“Smart guy,” Colleen said.
“Not so smart,” Jennie said. “Because we’re going to catch him.” She tried the knob on the door, but it didn’t move. “He locked it.”
“Not good,” Colleen said. “Is there another way to get in?”
The girls backed up a step or two to look at the front of the underground building.
“Is that a window over there?” Colleen asked.
Jennie looked where her friend pointed. A tiny opening was almost hidden under a beam that supported the sidewalk above. “Good eyes, Colleen. Let’s see if we can get in.”
The window was small, but the wooden shutter that had covered it drooped from the sash. Jennie pulled the shutter, and it fell to the ground. The window was only a few feet off the ground, so she stuck the flashlight in and looked around. She saw an entryway cluttered with broken chairs and an old table.
Jennie pulled her head back out. “He went in this way. I’d bet on it.” Jennie frowned at the window. It was so small. “Let’s see if we can make this opening bigger.”
They clawed at the frame around the window and managed to break off a piece or two. “Now let me try it,” Jennie said. She stuck her head in again and tried to wiggle her shoulders through the opening. “Push!”
Colleen pushed, but Jennie’s shoulders just rammed painfully into what was left of the window frame. “Wait!” She pulled back and rubbed her shoulders. “It’s still too small.”
“Maybe I can make it.” Colleen stuck her head in. “Sorry,” she said. “Won’t work.”
“There must be a way to make this bigger.” Jennie pulled some more at the window, but the old building was brick and wouldn’t give another inch. At last she stopped to rub her scraped knuckles.
“What now?” Colleen asked as they both stood, staring at the window.
“I don’t know.” Jennie fought the frustration that welled up inside. They were so close, and time was running out. In hours it would be Saturday, the day that Pietro was to have the goods. After that, if Pietro really was a spy, time might run out for other people—people like Dad who worked so hard making the airplanes that helped Roger and the other soldiers fight the war.
A loud sneeze interrupted Jennie’s thoughts with a jolt. She whipped around. What now? Had someone caught them spying as they tried to catch a spy themselves? She could see nothing in the dim passageway behind them. Then it came again, sneezing, only this time there were two sneezes in quick succession. They came from near the stairs.
“Who’s there?” Jennie called out boldly. She wasn’t feeling quite as brave as she made her voice sound, and she could tell by Colleen’s face that she was scared, too.
There was no answer, but another sneeze burst out of the darkness. Jennie frowned. Something about that sneeze was familiar, but she couldn’t quite think what. It was enough to give her courage, and she walked quickly across the dusty debris to the stairs.
“I said, ‘Who’s there?’”
Four eyes stared back at her.
CHAPTER 12
Time Runs Out
Hi,” Tommy said weakly and raised his hand in greeting. The other two eyes belonged to Stan.
“What are you doing here?” Jennie demanded.
“I might ask you the same thing.” Tommy walked out from behind the stairs. “Does Mama know you’re off down here in the underground?”
“Does she know where you are?”
The siblings glared at each other for a moment before Stan spoke. “Knock it off, you two. None of us should be down here. But we are, so out with the story, Jennie.”
Jennie wasn’t used to Stan being so forceful. It took her by surprise, and she blurted out, “We’re following Pietro.”
“That’s pretty clear,” Tommy said. “We saw you follow him from the hotel. That’s why we followed you. But why? Does this have something to do with that spy idea of yours?”
“It’s not just a crazy idea. We’ve got to stop him before tomorrow,” Jennie said.
“Stop him from what?” Tommy asked.
“It’s nothing you need to know about.”
Jennie expected Tommy to blow up, but he didn’t. Instead he looked thoughtfully at the window behind the girls. “So you want to get inside that window?”
Jennie nodded. “To unlock the door. That’s why you two better get out of here and let us get back to work.”
“I don’t think so.” Tommy grinned. “I think you need us.”
“What are you talking about?” Colleen asked.
“I can get through that window and open the door.” Tommy walked over to the small opening.
