With that threat, Penny rolled over and lost herself in sleep.
The warm sun was streaming in at the windows when the girls aroused themselves. They dressed and went downstairs, finding the house quite deserted. Apparently Mrs. Leeds, her daughter and Max Laponi had gone to the village for breakfast.
“I wish they had vanished for good but there’s no use hoping that,” Penny commented. “I doubt if even a ghost could keep Mrs. Leeds from remaining until the estate is settled.”
The girls cooked their own breakfast, utilizing supplies which they had purchased at the nearby town. As they washed the dishes and stacked them away, Rosanna mentioned again that she did not feel comfortable about making such free use of her unknown uncle’s property.
“Perhaps it isn’t just the thing to do,” Penny acknowledged, “but the situation isn’t a normal one either. If Mr. Eckert says it is all right for us to stay on, I don’t think we should worry.”
“Will it do us any good to remain?” Rosanna pondered in a troubled tone. “If Mr. Eckert can’t tell us what became of my uncle, who could?”
“That’s just the point, Rosanna. I believe he knows more than he lets on.”
Penny’s gaze wandered to the tiny log cabin set back in the pine woods. Wisps of thin smoke curled from the chimney. That meant that Caleb must be at home.
“Let’s walk down there and talk with him,” she proposed impulsively. “It’s time he answers a few of our questions.”
Caleb did not come to the door to answer their timid knock. Instead he called out a hearty, “Come in,” which they instantly obeyed.