Holly shook her head. “Mr. Sammis won’t.”
“I hope he doesn’t owe very much. Maybe he just came to the office.” Judy went on exploring possibilities. “He could have seen my picture there. You know how fathers are, always keeping family pictures around.”
“I know,” Holly agreed, now more interested in the passing scenery than in the unpleasant shopkeeper. She noticed a little stream at the lower side of the road and asked, “Is that the Allegheny River?”
“I guess so,” Judy replied. “It’s getting smaller, isn’t it? The head is just beyond our lot in Gold.”
“Your lot in Gold?”
“Gold is the name of a town,” Judy explained, laughing. “The lot was given to my father in payment of a bill. I used to think it was a gold mine and would make us rich some day. But doctors like Dad never get rich. Some people can’t pay him, and others won’t.”
Judy’s eyes narrowed as she thought again of Mr. Sammis. They drove on for a little while in silence.
“Is this it?” Holly asked suddenly.
Judy, startled out of her thoughts, did not reply until after they had passed the little town.