“No, you can’t,” Jennie said. Even as she said it, she knew that Tommy was the smallest and he could probably squirm right through that opening.
“Sure I can.” Tommy grabbed a discarded wooden box that was nearby, climbed up on it, and stuck the whole top part of his body through the window.
“Fine,” Jennie said impatiently. “Get in there and unlock the door.”
“Not so fast.” Tommy tapped his fingers on his chin. “First you have to promise you’ll tell us what you know about Pietro and this spy business.”
Jennie started to protest.
“And,” Tommy continued, “you have to let us go along.”
“That’s no fair,” Jennie said. “We want to do this by ourselves.”
“Take it or leave it,” Tommy said and waited.
“Jennie,” Colleen grabbed her friend’s arm to pull her aside. “This is no time to work alone just to beat the boys. He’s right. We need him, and who knows, we may need both of them before this is over.”
Jennie frowned at her friend for a moment, but she knew Colleen was right. What was Jennie thinking? This was about more than beating Tommy at one of their silly contests. Lives might be at stake. They’d have to work together to stop Pietro.
“Get in there,” Jennie said. “We don’t have a lot of time.”
Tommy grinned and nodded at his sister. “I need some help. I’m not going headfirst through that window. Help me get my feet through first.”
Colleen and Jennie held up Tommy by the arms while he stuck his feet through the window. With a wiggle or two, the rest of his body followed, and he disappeared inside the building with the flashlight they handed him through the opening. In moments they heard him at the big door, where he threw a bolt and pushed open the door.
“So tell us,” Tommy said as he stepped into the passageway. “And make it snappy.” Dirt was smeared across his face and down his shirt.
Jennie gave the boys a quick rundown of events, with Colleen adding a detail here and there. “And the tall man said tomorrow was the day,” Jennie said. “The day that Pietro has to deliver the goods.”
Tommy’s eyes seemed to grow bigger. “So you’re not crazy. He is a spy. Why are we standing here? There’s work to be done, spy-catching work.”
Jennie scanned the entryway with the flashlight. It was small and led to a large room on one side and a staircase on the other. Everything was dark and quiet in the large room, so they started up the stairs. Cobwebs brushed Jennie’s face once, but she pushed them away and kept going. At the top of the stairs was a long hallway with many doors. The stairs were in the middle of the hall.
“Which way?” Colleen asked from behind Jennie, who was in the lead.
Jennie listened for a moment, but all she could hear was the distant sound of car horns honking on the street. Which way led to Pietro’s hideout? She leaned down to shine the flashlight on the floor. Footprints in the thick dust led off to the right, while in the other direction, the dust was smooth.
“This way,” she whispered and turned to the right, moving cautiously down the hall. As each door loomed in front of them, they stopped and listened. Each time Jennie shook her head as they heard nothing and walked on. Once Tommy cautiously opened one of the doors to find a jumble of old furniture and junk.
At last the hallway turned, and all four peeked arou
nd the corner before proceeding. There was light up ahead. Jennie guessed it was the late-afternoon sun shining in through big windows. They pressed themselves close against the side of the hall and moved toward the light. Jennie heard a rhythmic thudding, faint at first, but growing louder as they went forward. It was an odd sound. She could tell by their faces that the others were mystified, as well.
What could a spy do that would cause a sound like that? Jennie and the others found themselves at the edge of a huge lobby with doorways all around. There was no sign of Pietro or anyone else. The lobby floor was littered with trash. The thudding sound was quite loud now, but it didn’t come from the lobby. It seemed to come from above a grand open staircase that rose in the center of the lobby. The railings were carved wood and bordered wide steps. Jennie looked up. The staircase split in two about halfway up. Each narrower staircase curved outward and led to another floor.
Jennie was distracted for just a moment by the grandeur she saw. What a sight this room must have been in the old days. A shove from Tommy brought her back to the present. The odd sound still throbbed and thumped. It definitely came from above. She jerked her head in that direction and started up the stairs. The others followed without a word.
