Mystery Behind Dark Windows - Mary C. Jane

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      “Oh, Aunt Rachel,” she cried. “Kim must have climbed out there!”

      Her aunt frowned. “I should have remembered to close that. Will you go out on the porch and call him?”

      Eagerly, Ellie stepped into the windy darkness of the back lawn. She called and called to Kim, but the rising storm seemed to blow the sound of her voice away. If Kim heard it, he made no response. In spite of herself, Ellie felt anxious. The sleek cat loved warmth and comfort. It wasn’t like him to wander away on such a blustery night.

      Shivering, she turned back to the lighted kitchen.

      “I don’t know where he can be,” she said.

      Aunt Rachel’s pale face darkened.

      “I didn’t dream he had gone out or I would have called him long ago,” she said. “I hope nothing has happened to him.”

      “Let me look for him,” Ellie pleaded. “I won’t go far. Just up and down the sidewalk a little way.”

      Her aunt hesitated. “Tony could go with you—”

      “Oh, I don’t need him. I’m not afraid of the dark.”

      She dashed to the hall closet faster than her aunt could follow, pulled on her jacket, and was out the door in half a minute.

      “Oh, Kim,” she cried, “where are you? Come, Kim.”

      The wind billowed her coat and ruffled her hair as she followed along the iron fence in front of the Pride mansion. She went downhill past the gas station and the lighted windows of Miller’s Variety Store as far as the bridge. Then she retraced her steps and went on until she passed the unused church on the hill with the row of tall poplar trees in front of it. The loud whispering of millions of fluttering leaves was a ghostly sound in the darkness.

      She tried not to think of the empty mill and the warehouse across the street, and of the lonely alley that ran between them. Surely Kim wouldn’t go there!

      Even by daylight Ellie hated to walk down Mill Alley. The walls of the buildings rose straight up on each side of it, without a lawn or a bit of yard to give a person breathing space. The alley was like a vise that might close in on you at any minute.

      Yet she did want to find Kim. If she didn’t, Aunt Rachel might decide to search upstairs. She would discover that Tony had gone out. Ellie didn’t want that to happen.

      Hadn’t she seen an old tomcat snoozing on the steps of the mill when she went down that way last week? Maybe cats liked company. Even proud, silent Kim might get lonesome sometimes, just as she did herself.

      She stood on the curb and waited uncertainly while a noisy truck dragged itself up the hill. Then, with a determined toss of her head, she started across Main Street toward the entrance of Mill Alley. She only hoped Aunt Rachel wasn’t watching as she passed under the street light and disappeared in the shadows between the huge buildings.

      It was quiet here. The sound of traffic was dimmed and the wind, though it swooped overhead, had no leaves or window shutters to rattle. Ellie’s voice, calling to Kim, echoed in the shadows.

      By the time she reached the main entrance to Dark-water Mill, she was getting used to the dimness. She could see the wide front steps, but no cats were huddled upon them. With a disappointed sigh she decided that she might just as well go back home. It was then, of course, that she heard a familiar me-ow right at her heels.

      She turned and scooped the cat into her arms, with an excited gasp. “Oh, Kim! Thank goodness I’ve found you.”

      Relief made her forget her nervousness and her worry about Aunt Rachel and Tony. She paused to settle the cat in her arms and to draw a few thankful breaths.

      Suddenly, from behind her and from somewhere far over her head, there came a frightening sound. It was so frightening, in this dark, deserted alley, that she almost dropped Kim in her alarm.

      Inside the echoing mill building that had been empty and locked up for years, something banged loudly—exactly as if a heavy door had slammed shut!

      2

      DARKWATER MILL

      ELLIE squeezed Kim so tightly that he let out a loud, bloodcurdling me-ow. The cry was terrifying at that moment, when nothing seemed so important as to slip away without being seen.

      She raced up the alley, hardly stopping to watch for traffic on Main Street before darting across to the safety of home. There she leaned against one of the columns of the front porch to catch her breath. As soon as she got up strength to open the door, she dropped Kim inside on the hall rug.

      “I found him,” she called shakily.

      Making a beeline for his mistress, Kim jumped into her lap and sat there like a prim statue. His blue eyes stared accusingly at Ellie as if she were the one who had been naughty, leaving him out in the darkness so long.

      Aunt Rachel noticed her pale face.

      “I’m afraid you’re cold, Elinor. The kettle is boiling for my tea. Why don’t you make some for both of us?”

      Ellie looked longingly toward the hall stairway. What she really wanted was to get safely to her room and not to have to worry about Aunt Rachel or Tony or Kim any more tonight. But she dragged her still-shaky legs toward the kitchen and got out the cups and saucers.

      “What about Tony?” her aunt called. “Wouldn’t he like a hot drink too?”

      “He’s probably asleep or he’d be down here by now,” Ellie shouted back.

      She was thankful, even though it wasn’t right to be, that Aunt Rachel had a lame ankle and hardly ever went upstairs. She slept in a small room off the hall that had once been Grandfather Pride’s study.

      Ellie put the teacups and a plate of crackers on a tray and carried it to the living room. In the lamp-light, with Kim washing his naughty face on Aunt Rachel’s lap, the huge, high-ceilinged room seemed almost cozy. Almost like a real home.

      They were just finishing their tea when the back door banged. Tony called from the kitchen, “It’s only me!” and came sauntering into the lamplight.

      Aunt Rachel turned an accusing glance upon Ellie. “Why didn’t you tell me Tony had gone out? Didn’t you know—”

      He spoke up quickly. “Oh, I just slipped down the back stairs a little while ago. I wanted to get some fresh air. I wasn’t gone long.”

      Aunt Rachel continued to look questioningly at Ellie. “I should think you would have known he was out,” she said. Then her glance turned to her tall, dark-eyed nephew and her face softened. “Elinor will get some tea for you,” she said.

      Ellie sighed as she plodded toward the kitchen. She was glad Aunt Rachel wasn’t cross, but gee, Tony sure did get away with murder. Now he would think it was safe to keep on slipping out of the house whenever he felt like it.

      She couldn’t stay cross with him, though, any more than Aunt Rachel could. When they were ready for bed that night, he came tiptoeing into her room, bundled up in his bathrobe. He sat down on the edge of her bed.

      “I hope I didn’t get you into trouble, Ellie,” he said. “It’s just that I can’t stand hanging around this gloomy house every night. I have to get out and have some fun.”

      Ellie’s voice was wistful. “Don’t you wish we were back at Harris Hill School? It still seems more like home to me and this old house never will.”

      Tony shook his head. “I kind of like Darkwater Falls, especially now that I’m on the track team and everything. Anyway, Aunt Rachel can’t afford to keep us in private school any longer.”

      “She could afford it if she would sell the mill,” Ellie muttered.

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