The Red Chipmunk Mystery (18 page)

“That farmer’s car is still waiting for us over there,” Moon said with a nasty laugh. “We’ll be in West London in an hour and a half, and in New York by morning. Then,” he picked up Old Blade’s bridle from the front seat and his crafty eyes were gleaming as he regarded it with satisfaction, “we’ll cash in and maybe get a doctor to change our faces a little and lam for the west coast. What do you think of that, punk?” he said to Djuna, and slapped him on the side of the head again.

“Suppose the keys ain’t in that car over there?” Louie said as he gazed across the river.

“Somebody over there’ll have ’em,” Moon said with wicked determination. “Nobody’s goin’ to keep me from makin’ a get-away now, if I have to fill ’em full of lead.”

In spite of the fact that Djuna’s head was ringing from Moon’s blow he could see fear in Louie’s eyes as he looked at Moon. It was fear that was prompted by the thought that after Louie had served his usefulness Moon would not hesitate to fill
him
full of lead, too.

“Go check the boat,” Moon snapped at Louie again, and there was a cruel, calculating smile on Moon’s lips as he watched Louie leap to obey his orders.

Then Moon’s attention was attracted to black clouds racing out of the north-east and the dim rumble of distant thunder. Wind came booming across the river to whip its rapid waters and lash the bushes and trees around them with ferocious gusts.

“Get goin’!” Moon snarled at Djuna and swung him around and gave him a push towards the tangled thicket ahead. Brambles tore at Djuna’s hands and face as Moon forced him up the hill ahead of him. A jagged streak of lightning cut the black clouds overhead with a ghastly smile as drenching streams of rain came pelting down and the wind shrieked and wailed around the hill. It was raining so hard and was so dark that Djuna could see only a few feet ahead of him in the thick underbrush. He was panting for breath as the scoundrel behind him prodded him on, but evidently he wasn’t going fast enough to suit Moon, because just before they reached the entrance of a tunnel Moon grabbed him by the neck and dragged him the last twenty feet. Fortunately for Djuna, the men had cut a path through the heavy brambles covering that last twenty feet, so he was not too badly torn by them.

Moon thrust him into the mouth of the tunnel with a shove that threw him against a heavy upright and he collapsed on the ground. He closed his eyes and wished, as he had never wished before, that he was back in Edenboro in Miss Annie’s comfortable kitchen playing with Champ. Before he opened his eyes he wondered what had happened to Joan and Buddy, and then he felt very sick as he thought of poor Mr. Scissors. When he did open them he saw Moon standing at the mouth of the tunnel peering out into the driving rain. He saw, as his eyes grew more accustomed to the dark, timbers and uprights at the mouth of the tunnel and inside as far as he could see; and he remembered that Mr. Scissors had said something, a little vague, about an iron mine at the back of Slate Quarry Hill.

A few moments later Louie, soaked to the skin and grumbling, appeared at the opening. “I got to the row-boat jus’ in time,” he said to Moon. “The wind was batterin’ it on the rocks. I pulled it up on the shore. But we can’t get across the river if this keeps up.”

“We’ll get across if we have to swim!” Moon said harshly. “Get goin’. You lead the way.” He grabbed at Djuna’s collar and yanked him to his feet. “You better keep your eyes on Louie’s feet,” he said. “If you don’t you’ll fall in one of the shafts. They go straight down eighty feet and are full of water.”

Djuna didn’t say anything. He couldn’t, because his teeth were chattering. He looked down at Louie’s feet and started to follow them as Louie moved deeper into the mine, using a flashlight to throw a light in front of him. He, too, was soaked to the skin and the damp, cool air of the tunnel set him shivering so hard that he couldn’t stop.

As they advanced farther and farther into the mine, with Louie stooping at times to avoid the overhead timbers that kept the earth from caving in, Djuna could hear the drip and trickle of water on each side of him. Once he barely missed stepping into a shaft that descended into abysmal darkness. As he stepped around it and then hesitated, almost afraid to take another step, Moon prodded him in the back and said, “You ‘n’ your pal,
Mr
. Scissors, are prob’ly goin’ to end up in one of them shafts, so you better get used to ’em.”

Djuna turned his head and looked back at Moon with eyes that were wet. He tried to speak but his lips were trembling so that he couldn’t. He wanted to beseech Moon to have mercy on Mr. Scissors because he was an old man, and because of Joan. But as he saw the bestial snarl on Moon’s twisted face in the dim light from Moon’s flashlight he knew there was no use. He knew that Moon wouldn’t have mercy on any one.

