Penny brushed snow from her coat and did not answer.
“That man couldn’t have been your father,” Louise said kindly. “Do come back, Penny.”
“But it was Dad! I’m sure of it!”
“You called to him,” Louise argued. “If it had been Mr. Parker he couldn’t have failed to recognize your voice.”
“It was Dad,” Penny insisted stubbornly. “He’s being held a prisoner here!”
“But that’s ridiculous! Whoever that man is, he could escape from the grounds just as easily as you climbed the gate.”
Penny did not wish to believe, yet she knew her chum was right.
“Anyway, I’m going to talk to him,” she declared. “Now that I am inside the grounds, I’ll ring the doorbell.”
Leaving Louise and Joe on the other side of the fence, Penny went boldly to the front door. She knocked several times and rang the bell. There was no response.
“Why doesn’t someone answer?” she thought impatiently.