She peered around the corner of the stable, and saw that a sun parlor window was open, probably the one Robert had used yesterday. There was no consistent cover between here and there. The only thing to do was make a dash for the hydrangeas under the window.
She dashed.
No one had seen her. She threw herself under the shrubbery, and crouched, panting. The soles of her feet throbbed.
A heavy greenhouse smell drifted out of the window. By standing on her toes she could just look over the sill into a bright room full of wicker furniture and potted plants. She listened. Somewhere in the house she could hear a clinking of plates and an occasional murmur of voices. They must be at breakfast, then; but where, she couldn’t tell. Far enough from the sun parlor, anyway, to judge by the sounds.
She heaved herself up and slithered in, banging her knees as she passed over the sill, and landing on a basket-work chaise longue that creaked loudly under her weight.
The breakfast sounds continued without pause.
Peeking around the door frame, she discovered that she was looking into a hallway — not the one that contained the elevator, but the wider one on the other side of the house. A quick dash would take her to the stairs. She whisked down the hall. The thick pile of the carpet swallowed all sound — and how kind it felt to her feet after the lumps and bumps outside! Suddenly, before she could notice it and stop herself, she was opposite another doorway. Her horror-stricken glance through the door revealed a breakfast tableau: Maggie with a coffee pot bending over Mrs. Walker; Cousin Jane’s stout, rigid back; a side-view of Robert hunched over and sullenly staring into his lap.
Then she was past the door. None of them had noticed. ‘Oh, what a piece of dumb luck!’ she thought, clutching her hands to her head as she flew up the stairs. ‘I can hide in Vicky’s room till Bobbie comes up.’
Victoria’s door was shut. Could she still be sleeping? Susan knocked softly. There was a stir on the other side of the door, and Victoria whispered, “Bobbie?”
“No,” Susan whispered back, “it’s—” and then there was the sound of heavy slow footsteps on the stairs.
“Bobbie?” Victoria whispered again.
Susan turned the knob and pushed. The door would not open. The footsteps were ascending … Her eyes darted about the hallway. There was an open door! She scurried through it, dropped to the floor, and rolled under the bed. She had a glimpse in passing of maps and flags and a sword on the wall — it must be Robert’s room, thank goodness!
The heavy footsteps came down the hall and into the room. She could see Robert’s shoes coming up to the bed. She heard him groan. His feet vanished and the springs creaked as he threw himself down.
“Bobbie!” she whispered, scrambling out.
The springs gave a violent creak. “Vick!” he whispered. “What’re you —?” Then he saw who it was. “Great Caesar!” he croaked. His face went white.
“What’s the matter?” she whispered. “It’s me!”
“But you — we thought —” he stammered. He touched her face with an icy hand. “Did you get another trip back on the elevator?”
“We never went!”
“But you left your shoes and a letter in the hall!”
“Oh!” she cried, slapping her forehead. She’d forgotten that letter!
“Not so loud!” Robert jumped to the door and closed it. “Oh, Sue! We thought you’d gone for good. We thought the wishing well had failed. Vicky’s been crying her eyes out.”
“Oh, I am sorry! I thought it was all over, too, when I wrote that letter, and then something happened and I forgot to take the letter with me when we went back to the Hollisters’. Why is Vicky’s door locked?”
Robert made a face. “Cousin Jane … She’s locked Vick up and put her on short rations. She didn’t know we were out of the house yesterday, but just after I got back she ambushed me and asked where Vicky was. I said I was sure she was in the house somewhere, and she went searching, and I had to throw my arrowheads and Vick’s mirror out the window. And when poor Vick came back from the wishing well, Cousin Jane pounced on her and just blew her up. And then Mama tried to defend her, and oh my, what a row! The punishment could be worse, I guess. Cousin Jane doesn’t know it, but the key to my door fits Vicky’s door, and there’s a key to one of the closets downstairs that fits both of them. Vick and I found that out long ago when we were playing Prisoner of Chillon. So it means I can keep her in victuals. If her appetite were only better she’d be eating as well as the rest of us. I found your letter and the shoes this morning, by the way, while I was on a foraging raid for her.”
