

The Festival Week program which so interested Penny had been set for the twentieth of the month and the days immediately following. Gardens were expected to be at their height at that time, and the owners of seven fairly old houses had agreed to open their doors to the public. Both Penny and Louise had helped sell tickets for the motor pilgrimage, but sales resistance was becoming increasingly difficult to overcome.

“The affair may be a big flop,” Penny remarked to her chum. “No one wants to pay a dollar to see a house which isn’t particularly interesting. Now Rose Acres would draw customers. The women of Riverview are simply torn with curiosity to get in there.”

“I don’t believe Mrs. Marborough ever will change her mind.”

“Neither do I,” Penny agreed gloomily.

Two days elapsed during which nothing happened, according to the viewpoint of the girls. From Rhoda they learned that Ted was well established in his new job, and that Mr. Coaten seemed displeased about it. Mr. Parker reported that Jay Franklin had made progress in his efforts to sell the Marborough stone to the Riverview Museum. Other than that, there was no news, no developments of interest.

“Louise, let’s visit Truman Crocker again,” Penny proposed on Saturday afternoon when time hung heavily.

“What good would it do?” Louise demurred. “You know very well he doesn’t like to have us around.”

“He acted suspicious of us, which made me suspicious of him. I’ve been thinking, Lou—if the writing on those two stones were faked, it must have been done with a chisel—one which would leave a characteristic mark. Every tool is slightly different, you know.”

“All of which leads you to conclude—?”

“That if Truman Crocker did the faking he would have a tool in his workshop that would make grooves similar to those on the stones. An expert might compare them and tell.”

“Do we consider ourselves experts?”

“Of course not,” Penny said impatiently. “But if I could get the right tool, I could turn it over to someone who knows about such things.”

“So you propose to go out to the shack today and appropriate a tool?”

“I’ll buy it from Mr. Crocker. Perhaps I can convince him I want to chisel a tombstone for myself or something of the sort!”

“I used to think you were just plain crazy, Penny Parker,” Louise declared sadly. “Lately you’ve reached the stage where adjectives are too weak to describe you!”

A half hour later found the two girls at the Crocker shack. The door of the workshop stood open, but as Penny and Louise peered inside, they saw no sign of the old stonecutter. A number of tools lay on a bench where Crocker had been working, and with no hesitation Penny examined them.

“Here is a chisel,” she said in satisfaction. “It seems to be the only one around too. Just what I need!”

“Penny, you wouldn’t dare take it!”

“In my official capacity as a detective—yes. I’ll leave more than enough money to pay for it. Then after I’ve had it examined by an expert, I’ll return it to Mr. Crocker.”

“O Mystery, what crimes are committed in thy name,” Louise warbled. “If you land in jail, my dear Penny, don’t expect me to share your cell cot.”

“I’ll take all the responsibility.”

Selecting a bill from her purse, Penny laid it in a conspicuous place on the workbench.

“There, that should buy three or four chisels,” she declared. “Now let’s leave here before Truman Crocker arrives.”

Emerging from the shop, Penny and Louise were surprised to see dark storm clouds scudding overhead. The sun had been completely blotted out and occasional flashes of lightning brightened a gray sky.

“It’s going to rain before we can get to Riverview,”Louise declared uneasily. “We’ll be drenched.”

“Why not go by way of Mrs. Marborough’s place?”Penny proposed. “Then if the rain does overtake us, we can dodge into the summer house until the shower passes over.”

Hastening toward the hillside trail, the girls observed that the river level was higher than when last they had seen it. Muddy water lapped almost at the doorstep of Truman Crocker’s shack. A rowboat tied to a half submerged dock nearby swung restlessly on its long rope.

“I should be afraid to live so close to the river,”Louise remarked. “If the water comes only a few feet higher, Crocker’s place will sail South.”

“The river control system is supposed to take care of everything,” Penny answered carelessly. “Dad says he doesn’t place much faith in it himself—not if it’s ever put to a severe test.”

Before the girls had gone far, a few drops of rain splattered down. Anticipating a deluge, they ran for the dilapidated summer house which stood at the rear edge of Mrs. Marborough’s property. Completely winded, they sank down on a dusty wooden bench to recapture their breath.

“The clouds are rolling eastward,” Louise remarked, scanning the sky. “It may not rain much after all.”

“Lou!” Penny said in a startled voice.

She was gazing toward the old wishing well at a dark figure which could be seen bending far over the yawning hole.

“What is it?” Louise inquired, turning in surprise.

“Look over there!” Penny directed. “Mrs. Marborough is doing something at the well. Is she trying to repair it or what?”

“She’s examining the inside!” Louise exclaimed. “Why, if she’s not careful, she may fall. We ought to warn her—”

“Mrs. Marborough knows what she is about, Lou. Let’s just watch.”

From a distance it was not possible to tell exactly what the old lady was doing. So far as the girls could discern she was tapping the inside stones of the well with a hammer.

“She’s trying to discover if any of them are loose!”Penny whispered excitedly. “Louise, I’m sure of it now! Something of great value is hidden in or near the wishing well, and Mrs. Marborough came back to Riverview to find it!”

“What could it be?”

“I haven’t an idea.”

“If there’s something hidden in or around the well, why doesn’t she have a workman make a thorough search?”

“Probably because she doesn’t want folks to suspect what she is about, Lou. That may explain why she works at night and on very dark, gloomy days such as today. She doesn’t wish to be seen.”

“Mrs. Marborough searches in such obvious places,”Louise said after a moment. “If anything really is hidden it might be deep down in the well. She never will find it in that case.”

“We might help her,” Penny suggested impulsively.

“You know she would resent our interference.”

“She probably would if we tell her what we intend to do.”

Louise gazed speculatively at her chum, realizing that Penny had some plan in mind. She waited expectantly, and then as the other did not speak, inquired:

“Just what scheme are you hatching now?”

“You gave me the idea yourself,” Penny chuckled. “The logical place to search is deep down inside the well. I’m sure the water can’t be more than a few feet deep.”

“So you want me to dive in and drown myself?”Louise joked. “Thank you, but I prefer to restrict my aquatic exercise to swimming pools!”

“Remember that silk ladder I acquired when I helped police capture Al Gepper and his slippery pals?” Penny demanded, paying no heed to the teasing.

“I do,” Louise nodded. “It was made of braided silk strands by a Chinese curio man, and had two iron hooks to claw into the wood of window ledges.”