The Penny Parker Megapack: 15 Complete Novels (31 page)

Francine shook her head, although she had been waiting for an elevator. Turning again to Penny she said with a hard smile: “I’ve not only been looking for something, I’ve found it!”

“Still, I don’t see you rushing to reach a telephone, Francine. Your discovery can’t have such tremendous news value.”

“It may have before long,” hinted Francine. “I don’t mind telling you I am on the trail of a really big story. And I am making steady progress in assembling my facts.”

Penny regarded the girl reporter speculatively. Her presence on the second floor rather suggested that she, too, had been trying to investigate the Green Room, and more than likely had learned its location. But she was reasonably certain Francine had gathered no information of great value.

“Glad to hear you’re doing so well,” she remarked and started on down the hall.

Francine fell into step with her. “If you’re looking for a particular room, Penny, maybe I can help you.”

Penny knew that the reporter meant to stay with her so that she could do no investigation work of her own.

“The room I am searching for has a green door,” she replied.

Francine laughed. “I’m glad you’re so honest, Penny. I guessed why you were on this floor all the time. However, I greatly fear you’re in the wrong part of the hotel.”

Penny paused and turned to face her companion squarely. “Why not put an end to all this nonsense, Francine? We watch each other and get nowhere. Let’s put our cards on the table.”

“Yours might be a joker!”

“We’re both interested in getting a story which will discredit Harvey Maxwell,” Penny went on, ignoring the jibe. “You’ve had a tip as to what may be going on here, while I’m working in the dark. On the other hand, I’ve acquired something which should interest you. Why don’t we pool our interests and work together?”

“That would be very nice—for you.”

“I think I might contribute something to the case.”

“I doubt it,” replied Francine loftily. “You don’t even know the location of the Green Room.”

“You’re wrong about that. It took no great detective power to learn it’s on this floor. To get inside may be a different matter.”

“You’re quite right there,” said Francine with emphasis.

“What do you say? Shall we work together and let bygones be bygones?”

“Thank you, Penny, I prefer to work alone.”

“Suit yourself, Francine. I was only trying to be generous. You see, I have an admittance card to the Green Room.”

“I don’t believe it!”

Flashing a gay smile, Penny held up the ticket for Francine to see.

“How did you get it?” the reporter gasped. “I’ve tried—”

“A little bird dropped it on my window sill. Too bad you didn’t decide to work with me.”

Penny walked on down the corridor, and Francine made no attempt to follow. When she glanced back over her shoulder the reporter had descended the stairway to the lobby.

“It was boastful of me to show her my ticket,” she thought. “But I couldn’t resist doing it. Francine is so conceited.”

Making her way to the unmarked door of the wing, Penny paused there a moment, listening. Hearing no sound she pushed open the door and went down the narrow hall. The guard sat at his usual post before the Green Door.

“Good morning,” said Penny pleasantly. “I have my card now.”

The man examined it and handed it back. “Go right in,” he told her.

Before Penny could obey, the door at the end of the corridor swung open. Harvey Maxwell, his face convulsed with rage, came hurrying toward the startled girl.

“I’ve just learned who you are,” he said angrily. “Kindly leave this hotel at once, and don’t come back!”

CHAPTER 14

A BROKEN ROD

“You must have mistaken me for some other person,”Penny stammered, backing a step away from the hotel man. “Who do you think I am?”

The question was a mistake, for it only served to intensify Harvey Maxwell’s anger.

“You’re the daughter of Anthony Parker who runs the yellowest paper in Riverview! I know why he sent you here. Now get out and don’t let me catch you in the hotel ever again.”

Observing the green card in Penny’s hand he reached out and jerked it from her.

“I wasn’t doing any harm,” she said, trying to act injured. “My father didn’t send me to Pine Top. I came for the skiing.”

Secretly, Penny was angry at Maxwell’s reference to the
Riverview Star
as being a “yellow” sheet, which in newspaper jargon meant that it was a sensation-seeking newspaper.

“And what are you doing in this part of the hotel?”

“I only wanted to see the Green Room,” Penny replied. “I thought I would have my breakfast here.”

Harvey Maxwell and the doorman exchanged a quick glance which was not lost upon the girl.

“Where did you get your ticket?” the hotel man demanded but in a less harsh voice.

“I picked it up outside the hotel.”

Penny spoke truthfully and her words carried conviction. Harvey Maxwell seemed satisfied that she had not been investigating the wing for any special purpose. However, he took her by an elbow and steered her down the corridor to the elevator.

“If you’re the smart little girl I think you are, a hint will be sufficient,” he said. “I don’t want any member of the Parker family on my premises. So stay away. Get me?”

“Yes, sir,” responded Penny meekly.

Inwardly, she was raging. Someone deliberately had betrayed her to Harvey Maxwell and she had a very good idea who that person might be. From now on employes of the hotel would be told to keep watch for her. Never again would she be allowed in the lobby, much less in the vicinity of the Green Room.

Harvey Maxwell walked with Penny to the front door of the hotel and closed it behind her.

“Remember,” he warned, “stay away.”

As Penny started down the walk she heard a silvery laugh, and glancing sideways, saw Francine leaning against the building.

“You didn’t spend much time in the Green Room, did you?” she inquired.

“That was a dirty trick to play!” retorted Penny. “I wouldn’t have done it to you.”

“You couldn’t have thought that fast, my dear Penny.”

“I might tell Mr. Maxwell you’re a reporter for the
Riverview Record
. How would you like that?”

Francine shrugged. “In that case we both lose the story. All I want is an exclusive. After the yarn breaks in the
Record
, your father will be welcome to make use of any information published. So if you really want him to win his libel suit, you’ll gain by not interfering with me.”