“Could I have the shoes back? My feet are killing me!”
“Totus dexter. They’re in Vick’s room. Hey, what did happen last night?”
Susan brought him up to date on the events of last night and this morning.
“So now,” she concluded, “Daddy’s thinking about what to do next, and he wants to talk to you.”
“We’ll go right now!” He jumped up, then exclaimed, “Oh, your shoes! Mmm … I know — we’ll smuggle a communication in to the prisoner.” He ran over to his desk, and scrawled a note:
Mr. Shaw and Sue still here!! Mr. Shaw’s
heart smitten at last!!! Sue needs shoes,
please hand them out. Destroy this dispatch.
“Totus dexter! Now …” He carefully opened his door and beckoned Susan over. “You stand there,” he whispered, “and keep a lookout down the stairs. Soon as you see or hear anything, give me a signal and retreat back here.”
She nodded, and slipped over to the place he had pointed out. He crept to Victoria’s door, knocked very quietly, and thrust the message underneath the door.
There was a moment of silence, and then a muffled squeak from within. Robert unlocked the door, and Victoria’s head popped out. She looked wild, with rumpled hair and tear-reddened eyes. Her mouth dropped open with unbelieving joy as she caught sight of Susan. Susan waved, trying to say with that gesture, “Oh, Vicky, it’s finally really happened, and I don’t know how we’re going to do it, but we are!” “Shoes!” Robert pantomimed.
Victoria vanished, and reappeared an instant later with the shoes. She blew a kiss at Susan. Robert closed the door and locked it, and he and Susan tiptoed swiftly back to his room.
She had no sooner stuffed her aching feet into the shoes when Robert murmured, “I think they’re coming up, Sue. Quick! Back stairs!”
Footsteps were already sounding on the front stairway as they ran down the hall. Cousin Jane’s voice crackled, “Isabelle, I would strongly suggest that you discharge Maggie as soon as you are in the city, if not sooner. People in reduced circumstances cannot afford —” and then Robert closed another door behind them, and they were in the darkness of the back staircase. These stairs were not carpeted, and their footsteps clattered and reverberated. Robert opened the door at the bottom, poked his head out, and called, “Maggie?”
“Sure and ye make enough clip-clap for two on them stairs!”
“Are you going to clear away the breakfast things now?”
“As soon as Herself’s out o’ the way, an’ not before.”
“She’s upstairs with Mama now.”
Maggie heaved a great sigh. “Ah, well … She’s not after plaguin’ us much longer, there’s a comfort.”
“What do you mean?”
Maggie’s voice sank. “Didn’t I have a dream last night, as clear as ever was? Herself is goin’ on a long, long journey when she least expects it. You watch! An’ good riddance!” Her voice faded out of the kitchen.
“Don’t I wish it, too!” Robert muttered. “Come on, Sue — quiet through the kitchen, and then run like blazes!”
16. Mr. Shaw’s Plan
… in much better spirits after thinking about things. He had a really marvelous idea for taking care of Mr. Sweeney and getting our treasure back. The only thing wrong with it is that it’s going to happen in the dark, so I won’t get to see Mr. Sweeney’s face wh
en we spring the trap …
“Good, good, there you are!” Mr. Shaw cried when they burst into the stable. “I was beginning to wonder if you’d ever — How are you, Bobbie?”
“Corporal Walker reporting and ready for duty, sir!”
“At ease, Corporal,” Mr. Shaw laughed. “I have some duty for you, all right. How is your mother? And Vicky?”
“Well … they’re bearing up, sir.”
Susan explained the situation in the Walker household to her father.
“By George!” Mr. Shaw said, clenching his fists. “I hate to say anything against a relative, Bobbie, but that — that cousin of yours really goes too far.”
“Oh, I agree one hundred percent, sir! I think Mama’s beginning to see through her, too. She pretends to be helping us, and maybe she is, a little; but it’s mostly just an excuse for bullying us about.”
“Well, she has no right to bully you about, and she can’t bully me about, and when the time comes — Well, we’ll deal with that later; right now we have other business. Did Susie tell you about Mr. Sweeney and his plans for us?”
