“Back the way we came?” Sandy’s whisper was definitely unenthusiastic.
Ken took one last glance through the window. The man was seated in his chair again, the coffee mug beside him on the table now and a newspaper spread wide in his hands. He had the air of a man who has settled down for a long quiet evening.
Ken shook himself impatiently. There was certainly no reason for them to remain here longer.
He realized that he hadn’t answered Sandy’s last question. He didn’t want to return the way they had come any more than Sandy did. And the ladder leading down from the barge they were on was less than twenty feet away.
He jerked his head toward it. “Let’s take a chance and use this one.”
Sandy nodded his agreement.
They walked carefully toward it across the deck, sliding their feet in the darkness to avoid the possibility of stepping down on something that might upset their balance.
They had covered only half the distance to the ladder when they both started and froze where they stood.
A car had swept onto the dock, through the same opening in the fence which they had used earlier. It swerved to the right after it had gone only a few feet, and its headlights illuminated the barge in a wash of light.
With a single motion the boys dropped flat on the deck.