Chapter Two: A SURPRISE INVITATION
The old crone's face bore a hostile expression as she stopped in front
of the tower and planted her feet firmly in the snow. She made a movement
with the rifle indicating that the girls should move on.
"Just skate yourselves right away from here, young ladies. We shall
have no visitors here at Spirit Island!"
Louise stared at the woman agape for a moment, then her cheeks began
to burn red with indignation. "We skated close to shore to get a look at
the castle," she told the woman. "We are not committing any crime."
"Furthermore," added Jean, a scowl on her face and her hands on her
hips, "we happen to know that this property belongs to Rutherford Symington,
for whom our uncle captains a luxury liner. I'm sure he'd not mind the nieces
of a loyal and important employee taking a close look at his property."
The old woman's expression altered slightly, but her beady eyes narrowed
as she lowered the rifle so it was no longer aimed directly at the girls.
"Then be off with you! You have come as close as the law allows. This island
is private property and no trespassing is allowed."
Evelyn, too, had an insulted expression on her face. "We are students
at Starhurst School for Girls," she said. "My parents used to socialize with
the Symingtons. It is an outrage to be threatened with a firearm when we
have done no wrong."
Louise gave Evelyn an encouraging smile, then turned back to the fur-clad
crone. "How do we know you have a right to be here? As far as anyone knows,
the castle is no longer inhabited. What are you doing here?"
The woman's eyes were like black stones, and they flashed angrily
at Louise. She raised the rifle and screeched, "I will not be questioned
by nosy trespassers!"
The rifle cracked and a loud report split the peaceful wintry calm
as a bullet whizzed over the girls' heads. All three of them cringed as they
ducked down, knowing that the shot had been much too close for comfort.
"Go away and don't come back!" the hostile woman shouted.
Evelyn had turned and began to quickly skate away. Needing no further
urging, Louise and Jean were soon at her side and the trio sped for
shore.
"Goodness! Who is that woman and what is she doing there?" asked Jean
breathlessly, tossing a quick look back over her shoulder. "And what is she hiding?" Louise wanted to know. "I doubt that Mr.
Symington has an armed guard protecting his Ice Castle from
trespassers."
"Especially an old witch like that," Evelyn agreed. "Just imagine!
Being fired upon while ice skating!"
"It's outrageous," put in Jean. "We shall go to the authorities
immediately."
"I have a better idea," Louise said. "We'll have Uncle Ned ask Mr.
Symington if his Ice Castle is being guarded. I strongly suspect that he
doesn't know anything about that woman."
Jean nodded in agreement, her eyes alight. "It appears we have stumbled
upon a mystery, girls. Something very strange is going on at Spirit
Island!"
Mysteries were nothing new to the Dana girls. They had a knack of
running into them wherever they went, and they had in the past proved themselves
of being capable to follow them out to satisfying conclusions. Upon beginning
their studies at Starhurst School for Girls, Jean and Louise solved their
first mystery when they found the missing Starr jewels by the light of a
study lamp. Many other strange and sinister cases followed and the girls
gained a name for themselves as amateur detectives in and around Penfield.
Recently, while on a holiday trip to New York City, the sisters had come
to the aid of a homeless woman and solved the mystery of The Specter in
the Snow. Now, it appeared they were on the verge of another startling
riddle, this one concerning the Ice Castle of Spirit Island.
The three girls had rounded the point on the island's end when Jean
suddenly exclaimed, "Look! In the woods! I just saw a flash of red."
She was pointing to the back shore of the island that they were quickly
approaching. Louise and Evelyn followed her gaze, but there was nothing to
be seen in the thickly wooded area leading up from the shore.
"Maybe it was a bird," Evelyn suggested. "A cardinal, perhaps."
Jean pointed. "No, there it is again!"
Louise pushed on forward. "I see it too. It looks like someone moving
through the trees. Somebody in a red coat!"
"Yes, now I see," Evelyn agreed. "Who can it be? Don't tell me there
is a second person inhabiting this island."
"We shall soon find out," Jean said, skating on and pulling the other
two girls along with her. "Something strange is going on here and I feel
it is our obligation to investigate."
"My feelings exactly," Louise replied quickly, with a nod of her head.
"Uncle Ned is an employee of Mr. Symington's, and our family's good fortune
depends on the stability of the shipping company. Something might be going
on here that possibly could undermine it."
With that noble purpose in mind, the three Starhurst girls skated
closer to the shore scrutinizing the woods for the red-coated stranger.
