A Quiet Undertaking by Penny Warner

Author:Penny Warner [Warner, Penny]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-57382-7
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2000-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

A posse of sheriffs was headed up the path.

I must have dropped the postcard in my hurry out the door. It wasn’t in my hand when I dove behind Septimus Penzance’s headstone. I was moving on blind instinct—fight or flight. Flight was preferred over trying to explain my actions to Sheriff Mercer, which would have turned into a fight.

I looked behind me and spotted a hand gripping another gravestone. Andrew’s. Behind it I could see the top of Courtney-Freedom’s maroon and orange spiked hair. I wondered if their hearts were beating as fast as mine. Then I wondered if I could be arrested for contributing to their delinquency.

I didn’t have time to think about life in prison at the moment. I was too busy trying to hide from the suspicious eyes of Sheriff Mercer and Sheriff Locke as they hurried toward the trailer. Andrew had done well as a lookout, but even so, we’d barely cleared out in time for their arrival.

The two sheriffs were talking, but I couldn’t make out anything they said. Sheriff Mercer surveyed the trailer, trying to peer in the windows as he moved around the back and came out the other side. Sheriff Locke tried to poke something into the lock, but didn’t have any luck. Apparently I had remembered to shut the door on my way out, and it had locked itself. I still held the key.

When Sheriff Mercer appeared at the front of the trailer again, Sheriff Locke indicated she couldn’t open the door. I still couldn’t read their lips, but from Sheriff Mercer’s body language, I could tell he had a plan. Forcing up one of the window slats on the door, he reached in and unlocked the handle from the inside.

I felt a sharp pain in my back. I turned just in time to take another hit in the shoulder. Someone was throwing rocks at me!

I strained to see where they were coming from and spotted Andrew’s head popping up from behind his headstone like a jack-in-the-tomb.

“Quit it!” I mouthed, hoping he could lip-read a little.

Andrew gestured wildly in the direction of the mortuary, where the two sheriffs had come from. In the distance, moving between the pine trees, came Del Rey.

Even from afar, I could tell by her gait she was upset. I knew I would only make things worse if I was caught hiding, so I decided it was time to show myself. To Andrew and Courtney’s horror, I stood up and tried to act as if I had just arrived at the trailer. I waved to Del Rey but she didn’t return my welcoming gesture.

When Del Rey reached me, puffing and out of breath, I saw that streaks of tears covered her face.

“Del Rey! I …was just looking for you—What’s wrong? And where’s Chunker?”

“Sheriff Mercer is here?” She looked even more upset.

I nodded. “And Sheriff Locke. They’re in the trailer.”

“They had no right to take that key …” was all I caught. Her face and lips were so distorted from crying, she was nearly impossible to read.

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