The Mouse and the Motorcycle - Beverly Cleary [22]
At last, thought Ralph. I thought he would never come.
Mr. Gridley shook his head. “There isn’t an aspirin to be found anyplace.” He sounded thoroughly exasperated. “First of all, the night clerk was sound asleep on a couch in the lobby. I had a dickens of a time waking him up and when I finally did manage to, he couldn’t find any aspirin anywhere.”
“Oh, no!” exclaimed the mother.
Oh, no! echoed Ralph’s thoughts.
“What about that little gift shop off the lobby?” asked Mrs. Gridley. “It must sell aspirin.”
“Locked up tight and the clerk went home with the key,” answered Mr. Gridley.
“Oh, dear!”
“The night clerk was really very nice about it,” said the father. “He even came up and looked in the housekeeper’s office.”
“How far is the nearest drugstore?”
“Twenty-five miles back on the main highway,” answered the father. “And it closed at ten o’clock and doesn’t open until nine in the morning.”
The mother held her watch under the lamp. “And it is almost one o’clock. It is hours until morning.” She crossed the room to wring out the washcloth again. “What will we do?”
“What can we do?” asked the father helplessly. “I even telephoned the doctor, but there has been a bad accident back on the highway and he can’t come. The night clerk said he would telephone the milkman before he starts his route at six and ask him if he can bring some aspirin, but he won’t get here until seven or later. All we can do is wait.”
Keith tossed under the cold washcloth. “Mom, I think I’d like to go to sleep now,” he muttered thickly.
“I guess that is all you can do,” said his mother, and bent over to kiss his hot forehead before she turned out the light.
Ralph did not even wait for the boy’s parents to leave the room. As soon as the light was out he leaped silently to the carpet, and by the time they had gone through the doorway into Room 216 he had hidden his little crash helmet behind the curtain and was halfway through the knothole. Somewhere, someplace in that hotel there must be an aspirin tablet and Ralph was going to find it. He only wished he had the motorcycle so he could travel faster.
11
The Search
I have to go out into the hotel,” Ralph informed his relatives. “I’ve got to help the boy.”
“Oh, no, not out into the hotel,” cried Ralph’s mother. “Not while the housekeeper is looking for mice. If you’re seen we’ll all be in danger.”
“I’ll be back before dawn,” said Ralph staunchly. “I must go. Don’t try to stop me.”
“See here, my boy, aren’t you being a bit dramatic?” asked Uncle Lester. “Whatever do you have to go out into the hotel for?”
“To pilfer a pill,” said Ralph. “An aspirin tablet.” His answer was dramatic enough even for Uncle Lester. His entire family stared at him in disbelief. Not an aspirin! Not after his own father had been poisoned by one of the dread tablets.
“An aspirin!” Ralph’s mother gasped. “No, Ralph, not that! Anything but that!”
“It is the only way.” Ralph stood tall and brave. “The boy has a fever and he needs an aspirin. I’m going to find him one.”
“Oh, Ralph!” His mother hid her face in her paws.
“But Ralph,” quavered Aunt Sissy. “Remember your father. You can’t carry an aspirin in your cheek pouches. It would poison you. How could you get one here?”
“I’ll find a way.” Ralph was outwardly steadfast in his determination, but inside he wondered how he would manage to get an aspirin into Room 215 if he did find one. Roll it, perhaps.
“Ralph, stay here,” pleaded his mother. “You’re too young. Let your Uncle Lester go.”
“Well, now, let’s talk this over,” said Uncle Lester.
“I’m not too young and I haven’t a moment to lose.” Ralph, who was really frightened by what he was about to do, also enjoyed the drama of the moment. “Goodbye. I shall return before dawn.”
“Ralph, promise me you’ll be careful,” pleaded his mother. “Promise me you won’t climb into suitcases like your Aunt Adrienne.” Ralph’s Aunt Adrienne, who liked nice things, had climbed into a suitcase to examine a nylon stocking, someone had closed the suitcase, and Aunt Adrienne had never