The Penny Parker Megapack: 15 Complete Novels (36 page)

“I’ll come as soon as I can,” she replied.

Peter Jasko clucked to the horses, and the sled moved away from the cabin. Sara stood in the doorway until it was out of sight.

During the slow ride up the mountain side, the old man did not speak. But as they came at last to the Downey lodge, and he lifted her from the sled, he actually smiled.

“I reckon it won’t do any good to lock Sara up after this,” he said. “You’re both too smart for an old codger like me.”

“Thank you, Mr. Jasko,” answered Penny, her eyes shining. “Thank you for everything.”

The door of the lodge had opened, and Mrs. Downey, a coat thrown over her shoulders, hurried out into the snow. Not wishing to be drawn into a conversation, Jasko leaped back into the sled, and with a curt, “Good evening,” drove away.

With Mrs. Downey’s help, Penny hobbled into the house, and there related her latest misadventure.

“I declare, you’ll be in the hospital yet,” sighed the woman. “I feel tempted to adopt Mr. Jasko’s tactics and lock you up in your room.”

“I’ll stay there without being locked in,” declared Penny. “I’ve had enough skiing to last me until Christmas at least.”

In the morning she felt so stiff and battered that she could barely get out of bed. However, her ankle was somewhat better and when occasion demanded, she could hobble across the room without support.

“You ought to be all right in a day or so if only you’ll stay off your foot and give it a chance to get well,” declared Mrs. Downey.

“It’s hard to sit still,” sighed Penny. “There are so many things I ought to be doing.”

From the kitchen window she could see the Fergus hotel far down in the valley. She was impatient to pay another visit there, although she realized that after the previous evening’s encounter with Ralph Fergus and Harvey Maxwell, it would be more difficult than ever to gain admittance.

“Somehow I must manage to get into Room 27 and learn what is going on there,” she thought. “But how? That is the question!”

Ever an active, energetic person, Penny became increasingly restless as the day dragged on. During mid-afternoon, observing that Jake had hitched up the team to the sled, she inquired if he were driving down to Pine Top.

“Yes, I am sending him after supplies,” explained Mrs. Downey. “And the newspapers—if there are any.”

“I wish I could go along for the ride.”

Mrs. Downey regarded Penny skeptically.

“Oh, I wouldn’t get out of the sled,” Penny said.

“Is that a promise?”

“I’ll make it one. Nothing less than a fire or an earthquake will get me out.”

Jake brought the sled to the door, and helped the girl into it. The day was cold. Snow fell steadily. Mrs. Downey tucked warm bricks at Penny’s feet and wrapped her snugly in woolen blankets.

The ride down the mountainside was without event. Penny began to regret that she had made the trip, for the weather was more unpleasant than she had anticipated. She burrowed deeper and deeper into the blankets.

Jake pulled up at a hitching post in front of Pine Top’s grocery store.

“It won’t take me long,” he said.

Penny climbed down in the bottom of the sled, rearranging her blankets so that only her eyes and forehead were exposed to the cold. She had been sitting there for some minutes when her attention was drawn to a man who was approaching from far down the street. Recognizing him as Ralph Fergus, she watched with interest.

At the drugstore he paused. As if by prearrangement, Benny Smith came out of the building. Penny was too far away to hear their exchange of words, but she saw the boy give all of his newspapers to Ralph Fergus. In return, he received a bill which she guessed might be of fairly high denomination.

“Probably five dollars,” she thought. “The boy sells all his papers to Fergus because he can make more that way than by peddling them one by one. And he’s paid to keep quiet about it.”

Penny was not especially surprised to discover that the hotel man was buying up all the papers, for she had suspected he was behind the trick.

“There’s no law against it,” she told herself. “That’s the trouble. Fergus and Maxwell are clever. So far they’ve done nothing which could possibly get them into legal trouble.”

Presently Jake came out of the grocery store, carrying a large box of supplies which he stowed in the sled.

