His voice sounded so concerned that Vicki could almost see the minister’s face, his quiet expression and perceptive eyes. Why should she not confide in him? He was Lucy’s good and old friend.
“Yes, I’ll tell you why, Mr. Hall,” Vicki said into the telephone. “It’s a long story, it goes back to Lucy’s grandparents—”
“Her grandparents! Her only surviving grandparents are the Marshall Bryants, in New York.”
“Yes. They want Lucy at last, you see. But a terrible thing has happened because of the inheritance.” Vicki told the minister the whole story of the Bryants, Thurman Dorn, and the false Lucy. Then she told him of her own search which had led her to Lucy and Mrs. Heath and the truth.
“I am appalled,” the minister said, after she had finished. “Why not go to the police at once?”
“Because it could ruin Lucy’s first meeting with her grandparents.” Vicki explained Lucy’s nervousness about meeting the Bryants, after years of being ostracized. She mentioned their abhorrence of publicity.
“Yes, I see,” the minister said reluctantly. “What alternative is there? What do you plan to do, Miss Vicki?”
She told him of her plan to return to Pine Top. She told Mr. Hall of the telephone signal Lucy was listening for, and described exactly what he must do, and gave him the telephone number of the hidden house.
“I’ll call you tomorrow, Mr. Hall, just before I start out by car for Pine Top. It’s a three-hour drive, so I’ll call you early. You’re to signal by telephone at, say, nine A.M. That will give Lucy three hours’ notice.”
“Of course I’ll do it. But, Miss Vicki! Isn’t it dangerous for you, and for Lucy, too, to attempt this escape?”