“Why didn’t you order the store sent out and be done with it?” responded the housekeeper dryly.
Penny pulled on her heavy coat and hurried to the garage where two cars stood side by side. One was a shining black sedan of the latest model, the other, a battered, unwashed vehicle whose reputation was as discouraging as its appearance. “Leaping Lena,” as Penny called her car, had an annoying habit of running up repair bills, and then repaying its long suffering owner by refusing to start on cold winter days.
“Lena, you get to stay in your cozy nest this time,” Penny remarked, climbing into her father’s sedan. “Dad can’t stand your rattle and bounce.”
The powerful engine started with a blast. While Mrs. Weems watched anxiously from the kitchen window, Penny shot the car out backwards, wheeling it around the curve of the driveway with speed and ease. She liked to handle her father’s automobile, and since he did not enjoy driving, she frequently called at the newspaper office to take him home.
The Star building occupied a block in the downtown section of Riverview. Penny parked the car beside the loading dock at the rear, and took an elevator to the editorial rooms. Nearly all of the desks were deserted at this late hour of the afternoon. But Jerry Livingston, one of the best reporters on the paper, was still pecking out copy on a noisy typewriter.
“Hi, Penny!” he observed, grinning as she brushed past his desk. “Have you caught any more witch dolls?”
“Not for the front page,” she flung back at him. “My newspaper career is likely to remain in a state of status quo for the next two weeks. Dad and I are heading for Pine Top to dazzle the natives with our particular brand of skiing. Don’t you envy us?”
“I certainly would, if you were going.”
“If!” exclaimed Penny indignantly. “Of course we’re going! We leave Thursday by plane. Dad needs a vacation and this time I know he won’t try to wiggle out of it at the last minute.”
“Well, I hope not,” replied Jerry in a skeptical voice. “Your father needs a good rest, Penny. But I have a sneaking notion you’re in for a disappointment again.”