“Her face is dirty,” he observed, sternly. “She ought to be washed. Any warm water in that kettle, Eddy?”
“Yep. But I got to hurry, before the rest of ’em get up. Go on and eat, kid!” He turned to Ross. “Tell you what I thought. I know a place where I can take her and keep her till you come and get her after dark. It’s a cottage where there’s nobody living just now. You go up the Post Road about eight miles, till you come to a church that’s being built on the left side of the road. Then you turn—”
“Yes,” said Ross. “I—” He stopped, and Eddy sat staring blankly at him.
“What?” he cried. “D’you know?”
“Go on!” said Ross. “Go on! Tell me how to get there.”
“What made you say ‘yes,’ like that?”
“I meant I was listening to you. Go on, man!” And because of his distaste for this lie, Ross spoke with a brusque impatience which impressed Eddy.
“All right!” he said. “But lissen here! I—well—you’re a funny sort of guy. I never seen any one so close-mouthed in my life. I can’t make out yet who you are, or what you come here for. But—” He sighed, and stroked his glossy hair. “I got to trust you, that’s all. Last night I thought I’d go crazy, trying to think what I could do about the kid. I couldn’t—I’ll tell you where this place is, and I hope to Gawd you’ll keep still about it. ’Cause, if we get any one else monkeying around there—well—there’ll be trouble, that’s all. Big trouble.[Pg 466]”
“Go on!” said Ross.
So Eddy did go on, giving him careful directions for reaching the cottage Ross had visited the day before with Amy.