Read Online The Twisted Window by Lois Duncan - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Lois Duncan
Tags: General, Action & Adventure, Family, Juvenile Fiction, Survival Stories, Mysteries & Detective Stories, Stepfamilies
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Gavin's after all? When he told Tracy that he would recognize Gavin's car anywhere, he had spoken more with emotion than reasoned certainty. In the dark, cars of the same make and color were hard to tell apart, and a silver Jaguar, while unusual, was hardly unique.
Pulling the door open the rest of the way, Brad got into the car and slid across the seat to the passenger side. Since he had not been permitted to drive the sports car, he was unfamiliar with the possessions that were usually kept in it, but it was possible, he thought, that there might be something in the glove compartment that he would recognize as having belonged to his stepfather.
His first reaction upon opening the compartment was disappointment. Its only contents seemed to be road maps, a pack of cigarettes, some loose sticks of gum, and a misshapen candy bar that had melted and reformed itself inside its wrapper. Upon further investigation, however, he found what he was looking for. Buried beneath the pile of maps there was a brown manila envelope that contained the owner's manual and car registration.
With his heart beating faster, Brad removed the papers and held them under the light. The name on the registration was the one he had hoped to find there.
It's you! he exulted silently. I've tracked you down! You're in that house, and I bet you have Mindy with you!
He carefully returned the documents to the glove compartment and snapped it shut. Then he slid back across the seat and got out of the car.
"Well?" Tracy asked him. "Did you find anything?"
"It's Gavin's car, all right," Brad told her. "There's something odd, though, about the way he's stopped taking care of it. It's as though it doesn't matter to him the way it used to."
He eased the car door closed and without further conversation turned to lead the way across the lawn to the house. Skirting its darkened front, he continued on around to the far side of the building, where a shoulder-high hedge separated the Carver property from the lot next door. The grounds on this side of the house were mottled with pools of light cast by uncurtained windows; deep reservoirs of darkness lay between them. He tried to avoid the bright areas as best he could, and as a result found himself struggling to maneuver an obstacle course of metal trash cans and piles of firewood.
The first of the windows on this side of the house faced into the living room. It was a small, pleasant room, inexpensively furnished. Brad's mother would have referred to the decor as Leftover Newlywed. A set of brick and board bookshelves ran the full length of the room's back wall, and in the foreground a mismatched couch and chairs were arranged in a semicircle to form a conversation group around a tile-covered coffee table. The window was not wide enough to permit a full view of the room, but from what Brad was able to see it appeared unoccupied, although he thought he could detect the muffled sound of conversation filtering in from some adjoining area.
Silently, Tracy moved to stand beside him, stretching up on her toes to see over the window ledge.
"They must be back in the kitchen," she said. "Do you suppose they do have Mindy here?"
"I don't just suppose it, I know it," said Brad. "I see Bimbo."
"You see what?" Tracy asked in bewilderment.
"Bimbo, Mindy's bear. Can you see that brown thing on the floor over by the recliner? That's the teddy bear I gave Mindy on her very first birthday."
"You mean, Gavin kidnapped the bear as well as your sister!" Tracy said dubiously. "Why would he take the trouble to do that?"
"Bimbo's her favorite toy. She won't go anywhere without him. She must have had him with her when Gavin took her."
There was a short silence, during which they both continued to stare in through the glass at the unpopulated room, as though expecting a child to suddenly pop out of the woodwork.
Then, Tracy commented, "There's a horse in the
Pulling the door open the rest of the way, Brad got into the car and slid across the seat to the passenger side. Since he had not been permitted to drive the sports car, he was unfamiliar with the possessions that were usually kept in it, but it was possible, he thought, that there might be something in the glove compartment that he would recognize as having belonged to his stepfather.
His first reaction upon opening the compartment was disappointment. Its only contents seemed to be road maps, a pack of cigarettes, some loose sticks of gum, and a misshapen candy bar that had melted and reformed itself inside its wrapper. Upon further investigation, however, he found what he was looking for. Buried beneath the pile of maps there was a brown manila envelope that contained the owner's manual and car registration.
With his heart beating faster, Brad removed the papers and held them under the light. The name on the registration was the one he had hoped to find there.
It's you! he exulted silently. I've tracked you down! You're in that house, and I bet you have Mindy with you!
He carefully returned the documents to the glove compartment and snapped it shut. Then he slid back across the seat and got out of the car.
"Well?" Tracy asked him. "Did you find anything?"
"It's Gavin's car, all right," Brad told her. "There's something odd, though, about the way he's stopped taking care of it. It's as though it doesn't matter to him the way it used to."
He eased the car door closed and without further conversation turned to lead the way across the lawn to the house. Skirting its darkened front, he continued on around to the far side of the building, where a shoulder-high hedge separated the Carver property from the lot next door. The grounds on this side of the house were mottled with pools of light cast by uncurtained windows; deep reservoirs of darkness lay between them. He tried to avoid the bright areas as best he could, and as a result found himself struggling to maneuver an obstacle course of metal trash cans and piles of firewood.
The first of the windows on this side of the house faced into the living room. It was a small, pleasant room, inexpensively furnished. Brad's mother would have referred to the decor as Leftover Newlywed. A set of brick and board bookshelves ran the full length of the room's back wall, and in the foreground a mismatched couch and chairs were arranged in a semicircle to form a conversation group around a tile-covered coffee table. The window was not wide enough to permit a full view of the room, but from what Brad was able to see it appeared unoccupied, although he thought he could detect the muffled sound of conversation filtering in from some adjoining area.
Silently, Tracy moved to stand beside him, stretching up on her toes to see over the window ledge.
"They must be back in the kitchen," she said. "Do you suppose they do have Mindy here?"
"I don't just suppose it, I know it," said Brad. "I see Bimbo."
"You see what?" Tracy asked in bewilderment.
"Bimbo, Mindy's bear. Can you see that brown thing on the floor over by the recliner? That's the teddy bear I gave Mindy on her very first birthday."
"You mean, Gavin kidnapped the bear as well as your sister!" Tracy said dubiously. "Why would he take the trouble to do that?"
"Bimbo's her favorite toy. She won't go anywhere without him. She must have had him with her when Gavin took her."
There was a short silence, during which they both continued to stare in through the glass at the unpopulated room, as though expecting a child to suddenly pop out of the woodwork.
Then, Tracy commented, "There's a horse in the
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