Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Peril
in Pink
By
BETSY ALLEN
NEW YORK
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Night Flight
Sam Lords Castle
The Grenada Hop
Night Intruder
The Escape
Island X
Wild-goose Chase
Martinique Incident
In the Cathedral
Where Is Bertie?
The Black Beach
A Bus Named Paradise
Fire! Fire!
The Waterfall
Mission Accomplished
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CHAPTER
Night Flight
Am employee said.
Connie smiled and said Thank you. As she
turned away from the desk, the clerk glanced after
her in relief, mingled with admiration for her shining
blond hair and her trim, erect figure. He wished all
passengers faced reservation errors as equably as
this attractive young girl. Next, he murmured, as a
dark-skinned Puerto Rican pushed a ticket folder
toward him and embarked on a rush of questions in
broken English.
Meanwhile, Connie hurried over to the group of
familiar faces all turned her way. The entire Blair
family had come to New York to see her off,
because this was quite a trip Connie was about to
take, down to a small island in the Lesser Antilles,
with San Juan as only the first port of call.
Linking her arm through her mothers, she
explained quickly, Its all fixed up. They just
switched me to the tourist flight. I get there almost
as soon and I save a good deal of money besides.
Isnt that luck?
Relief touched her fathers lined, slender face,
and her mothers lips curved in a happy smile. Kit,
Connies twin sister, breathed deeply and grinned,
while Toby, her younger brother, exploded with,
Ill say. I was thinking we might all have to go
home and start over.
Since home was Meadowbrook, Pennsylvania, a
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interested.
This friendly young man needed no second
invitation, and as he described his tour of duty in the
service Connie could see that diving was a real
passion, one of the major interests of his life.
She said as much, and he corroborated her
thought. Yes, he admitted, Im crazy about it. So
much so that its even become something of a
career. But now tell me about yourself. Ive been
doing all the talking.
Connie acquiesced. Well, at the moment Im on
a rather different assignment, she told Mike. Mr.
Renshaw and five other American businessmen are
interested in building a club on the island of
Grenadasomething like the Coral Beach Club in
Bermuda, but even more lavish and spectacular. Im
taking Mr. Renshaw the architects revised drawings
and the publicity plans. From there on in I guess Ill
be sort of a Girl Friday and take over any jobs that
need doing. In our business you never know.
Sounds like fun, Mike murmured. It also
sounds as though you have a pretty responsible job
for your age.
Or maybe Im older than I look, Connie replied
facetiously.
Youd have to be older than you look, Mike
retorted with quick gallantry, to be holding any job
at all.
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CHAPTER
The San Juan airport was big and busy, even at this
early morning hour. Somehow, it seemed to Connie
that the excitable chatter of a foreign language
added to the confusion, and that the red tape was
even worse than that encountered at airline offices in
the United States.
Her tickets were checked and rechecked, her bags
transferred from one counter to another, and Pan Am
consulted with the British West Indies Airlines to
confirm reservations for Antigua, where she would
shift to a B.W.I.A. plane. During intervals of waiting
she kept glancing around in the hope that she might
spot Mike Ingersoll, but he seemed to have
disappeared completely. Connie was disappointed
because she realized that, with all their talk of
islands, she had no idea where Mike was actually
going or even where, in relationship to any of the
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CHAPTER
inside.
Again there was a wait. What do you suppose
that guy does for a living? Mike muttered to
Connie. He acts almighty important, somehow,
holding up a whole plane.
Connie shook her head. Ive wondered about
him too, she admitted, raising her voice above the
cheeping of the baby chicks. She was remembering
her first impression of the manthe hooded eyes
and long neck which reminded her so vividly of a
lizard.
Lizard! Again she recalled Mammy Bees
allusion, and she told Mike about her strange
encounter. He listened with a show of curiosity, but
he laughed off the notion that the womans words
might make some sense.
Theres a name for those people in the islands,
he told Connie. They call them obeah women, I
think, like the West Africans. Then he grinned.
Useless piece of information Number Ninety-nine.
Its something I picked up from Dads crony, the
curator.
Unexpectedly the door of the plane was closed,
the engines were started, and they taxied to the takeoff spot. Connie glanced around once more. Mr.
Russell had not returned. Well, that was that. Out of
sight, out of mind, so far as she was concerned. She
settled back and devoted her entire attention to Mike
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CHAPTER 4
Night Intruder
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CHAPTER 5
The Escape
Stop!
Connies command came like a rifle crack, but
almost simultaneously the marauder landed in the
spongy earth, cultivated only that morning by the
hotel gardener.
Instinctively wanting to know who had dared
enter her room, Connie ran to the window,
stumbling in the darkness over Mike Ingersolls
valise which lay open in the middle of the floor.
