“’Course it would be a risky thing fer ye to go on by yerself while I wait here in the boat—”
Penny’s slumped shoulders straightened. Her blue eyes began to dance.
“You mean you don’t mind waiting here while I see where that tunnel of leaves leads?” she demanded.
“’Pears like we’ve come too fur not to find out what’s goin’ on. Think ye can git in there and back without being cotched?”
“I’m sure of it!”
The widow sighed. “I hain’t sure of it, but you got more gumpshun than any other young’un I ever met. Go on if ye’r a-goin’, and if anyone sees ye, light out fer the boat. I’ll be ready to shove off.”
“Mrs. Jones, you’re a darling!” Penny whispered, giving the gnarled hand a quick pressure. “I’ll make it all right!”
Moving directly to the thicket, she dropped on all fours and started through the leafy tunnel where Hod had disappeared. The sweetish odor now was much plainer than before.
She had crawled only a few feet, when a hand reached out of nowhere and grasped her shoulder.
Penny whirled around, expecting to see a member of the Hawkins’ family. For a moment she saw no one, and then from the thicket beside the tunnel, a figure became visible. The hold on her shoulder relaxed.