“Yes, sir. Oh, I wish I were grown up! I’d give him such a thrashing!”
“Steady, steady! It’s what he deserves, all right, but I’ve thought of something even better. Susie and I found a curious message in the elevator last night, and it’s given me an idea.” Mr. Shaw grinned and rubbed his hands. “Mr. Sweeney thinks he has plans for us, does he? Well, I have plans for him.”
“Oh, Daddy, what?”
“Well, first I’m going to put a tail on him, as they say in detective stories.”
Robert looked blank.
“Twentieth-century talk, Bobbie — it means I’m going to have him followed. Trailed. By you, if you’re willing.”
“Oh, absolutely, sir! What do you want me to find out?”
“All I want to know is where he’s staying. He doesn’t want me to know, so the chances are good that he’s hiding the treasure there. You know the neighborhood, Bobbie. Where could he be living?”
“Well, there’s the Knutsens and the Blalocks that way, and the Varnums and the Schultzes and the Besemers that way. He might be staying anywhere in town, for that matter.”
“No, I think he’ll stay away from town — he’s been playing his dirty tricks there too, you know … Well, wherever it is, I know you’ll find it. He’s coming here for a progress report in a few hours. When he leaves, he’s all yours.”
“Totus dexter, sir! I know just where to wait for him, too — the old apple orchard.”
“Daddy, I still don’t know what you’re up to.”
“Simple, my dear. We learn where Sweeney is living; we arrange for his prolonged absence; and we reclaim what he took from us.”
“There’s more to it than that,” she insisted. “I can tell by the way you’re smiling.”
“You’re right, there is more. It’s Mr. Sweeney’s prolonged absence that tickles my fancy at the moment. I have decided that if I am going to live in this world, I don’t want Sweeney in it. Therefore, I am going to remove him — permanently.”
“Oh, but, sir —!” and “Daddy —!” Robert and Susan said simultaneously.
He gave a shout of laughter. “Oh, the looks on your faces! No, I don’t mean anything that drastic. What I had in mind was something harmless, but absolutely final. I want to give him a present — the last trip from here on the elevator.”
“Ah-h-h!” Susan cried, clasping her hands.
“Oh, sir, that’s magnificent!”
“I’m kind of pleased with the idea myself,” Mr. Shaw laughed. “It should be simple enough to do, too — we just have to lead him on in the right way. When he comes for his progress report, I’m going to tell him that you’ve made an impression of the key, Susie — that’s the key to your mother’s fictitious jewel box, Bobbie — and that I’m going to have a copy of the key made. I’m going to tell him that the Walkers have invited you to spend the night, Susie, and that you’ll take the key and do the dirty work as soon as everyone’s asleep. I’m going to tell him that all we have to do, he and I, is to sneak into the Walkers’ house at midnight and collect the booty from you. So he should walk right up to the elevator with his tongue hanging out, the rat. And we’ll just — oh, assist him into it, and send him on his way with a long farewell! But of course, we’ll have to make preparations … Bobbie, will you see to it that the doors to your house are unlocked?”
“Trust me, sir!”
“Good. Now, Susie, what you’re going to do is creep into the house as soon as everyone’s settled down for the night. When is that usually, Bobbie?”
“About ten-thirty, sir.”
“A little after ten-thirty then, chick. I don’t think Sweeney will be spying on us at that time of night, but he will be coming to meet me about eleven-thirty, so I want you out of sight well before then. Now, you should have a pillowcase with something fairly heavy inside, to represent the jewels.”
“That’s easy — Vicky and I can fix that up. You’ll have her door unlocked too, won’t you, Bobbie?”
“Leave it to me, Sue.”
“Now, at eleven-thirty,” Mr. Shaw went on, “call up the elevator, Susie. That’s a lot earlier than we need it, but it’s best to have everything ready beforehand. You’d better stick a wedge in the slot to keep the door open — you never know with that elevator when it’s going to decide to close up again. Also, somebody down below might try to call it back, and we have to prevent that.”
“What’ll I use for a wedge?”
“Oh, a folded-up newspaper or magazine should do it. Bobbie, could you—?”