Open! It had been closed and standing well back
in a corner before dinner. Connies throat grew tight
and her mind clicked with the speed of a camera
shutter.
The map!
This was what she had feared, this unknown but
imminent threat. This was what she had tried to
warn Mike against, innocent Mike with his boyish,
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please!
At this time of night the street in front of the post
office and government offices, where small craft
landed, was all but deserted. One of the great,
ungainly island buses, which had wooden
superstructures mounted on a truck chassis,
lumbered by, but there were few pedestrians. Not a
constable was in sight.
Connie remembered with regret that she had
heard that crime was almost nonexistent on
Grenada. She wished, at this moment, that both the
islanders and Mike were less trusting. Then she
wouldnt be acting as a one-girl police force, nor be
compelled to tackle the thief alone.
With thanks to the helpful boatman which were
brief but obviously sincere, Connie leaped from the
bow to the Careenage, half a block behind her
quarry. A passing car hid the man from sight for a
moment, but then she saw him scramble up one of
the hilly streets which were little more than alleys,
and she ran across the open space by the public
buildings and followed him, feeling that it was
imperative to keep him at least in sight.
Although she moved cat-quiet in her bare feet, the
man apparently was aware that he was being
followed, because he glanced around, saw Connies
light dress and fair head against the lights of the
harbor, and ducked into a side street which led to an
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that her cause was lost, and she searched the market
place thoroughly before she was willing to give up.
Finally, however, there was nothing else to do but
admit defeat. She made her way once more across
the square and awakened a dozing taxi driver in
front of the St. James Hotel.
Please take me to the Santa Maria, she said,
climbing wearily into the back seat.
When they turned into the hotel drive Connie
asked the driver to stop and slipped around the
corner of the building to the spot below her bedroom
window where she had kicked off her shoes.
Retrieving them, she entered the lobby with as much
aplomb as she could muster, after asking the driver
to wait while she got some money. If either of these
proceedings surprised the man he did not show it.
Fortunately, Connie decided, the islanders she had
met thus far seemed quite a taciturn lot.
There was a message at the desk which the night
clerk handed to her after the taxi driver had been
paid off.
Connie Mr. Renshaw had scrawled on a
piece of hotel stationery. Be ready to board the
Goose at eight tomorrow morning. See you at sevenfifteen breakfast. All is well.
Connies lip curled ruefully. All was far from
well, as she knew to her sorrow. How could she ever
face Mike!
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get to bed!
But first she took the map into the bathroom and
turned on the hot-water tap in the sink. Carefully she
steamed the tissue away from the cardboard, waved
it in the breeze until it was quite dry, then folded it
with tender care.
The cardboard she discarded, and the map she put
into her pocketbook, in the zippered compartment
which also held her passport and her travelers
checks. She kept the purse in the bathroom with her
when she showered, and put it under her pillow
when she went to bed.
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CHAPTER
Island X
A fine man.
Indeed, yes, agreed Mr. Russell.
Chatting, they moved out to the lobby.
While Connie bought stamps at the desk, folded
her letters, and sealed the envelopes, the two men
stood and talked. Then she said to her employer,
Ill be right back, Mr. Renshaw. I want to go to my
room for Mikes bag.
Mike? Mr. Russell asked quizzically. Isnt that
the young man? Then he stopped as though he
did not wish to appear overcurious.
My luggage became confused with Mr.
Ingersolls at the Barbados airport, Connie
explained. We were carrying identical blue canvas
Val-Paks, so its an understandable mistake, but it
has been very inconvenient.
I should certainly think so, Mr. Russell agreed.
Ive arranged for the Goose to act as deus ex
machina, said Mr. Renshaw with a grin. By
dinnertime, Connie, youll be back, safe and sound,
with all my papers and all your clothes. Think of it!
Connie knew that he was teasing her because she
was, by now, beginning to look more than a little
rumpled. Last nights chase hadnt improved the
situation, and there had been no time in the interim
to have her dress washed or pressed. Of course Mr.
Renshaw knew nothing about her evenings
adventure, nor did Connie intend to tell him. She
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CHAPTER
Wild-goose Chase
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CHAPTER
Martinique Incident
nothing of him.
Unless, Connie said thoughtfully, it was a
dodge.
Mike shook his head. That was no dodge. The
man radiated sincerity.
Nobody speaking a foreign language ever seemed
to radiate sincerity for Connie. She always suspected
them because she couldnt understand them. They
seemed devious and unreasonably difficult.
However, she accepted Mikes judgment in this
instance. Next stop, she suggested, the telegraph
office. Ill have to send a cable to Mr. Renshaw, so
he wont worry when I dont show up.
