“I couldn’t reach Dad!” she announced. “He left the office more than an hour ago.”
“Then he should have been home before this,” Mrs. Weems agreed.
“Something’s happened. Maybe he’s been run down by a car—”
“Now Penny, stop such wild talk,” the housekeeper interrupted sternly. “You know better.”
“But Dad was struck by an automobile last winter. What else could delay him?”
“A dozen things,” Mrs. Weems replied. “Probably a business engagement.”
“In that case, wouldn’t he have telephoned me?”
“Perhaps not. Now do stop fretting, Penny. Your father will be here before long.”
“He’d better be,” Penny said darkly.
Sitting down on the stone step by the door, she scuffed the toe of her tennis shoe back and forth in the gravel. Mrs. Weems who had cared for the girl ever since the death of Mrs. Parker, gazed at her sternly.
“Now do stop grieving!” she chided. “That’s no way to act just because you’re impatient and disappointed.”
“But I’ve been disappointed three times now,”Penny complained. “We planned on starting early and having a picnic lunch on the road. Dad promised faithfully—”
A car drove up to the curb at the front of the house. Penny sprang hopefully to her feet. However, it was not her father who had arrived. Instead, her chum, Louise Sidell, alighted and came running across the yard.
“Oh, I’m glad I’m not too late to say goodbye to you, Penny!” she cried. “How soon are you starting?”
“I’d like to know the answer to that one myself. Dad hasn’t put in an appearance. He was due here at three o’clock.”
“Why, I saw him about twenty minutes ago,”Louise replied, turning to inspect the over-loaded sedan. “My, how did you accumulate so much luggage?”
Penny ignored the question to ask one of her own. “Where did you see Dad, Lou?”
“Why, riding in a car.” Louise’s dark eyes sparkled mischievously as she added: “With a beautiful brunette too.”
“You’re joking.”
“I am not. Your father was riding with Mrs. Deline. She’s a widow, you know, and has lived in Riverview less than a month.”
Mrs. Weems, who had overheard the conversation, came over to the steps.
“Mrs. Deline, did you say?” she inquired, slightly disturbed. “I’ve heard of her.”
“And so have I!” declared Penny with biting emphasis. “Why, that woman would make the Merry Widow look like a dead number! She’d better not try to sink her hooks into Dad!”
“Penelope!” the housekeeper reproved sternly.
“Well, you know what everyone says—”
“Please don’t repeat idle gossip,” Mrs. Weems requested. “I’m sure Mrs. Deline is a very fine woman.”
“She’s the slickest serpent that ever free-wheeled into Riverview!” Penny said heatedly. “I saw her in action last week-end at the Country Club. Why, she simply went out of her way to cultivate any man who had an income of more than twenty-five thousand a year.”
“Penny, your father is a sensible man,” the housekeeper reproved. “Unfortunately, it’s a quality I’m afraid you didn’t inherit.”
Louise, unhappy to have stirred up such a hornet’s nest, said hastily: “Maybe it wasn’t Mrs. Deline I saw. The car went by so fast.”
“Oh, I’m not worried. Dad can handle a bigger package of dynamite than Mrs. Deline. It just makes me irritated because he doesn’t get here.”
Tossing her head, Penny crossed to the loaded automobile where she switched on the radio. She tuned it carelessly. After a moment a blurred voice blared forth:
“Attention Comrades!”
Penny turned quickly to glance at the dial, for she realized that she did not have the local station WZAM.
“Attention Comrades!” the announcer commanded again. “This is the Voice from the Cave.”
There followed a strange jibberish of words which were in no language that Penny ever before had heard.
“Mrs. Weems! Louise!” she called excitedly. “I think I’ve tuned in an outlaw short wave station! Just listen!”
Louise and the housekeeper hastened over to the car. Penny tried desperately to tune the station in more clearly. Instead she lost it completely.
“Did you hear what that announcer said?” she asked eagerly. “Most of it I couldn’t understand. I’m sure it was in code!”
“Code!” Mrs. Weems exclaimed in amazement.
