Jane Carter Investigates: Episode Twenty-Three
“Hey, you!” Mud Cat shouted. “Guess that will teach you to leave
my chicken raft be!”
“Oh, Pop!” Jed shrieked. “Ain’t he funny? He almost set down on
the White Rock rooster!”
“The river ain’t wet, is it?” mocked Jennie.
Glen Conrad stood up in the shallow water, spluttering angrily. He
shook his fist at the group on shore.
“You’ll pay for this!”
While Jed rounded up the few chickens which had escaped from the
wire enclosure on the raft, Mud Cat Joe tied up Tige so that Glen Conrad could
wade ashore.
More outraged than hurt, the man retreated to his car, breathing
threats at every step. Even the exhaust of his automobile sounded angry as he
drove off down the highway.
“That sure was funny.” Flo chuckled. “It served Mr. Conrad right,
too. He had no business trying to cut loose the raft.”
“Maybe we oughtn’t to have sicked the dog on him,” Mud Cat said.
“If that feller does own this shed, I reckon we’ll pay a-plenty fer the fun of
gettin’ rid of him.”
“Well, landlords do have a way of ousting tenants sometimes,” I
said. “He probably will be back.”
“Oh, he’ll be back all right,” said Joe. “And I got a feelin’ he
will be a-bringin’ the sheriff along with him.”
“What will you do then?” asked Florence.
“I don’t know. If I could find The Empress, we’d just climb aboard
and wash our hands of this here upstart. But a river man without no houseboat
is about as lost as a duck in the desert.”
“Well, if Mr. Conrad makes trouble for you, I may be able to do
something about it,” I said. “If he puts you out of the shed, we’ll try to find
you another place.”
“That’s mighty kind of you. But I reckon Jennie an’ me and the
kids won’t never be satisfied living on the land. We kin only feel at home on
the river.”
We said goodbye to the Gains family and drove on toward White
Falls. Since I’d antagonized Glen Conrad, I wondered what kind of reception
we’d get when we reached our destination.
“I wonder if he really does own that shed,” I said. “I suppose he
must, or he wouldn’t have created such a disturbance.”
“How silly to get so excited over a deserted shack. The Gainses
weren’t doing the place any particular harm.”
“Glen Conrad just has meanness in his blood.”
We reached White Falls and parked in front of Old Mansion. The
upstairs shutters were closed, and there was no sign of life. However, Glen
Conrad’s battered car stood on the street, so we knew that he had arrived ahead
of us.
Flo rang the bell. The door was flung open, and Mrs. Conrad
confronted us, her eyes blazing.
“You’re not wanted here. Go away and mind you, don’t come back!”
She started to close the door, but I blocked it with my foot.
“Really, we had nothing to do with your husband’s unfortunate
accident,” I said. “Please, may we see Emma just for a moment?”
“No, you cannot.”
“What right do you have to refuse?” I demanded.
Mrs. Conrad’s answer was to slam shut the door, barely missing my
foot.
“I’ll ring again,” said Florence. “I’ll hold my finger on the bell
until she comes back.”
“No, that would only get Emma into more trouble,” I said.
“It’s not right that she has to work in such a place.”
“I agree with you there, Florence.”
“We have to talk her into returning to Greenville with us.”
“Something has gone wrong here,” I said. “I get the feeling that
we wouldn’t have been welcome even if Mr. Conrad hadn’t fallen into the river.
Emma knows something, and the Conrads are afraid she’ll tell us!”
“If you believe that, Jane, let’s see her even if we have to break
down the house.”
“We might just try the rear door first” I suggested, “before we
commence taking down the house board by board.”
We crept around to the back entrance. The kitchen door was closed.
I tried the knob. It was locked.
“Lift me up so that I can peep into the window,” I said. “If Emma
is there, I’ll signal her.”
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