CHAPTER 9 A SURPRISE FROM THE SKY

“Well, if that isn’t strange!” Penny muttered. “I wasn’t permitted to set foot inside the lighthouse, but in goes Mrs. Deline without a single question asked!”

Her curiosity aroused, the girl decided to wait and watch. Twenty minutes elapsed. During that time Mrs. Deline did not reappear. Penny grew tired of her vigil.

“Mrs. Deline evidently intends to stay there a long while,” she thought as she drove on. “For all I know, she and the lighthouse keeper may be old friends. They did greet each other as if they were acquainted.”

At the airport Penny parked on the crowded lot. She dropped into the lunch room for a sandwich and then wandered out on the cement runway. The noon passenger plane presently was announced through the loudspeaker system. A moment later Penny glimpsed the big silver twin-motor transport gliding down over the tree tops. As it taxied up to unload passengers, she held her breath. Knowing that there had been several last-minute cancellation of tickets, she was afraid that Louise might not be aboard.

But as the door of the big transport swung back, her chum was the second passenger to alight. Fresh and trim in a yellow wool suit, she flung herself into Penny’s arms.

“Have a nice trip, Lou?”

“Oh, heavenly! Only it didn’t last long enough. We were here almost before I knew we’d started. I nearly lost my ticket to an Army Major too!”

“I was afraid you might not get here,” Penny laughed, picking up Louise’s light over-night case. “What happened to the Major?”

“Oh, at the last minute he changed his mind, so the company decided I could have my ticket back. And here I am! How’s camping?”

“Not much fun so far,” Penny confessed truthfully. “But I can feel things starting to pick up.”

“We’ll have a wonderful time together.”

“You just bet we will!” Penny declared with emphasis. “Had anything to eat?”

“Oh, yes, lunch was served on the plane.”

“Then we may as well start for camp. I have oodles to tell you, Lou.”

Midway to the parking lot, Louise paused, calling attention to a Flying Fortress that was coming in against the wind.

“Let’s watch it land,” she pleaded. “Did you ever see such a beautiful ship?”

The huge Fortress came in fast for a perfect landing. Crew members began to tumble out through the door. One of the young men in captain’s uniform evidently was a passenger for he carried a suitcase.

“Lou!” Penny grasped her chum’s arm. “That flier looks like Jerry Livingston!”

“Oh, it couldn’t be!”

“All the same, I think it is!”

Penny was so excited that she barely could control her voice. Jerry Livingston was one of her very best friends, a former reporter on the Riverview Star. In the days before he had joined the Army Air Force, she and Jerry had shared many an exciting adventure. However, since he had gone away there had been only a few letters and those brief communications had contained no real news.

“It is Jerry!” Penny cried an instant later. “Oh, Lou, this must have been the surprise that Dad knew about! How could he keep it from me?”

Breaking away from her chum, Penny darted across the runway. As she called Jerry’s name, the young man turned toward her. His handsome, wind-tanned face became a brilliant smile. A dozen long strides carried him to her side.

“Penny!” he cried. He didn’t hesitate. He just swept her into his arms and kissed her.

“Sorry, Penny,” Jerry apologized, his eyes twinkling. “Guess I shouldn’t have done that. But when you’ve not seen your one and only girl for going on a year—”

“Your which?” Penny stammered, too confused to blush.

“You are my one and only, you know,” Jerry grinned. “Always were for that matter. Even in the days when we tracked down news stories together.”

Louise came hurrying up. Jerry turned to greet her and the conversation became less personal. But from the way Louise smiled, Penny knew she had seen the kiss and would demand lengthy explanations later on.

“Jerry!” she cried, noticing the decorations on his trim uniform. “They’ve given you the Distinguished Flying Cross! And the Purple Heart! You didn’t write a word about that.”

“Nothing to write.”

Indignantly, the girls pried the story from Jerry. He had piloted a Flying Fortress in a highly successful raid over the Romanian oil fields. To reach its target, the Fortress had flown through flaming refineries, so low to the ground that fire actually had leaped up through the bomb bay of the plane. Swarms of enemy fighter ships had been fought off. Jerry’s plane was one of the few to get back to its base safely.

“I was luckier than some of the other fellows,” Jerry said modestly. “That was all. Now they’ve sent me home to rest up for a while.”

“Oh, that’s marvelous!” Penny said, guiding him toward the waiting car. “You can spend all of your spare time with us!”

Jerry grinned down at her. “I’d like nothing better. But I’m not exactly on furlough.”

“I thought you just said—”

“I’m doing a special mission here at Sunset Beach for the Army.”

“Anything you dare tell about?”

Jerry helped the girls into the car, stowed the suitcases away, and then slid in beside Penny.

“I can’t tell you very much,” he replied quietly. “But I can give you a general idea of why I’m here. There’s a certain outlaw radio station that has been causing the government considerable annoyance. I’ve been sent here to try to trace its location.”

“And that’s why Dad’s here too!” Penny cried. “So you two schemers intended to join forces all along! A pity no one could let me know!”

“I didn’t want your father to tell you, because until the last minute I wasn’t sure I was coming,” Jerry explained. “The radio station assignment is only part of the reason why I’m here.”

“What’s the other?” Penny asked as she started the car.

“I’m on the lookout for an escaped German flier. The fellow escaped from a Canadian prison camp and was traced to this locality.”

“And you’re supposed to be taking a rest from flying!”

“This assignment will be a vacation.”

“I’d call it anything but one,” Penny said indignantly. Her face suddenly became grave. “Jerry!”

“Yes?”

“What does that escaped prisoner look like?”

“Oh, I can’t describe him. I have a photograph in my brief case. Why do you ask?”

“Maybe I’ve seen him.”

“Where?” Jerry could not hide a smile.

“Why at our camp in the woods!” Excitedly Penny told of the bearded stranger who had robbed the Parker stores of food and clothing. Her description of the man was so vague that Jerry could make little of it.

“I’m afraid your thief isn’t the man we’re after,” he said kindly. “After I get to a hotel and open my luggage, I’ll show you his picture.”

“And will you let me help you trail him?”

“Oh, sure,” Jerry answered, only half meaning it. “By the way, drive me to the Crystal Inn. I have a reservation there.”

Penny’s face fell.

“Anything wrong with the place?” Jerry inquired, observing her change of expression.

Penny shook her head. “The place is all right. It’s the people who stay there. Jerry—”

“Yes?”

“Are you susceptible to brunettes?”

“Never noticed it.”

“You’ll likely meet a Mrs. Deline at the hotel,” Penny warned. “Don’t have a thing to do with her.”

“Why should I?” Jerry was amused.

“She’s already made a jelly fish of Dad,” Penny went on. “Jerry, stop grinning! This is serious.”

“Sorry, I didn’t know I was smiling.”

“I need your help, Jerry. The truth is, I’m terribly worried about Dad.”

“If I know your father, there’s no need to worry about him.”

“But you don’t understand this Mrs. Deline,” Penny said desperately. “She’s a very clever, scheming woman. Jerry, will you promise to help me try to save Dad from her clutches?”

Jerry managed to keep his face straight. “I’ll do my best,” he promised.

Penny drew a deep sigh. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re here,” she murmured gratefully. “With you fighting on my side, the war’s as good as won!”