“We have all the flowers you need, Penny. Please, let’s go!”
“You wait for me in the boat, Lou. I’ll slip over to the bank and get the roses. Only take a minute.”
Stepping carefully across a half-decayed log, Penny started toward the roses, visible on a bank farther up shore.
Bones trotted a few feet ahead of her, his sensitive nose to the ground.
“Go back, Bones,” Penny ordered softly. “Stay with Louise!”
Bones did not obey. As Penny overtook him and seized the trailing leash, she suddenly heard voices again.
Two men were talking several yards away, completely hidden by the bushes. Their words brought her up short.
“There hain’t no reason to be afeared if we use our heads,” the one was saying. “Maybe me and the boys will help if ye make it worth our while, but we hain’t aimin’ to tangle with no law.”
The voice of the man who answered was low and husky.
“You’ll help me all right, or I’ll tell what I know! Only one thing brought me back here. I aim to get the guy who put me up! I was in town last night but didn’t get sight of him. I’m going back soon’s I leave here.”