"I dunno."
Rose Rita gripped her head with her hands and tried to think. If she could have shaken some thoughts out of her head, she would have done it. There had to be some way, there had to be...
"Aggie?"
"Shhh. Not so loud. My ma'll hear us."
Rose Rita tried whispering more softly. "Okay. I'm sorry. Hey, Aggie, listen. Does Mrs. Bigger live in her store? I mean, in back of it, or upstairs?"
"Nope. She lives about two miles down the road in a little house that sets way back from the road. How come you want to know that?"
"Aggie," said Rose Rita in a loud excited whisper, "how'd you like to help me break into Mrs. Bigger's store? Tonight!"
CHAPTER TEN
As soon as Aggie saw what Rose Rita's plan was, she tried to back out. She thought up a thousand reasons for not going to Mrs. Bigger's place, that night or any other night. They might get caught and put in reform school. Aggie's mom would catch them, and bawl them out, and tell Rose Rita's folks. Mrs. Bigger might be there, hiding in a closet and waiting for them. The store would be all locked up, and they wouldn't be able to get in. They might get bitten by Mrs. Bigger's dog. And so on and so forth. But Rose Rita was not impressed by Aggie's arguments. She had only known Aggie for a short while, but she knew by now that Aggie was a worrywart. Worrywarts always imagine that terrible things are going to happen. They imagine dangers where dangers don't exist. Lewis was a worrywart, and he was always fussing and fretting about something. Right now Aggie was acting just like Lewis.
To Rose Rita everything seemed clear. Mrs. Bigger was a witch, and she was always reading magic books. She probably had a copy of the Mallet of Whatever-it-was, the book that Rose Rita had to have if she was going to save Mrs. Zimmermann. It might be in her home, or it might be in her store somewhere. It was very likely to be in her store, since she spent a lot of time there and probably read while she worked. After all, Rose Rita argued, she had found that magic charm tucked away in one of Gert Bigger's account books. Well, if she had found that, she might find other things. Rose Rita ignored the holes in her argument. She didn't want to see them. Already she was beginning to be carried away by the idea of bearding Gert Bigger in her den. She imagined herself armed with a great book from which she read strange grim-sounding incantations, magic words that would bring Gert Bigger to her knees and make her bring Mrs. Zimmermann back from... from wherever Gert Bigger had sent her. It occurred to Rose Rita, of course, that maybe Mrs. Bigger had used her magic to kill Mrs. Zimmermann. Well, thought Rose Rita grimly, if she's done that, I'll make her bring Mrs. Zimmermann back—back from the dead. And if I can't do that, I'll make her pay for what she did. A tremendous anger was building in Rose Rita's mind. Righteous anger. She hated that big rawboned woman with the nasty sneering manner and the insults and lies and dirty rotten cheating ways. She was going to fix her, and fix her good. In the meantime, however, she had to persuade Aggie to go along with her plan. It wasn't easy. Rose Rita argued and wheedled, but Aggie was a stubborn girl—about as stubborn as Rose Rita. And Aggie was especially stubborn when she was scared.
"All right, Aggie," said Rose Rita, folding her arms and glaring. "If that's the way you're gonna be, I'll just go by myself!"
Aggie looked hurt. "You mean it? Really?"
Rose Rita nodded grimly. "Uh-huh. Try and stop me."
Actually, Aggie could have stopped Rose Rita easily, and Rose Rita knew it. All she had to do was shout, and Mrs. Sipes, who was a very light sleeper, would be down in the room asking them what all the racket was about. But Aggie didn't shout. She really did want to be in on the adventure. On the other hand, she was afraid.
"Come on, Aggie," Rose Rita pleaded. "We won't get caught, I promise you. And if we get our hands on a copy of that book I told you about, we can really fix old Mrs. Bigger's wagon. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
Aggie's forehead wrinkled up. Her eyebrows got so worried that they almost met. "Gee, I still don't know, Rose Rita. Are you sure that whatchamacallit book'll be there?"
"Of course I'm not sure, dopey. But we'll never find out if we sit here all night. Come on, Aggie. Please!"
Aggie looked uncertain. "Well, how're we gonna get in? The doors and windows'll all be locked."
"We can figure that out when we get there. Maybe we'll have to break a window or something."
"It'd make a lot of noise," said Aggie. "And you might cut yourself on the glass."
"We'll pick the lock then. People do it all the time in the movies."
"This isn't the movies, this is real life. Do you know how to pick locks? Huh? Do you? I bet you don't."
Rose Rita felt totally exasperated. "Look, Aggie," she said, "if we get there and we can't find any way to get in, we can give up and come back. Okay? And if there is a way to get in, you won't even have to come inside with me. You can stay outside and be the lookout. Come on, Aggie. I really need you. How about it? Huh?"
Aggie scratched her head and looked uncertain. "You promise I won't have to come in with you? And if we can't get in, we'll come straight back here?"
Rose Rita drew a cross on her stomach with her finger. "I promise. Cross my heart and hope to die."
"Okay," said Aggie. "Wait'll I get my flashlight. We'll need it."
Working as quietly as they could, Rose Rita and Aggie got into their clothes and put on their sneakers. Aggie dug a long-barreled flashlight out of her closet and poked around in her dresser drawer till she found an old boy scout knife. It had a black wrinkly plastic handle, and inside a little glass bubble at one end of the handle was a compass. Aggie really couldn't say why she was taking along this particular piece of equipment, but she thought it might come in handy.
When they were all ready, the two girls tiptoed to the door of the bedroom. Aggie led the way. Carefully she opened the door, just a crack, and looked out.
"Okay!" she whispered. "Just follow me."
The two girls tiptoed down the hall and down the stairs. They walked softly through rooms that lay gleaming in moonlight till they reached the back door. The back door was propped open because it was a hot night, and the screen door was unhooked. They went out, closing the door softly behind them.
"Wow!" breathed Rose Rita. "That part was easy!"
Aggie smiled shyly. "Yeah. I've done it before. I used to go frog-spearin' with my brother down to the crick there, but my mom caught us and gave us heck. I haven't been out in the middle of the night since then. Come on."
Aggie and Rose Rita started walking down a rutty wagon road that ran between two plowed fields. They climbed a little fence and trotted along a grassy track that ran parallel to the main road. Rose Rita saw at once that they were going back by the way they had come on the previous day when Aggie found Rose Rita sleeping next to the cornfield. Now the field was on their left, rustling softly in the night breeze. Stars were clustered thick overhead, and crickets chirped in the tall grass.
Before long the girls passed the place where they had met. There was the droopy elm tree and the flat-topped boulder. They had been chattering excitedly, but now they grew quiet. They were not far from Mrs. Bigger's store.
At the edge of the gravel road the two girls paused. There was Gert Bigger's grocery store, shut up for the night. A yellow insect lamp lit up the front door, and through the wide plate glass window the girls could see a night light burning in the rear of the store. The sign with the flying red horse creaked gently in the wind, and the two gas pumps looked like soldiers on guard.
"Here we are," whispered Aggie.
"Yeah," said Rose Rita. She felt something tighten up in her stomach. Maybe this was a dumb plan after all. She was about to ask Aggie if she really felt like going ahead with their plan, but she swallowed her fears and crossed the road. Aggie followed, glancing about her nervously.
"It looks okay," said Aggie, when they were both on the other side of the road. "Her car's always parked over there when she's here, and it's gone."
"Good! Do you think
we ought to try the front door?"
"Well, you can if you want to. But I'm sure it'll be locked."
Rose Rita trotted up the steps and rattled the door. It was locked. Locked tight. She shrugged and ran back down the steps.
"Come on, Aggie. That's one down, and a lot to go. It's such a hot night that she might have left one window open. Let's check the windows." Rose Rita could feel her courage and her habitual optimism coming back. Everything would work out all right. They'd find a way in.
Apparently Rose Rita's optimism was catching. Aggie brightened up and became—for her—confident. "Hey, that's an idea! Okay, we'll check."
As they passed around the side of the building, the girls heard a loud clucking sound. There behind the fence was that poor bedraggled white chicken. It looked even more beat-up and scrawny than it had when Rose Rita saw it the day before. Old Gertie oughta feed it, Rose Rita thought. As before, the hen was very excited. It ran back and forth behind the fence, clucking and flapping its wings.
"Oh be quiet!" Rose Rita hissed. "We're not gonna chop off your head! Just cool down, for heaven's sake!"
The two girls started to inspect the windows on the side of the house. The ones on the first floor were shut tight, and it was likely they were locked as well. Just to make sure Rose Rita got up on an orange crate and tried to move one of them. It wouldn't budge an inch.
"Darn it all anyway!" she grumbled as she got down off the crate.
"Oh, don't give up yet!" said Aggie. "We haven't tried the... oops. Watch out!"
Rose Rita whirled around in time to see a car pass by. Its headlights swept across the side of the store and were gone. If the driver had been paying attention, he would have seen the two figures standing next to the store. But, apparently, he had not noticed. Rose Rita felt exposed, as if she were in a fishbowl. She felt the danger of what she was doing.
"C'mon," she said, tugging nervously at Aggie's arm. "Let's go around to the back."
The two girls walked around to the rear of the store. The little white hen, which had never stopped squawking since the time they arrived, kept it up until they disappeared around the corner of the building. Rose Rita was glad when it finally shut up. It was beginning to make her nervous.
The two girls tried the back door. It was locked. Then they stepped back and surveyed the rear wall of the building. The first floor windows had heavy iron grills over them—probably they were the windows of the storeroom, where the groceries were kept. There was one window on the second floor, and—Rose Rita stepped back to make sure—yes, it was open! Not wide open, but open a crack.
"Wow!" said Rose Rita, pointing. "Do you see that?"
Aggie looked doubtful. "Yeah, I do, but I don't see how you could wiggle in through a crack like that."
"I'm not gonna wiggle in through the crack, dumbo! That crack means that the window isn't fastened. So if I climb up there, I can open it up."
"How you gonna do that?"
Rose Rita looked around. "I dunno yet. Let's see if there's anything to climb up on."
Rose Rita and Aggie poked around in the back yard of Gert Bigger's store for a while, but they didn't find any ladders. There was a toolshed, but it had a padlock on it. Rose Rita went back to the window and peered up at it owlishly. She rubbed her chin.
There was an apple tree growing near the store, and one of its branches nearly touched the sill of the window she wanted. But Rose Rita was an experienced tree climber, and she knew that the branch would start to bend as soon as she tried to climb out on it. By the time she got near the end of the branch, it would be bent way down. So that was no good. On the other hand there was a trellis nailed to the side of the house. It ran right up next to the window. If she could climb up on it, she might be able to get hold of the sill and swing herself over. It was worth a try.
Rose Rita took a deep breath and flexed her hands. She walked up to the trellis. It was covered with thick thorny vines, but there were places, here and there, where you could put your hands. Rose Rita put a foot on one slat and a hand on another. She swung herself up so her weight was on the trellis, and hung there, waiting to see what would happen. Nails skreeked as the trellis started to pull out from the wall.
"It doesn't look too good," said Aggie, screwing up her mouth into a very worried scowl. "If you climb any farther, you're gonna break your neck."
Rose Rita said nothing. The trellis was still attached to the wall, so she put another foot up. Then another foot, and another hand. With a loud splintering, crackling, rustling, and squeaking noise, the trellis leaned lazily sideways. Nails and broken pieces of wood dropped to the ground. Rose Rita leaped free of the wreckage and landed on her feet. Aggie, with a little cry, dropped the knife in the grass and ran to Rose Rita's side. She found her standing there, sucking a cut thumb and glaring hatefully at the ruined trellis.
"Darned thorns anyway!" Rose Rita grumbled.
"Gee, is she ever gonna be ticked off!" said Aggie. "Mrs. Bigger, I mean."
Rose Rita wasn't listening. She was wondering if maybe she could scale the side of the building. It wasn't very far up to the second story, and the white clapboard strips looked as though they might give her a handhold. She tried, but she slid down. She tried again, with the same result. She stood there, panting and redfaced. For the first time, she doubted the wisdom of her plan.
"Let's go home," said Rose Rita bitterly. She felt the tears stinging her eyes.
"Are you giving up already?" said Aggie. "Gee, I don't think that's a very good idea. We haven't looked at the other side of the store."
Rose Rita gave a start and looked at Aggie. She was right! Rose Rita had been so wrapped up in the problem of the upstairs window that she had forgotten all about the far side of the building, the one side that they hadn't checked out yet. Hope and optimism came flowing back.
"Okay. Let's go look," said Rose Rita, grinning.
On the far side of the store thick bushes grew up close to the windows, but there was a little tunnel in the shrubbery where you could sidle in if you hunkered down a bit. Rose Rita and Aggie bent over and edged their way in under the bushes. They looked up and saw that the windows on this side had grates and padlocks like the ones on the back of the store. But down at ground level was a cellar entrance. The old-fashioned kind, with two slanting wooden doors. Aggie shone her flashlight over the door. There was a pair of metal fixtures where the two doors met. Obviously they were meant to hold a padlock, but there was no padlock in the holes. The door was unlocked.
Cautiously Rose Rita gripped the handle of one of the heavy wooden doors. She lifted it, and a smell of earth and mold rose to her nostrils. It was like a breath from the grave. Rose Rita shuddered and stepped back. She dropped the door. It fell with a loud clatter.
Aggie gave Rose Rita a frightened look. "What's wrong, Rose Rita? Did you see something?"
Rose Rita passed a hand over her forehead. She felt dizzy. "I... no, I didn't, Aggie, only... only I got scared. I d'no why, but I did. I guess I'm just a scaredy-cat, that's all."
"It's funny, isn't it?" Aggie mused, as she stared down at the door. "All those bars and locks on everything else, and she leaves this open. It's weird."
"Yeah. Maybe she didn't think anyone'd go pokin' around under these bushes." Rose Rita realized that this was a pretty weak explanation, but it was the only one she could come up with. There was something very strange about this open door. She just couldn't figure it out.
Suddenly Rose Rita thought of something. She picked up the cellar door again and opened it all the way. She opened the other door panel too. Then she took the flashlight from Aggie and stepped down into the dark opening.
At the bottom of a short flight of stone steps Rose Rita found a black door with a dirty cobwebbed window. She put her hand on the porcelain knob and found that it felt surprisingly cold. Rose Rita turned the knob and pushed cautiously. At first she thought the door was locked, but when she pushed harder, it opened with a loud dismal rattle.
Inside the cellar it was pitch-dark. Rose Rita played the beam of her flashlight around and saw vague shapes hunched in the gloom.
"Are you okay?" called Aggie nervously.
"Yeah, I... I think so. Look, Aggie. You stay up here and keep watch. I'm goin' in and have a look around."
"Don't stay too long."
"Don't worry, I won't. See you later."
"Okay."
Rose Rita turned and flashed her light up. There stood Aggie with her worried frown. She was waving feebly. Rose Rita swallowed hard and thought about Mrs. Zimmermann. She turned and went in.
As she crossed the cold stone floor, Rose Rita glanced nervously from side to side. In one corner a furnace squatted. With its upraised metal arms, it looked like some kind of monster. Near it was a freezer. It reminded Rose Rita of a tomb. She laughed nervously. Why did everything seem so scary? This was a perfectly ordinary basement. There weren't any ghosts or monsters in it. Rose Rita walked on.
In a far corner of the basement she found a flight of wooden steps leading up. Slowly she climbed. The steps creaked loudly under her feet. At the top of the steps was a door. Rose Rita opened it and looked out. She was in the store.
Groceries stood piled in shadowy ranks. Cans, bottles, jars, and boxes, half lit by the weak little bulb that burned over the cash register. Outside the wide front window a car passed. Rose Rita could hear a clock ticking slowly, but she couldn't see it. She walked across the room and opened a door. Here were steps leading up. She started to climb.
Halfway up the steps Rose Rita noticed something that made her stop: a picture hanging with its face turned to the wall. Curious, she reached up and turned it over. The picture showed a saint with a halo. He was clutching a cross and staring up toward heaven with wide unearthly eyes. Hurriedly Rose Rita turned the picture back toward the wall. A violent shudder passed through her body. Why had she been so frightened? She didn't know. When she had calmed down, she went on up the stairs.
At the top of the steps was an L-shaped hallway, and halfway along it was a paneled door. There was a key sticking out of the door. She turned it, and the door swung open. Rose Rita waved her flashlight around, and found that she was in a small bedroom.
The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring Page 9