“You reason in a very strange way,” replied Penny coldly.

Picking up her skis she shouldered them and marched stiffly away. She was angry at Francine and angry at herself for having given the rival reporter an opportunity to score against her. Probably she would never tell Harvey Maxwell or Ralph Fergus who the girl actually was, sorely as she might be tempted. As Francine had pointed out, her own chance of gleaning any worth while information had been lost.

“It’s a bitter pill to choke down,” thought Penny,“but I would rather have the
Record
get the story than to lose it altogether.”

Sunk deep in depression, she tramped back to the Downey lodge. The mail had arrived during her absence but there was no letter from home.

“Dad might at least send me a postcard,” she grumbled. “For two cents I would take the next plane back to Riverview.”

However, Penny could not remain downhearted for any great length of time. Why worry about Francine and the silly old Green Room? She would forget all about it and try to have fun for a change.

It was not difficult to dismiss the matter from her mind, for the following morning Sara Jasko came to give her a lesson in bob-sled driving. With a crowd of interested guests watching from the sidelines, they made their first exciting ride over the track. Sara steered, Jake operated the brake, and Penny rode as sole passenger.

Horseshoe Curve was the most thrilling point on the course. As the sled tore around it at a tremendous rate of speed, Jake dug in the iron claw of the brake, sending up a plume of snow. They slackened speed perceptibly, but even so the sled climbed high on the sloping wall, and Penny thought for an anxious moment that they were going over the top. The remainder of the run was mild by comparison.

Upon later trips Penny was allowed to manage the brake, and soon became dexterous in applying it as Sara shouted the command.

Skiers abandoned the slopes to watch the new sport. Two at a time, Penny and Sara gave them rides and all of their passengers were enthusiastic.

By the following day the word had spread down the mountain that Mrs. Downey’s bob-sled run was operating. Guests from the Fergus hotel joined the throng but they were given rides only when there were no passengers waiting.

“It’s going over like a house afire!” Penny declared gaily to Mrs. Downey. “I shouldn’t be surprised if you take some of the Fergus hotel’s customers away from them if this enthusiasm lasts.”

“You and Sara are showing folks a wonderful time.”

“And we’re having one ourselves. It’s even more fun than skiing.”

“But more dangerous,” declared Mrs. Downey. “I hope we have no accidents.”

“Sara is a skillful driver.”

“Yes, she is,” agreed Mrs. Downey. “There’s no cause for worry so long as the track isn’t icy.”

Two days passed during which Penny did not even go near the Fergus hotel or to the village. As she remarked to Mrs. Downey, all of Pine Top came to the lodge. During the morning hours when the bob-sled run was in operation, a long line of passengers stood waiting. Guests from the Fergus hotel had few chances for rides. Several of them, wishing to be on the favored list, checked out and came to take lodging at Mrs. Downey’s place.

“I can’t understand it,” the woman declared to Penny. “Last year the run wasn’t very popular. I think it may have been because we had a little accident at the beginning of the season. Nothing serious but it served to frighten folks.”

“I wonder how the Fergus-Maxwell interests are enjoying it?” chuckled Penny.

“Not very well, you may be sure. This flurry in our business will rather worry them. They may not put me out of business as quickly as they expected.”

“At least you’ll end your season in a blaze of glory,” laughed Penny.

The weather had turned warmer. Late Thursday afternoon the snow melted a bit and the lowering night temperatures caused a film of ice to form over the entire length of the bob-sled run. Jake shook his head as he talked over the situation with Penny the next morning.

“The track will be fast and slippery this morning.”

“A lot of folks will be disappointed if we don’t make any trips,” declared Penny. “Here comes Sara. Let’s see what she has to say.”

Sara studied the run, and walked down as far as Horseshoe Curve.

“It’s fast all right,” she conceded. “But that will only make it the more exciting. Brakes in good order, Jake?”

“I tested every sled last night after they were brought to the shop.”

“Then we’ll have no trouble,” said Sara confidently. “Round up the passengers, Jake, and we’ll start at once.”

The sled was hauled to the starting line. Sara took her place behind the wheel, with Penny riding the end position to handle the brake. Their first passengers were to be a middle aged married couple. Sara gave them padded helmets to wear.

“What are these for?” the woman asked nervously. “The toboggan slide isn’t dangerous, is it?”

“No, certainly not,” answered Sara. “We haven’t had a spill this year. Hang tight on the curves. Give me plenty of brake when I call for it, Penny.”

She signaled for the push off. They started fast and gathered speed on the straightaway. Penny wondered how Sara could steer for her own eyes blurred as they shot down the icy trough. They never had traveled at such high speed before.

“Brakes!” shouted Sara.

Penny obeyed the order, and felt the sled slow down as the brake claw dug into the snow and ice. They raced on toward the first wide curve, and swung around it, high on the banked wall, too close to the outside edge for comfort.

“Brakes!” called Sara again.

Once more the iron claw dug in, sending up a spray of snow behind the racing sled. And then there came a strange, pinging sound.

For the briefest instant Penny did not comprehend its significance. Then, as the sled leaped ahead faster than ever and the geyser of snow vanished, she realized what had happened. The brakes were useless! A rod had snapped! They were roaring down the track with undiminished speed, and Horseshoe Curve, the most dangerous point on the run, lay directly ahead.

CHAPTER 15

IN THE TOOL HOUSE

Sara, her face white and tense, turned her head for a fraction of a second and then, crouching lower, kept her eyes glued on the track. She knew what had happened, and she knew, too, that they never could hope to make the Horseshoe Curve. Even a miracle of steering would not save them from going over the wall of ice at terrific speed.