“I’ll get the papers and then we’ll be ready to start.”

“Don’t bother,” said Penny. “There aren’t any. I just saw Ralph Fergus buy them all from the boy.”

“Fergus, eh? And he’s been puttin’ it out that the papers never caught the plane!”

“It was just another one of his little tricks to make Mrs. Downey’s guests dissatisfied.”

“Now we know what he’s about we’ll put a stop to it!”

“Yes,” agreed Penny, “but he’ll only think of something new to try.”

As they started back toward the Downey lodge, she was quiet, turning over various matters in her mind. Since Mrs. Downey had decided to sell her business, it scarcely seemed to matter what Ralph Fergus did.

The sled drew near the Jasko cabin and passed it, turning a bend in the road. Suddenly Penny thought she heard her name called. Glancing back she was startled to see Sara Jasko running after the sled.

“Wait, Jake!” Penny commanded. “It’s Sara! Something seems to be wrong!”

CHAPTER 21

OLD PETER’S DISAPPEARANCE

“Whoa!” shouted Jake, pulling on the reins.

The horses brought the heavy sled to a halt at the side of the road. Sara, breathless from running so fast, hurried up.

“I’m worried about Grandfather,” she gasped out.

“He isn’t sick?” Penny asked quickly,

“No, but I haven’t seen him since early this morning. He went to chop wood at Hatter’s place up the mountain. He expected to be back in time for lunch but he hasn’t returned.”

“He’ll likely be along soon,” said Jake.

“Oh, you don’t know Grandfather,” declared Sara, her forehead wrinkling with anxiety. “He always does exactly as he says he will do. He never would have stayed away this long unless something had happened. He’s getting on in years and I’m afraid—”

“Jake, couldn’t we go up to Hatter’s place, wherever it is?” Penny urged.

“Sure. It’s not far from Mrs. Downey’s.”

“Let me ride with you,” Sara requested. “I’m sorry to cause you any trouble, but I have a feeling something is wrong.”

“Jump in,” invited Jake.

Sara climbed into the back of the sled, snuggling down in the blankets beside Penny.

“Grandfather may have hurt himself with the ax,” she said uneasily. “Or he could have suffered a stroke. The doctor says he has a touch of heart-trouble, but he never will take care of himself.”

“We’ll probably find him safe and sound,” Penny declared in a comforting way.

Jake stirred the horses to greater activity. In a short while the sled passed the Downey grounds and went on to the Hatter farm. Sara sprang out to unlock the wooden gate which barred entrance to a narrow, private road.

“I see Grandfather’s sled!” she exclaimed.

Without waiting for Jake to drive through the gate, she ran on down the road. Hearing her cry of alarm, the man urged his horses on.

Reaching the clearing, Penny and Jake saw Sara gazing about in bewilderment. Peter Jasko’s team had been tied to a tree and the sled box was half filled with wood. An ax lay in the deep snow close by. But there was no sign of the old man.

“Where is grandfather?” Sara asked in a dazed voice.

She called his name several times. Hearing no answer, she ran deeper into the woods. Jake leaped from the sled and joined in the search. Penny could not bear to sit helplessly by. Deciding that the emergency was equal to an earthquake or a fire, she eased herself down from the sled.

Steadily falling snow had obliterated all tracks save those made by the new arrivals. There was no clue to indicate whether Peter Jasko had left the scene of his own free will or had been the possible victim of violence.

Jake and Sara searched at the edge of the woods and returned to the clearing to report no success.

“Maybe your granddad went up to Hatter’s place to get warm,” the man suggested.

“He never would have left his horses without blanketing them,” answered Sara. “But let’s go there and inquire. Someone may have seen Grandfather.”

They drove the bob-sled on through the woods to an unpainted farm house. Claud Hatter himself opened the door, and in response to Sara’s anxious question, he told her that he had seen Peter Jasko drive into the place early that morning.

