[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
over-reach, feeding each other's egos instead of helping each other get their feet back on the ground.
Though they had wanted so much, they hadn't had the stamina, the will power, or the fanatical dedication
to go after it and get it. And because they lacked that strength, they would fail here too.
She was still thinking about this when, halfway across the lawn toward the manor house, she looked
up and caught sight of something that made her grab Ben's arm.
What is it? he asked.
I thought that I saw
Yes?
He was looking eagerly around the lawn, this way and that, certain that she had spotted the girl,
unaware that the situation might be far more serious than that, unable to accept the fact that everything, as
she had warned him that it might, had fallen through. This was their one big chance. Their luck was
turning. He could only imagine that she'd seen the girl and that they could pick up where they'd left off.
Penny? he repeated.
She stood close to him, but she was still feeling terribly lonely. She watched the third floor of the
house, but she did not want to say anything, for she could not be sure if she had seen what she thought
she had. She didn't want him to think she was foolish. If they were to lose all else this night, at least they
should keep their self-respect and their respect for each other.
But then she saw it again, longer this time, and she cried out: There it is again! She pointed toward
the attic window and said. Up there, a moving light maybe a flashlight. Do you see it, Ben?
The attic! he said, his spirits sinking in the in-stant, staring at the one small window which Gwyn had
never noticed.
Oh, God!
He said, If she's gotten to the trunks
She knows who we are, Penny said, miserably, leaning into him for support. She knows
every-thing about us.
Maybe not anything to do with the hoax.
She must know, Penny said. If she was curious enough to go prowling around, then she must have
had some idea even before she got to the attic. She tried to hold him tight with one arm, and she said,
Ben, let's leave now. Let's not even go back in there to get our things.
That's impossible, he said.
No, it isn't. We could
But he had broken free of her and was running toward the front door of the manor house. She could
do nothing but follow him.
TWENTY-SIX
Gwyn found nothing more important in the last steamer trunk than the four scrapbooks, so she left the
trunk's contents jumbled, closed the lid and slid the latches into place. It didn't much matter that she'd
found nothing more, for she already had everything that she needed. She knew the nature of the mystery
into which she'd fallen, knew the ac-tors who had played in it, and she knew what she would have to do
to extract herself from it, to ring down the final curtain.
Her Uncle Will had not outgrown his childish prejudices, but had reinforced them, if anything. He still
hated her father, and he still cursed her mother for the marriage she'd made. It followed, too, that he
hated her, Gwyn, as much or more than anyone, looked on her as a line of tainted blood in the Barnaby
family. No wonder, then, that he could set up a plan to drive her mad, with little or no worry to his
conscience.
When Ben and Penny returned to the manor, she'd be waiting for them, and she would confront them
with everything that she knew and suspected, see if they filled in the last couple of holes for her. Then,
she would pack and put her things in the car. If Will and Elaine had gotten home by then, she'd give them
a brief but pungent going-away speech to let them know what she thought of them. If they were still out,
she would go away without so much as a goodbye.
She supposed she could press charges against them, but she didn't want all the hassle that would
involve. She had survived them. That was suffi-cient.
She went carefully down the attic steps, out through the closet and into Ben Groves' room. There,
she turned on all of the lights, as she in-tended to turn on others throughout the great house. So far as she
could see, there was no good reason to maintain secrecy as to her whereabouts. The lights would draw
Ben and his wife back to the manor much faster; and the sooner she had an op-portunity to talk with
them, to tell them what she knew, the better.
She stepped into the hall, illuminated by the yellow wash of lamplight that spilled out of the room
behind her, and she was brought up short as Ben shouted at her from no more than ten steps down the
hall.
You! Stop! [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl chiara76.opx.pl
over-reach, feeding each other's egos instead of helping each other get their feet back on the ground.
Though they had wanted so much, they hadn't had the stamina, the will power, or the fanatical dedication
to go after it and get it. And because they lacked that strength, they would fail here too.
She was still thinking about this when, halfway across the lawn toward the manor house, she looked
up and caught sight of something that made her grab Ben's arm.
What is it? he asked.
I thought that I saw
Yes?
He was looking eagerly around the lawn, this way and that, certain that she had spotted the girl,
unaware that the situation might be far more serious than that, unable to accept the fact that everything, as
she had warned him that it might, had fallen through. This was their one big chance. Their luck was
turning. He could only imagine that she'd seen the girl and that they could pick up where they'd left off.
Penny? he repeated.
She stood close to him, but she was still feeling terribly lonely. She watched the third floor of the
house, but she did not want to say anything, for she could not be sure if she had seen what she thought
she had. She didn't want him to think she was foolish. If they were to lose all else this night, at least they
should keep their self-respect and their respect for each other.
But then she saw it again, longer this time, and she cried out: There it is again! She pointed toward
the attic window and said. Up there, a moving light maybe a flashlight. Do you see it, Ben?
The attic! he said, his spirits sinking in the in-stant, staring at the one small window which Gwyn had
never noticed.
Oh, God!
He said, If she's gotten to the trunks
She knows who we are, Penny said, miserably, leaning into him for support. She knows
every-thing about us.
Maybe not anything to do with the hoax.
She must know, Penny said. If she was curious enough to go prowling around, then she must have
had some idea even before she got to the attic. She tried to hold him tight with one arm, and she said,
Ben, let's leave now. Let's not even go back in there to get our things.
That's impossible, he said.
No, it isn't. We could
But he had broken free of her and was running toward the front door of the manor house. She could
do nothing but follow him.
TWENTY-SIX
Gwyn found nothing more important in the last steamer trunk than the four scrapbooks, so she left the
trunk's contents jumbled, closed the lid and slid the latches into place. It didn't much matter that she'd
found nothing more, for she already had everything that she needed. She knew the nature of the mystery
into which she'd fallen, knew the ac-tors who had played in it, and she knew what she would have to do
to extract herself from it, to ring down the final curtain.
Her Uncle Will had not outgrown his childish prejudices, but had reinforced them, if anything. He still
hated her father, and he still cursed her mother for the marriage she'd made. It followed, too, that he
hated her, Gwyn, as much or more than anyone, looked on her as a line of tainted blood in the Barnaby
family. No wonder, then, that he could set up a plan to drive her mad, with little or no worry to his
conscience.
When Ben and Penny returned to the manor, she'd be waiting for them, and she would confront them
with everything that she knew and suspected, see if they filled in the last couple of holes for her. Then,
she would pack and put her things in the car. If Will and Elaine had gotten home by then, she'd give them
a brief but pungent going-away speech to let them know what she thought of them. If they were still out,
she would go away without so much as a goodbye.
She supposed she could press charges against them, but she didn't want all the hassle that would
involve. She had survived them. That was suffi-cient.
She went carefully down the attic steps, out through the closet and into Ben Groves' room. There,
she turned on all of the lights, as she in-tended to turn on others throughout the great house. So far as she
could see, there was no good reason to maintain secrecy as to her whereabouts. The lights would draw
Ben and his wife back to the manor much faster; and the sooner she had an op-portunity to talk with
them, to tell them what she knew, the better.
She stepped into the hall, illuminated by the yellow wash of lamplight that spilled out of the room
behind her, and she was brought up short as Ben shouted at her from no more than ten steps down the
hall.
You! Stop! [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
