Vevi’s heart began to pound as she tiptoed across the empty living room. She reached the corridor opening into the kitchen just as Connie entered it from the opposite direction.
“Ha!” cried Connie. “Just as I thought!”
Jamie Curry stood there in his faded jeans, fairly trapped. His hair had not been combed and his eyes were red from lack of sleep.
“So you’re the one who has been sneaking into Captain Tarwell’s cottage!” accused Vevi.
“I am not either a sneak,” the boy denied.
“You were in here the day of the heavy fog,” Connie insisted. “When we came in, you ran away.”
“All right, maybe I was here that day without permission. But that was because the door was open.”
“Captain Tarwell put a new lock on,” Vevi reminded him.
“And he knows I’m sleeping here too,” Jamie insisted stubbornly. “It’s the only place I have to stay.”
Jamie’s face puckered up and the girls thought he was going to cry. He fought back the tears and said defiantly: