Discovered
“Is it morning already?” Peter called drowsily from upstairs. “I thought
I heard the doorbell. Who are all those people talking?”
“All those people,” Judy said, laughing, as she ran up the stairs, “are
Horace and Honey. They just came. Holly is here, too. She’s going to
baby sit for me so Horace can drive me over to the Jewell sisters’
place. Blackberry may be there. I just thought, if I were a cat—”
“That’s what I call really putting yourself in somebody else’s place.”
Peter laughed. “Blackberry is as good as found. You’ll see Danny, of
course. You might tell him his father is innocent.”
“I will,” Judy said eagerly.
“I won’t have time for breakfast,” Peter continued. “I may grab a bite
with Hank Lawson later. We’re due at the Anderson house in less than an
hour. We’ll be there all day if you need us. George Anderson may be
visiting his son later on. I’m depending on you to prepare Danny for the
visit.”
“I’ll prepare him. How much can I tell Horace?” asked Judy. She was
afraid she had already told her brother too much, but Peter didn’t think
so.
“We’ll need his help when all this stolen stuff is hauled to the police
station or wherever we decide to hold it until the owners come to claim
it. We’re only waiting to nab Earle Haley—”
“Who’s he?” Judy interrupted to ask.
“The man in the ghost picture. You photographed the unknown gang leader
who took Joe Mott’s place. We think Earle Haley is his real name. He may
be Arnold Earle. Whatever he calls himself, he’s known to the Joe Mott
syndicate as the Earl, and I’m afraid he won’t be an easy man to catch.”
“But you have the trap all set for him?”
“That’s right. You see, Judy, why it’s so important that you don’t come
near that house with the boarded-up windows. We’ll take the boards down
as soon as it’s safe. Tell Horace not to take the woods road when he
drives you over to the Jewell place. Go the old way. Horace can leave
his car across the creek. Is Honey going with you?”
“I haven’t asked her, but it is Saturday. She isn’t working so I guess
she could—”
“Won’t that make your friend downstairs a little jealous?”
“Holly? Oh, Peter! She’s met a high school boy named Roger, and she’s
crazy about him. She’s acting like herself for the first time since her
uncle died. She’s no longer brooding over the way her sister treats her.
It was Ruth who suggested the party. I almost wish I’d been there
myself,” Judy finished.
“Donna wouldn’t have talked if you’d been there.”
“I know. I was too tired to enjoy a party, anyway. When this is all over
we’ll have one of our own. I think I’ll invite Donna,” Judy decided.
“She’s going to need friends. Poor girl! I wouldn’t be in her place for
a million dollars.”
Peter laughed. “I guess her father made a million. But I wouldn’t be in
his place, either. We’re picking him up with all the rest of Joe Mott’s
boys. It’s going to be a busy day.”
Judy felt rested and ready for it. When she went downstairs again Holly
was telling Honey all about Roger, and Horace was standing there,
ignored by both of them and obviously enjoying it.
“Well, Honey,” he said finally, “can you tear yourself away, or don’t
you want to go calling on the Jewell sisters?”
“Not today. I think I’ll stay here and help Holly with the babies. I
hear one of them crying now!” And Honey flew upstairs.
“Will wonders never cease! Well, come on, Sis,” Horace said to Judy.
“I’m ready,” Judy declared. She gave Peter a quick kiss, and he was off.
Hank Lawson had just driven up in the official car. Horace followed in
his coffee-colored convertible with Judy beside him.
“What about breakfast?” he asked as they passed through Farringdon.
“Have you had yours?”
Horace said he had eaten a bite at home. “Mother was too busy with the
babies to fix much—”
“No matter,” Judy told him. “The Jewell sisters will spread out a feast
for us the moment we enter the house. I know them. We’ll probably have
home-made biscuits or doughnuts.”
She was right. She and Horace were invited to the table minutes after
they arrived. Danny and his friends were already eating and apparently
enjoying their breakfast. They had emptied the heaping platter of
scrambled eggs, but there was corn bread and fresh apple sauce.
And there was Blackberry under the table eating the crumbs as the
children let them fall!
“Shall I scramble some more eggs for you? The hens are laying plenty,”
Violetta began.
But the corn bread, fresh from the oven, looked so good that Judy told
her not to bother. “I’m so glad you found Blackberry,” she added,
picking up her cat and hugging him. “I guess he didn’t even know he was
lost.”
“He came up to the door and yowled to come in just like the gentleman he
is,” Dorcas informed her. “I thought you’d sent him to us when you took
those babies home. Meta called up and told us. She’s coming over this
afternoon.”
“She said she was afraid she’d been a little hard on Danny’s father,”
Violetta added. “It seems it was all a mistake. I’ll be glad to see her.
She hasn’t been here since that thief borrowed her car. It wasn’t
Danny’s father. The poor boy was so upset thinking it was—”
“Oh, we know it wasn’t. We’re not sure who it was,” Judy admitted, “but
we’re certain who it _wasn’t_. Danny, your poor father was as surprised
as we were to find your house full of stolen furniture. Here’s a picture
of the man you were following. His name is Earle Haley—”
“The Earl? Gosh, he’s dangerous!” one of the other boys interrupted,
looking at Danny with admiration. “I’d never dare follow him. He’s
wanted by the FBI. His picture’s in the Post Office—”
“It is? Maybe he was the one who stole Ma’s car and then brought it
back,” Danny suggested.
Horace shook his head. “It was a boy about sixteen. I saw him.”
“So did Holly. He stole her typewriter. She wants me to bring it back,”
Judy remembered, “but I’m afraid I can’t do it yet. Peter wants
everybody to stay away from your house, Danny, until the boards are off
the windows. He’s hoping the thieves will be trapped there.”
“With my father in the house? They can’t do that!” Danny cried, jumping
up from the table. “I’m going over there this minute and tell him I’m
sorry for the way I treated him.”
“Wait, Danny, you can’t go over there until the boards are off the
windows!”
Judy found herself talking to the air. Danny was already gone.
“You boys stay here and don’t let Judy’s cat out. We’ll be back for
him,” Horace called over his shoulder as he started after Danny. Judy
was already running along the woods road, a half-eaten piece of corn
bread in her hand.
“Don’t go there, Danny! Please don’t go there!” she called. “You’ll only
get your father into more trouble. Wait and he’ll come for you.”
“I’ll wait,” Danny called back. “I’ll be right where I always am—at the
beaver dam.”
“We’ll be there, too, won’t we, Horace?” asked Judy. “We’ll find out
what this is all about or die trying.”
“We may die all right,” agreed her brother. “It was never as safe as we
thought it was with the Earl and his boys hanging around. He’s armed and
dangerous.”
“So is Peter,” Judy said, glad for once of the gun she had often wished
he didn’t have to carry. He wouldn’t use it, she knew, unless the
criminals made it necessary. Was that one of them now, in the woods just
ahead?
Danny stopped short. He had seen a boy running toward them at the same
time Judy called Horace’s attention to him with a quick, terrified
gesture. All three of them stood frozen. The boy was wearing a striped
T-shirt, and in his hand was something that looked amazingly like the
missing leg from the lady table.
“It is!” Judy whispered, seeing the quiet face turn toward her almost as
if it were alive. “What’s he going to do?”
She hadn’t long to wonder. They had reached the beaver dam. There were
the familiar ripples that told Judy the beavers were on the way to their
dome-shaped lodge of brush and sticks. The entrance, for safety’s sake,
was under water.
“Watch!” Horace whispered, his hand in front of Judy to hold her back.
The boy stood near the beaver lodge for a moment as if undecided. Then
he raised the table leg and hurled it into the pond.