“I had one awful time convincing Dad and Mrs. Weems I should make this trip,” Penny remarked as they parked the car under a giant oak not far from Trapper Joe’s shack on the river creek. “If we hadn’t had Bones for an excuse, they never would have allowed me to go.”
Louise stared curiously at her chum.
“Why else would we make the trip?” she inquired.
“Oh, we’re going there to find Bones,” Penny assured her hastily. “But if we should meet Ezekiel Hawkins or whoever was on the island—”
“My parents made it very clear I’m not to go to the island unless Trapper Joe is with us.”
“So did my father, unfortunately,” sighed Penny.
As the girls approached Trapper Joe’s shack, they saw smoke issuing in a straight column from the rear of the premises.
Investigating, they found the old guide roasting a fat turkey on a spit which slowly revolved above a fire of cherry red coals.
“Howdy,” the old man greeted them. “You’re jest in time fer some victuals.”
“Lunch so early?” Louise asked in surprise.