The girl opened the car door and reached for her suitcase.
“Thanks for the ride,” she said in a low voice. “I’m sorry if I seemed rude and unfriendly. There are things I can’t explain.”
Before Penny or Louise could answer, the car door closed firmly in their faces.
“Well, how do you like that?” the latter demanded furiously. “If she isn’t a cool cucumber!”
“She may be running away from home,” Penny said, frowning. “Why otherwise, would she refuse to tell her name?”
“And why did she insist in getting out on this corner, of all places?”
“It’s a bad section of town, Louise. No one seems to be about, but even so, a girl shouldn’t be wandering around here alone.”
“We tried to warn her. She seemed to know what she wanted to do.”
“All the same, I feel sort of responsible,” Penny returned uneasily. “I hope nothing happens to her.”
After leaving the car, the girl walked toward the river. Now at the corner, she paused beneath a street light, and glanced back.