"There," Evelyn whispered as they reached the thick trees at the edge
of the woods. "Someone is leaning against a tree."
In the gathering gloom about twenty yards from shore a figure wearing
a red hooded jacket could be seen leaning against the trunk of a thick old
tree.
"He or she must be resting," Louise said in low tones. She pointed
at the ground on shore. "Look, there are footprints here in the snow."
Jean nodded. "That hooded figure must have walked across the ice from
the shore and is now headed to the Ice Castle."
"Shall we follow?" Evelyn asked apprehensively, still wary of being
near the island. "What if this person is armed too?"
Jean and Louise were not eager to approach the stranger after the
recent experience with the angry woman with the rifle, but their curiosity
demanded that they do something. Deciding on a different tact, Louise
cupped her hands around her mouth and called out:
"Hello! Hello there!"
Startled, the mysterious figure whirled away from the tree and spun
around, showing a pale wide-eyed face framed by the red hood.
"Why, it's just a girl," Jean exclaimed. "She can't be any older than
us."
Immediately, the pale-faced figure spun back around and began thrashing
through the trees and underbrush in the direction of the Ice Castle on the
other side of the island.
"Oh, don't go," Louise cried out. "Stop!"
Instinctively, all three girls had stepped onto the shore and started
to run after the retreating figure. However, even though the snow was deep
and offered some support, running along the ground on ice skates proved to
be difficult.
"We'll never catch up to her," Jean groaned as they watched the girl
disappear into the gloomy forest.
Evelyn grunted in agreement. "I should think we'd break an ankle
first."
"I wonder who she is," Louise mused as they slowed their pace. She
momentarily grabbed onto a tree for support. "Just watch your step. Perhaps
we can follow her tracks for a while."
Cautiously, the girls plodded on as they followed the footprints of
the hooded stranger. But soon their ankles began to ache from the effort,
and a light snow had begun to fall.
"We had better turn back," Evelyn suggested. "It is getting dark and
it's snowing too. We must return to the lodge and get our boots, then hurry
back to Starhurst. And I don't think it wise to get too close to the Ice
Castle again."
Jean and Louise agreed, although if it were earlier and they were
wearing boots they both would go on further. The direction in which they
were headed would eventually lead them to the back of the Ice Castle, and
their natural curiosity to get to the bottom of a mystery would spurn them
on regardless of the woman's warning, although they certainly would proceed
with great caution.
"We'll come back another day," Louise declared, as they turned to
go back. "And we'll carry our boots out to the island so we can
investigate."
"Wait a minute," Jean called out, tapping upon a tree at her side.
"This is the tree that the girl was leaning on when you called to her, Louise.
Look! a piece of cloth from her coat is snagged on this little knob."
The knob was a small spike from a broken branch. Louise picked off
the small piece of red wool that was stuck onto it and turned it over in
her glove.
"It must have torn off when she whirled around," Evelyn
surmised.
"Most likely," Louise agreed. "It's not much to go on, but at least
it's a clue."
"Oh!"
The other two girls heard Jean gasp and watched as she dropped to
her knees and thrust her hand into a tangled thicket next to the tree. A
moment later she withdrew a small leather case.
"The girl must have dropped this when we startled her," she said
excitedly, getting back on her feet and brushing the snow off the zippered
case. "This could be something important. Shall we look at the
contents?"
Louise looked up at the falling snow and shook her head in dismay.
"We really must hurry home. It's dark now and snowing, and we have quite
a hike ahead of us. Let's save it for later and look at the contents after
dinner. And," she added with a smile, "it gives us a definite reason to come
back here. We'll have to return the case to its owner."
Although they were intensely curious about the contents of the mysterious
case, the girls were in complete agreement that they must hurry back to
Starhurst. Jean pocketed the case along with the piece of cloth, and they
made their way back through the woods in the descending gloom and quickening
snowfall.
Once back on the ice the going was easier and the girls discussed
their recent experience as they skated across the open reaches. Jean wondered
if the woman with the rifle could be an Indian woman, for there once had
been tribes living along the lake.
"It is possible," Evelyn responded. "That would explain the furs and
long thick hair. There is a reservation across the lake and some Indians
still live there, although many have moved away as they integrate into
society."
"We know one thing for sure," Louise commented. "The island is not
haunted by ghosts and apparitions. That woman and the girl were as real as
you and me. And the light in the tower window and the rifle were real
too."
