“Goodbye,” Penny said, vaulting into the saddle. “We’ll probably see you again before we leave the valley.”
“Calculate you will,” agreed Old Silas. As he opened the gate for the girls he smiled in a way they could not fathom.
Once more on the curving turnpike, Penny and Louise discussed the old man’s strange words. Both were agreed that Silas had not been in the least surprised to see them.
“But why did he say I could do good in the valley?” Penny speculated. “Evidently he thinks I’ll influence my father to write something in the Star.”
“Against Burmaster perhaps,” nodded Louise. “Everyone we’ve met seems to dislike that man.”
The girls clattered over a little log bridge and rounded a bend. Giant trees arched their limbs over the pike, creating a dark, cool tunnel. Penny and Louise urged their tired horses to a faster pace. Though neither would have admitted it, they had no desire to be on the turnpike after nightfall.
“Listen!” Louise commanded suddenly. “What was that sound?”
Penny drew rein to listen. Only a chirp of a cricket disturbed the eerie stillness.
“Just for a minute I thought I heard hoofbeats,” Louise said apologetically. “Guess I must have imagined it.”
Emerging from the long avenue of trees, the girls were slightly dismayed to see how swiftly darkness had spread its cloak on the valley. Beyond the next turn of the corkscrew road stood a giant tulip tree. Riding beneath it, Penny stared up at the gnarled limbs which were twisted in fantastic shapes.