“Look, Dad!” Penny exclaimed. “A girl is handling that big boat!”
“Sally Barker,” Jack informed disparagingly. “She’s the daughter of Captain Barker who owns the River Queen. A brat if ever there was one!”
“She certainly has that ferryboat eating out of her hand,” Mr. Parker commented admiringly.
“Oh, she handles a boat well enough. Why shouldn’t she? The captain started teaching her about the river when she was only three years old. He taught her all she knows about sailboat racing, too.”
Jack’s tone of voice left no doubt that he considered Sally Barker completely beneath his notice. As the two boats drew fairly close together, the girl in the pilot house waved, but he pretended not to see.
“You said something about a sailboat race when we were at the dock,” Penny reminded him eagerly. “Is it an annual affair?”
Jack nodded, swerving to avoid a floating log. “Sally won the trophy last year. Before that I held it. This year I am planning on winning it back.”
“Oh, I see,” Penny commented dryly.
“That’s not why I dislike Sally,” Jack said to correct any misapprehension she might have gained. “It’s just—well, she’s so sure of herself—so blamed stubborn. And it’s an insult to Tate’s Beach the way she flaunts the trophy aboard that cheap old ferryboat!”
“How do you mean?” Mr. Parker inquired, his curiosity aroused.