Read Online Amazing Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman - Free Book Online

not send Red Queen or Black Jack before Friday.”
    “Look here,” said Colin, regarding them uneasily.
    “And the identity of Red Queen?” asked Mrs. Pollifax.
    “I say,” broke in Colin again, looking increasingly alarmed.
    “Red Queen was Agatha Simms. I thought at first youmight be she but you’re not. For my benefit—because you know so much about it—can you identify Black Jack?” asked Magda, and Mrs. Pollifax complied by bending over her and whispering the name of Carstairs. Magda nodded. “We understand each other—good. Now you must help me get to Yozgat, please.”
    Mrs. Pollifax looked at her blankly. “I beg your pardon?”
    “Yozgat.”
    “Who on earth is Yozgat?”
    Colin said testily, “It’s a town, a Turkish town off beyond Ankara somewhere.”
    Mrs. Pollifax stared at Magda in astonishment. “But that’s out of the question. I’m carrying a passport for you, all very legal and made out in the name of Alice Dexter White, and sufficient funds for you to get to America. You’re to leave Turkey at once—and really you can, I think, in spite of all the furor because I’ve thought about it, and if I dye your hair and bring you some fashionable American clothes—”
    A strangled gasp came from Colin but they paid it no attention. Magda sat up and said flatly, “I cannot leave this country yet, not even if it costs me my life.”
    “But you must,” cried Mrs. Pollifax. “The police are looking for you—”
    “I know, I know,” admitted Magda, “and so are the Russians and the Bulgarians—”
    An outright groan issued from Colin.
    “—not to mention the people who kidnapped me from the British consulate and who are far more dangerous than any police.” She edged her feet over the seat and dangled them. “But my life is of no significance at all if I leave without what I brought with me, and I
must
get to Yozgat. What is the trouble?” she asked of Colin, turning toward him. “Are you ill?”
    He was sitting on the orange crate staring at them in open-mouthed horror. “My God,” he gasped, “I’m harboring a bloody pair of spies! The two of you!”
    “You insisted on listening,” Mrs. Pollifax reminded him patiently.
    “But she’s that woman everybody’s looking for!” Helooked haggard. “And she’s sitting right here in my uncle’s garage!”
    “Yes, she is,” admitted Mrs. Pollifax, “but really I’m trying very hard to think of where to take her, I
don’t
want to involve you in this, you’ve already been so very kind—”
    “Kind!” he said in a stricken voice. “Kind! You seemed like such a nice elderly lady!” He stopped, appalled. “I say, I’m terribly sorry, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.” He looked even more appalled to discover himself apologizing. “Oh, hang it all,” he said fiercely, and turning to Magda, “Do you know of somewhere to go?”
    “Yes, to Yozgat,” she said firmly.
    “Magda—”
    She turned to Mrs. Pollifax impatiently. “Why do you think they not kill me?” she demanded. “They want what I brought with me; I cross the Bulgarian frontier—do not ask me how—and I know I am followed so I separate myself from what I brought with me and I go instead to Istanbul for help. Now I must get to Yozgat, to recover what I bring. Do you not understand that—” She stopped uncertainly. “I hear someone.”
    “It must be Henry,” said Mrs. Pollifax and turned toward the door expectantly.
    But it was not Henry. Two square-shouldered bulky young men in trenchcoats stood in the door regarding them and the interior of the garage with interest. Magda caught her breath sharply. Mrs. Pollifax pulled herself together and said in a steady voice, “And who are you?”
    The bulkier of the two men casually pulled a gun from his pocket.
    “Police?” said Colin hopefully.
    “I don’t think so,” Mrs. Pollifax told him regretfully.
    Magda sighed. “Stefan and Otto, I grow tired with you. For what do you want to follow