“You didn’t see him go away?” Sara asked.

“No, but come to think of it, I noticed a car turn into the road. Must have been about ten o’clock this morning.”

“What sort of car?”

The man could give no additional information, for he had not paid particular attention to the automobile. However, he pulled on his heavy coat and boots, offering to help organize a searching party.

Sara and Penny remained at the farm house, but as it became evident that the old man would not be found quickly, Jake returned and took the girls down the mountain to the Downey lodge.

“What could have happened to Grandfather?” Sara repeated over and over. “I can’t believe he became dazed and wandered away.”

“I wish we knew who came in the car,” said Penny. “That might explain a lot.”

“You—you think Grandfather met with violence?”

“I hope not,” replied Penny earnestly. “But it seems very queer. Did your grandfather have enemies?”

“He antagonizes many folks without meaning to do so. However, I can’t think of anyone at Pine Top who could be called an actual enemy.”

By nightfall the searching party had grown in size. Nearly every male resident of Pine Top joined in the hunt for Peter Jasko. Even the Fergus hotel sent two employes to help comb the mountainside for the missing old man.

Sara, nearly in a state of collapse, was put to bed by Mrs. Downey, who kept telling the girl over and over that she must not worry. In speaking with Penny, the woman was far from optimistic. She expressed a doubt that Peter Jasko ever would be found alive.

“He may have wandered off and fallen into a crevasse.”

“I am inclined to think he may have been spirited away by whoever came up the private road in that car,” commented Penny.

“I can’t imagine anyone bothering to kidnap Peter Jasko,” returned Mrs. Downey. “He has no money.”

“It does sound rather fantastic, I admit. Especially in broad daylight. You didn’t notice any automobile on the main road this morning did you?”

“Only the Fergus hotel delivery truck. But I was busy. A dozen might have passed without my noticing them.”

At nine o’clock Jake came to the lodge with a discouraging report. No trace of Peter Jasko had been found. The search would continue throughout the night.

“Which way are you going?” Penny inquired as the man started to leave the house again. “Up the mountain or down?”

“Down,” he returned. “I’m joining a party at Jasko’s own place. We aim to start combing the woods on his farm next.”

“May I ride with you?” she requested. “I want to go down to the Fergus hotel.”

“Penny, your ankle—” protested Mrs. Downey.

“I can get around on it,” Penny said hurriedly. “See!” She hobbled across the floor to prove her words. “And this is important. I want to see someone at the hotel.”

“So late at night?”

“It really is important,” Penny declared. “Please say I may go.”

“Very well,” agreed Mrs. Downey reluctantly.

Jake took Penny all the way to the hotel. “Shall I help you inside?” he asked.

“Oh, no,” she declined hurriedly. “I’ll make it fine from here.”

After Jake had driven back up the road, Penny limped around to the back entrance of the hotel. She stood for several minutes staring up at the dark windows of the second floor.

“I believe Ralph Fergus and Harvey Maxwell know plenty about Jasko’s disappearance,” she thought. “But how to prove it?”

On the parking lot only a few steps away stood the Fergus hotel delivery truck. Penny hobbled over to it, and opened the rear door. She swept the beam of her flashlight over the floor.

At first glance the car appeared to be empty save for several cardboard boxes. Then she saw a heavy, fleece-lined glove lying on the floor half hidden by the containers. She picked it up, examined it briefly and stuffed it into the pocket of her snowsuit.

“I remember Peter Jasko wore a glove very much like this!” she thought.

Softly closing the truck door, Penny went back to the rear of the hotel. The lower hall was deserted so she slipped inside, and followed the stairway to the second floor. She tried the door of Room 27 and discovered it was locked.

“I was afraid of this,” Penny muttered.

Hesitating a moment she went on down the hall. Opening another door, the one which bore no number, she saw that she was to be blocked again in her investigation. The familiar guard sat at his usual post beside the door of the Green Room.