“Identical twins,” she replied. “Some people couldn’t tell one from the other, but I could. Philip laughed more than Paul did. He was more reckless, too. When we played follow-the-leader, he would lead us places that Paul and I were afraid to go.”
“What sort of places?” asked Judy.
“Well, there was a cave in the side of the mountain. I don’t remember exactly where it was. It was a natural cave,” she remembered. “I don’t imagine it’s there any more. It seems to me it was about where that monument stood.”
“Could the monument have been built over it? That might explain the voice that told the children to go away. It would explain the footstep, too!”
“Then he was there!” Helen Riker exclaimed.
“Who?” asked Judy.
“Old Uncle Paul,” she replied with a shiver. “He knew about the cave. He chased us out and took possession of it for himself just as he took possession of everything he wanted. I hated him for his selfishness. I wanted to hurt him. I knew it was wrong to keep the statue, but it was my way of paying him back. He must have turned queer to build a tomb and hide in a cave underneath it to scare people. I wonder if he knew who we were.”
“How could he know? Do you think he was peeking out from somewhere? But how could he know you even if he was? You were a little girl then—”
“I know,” she interrupted, “but I’m like my mother. I thought perhaps I could keep house for him like my mother did. Our one hope was that he would welcome us and forgive me when I gave him back the little jade statue of Sita. But now it’s stolen and he didn’t want to see us. Philip’s insurance money is all gone. We used the last of it coming here. I’ll have to go to work, I guess, and put the children in a foster home. I don’t suppose you’d consider letting them stay on here with you? I’d pay you out of my wages. Maybe I could wait on tables or find work in a store. Do you mind looking after the children if I begin hunting for something tomorrow?”
“Not at all,” Judy replied.