He turned his head and fastened his eyes on Louie’s feet again and the anger that surged through him, because of Moon’s merciless purpose, gave him courage. He determined that even though it cost him his own life he’d hinder Moon in some way from carrying out his plan. He didn’t know how he could do it, but now he knew he had the courage to try.

Then he thought about the two newspaper-wrapped objects he had stuck in the toes of Joan’s moccasins in Mike Tromboni’s shop back in Cliffton Valley, and he knew that whatever else happened there was only one chance in a thousand that Moon would ever find them. In spite of his mental and physical pain he almost giggled at the thought.

“Watch y’r bean, kid,” Louie said, as he stooped low. Then he turned to the right and disappeared!

“Go on, follow him!” Moon commanded. “Keep goin’!”

Djuna took a faltering step forward and saw that Louie was going through a low passageway, barely two and a half feet wide, that had been cut through solid rock. He stepped into it and followed Louie for about fifty feet. As they stepped out of the other end of the passageway Djuna saw that they were in an underground cave with natural clefts in the rocks leading in several directions.

Louie went through one to the left and within a few steps Djuna followed him into a larger cave that also had several passageways leading out of it.

When Louie stopped to strike a match and lit a lantern that was sitting on a rock ledge Djuna knew they had reached their destination. He looked above his head and when he saw a narrow chink through which he could see daylight he knew this was the cave where he had heard Moon and Louie threatening Mr. Scissors. He peered quickly around him into the farthest depths of the cave, but there was no sign of Mr. Scissors. He saw the dead ashes of a fire and an old pan in which they had made coffee, papers, remnants of food, and an old coat. But Mr. Scissors had vanished.

Moon’s bellow of rage, when he came into the cave a moment later, confirmed Djuna’s hope. He saw Moon pick up some pieces of rope and stare at them and then throw them to the ground.

“
How
.” Moon asked in a voice that was filled with bewildered rage, “did that old goat ever unfasten them knots?”

“Maybe he started yellin’ for help and someone heard him an’ found their way in here,” Louie said in a puzzled voice.

“Don’t be a dope!” Moon snarled. “They couldn’t hear him out on the road. Nobody ever comes in this forsaken dump.”

“If he got away they’ll be in here now, after us,” Louie said in a nervous voice.

“We got a way to get out, ain’t we?” Moon asked. “You know, some day your own shadow is goin’ to scare you to death.”

“No kiddin’, Moon, we’d better get rollin’,” Louie whined.

“Look,
rabbit
,” Moon said, and he sat down on a rock and held Old Blade’s bridle out in front of him. “I’ve spent more’n five years in jail an’ the last week bein’ chased by coppers who’d shoot me as soon as look at me.
Now
, I’m a-goin’ to have at least five minutes of pleasure before I start runnin’ again.” He took his automatic out of his pocket, replaced the two bullets he had fired at the farmer and put the gun down on the rock ledge beside him. “You better check your automatic,” he added.

Louie took his automatic out of a shoulder holster, checked the clip, and then stood there with it in his hand as he watched Moon running his hands over the blinders of Old Blade’s bridle.

Suddenly, even in the dim light there in the cave, Djuna could see Moon’s pasty face tighten and his eyes narrow as he fumbled at the blinders. A string of half-mad, unutterable curses came from his lips as he whipped out a knife and pressed a button to open the long, deadly blade. His hands were trembling as he worked the point of the blade between the two pieces of patent leather to cut the stitches he supposed were there.

When the knife slid the length of the blinder between the two pieces of leather as easily as it would have cut through a pound of soft butter, Moon began to breathe with a deep rasping sound that was horrible to hear. He grasped the two pieces of leather and ripped them apart with his hands and stared like a madman at the empty compartment. A moment later he ripped the other blinder open in the same fashion, to find it empty also. He ran his hands around the inside of the leather as though he couldn’t believe his own eyes.

Then his eyes gleamed as he looked at his hands and saw that they were sticky with glue. He lifted his head and looked at Djuna.

Suddenly he leaped, with both hands outstretched, stretched, for Djuna’s throat, and there was murder in his eyes!

But just before he grasped Djuna, something that was as hard and unyielding as a battering-ram came over Djuna’s shoulder and jammed itself against Moon’s enraged face.