It was not easy to compose a cable that would
cover all the circumstances. Connie stood at the desk
for ten minutes, rewriting her message again and
again to get it into the fewest possible words.
Finally, however, she rejoined Mike, who had
dismissed Gilbert meanwhile.
There is only one caf on the Avenue
Duparquet, he told Connie, and thats just two
blocks away.
They had to walk single file along the narrow
sidewalk, beside which ran an open sewer. Shop
fronts nudged one another, some elegant and filled
with expensive French perfumes, others cheap and
dingy. The caf was an unprepossessing place, built
right on the street, and they entered it timidly.
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CHAPTER
In the Cathedral
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CHAPTER 10
Where Is Bertie?
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now?
You mean from here?
Certainly. I wouldnt waste a minute, Connie
insisted. By the time your shoulder is healed, an
airmail letter could be in your possession.
And by then Russell may have pulled his coup,
Mike said gloomily.
Thats a chance youve got to take.
O.K., Mike said. Ill take your advice. He
went over to the desk and brought back a blank, and
together they composed a cablegram, stressing the
point that speed was extremely urgent. By the time
they boarded the plane for Grenada the message was
on its way to New York.
The old man will sure wonder whats up. Mike
chuckled. Hell think Ive been gosh-darned
careless, or hell be sure Ive hit on something too
hot to handle. Wouldnt be a bit surprised if he flew
down here himself.
And it might be a good idea! Connie smiled.
You worry me, barging around these strange little
islands alone.
Look whos talking! Mike retorted.
Connie shrugged her shoulders and wouldnt look
at him.
Hi, Mom!
She flushed, dimples appearing as she found it
impossible to stifle a grin. I dont care! she
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know.
Mike lifted his shoulders. This guy I was talking
to said he thought the Goose was due to lay over
until tomorrow, so I thought Id come back here for
some breakfast, then amble down again after a
while.
Even as he spoke, however, there was a familiar
hum in the air. Connie and Mike both dashed out to
the terrace, just in time to see the Goose zoom along
the water and rise rapidly into the air. She flew
almost directly over the spot on which they were
standing, then took off in the general direction of
Trinidad.
Well, Mike admitted in discouragement, I
guess I ran into a guy who talked big, but who didnt
know from nothing, as we say back home.
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CHAPTER
11
off, but before they had gone half a mile she realized
that driving a car in Grenada was quite different
from driving one at home. It called for
concentration, a firm hand on the horn, and a fast
foot on the brake.
Her advance impression of the islands of the
Lesser Antilles, Connie told Mike laughingly,
couldnt have been wronger.
Mine too, Mike admitted. What did you
expect?
Oh, a sort of tropical wilderness, Connie said,
with nobody for miles and miles. More room!
Grinning, Mike agreed, It sure is crowded.
Very seldom were they out of sight of a native
hut, and when stretches of tropical vegetation did
screen them from any habitation, the busy traffic
along the road testified to the fact that there were
plenty of people within call.
Burros, goats, sheep, cows, chickens, all
responded with slow good nature to the accepted
island signal, the beep-beep of the automobile horn.
They moved to the side of the road automatically,
without even turning their heads, except when
Connie slowed down. Then they looked surprised.
This is the only place in the world where Ive
ever seen chickens pay any attention to a honk,
Mike commented.
Either theyre brighter chickens than we have at
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CHAPTER
12
town.
Well buy masks, Connie told him. It will be
easy. She hurried him along the climbing street,
looking into the shop windows intently. Full head
masks, cover-up jobs. Then my shorts wont be
conspicuous. Well be just another couple in fancy
dress.
Carnival Masks and Costumes! Mike spotted
the sign before Connie did. Here! he exclaimed.
They went from the sunlight into the dark interior
of the store and chose masks hastily, Mikes a fierce
fox snout, Connies a pop-eyed travesty of a little
boys head. They looked so ridiculous that they
laughed at one another.
Can you see? Connie wanted to know.
Sure, Mike said. Cant you? If youre blind,
theres no use trying to play Cops and Robbers.
The proprietor of the store, sleepy-eyed and slowmoving, looked askance at this enigmatic
conversation. When Connie and Mike had left, he
turned to his wife and said, Crazy Americans!
For a few minutes after regaining the street
Connie felt absurdly conspicuous, and Mike came
right out with, Gosh, I feel silly! But they both
found that it was easy, thus masked, to mingle with
the crowds in the market square. One out of every
four or five people were similarly disguised, and
many wore elaborate or ridiculous costumes as well.
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CHAPTER
13
Fire! Fire!
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CHAPTER 14
The Waterfall
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CHAPTER 15
Mission Accomplished
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