“Yes, sir. I’ll have it all ready for her.”
“Fine! Next step, Susie: turn out the light in the elevator. We’ll want everything as dark as possible. If you can’t find the switch, unscrew the lightbulb.”
“All right. How do we ‘assist’ Mr. Sweeney into the elevator, Daddy?”
“That part will be up to me. He and I will come through the kitchen into the hallway. You’ll be waiting in front of the open elevator with the pillowcase in your hands. Hold it out to the side, like this. When Sweeney puts out his slimy paws to take it, I will shove him into the elevator — hard enough, I hope, to take the wind out of his sails. The minute he goes in, chick, grab the wedge out of the door slot. I’ll reach inside and press a button. And farewell, Mr. Sweeney!”
“Isn’t there anything else that I can do, sir?”
“Yes. I think you and Victoria should be hiding behind the curtains in the hallway. I want you to be ready to come swarming out in case Sweeney needs more assistance than I can give him by myself.”
“Oh, capital, sir! And in case he’s going to be really troublesome, I’ll have my cavalry saber —!”
“No!” Mr. Shaw said. “No. I’m sorry, Bobbie, but it’s going to be dark, and there’ll be too many of us bumping around in a small area to take chances with anything sharp. If he needs more persuasion, we’ll apply it with our hands, and nobody’ll get hurt.”
“Isn’t it going to be awfully noisy, Daddy?”
“That’s the drawback,” Mr. Shaw sighed. “Even at best there’s going to be a pretty heavy thump … I hate the idea of alarming Mrs. Walker, and if Cousin Jane is aroused —!” He shook his head. “But I just don’t know how we can avoid a certain amount of racket.”
“I don’t think a little noise will matter, sir. If Mama or Cousin Jane do come down to see what’s happening, we’ll hear them. You and Susan can retreat out the kitchen door before they get to the hallway, and Vicky and I’ll sort of fade up the back stairs and return to our rooms, and the whole thing will be blamed on Toby.”
“Poor Toby!” Susan laughed. “He is handy that way, though.”
“Well, I suppose that’ll be all right, then,” Mr. Shaw said. “If it is blamed on Toby, I’ll see that he gets something he likes. Now, the only other thing that worries me is Maggie — she could spoil the whole plan just by making an appear
ance at the wrong moment. Does she wander around a lot at night?”
Robert grinned. “Only to catch me, sir. But we have an understanding now. As long as Vicky’s locked up, I’m foraging for her, and Maggie said she’d stay in her room and let me.”
“Ah! Well, if that’s the case, then, I don’t see how we can fail.”
“Oh, we won’t fail, sir! Mr. Sweeney’s doom is sealed!”
They went over the plan once more, to be certain that each knew what was going to be done by whom, and when. Robert was to explain everything to Victoria that evening, as soon as it was safe to release her from captivity.
“Now, Bobbie,” Mr. Shaw concluded, “you said you were going to lie in wait for Sweeney in the apple orchard? Fine! I think maybe you’d better take your station there right now. It’s long before he’s due, of course, but … well, I don’t want to take any chances. He might just happen to come early, or he might spy around here for a while before he makes his appearance.”
“I understand, sir.”
“And listen — I can’t impress this on you too strongly: don’t let him see you. He’s threatened to denounce me to the police if he finds out he’s being followed, and I think he means it. Not that we have anything to fear from the police, but as soon as he tells on us he’ll take the treasure and decamp, and there’ll go our last chance of ever getting it back. So don’t, for heaven’s sake, even let him suspect you’re on his trail.”
“I won’t, sir — trust me.”
“And when you know for certain where he’s staying, come back and report to me. And tonight —” Mr. Shaw smiled and pointed downward. “And then with that behind us, we can begin to consider how to deal with Cousin Jane.”
“Yes, sir. Confusion to the enemy!”
“Exactly. Well, goodbye and good luck, Corporal.”
“Goodbye, Bobbie. Be careful!”
“Goodbye, sir. Goodbye, Sue. I will.”
They all shook hands. Robert gave them a final salute, and vanished out the door.
17. Waiting
All in Good Time Page 12