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Authors: Margaret Sutton
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five, six—”
Before she reached seven she thought she heard a 78
sound downstairs. Could it be a footstep? She was about to get up and investigate when, on the count of seven, the light winked her way again to reassure her that all was well.
“I only imagined that footstep,” she thought as she drifted off to sleep.
79
CHAPTER XI
A Shadowy Figure
TOWARD morning Judy awoke simply because she was cold. Outside the storm had spent itself, but a heavy fog hung over the beach, obscuring everything. The boardwalk seemed to end in a misty cloud, and nothing was to be seen of the surrounding cottages. The ocean had become less wild, tamed into a kitten again. Judy could hear it lapping, lapping. The sound reminded her of Blackberry drinking milk.
She thought of Peter alone in the house in Dry Brook Hollow and wished he could be here with her.
That footstep . . . Had she really heard it? Whatever it had been, she meant to have a look.
While she was downstairs she decided she might as well build up the driftwood fire. It had died down during the night, she discovered, when she opened the stove door. Carefully placing several sticks of wood on the bed of coals, she turned on the drafts 80
and waited until the wood caught fire. The warmth of the blaze felt good on her cold hands. She had left the stove door open to warm them, but now she closed it with a bang.
“Who’s there?” she heard one of the girls call from upstairs.
“Judy, where are you?” came another call.
“Just down here fixing the fire. It was getting cold—”
“Then who is that around in back?” Judy raced to the back door and flung it open in time to see a shadowy figure vanish into the mist. It walked with long strides like a man, but it was wearing women’s clothing.
Thinking she might be able from the tower room to see the direction the figure took, Judy turned and ran back up the narrow, winding stairs. Halfway up, she met Flo, who threw both arms around her and gasped, “Oh, Judy! What is it? What’s going on?”
“Nothing, I hope.”
Judy’s voice came out dry and unconvincing. It seemed safer upstairs than down. Anyway, Flo could not pass her on the narrow stairway. She backed up, still asking, “What is it? What’s going to happen?” Pauline and Irene were huddled in bed together trembling with fright. They spoke in whispers for fear of waking little Judy, still sleeping next to the wall with Lady Luck in her arms.
81
“It was the woman in black. We saw her from this window.”
“Which way did she go?” Judy asked them.
“Toward the dock, I think. She was wearing long black clothes. Nobody dresses like that any more—”
“Except ghosts,” Irene put in, her voice so queer and hollow-sounding that Judy had to laugh.
“She was real. I saw her myself.” Judy didn’t say she had seemed to vanish in the fog. An ordinary person might create the same illusion on such a misty morning.
“Well, she’s gone now.” It was Pauline who made this practical pronouncement. “So let’s forget her and go back to sleep.”
“But it’s morning,” Flo protested. “Judy has already started the fire. I’d like to find out—” She stopped abruptly.
“Find out what?”
“Who she was, of course, and what she was doing here. If my aunt Hazel—”
“No,” Judy interrupted, “it wasn’t Hazel Barton.
It was too tall.”
“What do you mean it ?”
“ She then. She was very tall and very much in a hurry. She took long strides.”
“If that’s all she took—” Pauline began, but Irene wouldn’t let her finish.
“Do you really think she took something? We’ll 82
have to go downstairs and find out. There are people who come to Fire Island off-season to steal. That’s why they have policemen patrolling the beach all winter. The Coast Guard watches, too. You know, the Coast Guard station’s just a little way beyond the lighthouse.”
“No, I didn’t know.”
It comforted Judy, somehow, to know
Before she reached seven she thought she heard a 78
sound downstairs. Could it be a footstep? She was about to get up and investigate when, on the count of seven, the light winked her way again to reassure her that all was well.
“I only imagined that footstep,” she thought as she drifted off to sleep.
79
CHAPTER XI
A Shadowy Figure
TOWARD morning Judy awoke simply because she was cold. Outside the storm had spent itself, but a heavy fog hung over the beach, obscuring everything. The boardwalk seemed to end in a misty cloud, and nothing was to be seen of the surrounding cottages. The ocean had become less wild, tamed into a kitten again. Judy could hear it lapping, lapping. The sound reminded her of Blackberry drinking milk.
She thought of Peter alone in the house in Dry Brook Hollow and wished he could be here with her.
That footstep . . . Had she really heard it? Whatever it had been, she meant to have a look.
While she was downstairs she decided she might as well build up the driftwood fire. It had died down during the night, she discovered, when she opened the stove door. Carefully placing several sticks of wood on the bed of coals, she turned on the drafts 80
and waited until the wood caught fire. The warmth of the blaze felt good on her cold hands. She had left the stove door open to warm them, but now she closed it with a bang.
“Who’s there?” she heard one of the girls call from upstairs.
“Judy, where are you?” came another call.
“Just down here fixing the fire. It was getting cold—”
“Then who is that around in back?” Judy raced to the back door and flung it open in time to see a shadowy figure vanish into the mist. It walked with long strides like a man, but it was wearing women’s clothing.
Thinking she might be able from the tower room to see the direction the figure took, Judy turned and ran back up the narrow, winding stairs. Halfway up, she met Flo, who threw both arms around her and gasped, “Oh, Judy! What is it? What’s going on?”
“Nothing, I hope.”
Judy’s voice came out dry and unconvincing. It seemed safer upstairs than down. Anyway, Flo could not pass her on the narrow stairway. She backed up, still asking, “What is it? What’s going to happen?” Pauline and Irene were huddled in bed together trembling with fright. They spoke in whispers for fear of waking little Judy, still sleeping next to the wall with Lady Luck in her arms.
81
“It was the woman in black. We saw her from this window.”
“Which way did she go?” Judy asked them.
“Toward the dock, I think. She was wearing long black clothes. Nobody dresses like that any more—”
“Except ghosts,” Irene put in, her voice so queer and hollow-sounding that Judy had to laugh.
“She was real. I saw her myself.” Judy didn’t say she had seemed to vanish in the fog. An ordinary person might create the same illusion on such a misty morning.
“Well, she’s gone now.” It was Pauline who made this practical pronouncement. “So let’s forget her and go back to sleep.”
“But it’s morning,” Flo protested. “Judy has already started the fire. I’d like to find out—” She stopped abruptly.
“Find out what?”
“Who she was, of course, and what she was doing here. If my aunt Hazel—”
“No,” Judy interrupted, “it wasn’t Hazel Barton.
It was too tall.”
“What do you mean it ?”
“ She then. She was very tall and very much in a hurry. She took long strides.”
“If that’s all she took—” Pauline began, but Irene wouldn’t let her finish.
“Do you really think she took something? We’ll 82
have to go downstairs and find out. There are people who come to Fire Island off-season to steal. That’s why they have policemen patrolling the beach all winter. The Coast Guard watches, too. You know, the Coast Guard station’s just a little way beyond the lighthouse.”
“No, I didn’t know.”
It comforted Judy, somehow, to know
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