Penny thought of the mysterious thatched roof cottage and the whispering voices.
“Those walls must have a secret panel,” she reasoned. “I believe I might find it if I had an opportunity to make a thorough investigation!”
A flapping shutter reminded Penny once more of the storm. Then came the discouraging thought that even if only the tail-end of the hurricane struck Riverview, the flimsy thatched cottage undoubtedly would be carried away and destroyed.
“Unless I get out there tomorrow, I’ll probably lose my chance!” she told herself. “Oh, dear, how will I make it when I have a thousand other things I’m supposed to do?”
Dancing tree limbs cast weird shadows on the rough plaster wall. Penny closed her eyes, but even then sleep would not come.
Suddenly the window pane crashed, and glass clattered onto the floor. Startled, Penny sat up and groped for the night table lamp. Her first thought was that a tree branch had hurtled against the pane, breaking it.
But as the light went on, she saw that only a small hole had been broken in the glass. On the floor, scarcely two feet from the bed, lay a small object wrapped in black cloth.
Penny rolled out of bed and gingerly picked it up. Carefully and with a feeling of revulsion, she untied the packet.
Inside were two black feathers, the wing of a bird, herbs which Penny could not identify, a bit of bone, and a small amount of damp earth.
There was no warning message, nothing to identify the one who had thrown the packet, yet Penny instantly knew its significance and from whence it had come.