“What has happened?” Danny’s father was asking. “Why has he turned against me?”
Meta sighed. “I can’t explain that, George, but Peter Dobbs is with the FBI. I called them the other night when Danny didn’t come home. He was at the beaver dam. Beaver dam,” she repeated as if trying the sound of the word. “I was so sure you said you’d meet me at the beaver dam. It was our old meeting place. Remember?”
“I remember,” he replied, looking more bewildered by the minute, “but how would Danny know about it? You didn’t tell him, did you?”
She shook her head. “I never said a word. Naturally I knew he was your boy, but I loved him for himself. I trusted him, too. When he said he was going over to watch the beavers, I believed him.”
“But why would he spend the night there?”
“I’m afraid you’ll have to ask him that question, George,” Meta replied quietly. “I’ve never spoken a word against you. If you’re worthy of your son’s love I’m sure you can win it back—”
“Yours, too?” he asked.
Meta turned away then. Her face was so white that Judy knew she must be near collapse. A neighbor suggested that she lie down for a little while in her house, but Meta protested.
“What will happen to the children?”
“We’ll see that they have places to stay for the night.” Judy turned to Danny’s father. “Did you mean it when you offered your house?”