She hesitated a moment at the split in the stairway and turned right. The sound had grown louder. At the top of the stairs was yet another hallway, but this time light from an open doorway lit the way. The rhythmic sound pulsed from the room, and now she could hear another background sound that might be a motor. What was going on?
The four friends circled the pool of light that poured out into the dark hallway and tiptoed up to stand against the wall by the open door. Just as Jennie was ready to peek around the door’s edge, the thudding sound stopped. A few seconds later the motor stopped, too. All was silent. Jennie’s heart pounded until she thought whoever was inside that room could surely hear it.
They waited, pressed against the wall, listening. A voice said something from a distance. Jennie couldn’t make out what was said, but she breathed once again. The voice was nowhere near. Then she heard another voice, equally distant. She listened for a moment and steeled herself to lean out for a quick look.
The room was almost as large as the Flemings’ whole apartment and was lit by several lanterns. There were no windows. A row of boxes was stacked across one end of the room. On the far side of the room were some tables with more boxes. Jennie didn’t see any radio equipment, but she did see Pietro. The chubby man stood near another man who Jennie didn’t recognize. That man sat bent over at one of the tables. Two lanterns glowed on either side of him. It looked like he was writing or drawing, but Jennie couldn’t tell for sure.
“It’s not good enough,” Pietro said loudly. “You’ll have to do better than that. Look at this batch. I’m not paying you until you get it right.”
Jennie retreated. What was Pietro talking about? Was this the man from Number Two, the one Pietro had mentioned persuading? Jennie leaned around the door again. Pietro was eating something. Occasionally he wiped his hands on a white cloth. It was the towel that had led them to the door in the passageway. Pietro was eating while he betrayed his country. Anger flooded over Jennie. She wanted to get this guy. She motioned for the others to step back.
They held a whispered conference.
“We have to try to get closer,” Jennie said. “I can’t see enough from here to tell what he’s doing.”
“Let’s go inside then,” Tommy said. “We’ll sneak behind those boxes you saw.”
“It’s risky,” Jennie said.
Tommy shrugged. “We can’t let Pietro get away with this, but we have to have some kind of proof, at least a closer look at what they’re doing.”
Jennie sighed. Tommy was right as usual. “We’ll have to be quiet as mice. If they turn that machine back on, whatever it was, that will help, but we can’t be sure they’ll turn it back on.”
One by one, the four friends slipped into the room and crouched behind the boxes. Jennie led the way as they moved a foot at a time closer to Pietro and the other man. The row of boxes led very close to the table where the man still sat.
“I’m going to give this plate another try,” Pietro said. “It still might work, but you keep going on that one.”
In a moment a motor put-putted to life, and a few seconds later the thudding sound filled the room again. It sounded like something hitting something else, not hard, but hitting nonetheless. Jennie looked at Tommy and the others as they crouched behind the boxes. She was sure now about the motor, but what was that other noise?
Stan sat up straighter and tilted his head. In the dim light, Jennie saw his face tense as he listened. Suddenly he smiled and nodded to himself. He motioned for the others to put their heads close. “It’s a printing press,” he said.
A printing press! Jennie sat back on her heels. What was a spy doing with a printing press? It didn’t make sense. She put her mouth up to Stan’s ear. “Are you sure?”
Stan nodded firmly. “One of my uncles had a print shop before the war. That’s what a printing press sounds like. I was just too scared to recognize it before.”
The noise continued to thud. Jennie raised up enough to peek over the top of the boxes. Pietro stood over a machine that Jennie hadn’t noticed before. A printing press, no doubt.
The foursome edged closer to the far end of the boxes, which were barely stacked taller than the children’s heads as they crawled. The noisy press covered any sounds the children made. At last they stopped. Any further advance would have to be across the open floor, an open floor that was littered with pieces of paper. Jennie studied the litter that covered the floor. What was that? Several pieces lay just out of her reach. She peeked around the edge of the last box and waited until she saw Pietro turn away. Quickly she leaned out to grab one of the crumpled slips of paper.