It was the heel of Cannonball McGinty’s left hand! It stopped Moon’s rush as though he had run into a locomotive. In Cannonball’s right hand was a heavy automatic that glinted dangerously in the dim light. Behind him, with an automatic in his hand, was another trooper, and behind
him
stood Socker Furlong and Mr. Scissors.

“Now, now, Mooney,” Cannonball said in a pleasant voice. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?” Mooney stood there staring at Cannonball just as though he hadn’t been used to looking at policemen and guards for most of the past five years.

“Get your little patty-whackers out here,” Cannonball growled, as he reached for a pair of handcuffs.

It was then that something happened about which no one could give a completely accurate account later on. It happened too fast. Louie was standing there staring at Cannonball, too, with his automatic dangling from his hand.

Mr. Scissors gave what was as close to a shout of real anger as he had ever come to in his life and stepped around the trooper in front of him.

“You’ve still got a gun in your hand,” Mr. Scissors said to Louie, “but I’ll teach you to hit a man with his hands tied behind his back!” He drew back his open hand and slapped Louie right on the nose as hard as he could hit him. “
There!
” he added, with no little sastisfaction.

Louie dropped his automatic and staggered backwards, holding his nose and looking as though he were going to cry. A large rock caught him behind the knees and he went sprawling over backwards, looking more like a clown than an escaped convict.

As Cannonball and Socker and the second trooper began to roar with laughter, Mooney whirled and in two leaps was out of sight in one of the passageways leading into the mine.

Cannonball and the other trooper darted after him and a moment later an automatic roared like the sound of heavy artillery in the close confines of the underground cavern. Two more shots followed and then a silence.

Socker Furlong bent down with a grunt and picked up the automatic Louie had dropped and handed it to Mr. Scissors. Then he picked up the one Mooney had left on the stone ledge and kept it himself.

“You know, if I were in your place and he’d hit me while my hands were tied I’d fill him full of holes while I had a chance,” Socker said, indicating the cowering Louie and winking at Mr. Scissors.

“Well, I don’t know but what I might,” Mr. Scissors said, and he lifted the gun he had in his hand. Then he couldn’t help laughing, even though it did hurt his face where Louie had hit him, because Louie was stuttering for mercy through trembling lips. Mr. Scissors was still chuckling as he added, “My gosh, he’s nothing but a big
cry-baby
!”

“The other one isn’t,” Socker said very seriously. “He’s really dangerous.” Then he put an arm around Djuna’s shoulders and asked, “Did they hurt you, Djuna?”

“Not much,” Djuna said, and he snickered. “I—I guess I was like Louie there, more scared than anything. Mooney slapped me a couple of times and dragged me through some brambles but I don’t mind that
now
. All I’m afraid of is that he’ll get away, because he won’t stop at anything to find Mr. Scissors, and me. He’s the leader and he’d kill a person just to have something to do! He has a boat down by the river to get across and there is a car at a farm on the other side he is going to steal when he gets there.”

“Don’t you worry about that, my little nut-nibbling chipmunk,” Socker said with a grin. “I got to remembering
all
the things you told me the other day after Buddy and Joan met us on the road to Rocky Hill. I remembered what you told me about chipmunks building an extra escape from their burrows, and I told the lieutenant who is in command of the detail of troopers Cannonball sent for, about it. One of his men had hunted pheasant all through this country and knew about the old iron mine that comes into the quarry near the river. Mr. Mooney is going to have a big surprise if he gets away from Cannonball and gets as far as the entrance to the mine. They’re waiting for him there with tommy guns.”

“
Jeepers!
” said Djuna with a groan of relief. “I’m glad of that. He’s the
meanest
man I
ever
saw.” He looked up at Mr. Scissors’ swollen face and said, “Gosh, was he mad when he found you had escaped! How did you ever get away?”

“I
hollered!
” Mr. Scissors said with a chuckle. “I bet you if any one was listenin’ careful they could-a heard me in Riverton!”

“Cannonball and I heard him ‘way down the road,” Socker said. “He sounded like a steam calliope. He howled. You see, when Joan and Buddy met us, Buddy told us how you had followed Mr. Scissors and the two convicts into the slate quarry. Cannonball used his two-way radio telephone to send to Riverton for more troopers. They gave us instructions not to go into the slate quarry until help arrived, but when we heard Mr. Scissors we disobeyed orders and came in to find him. When reinforcements arrived just before Mooney brought you here, we came back with another trooper to guard this end.”