“I’m sure I didn’t have one of the regular stations! It must have been a short wave broadcast beamed at a particular group of persons. The announcer began:‘Attention Comrades!’”
“Can’t you tune in again?” Louise demanded.
Penny twisted the dial without success. She was still trying when a taxi cab drew up at the front door.
“There’s your father now!” Louise declared.
“And see who’s with him!” Penny added, craning her neck. “It is Mrs. Deline.”
Mrs. Weems, decidedly flustered, hurriedly removed her apron. In an undertone she warned Penny to be polite to the unexpected visitor.
Mr. Parker, a tall, lean man with hair only touched by gray, stepped from the taxi. The woman he assisted was attractively slender, and dressed in an expensive tailored suit. Her face was cold and serene, but so striking that it commanded instant interest. Penny’s spirits sagged as she observed that the widow came equipped with luggage.
“Now what?” she muttered.
Mr. Parker escorted Mrs. Deline across the yard, introducing her first to Mrs. Weems and then to the girls.
“Mrs. Deline is riding with us to Sunset Beach,” he explained to Penny. “She intended to go by train but failed to get a reservation.”
“Coaches are so unbearable,” Mrs. Deline said in an affected drawl. “It was so nice of Mr. Parker to invite me to share your car.”
“I’m afraid it may not be so pleasant for you,”Penny replied. She tried to speak cordially but the words came in stiff little jerks. “There’s not much room.”
“Nonsense!” said Mr. Parker. “Mrs. Deline will ride up front. Penny, you’ll have to battle it out with the luggage.”
By the time Mrs. Deline’s suitcase and hat boxes were stowed away, there was indeed little room left in the rear seat for a passenger. Penny’s face was very long. For weeks she had planned on a vacation trip with her father, and now all her plans had been shattered.
“Will you be staying long at Sunset Beach?” she asked the widow politely.
“Probably a week,” Mrs. Deline replied. “I’ve engaged a suite at the Crystal Inn. I’m sure I couldn’t endure a camping trip. Mosquitoes—hard beds—cooking over a camp fire—it all seems rather difficult to me.”
“Oh, it will be fun to camp!”
“I’m not so certain of it myself.” Mr. Parker assisted the widow into the front seat. “Penny, why don’t we ditch this camp stuff and try a hotel ourselves?”
“No!” answered Penny fiercely.
“It would be a far more sensible arrangement.”
“But I don’t want to be sensible,” Penny argued. “We’ve planned on this trip for weeks, Dad.”
“Oh, all right, if that’s the way you feel about it,” he gave in willingly enough. “Only I never did care much for the rough and tumble life myself. Are we ready to start?”
“Just a minute,” Penny requested. “I have to get my pocketbook from the house.”
She went indoors, her face as dark as a summer rain cloud. Mrs. Weems and Louise followed her in, corraling her in the kitchen.
“Now Penny, just a word of advice,” the housekeeper cautioned. “Mrs. Deline seems like a very nice woman. I trust that you’ll be pleasant to her.”
“I don’t see why Dad had to invite her! It’s ruined everything!”
“Aren’t you being selfish?”
“Maybe I am,” said Penny. “But why should I be crammed back with t
he pots and pans and luggage while she sits up front with Dad?”
“Mrs. Deline is your guest.”
“She’s Dad’s guest,” Penny corrected. “Furthermore, I suspect she invited herself.”
“Whatever you think, I hope you’ll keep your thoughts to yourself,” Mrs. Weems said severely. “I’m really ashamed of you.”
The deep scowl disappeared from Penny’s face and she laughed. Wrapping her arms about the housekeeper’s ample waist she squeezed until it hurt.
“I know I’m a spoiled brat,” she admitted. “But don’t worry. I’ll pretend to like Mrs. Deline if it kills me.”
“That’s much better, Penny. At any rate, you’ll not be troubled with her company long. You’ll reach Sunset Beach by nightfall.”
Penny made no reply. She turned to say goodbye to Louise.
“Wish you were going along,” she said wistfully. “A vacation won’t seem fun without you.”
A staccato toot of the auto horn reminded Penny that her father and Mrs. Deline were waiting. Hurriedly she gathered up her purse.
“Have a nice time,” Louise said, kissing her goodbye. “And don’t let Mrs. Deline get in your hair.”
Penny turned to make certain that Mrs. Weems was beyond hearing.
“Don’t worry about that, Lou,” she whispered. “Mrs. Deline’s already in my hair. What I’m really worried about is keeping her from building a nest in it!”
CHAPTER 2
STORMY WEATHER
For an hour the Parker car had rolled smoothly along the paved road enroute to Sunset Beach. In the back seat, firmly wedged between boxes and suitcases, Penny squirmed and suffered.
“How much farther, Dad?” she inquired, interrupting an animated conversation he was having with Mrs. Deline.
“Oh, about fifty miles,” Mr. Parker tossed over his shoulder. “We can’t make much time at thirty-five an hour.”
“How about lunch somewhere along the road?”
“Well, should we take the time?” the publisher asked. He turned toward his companion. “What do you think, Mrs. Deline?”
“Picnics always seemed stupid to me,” she replied in a bored manner. “Perhaps we’ll find a nice tea house along the way.”
“But Mrs. Weems prepared such a good lunch,”Penny argued. “I thought—”
“We can use the food after we make camp,” Mr. Parker decided briskly. “A warm meal will be much better.”
Penny subsided into hurt silence. Since the party had left Riverview she felt that she had been pushed far into the background. Mrs. Deline had made no attempt to talk to her. On the other hand, the widow fairly hypnotized Mr. Parker with her dazzling smile and conversation.
“Dad,” Penny began, determined to get in a word,“just before you came home this afternoon, something queer happened.”
“That so?” he inquired carelessly.
“Yes, I turned on the radio, and a station I’d never heard before came in. The announcer said: ‘Attention Comrades, this is the Voice from the Cave.’”
“Sounds like a juvenile radio serial.”
“Oh, but it wasn’t, Dad! I’m sure it was an outlaw station. Then the announcer spoke very rapidly in a language I’d never heard before. It really sounded like code.”
“Sure you didn’t imagine it? You know you do get ideas, Penny. Especially when you’re on the prowl for a mystery to solve.”
“Aren’t children quaint?” Mrs. Deline laughed.
Penny’s lips tightened, but by great effort of will she kept silent. A child indeed! She knew now that Mrs. Deline disliked her and that they had launched an undeclared war.
“I heard the broadcast all right,” she said. “For that matter, so did Mrs. Weems and Louise. But probably it’s of no consequence.”
The subject was dropped. It was stuffy in the closed car and Penny presently rolled down a window. Immediately Mrs. Deline protested that the wind was blowing her hair helter-skelter. At a stern glance from her father, Penny closed the window again, leaving only a tiny crack for air.
“All the way, please,” requested Mrs. Deline.
“Penny, you’re being very, very difficult,” Mr. Parker added.
Penny rolled the window shut, but her blue eyes cast off little sparks of fire. As a rule, she was a very pleasant person, not in the least spoiled. In Riverview where she had lived for fifteen happy, eventful years, her friends were beyond count. Penny liked people and nearly everyone liked her. But for some reason, she and Mrs. Deline had taken an instant dislike to each other.
“Maybe I’m jealous,” Penny thought ruefully. “I shouldn’t be, but Dad’s all I have.”
Between Mr. Parker and his daughter there existed a deep bond of affection. Penny’s mother was dead and the noted publisher had devoted himself to filling the great void in the girl’s life. He had given her companionship and taught her to think straight. Knowing that she was dependable, he allowed her more freedom than most girls her age were permitted.
Penny adored her father and seemingly had inherited his love of newspaper work. Upon various occasions she had helped him at the Riverview Star, writing and obtaining some of the paper’s most spectacular front page stories. Only the past winter, following her father’s severe illness, she had acted as editor of the Star, managing the paper entirely herself.
“And now Dad and Mrs. Deline treat me as if I were a child!” she reflected resentfully.
Though very much upset, Penny kept her thoughts to herself. Curling up with her head on a pile of blankets, she pretended to sleep.
