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 suggestion, 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 moved nervously 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.”

Undressing quickly, she crawled beneath the covers. Mrs. Deline smoked still another cigarette and then began to prepare for bed. As she removed the jacket of her suit, Penny noticed that the woman wore a beautiful jade elephant pin.

“Why, what an attractive ornament!” she exclaimed. “Is it a locket or just a pin?”

“I bought it in China,” the widow answered without replying to the question.

“In China! Have you been there?”

“Of course!” Mrs. Deline gave Penny an amused glance. Without removing the pin or offering to show it to the girl, she completed her preparations for bed.

Just at that moment there came a light tap on the door.

“Oh, Penny!” Mr. Parker called.

“Yes, Dad, what is it?” Penny leaped out of bed.

“I’m worried about the car keys,” he called through the transom. “You didn’t by chance see them after we left the dining room?”

“Why, yes,” Penny reassured him. “You left them lying on the table. I picked them up and forgot to tell you. They’re here on the dresser. I’ll hand them out.”

“No, never mind. Keep them. I was just afraid they were lost. Goodnight.”

Mrs. Deline glanced curiously at the key ring on the dresser. She remarked that she had not seen Penny pick it up.

“You were talking to Dad at the time,” the girl replied.

Leaving the keys on the dresser, she leaped into bed again and settled herself for a comfortable sleep. Mrs. Deline presently turned out the light and took the other bed. For a time Penny was annoyed by voices from the hallway, then all became quiet. She slept.

Much later Penny awoke. She stirred and rolled over. The rain had ceased and moonlight was flooding into the room. A beam fell directly across Mrs. Deline’s bed, revealing a mass of crumpled sheets and covers.

Penny stared, scarcely believing her eyes. The bed was empty.