Chapter XXIV: 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.