The press continued to pound as she crouched back down behind the boxes and smoothed the paper while the others watched. It was printed with red ink and looked familiar, although the printing was too blurred to be read easily.
Tommy grabbed the paper. “It’s the front of a ration coupon book.” He handed it to Stan.
“But why would he print …?” Jennie began. She looked at Tommy, and he slowly nodded. “He’s not a spy, he’s a counterfeiter,” Jennie said.
“He’s making ration books to sell on the black market,” Tommy said.
“That’s almost as bad as being a spy,” Colleen said. Though her words were said in a low voice, they suddenly seemed loud because the press stopped just as she said them. Colleen’s voice pierced the silence like an arrow.
“Who’s that?” Pietro shouted. “I heard someone, Henry. Quick, look over there.” Pietro stumbled over a chair as he lurched toward the boxes.
“Run!” Jennie yelled.
Jennie pulled at Tommy’s arm while Colleen and Stan scrambled to flee. In a flash the four were around the boxes and out the door. They pounded down the stairs.
“Hey, you kids! Stop right now!” Pietro yelled, but Jennie heard him puffing as he ran.
As Jennie reached the bottom of the stairs, she glanced back. Pietro was behind them, but there was no sign of the other man, the one Pietro called Henry. The big lobby was almost dark now, the setting sun leaving only a glow in the west. It would be even darker in the hallway because Jennie had dropped the flashlight in her haste to run. At least Pietro wouldn’t have a light, either.
Pietro had fallen behind on the stairs. Jennie could hear him muttering as he stopped to rest for a moment. Too many rich meals had made Pietro too plump for his own good. That was a lucky break.
The four friends ran down the middle of the dark hallway and reached the top of the last set of stairs. Jennie saw Tommy fling open a nearby door. What was he doing? This was no time to be sightseeing. He dragged something out of the room and put it at the top of the stairs. It was a bench of some sort.
“That’ll fix him,” he said.
Jennie grabbed his
arm again as they climbed over the bench and felt their way down the dark stairs. They smelled the damp air of the underground passage. But now that odor meant escape. Again they felt their way across the entryway of the building and stumbled out into the passageway. A single beam of light shone from near the staircase where Tommy and Stan had hidden earlier. There must have been a streetlight right above. Or maybe God had sent a light to guide them. Jennie looked at the beam. Whatever the source, the beam would steer them out of the darkness that pressed all around.
Before they could move, there was a loud clattering behind them followed by an equally loud string of words, all courtesy of Pietro. Tommy chuckled. Their would-be spy had found the bench Tommy had moved. If the anger in Pietro’s voice was any guide, he wasn’t seriously hurt, but his accident with the bench bought them time.
Colleen led the way, and the other three followed as they climbed the stairs. Fresh air had never smelled so good to Jennie. They ran down the street a little way before stopping near a brightly lit corner.
“I can’t believe Pietro is a counterfeiter,” Colleen said.
“Instead of a spy.” Tommy grinned at his sister.
“The pieces all fit,” Jennie said. “I just had the wrong puzzle.”
“I would have thought the same thing,” Tommy said.
“But how are we going to blow the whistle on him?” Colleen said. “Will anyone believe us? It is a pretty crazy story.”
“Oh, they’ll believe us,” Stan said. “We have proof.”
The other three looked at him, puzzled, until he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. It was the crumpled front of the counterfeit ration book that they had looked at earlier.
They cheered before turning toward home and the long explanations that would follow.
CHAPTER 13
Winners
For the next few days, the hotel buzzed with the news of Pietro’s counterfeiting. Everyone had an opinion and wasn’t afraid to express it. Mr. Romano was very upset by his relative’s crime and the opinion toward Italian-Americans. Jennie was glad to see that almost every person in the hotel made a point to tell Mr. Romano that they knew it was no reflection on him that he had a crook for a cousin.
American Triumph: 1939-1945: 4 STORIES IN 1 Page 32
