After Miss Gordon finally pulled away, it took a long while to pack Mrs. Davidson’s sedan. Eileen, Sunny, Belinda and Jane were to ride with her. But when they climbed in, the luggage was stacked so high on the floor, they had little space for their feet.
Presently the Davidson car drove away, and only Mrs. Williams, Connie, Veve and Rosemary remained. So eager were they to be off that they fairly threw suitcases and bedrolls into the car.
“Oh, Mother, we’re terribly late,” Connie fretted as Mrs. Williams carried one thing after another from the house.
“Now, do relax,” her mother soothed. “We’ll reach Shady Hollow in ample time. Is everyone ready?”
“We’ve been waiting for hours,” groaned Veve, scrambling into the car beside Rosemary.
“I believe were ready to start,” declared Mrs. Williams. “Now let me see—my car keys.”
A baffled expression came over her face as she searched, first in one pocket and then another. The keys were nowhere to be found.
“Oh, now I remember,” she said, as the Brownies watched her anxiously. “They’re in my purse, lying on the kitchen table.”
Intending to fetch the purse for her mother, Connie ran to the side door. She found it locked. Her mother also had snapped the night latch on the other doors.
“Mother, I can’t get in anywhere,” she called.