The boy, arms around Andrew’s neck and feet locked around his waist, was laughing with delight at the sudden and exciting ride. He cried out with dismay when he dropped his woolly lamb, but became quiet when Markham picked it up and showed it to him.
“I’ll carry it for you,” he said, and the boy nodded.
They were up on the Downs now, and though they had some distance to go, it was, as Andrew had noted before, all downhill. Twice Markham offered to take the boy, and both times Andrew shook his head. He did not want to take the time to make the change, and he did not know how the boy would react to it—he was still quiet and seemed happy.
On they ran, over the springy turf, circling around so that they reached the road on the far side of the trees. By that time Andrew was panting a little and had a stitch in his side.
“Mummy?” said the boy as Andrew disengaged his arms from around his neck and set him down.
“She’ll be here soon,” said Andrew.
“I think I hear the carriage,” said Markham, giving the boy his woolly lamb.
A moment later the brougham drew up, the door opened, and Mrs. Grey jumped out, followed by an older, rather severe-looking woman in a nurse’s uniform. Without a word, Mrs. Grey picked up the boy and handed him to the nurse, who—also without a word—got back into the carriage. Then she turned to the boys.
“You were wonderful!” she said to them. “I’ll never forget you. Never!”
She threw her arms around Andrew and kissed him on both cheeks. He was very conscious of the softness of her lips and of something else. The scent she had on? It may have been. In any case, there was something familiar about the embrace, something he could not identify.
She kissed Markham as she had Andrew, then followed the nurse into the carriage. The door slammed, the sharp-faced coachman with the square bowler hat cracked his whip, and the brougham went rattling off down the chalky road in a cloud of white dust.
Andrew and Markham stood there staring after it, and Andrew, for one, had some curiously mixed feelings. He was moved by the woman’s kisses and what she had said. At the same time, there was something a little odd about her behavior, something he could not quite put his finger on.
“Well, that’s that,” he said. “You were very good all through that. In fact, top-hole.”
“Thank you,” said Markham, pleased.
He had been good, doing everything that needed to be done with the speed and precision of the other half of a pair of good Rugby backs. And it was only then that Andrew realized how skillfully the whole thing had been planned. As far as he knew, no one had seen him or Markham, and there was no one who could connect them with Mrs. Grey. At the same time, no matter what anyone might suspect, who could blame Mrs. Grey for the kidnapping when she had been with the people in the house the whole time until she drove away?
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About the Author
Born in New York City, Robert Newman (1909–1988) was among the pioneers of early radio and was chief writer for the Inner Sanctum Mysteries and Murder at Midnight—forerunners of The Twilight Zone that remain cult favorites to this day. In 1944 Newman was put in charge of the radio campaign to reelect Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was also one of the founding members of the Radio Writers Guild, which became the Writers Guild of America.
In 1973 Newman began writing books for children, most notably the Andrew Tillet, Sara Wiggins & Inspector Wyatt mysteries. The series takes place in Victorian London and follows the adventures of two teenage amateur detectives who begin as Baker Street Irregulars. Newman has also written books of fantasy, among them Merlin’s Mistake and The Testing of Tertius. His books based on myths and folklore include Grettir the Strong, and he has published two adult novels.
Newman was married to the writer Dorothy Crayder. Their daughter, Hila Feil, has also published novels for children and young adults. Newman lived his last days in Stonington, Connecticut.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1986 by Robert Newman
Cover design by Jason Gabbert
ISBN: 978-1-4976-8689-2
This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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ANDREW TILLET, SARA WIGGINS & INSPECTOR WYATT EBOOKS
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The Case of the Indian Curse (Andrew Tillet, Sara Wiggins & Inspector Wyatt Book 8) Page 14