They all three cringed at the memory of the bullet whizzing over their
heads and quickened their pace. Within minutes they stepped ashore in front
of Forest Lodge and hurried onto the long verandah that spanned the front
of the old log building to change into their boots. They had left them on
a shelf in a storage area for skis, snowshoes, and other sporting gear across
from the front windows. No guests were outdoors at the moment and the place
seemed almost deserted. But the girls knew that the dinner hour was near
and they could see a few people milling around in the cozy interior.
"Wouldn't it be fun to stay here tonight?" Jean suggested after they
had changed from their skates.
"We could get a room with a fireplace, have
a delicious meal, then get up at dawn and skate out to explore Spirit
Island."
Evelyn chuckled grimly as they stepped off the verandah. "We'd be
in a real stew with Professor and Mrs. Crandall if we stayed, although it
certainly would be a lot of fun. Let's hope we get back to Starhurst in time
for the dinner bell, lest we get in trouble for being late."
Jean and Louise knew exactly what Evelyn was hinting at. Lettie Briggs,
a fellow student who was very jealous of the Dana girls and their friends,
was always looking for a reason to get them in trouble. Even if they could
sneak into the dining room after the bell had rung, Lettie would surely call
it to everyone's attention.
The falling snow, however, remained on the lighter side and did not
hamper the girls' progress. They hurried along the winding road which skirted
Indian Lake and soon arrived at the highway which led into Penfield. They
were highly invigorated from the afternoon spent outdoors in the cold weather
and made quick time back to the grounds of the highly regarded school for
girls.
"What an adventure we had at Indian Lake today!" Evelyn exclaimed
as they entered the dormitory through a back service door, stomping the snow
from their boots. "We'll have to meet later to inspect the contents of the
leather case we found."
"Come to our study after dinner," Louise invited as they hurried up
the stairs. "We'll open the case and, hopefully, whatever is in it will shed
some light on this new mystery."
Neither the Dana girls nor Evelyn saw the other girl who was standing
just within a utility closet on the landing. The girl pressed herself to
the wall as she heard the happy voices and her eyes widened at the word
mystery. She waited until the other girls had gone upstairs, then
hurriedly ran up to her own suite.
The girl was Ina Mason, the one and only friend of the troublesome
Lettie Briggs, with whom she roomed in the dormitory. She burst into their
suite calling:
"Lettie! Lettie!"
"Why, what is it, Ina?" Lettie Briggs responded, standing before a
mirror and admiring a new fur hat she had purchased that afternoon.
"It's the Dana girls," Ina said breathlessly. "They hurried into the
back door downstairs while I was emptying our waste basket. Evelyn Starr
was with them. They'd been ice skating at Indian Lake and had an adventure!
They found a new mystery and also a leather case someone obviously lost.
They are meeting in the Dana's study after dinner to open it."
Lettie slowly removed her new hat, eyeing her chum speculatively in
the mirror. Her pinched and rather unpleasant-looking face wore a sly smile.
"Good work, Ina! I'm dying to know all about it, of course."
She handed the new hat to her friend. "Please put this away for me.
I'll go eavesdrop by their door in hopes of learning more. I'll meet you
in the dining room for dinner."
The girl quickly made her way to the hall outside the Dana suite,
in which Jean and Louise were changing into clothes suitable for the dining
room. The leather case and piece of red wool had been placed on a table next
to the sofa in their study and Jean, now dressed in a skirt and sweater,
retrieved them to place in a desk drawer.
"Oh look," she called to Louise. "Someone brought in our mail
earlier."
She put the case and piece of cloth safely into the top drawer and
picked up the envelopes that had been placed on the desk. She was flipping
through them as Louise came into the study from the bedroom.
"One is from Uncle Ned!" Jean cried, retaining it in her hand as she
placed the others back on the desk top.
"Do open it," Louise urged, checking her wrist watch. "We have a couple
minutes to spare before we have to be in the dining room."
Jean quickly slit the envelope with a letter opener and pulled out
the missive from their beloved uncle. As she scanned the sheet an astonished
expression came over her face.
"What is it?" Louise asked. "You look quite amazed."
"I certainly am!" Jean exclaimed. "We have been invited along with
Uncle Ned and Aunt Harriet to spend the weekend at Bleak Acres, the Symington
estate outside Penfield. There have been strange goings-on at the old mansion,
terrifying Mr. Symington and his wife. And Uncle Ned seems to think that
you and I can solve the mystery!"
Read the complete novel on the website listed above!