The car went over a hard bump. Penny bounced and opened her eyes. She was surprised to see that it had grown quite dark. The automobile was moving in a wide curve between long rows of pine trees.
“What time is it?” she asked, pressing her face to the window.
“Not so late,” replied her father. “We’re running into a rain storm. Just our luck.”
Dark clouds had entirely blotted out the late afternoon sun. Even as Mr. Parker spoke, several big raindrops splashed against the windshield.
Soon the rain came down in such a thick sheet that the road ahead was obscured. Stopping suddenly for a crossroads traffic light, the car went into a slight skid. Mrs. Deline screamed in terror, and clutched Mr. Parker’s arm.
“Oh, can’t we stop somewhere?” she pleaded. “I’m so afraid we’ll have an accident.”
“Yes, we’ll stop,” Mr. Parker agreed. “The storm is certainly getting worse.”
A short distance ahead the party glimpsed a group of buildings. One was a filling station and beside it stood a small three-story hotel and tea room.
“Doesn’t look too bad,” Mr. Parker commented, pulling up close to the door. “We’ll have dinner and by that time the storm may be over.”
While Penny and Mrs. Deline went into the tea room, the publisher took the car next door to the filling station to have the tank refueled. He rejoined them soon, shaking the raindrops from his coat.
“It’s coming down harder than ever,” he reported. “And we still have a long drive ahead of us.”
“Do you think we’ll reach our camp site tonight, Dad?” Penny inquired anxiously.
“We’ll be lucky to get to Sunset Beach. As for making camp, that’s out of the question.”
“Maybe it will stop raining soon,” Penny ventured hopefully.
Mr. Parker ordered dinner for the party and an hour was consumed in dining. The rain, however, showed no signs of slackening.
“We could go on—” Mr. Parker said thoughtfully. “Of course, the roads are slippery.”
“Oh, please let’s not venture out in this,” Mrs. Deline pleaded before Penny could speak. “I know I am being silly, but I’m so afraid of an accident. Once I was in a car that overturned and I’ve never forgotten it.”
“There’s no great hurry,” Mr. Parker replied. “If we can’t reach Sunset Beach tonight, I suppose we could stay here.”
Mrs. Deline did not comment upon the su
ggestion, but from the way she smiled, Penny was sure that the idea appealed to her. Taking her father aside, the girl urged him to try to drive on to Sunset Beach that night.
“Our vacation is so short, Dad. Even now we’ll lose almost a day in setting up camp.”
“We’ll certainly push on if we can,” he promised. “This storm complicates everything.”
For two hours the rain fell steadily. With the prospects anything but improved, Mr. Parker made inquiry as to lodging for the night. From the hotel keeper he learned that rooms already were at a premium.
“We’ll have to make up our minds soon,” he reported to Penny and Mrs. Deline. “If we wait much longer we’ll probably find ourselves sleeping in the lobby.”
“Then let’s stay,” the widow urged. “Please engage a room and a bath for me. Preferably one at the rear of the building away from the highway.”
“I’m afraid you’ll have no choice,” Mr. Parker told her regretfully. “We’ll have to take what we can get.”
The publisher consulted with the hotel clerk, and returned to report that only two rooms remained available.
“You and Penny will have to share one together,” he explained. “I hope you won’t mind.”
It was evident by the expression of Mrs. Deline’s face that she minded a great deal. However, she consented to the arrangement and the luggage was taken upstairs. The door closed behind the bellboy. For the first time Penny and Mrs. Deline were left alone.
“Such a cheap, dirty hotel!” the widow exclaimed petulantly. “And I do hate to share a room with anyone.”
Penny busied herself unpacking her over-night bag. Crossing to the window, she raised it half way.
“Do put that down!” Mrs. Deline ordered. “I detest air blowing directly on me.”
Penny lowered the window.
Mrs. Deline smoked a cigarette, carelessly allowing the ashes to fall on the bed. Getting up, she movednervously about the room.
“This place is so small it seems like a prison,” she complained. “Why do you sit there and stare at me?”
“I didn’t realize I was staring,” Penny apologized. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go to bed.”
The Penny Parker Megapack: 15 Complete Novels Page 122
