The Mystery of the Scar-faced Beggar - M. V. Carey [37]
i g apa
p rt
r .”
Bob
o
b
st
s ared
e at
a he
h r,
,
fr
f ig
i ht
h ened.
.
He
reali
l z
i e
z d hi
h s
i
s ha
h nds
s were
r cle
l nche
h d
e
d in
i to
o fi
f s
i t
s s.
s
He fo
f r
o ced t
h
t e
h m to
o rela
l x
a .
Ei
E l
i e
l en Deni
n c
i ol
o a
l ha
h d to
t l
o d
l Jupi
p t
i er tha
h t the
h
ol
o d
l wom
o an so
s m
o etim
i es
s
dream
a ed true
u
dreams.
s
. And the
h ol
o d
l wom
o an ha
h d tol
o d
l Jupe
p
e
sh
s e
h ha
h d dreamed of
o
f a bl
b i
l n
i d man who
h
o pi
p c
i ked
up
p a wall
l e
l t
e
t fr
f om
o the
h grou
o nd.
. No
N w
o sh
s e
h ha
h d
dreamed
d of
o
f the
h earth
h te
t arin
i g apa
p rt
r and
n Bob
o
b
fa
f ll
l i
l n
i g.
. Wha
h t did
i it
i
t mea
e n?
An eart
r hq
h u
q a
u ke!
! She
h ha
h d
a drea
e med
d of
o
f an eart
r hq
h u
q ake!
! Bu
B t wha
h t goo
o d
o did it do to tell
Bob
o
b abo
b u
o t it
i ? He
e cou
o ld
l
d not
o esc
s a
c pe
p
e an e
arthq
h u
q a
u ke by
b le
l av
a in
i g the
h
e pi
p e
i r.
She sighed. “You think I am a crazy old woman,” she said sadly. “Perhaps I should not tell you of my dream. You will go and bring other boys and they will laugh and call me an old witch — a crazy old Italian witch! But it is true that I saw you in this place that was breaking to pieces and I … I was there, too!”
The front door of the house opened and a gust of fresh air blew into the house.
Eileen Denicola appeared in the hall and looked in on them. Her face was amused, but there was concern, too.
“What’s going on?” she said. There was a note of forced heartiness in her voice.
“Not another dream, I hope.”
“And so? If there is?” said the old woman. She leaned forward and touched Bob’s knee. “I sense this boy is a good, hard-working boy,” she said. “I am telling him he should do well and go far — so long as he listens to the advice of those who wish him well.”
She stood up. “I think I must hurry now,” she told Eileen. “Our guest will come before the afternoon is half over, and there is much to do.”
She went out without speaking to Bob again.
“Everything all right?” said Eileen Denicola.
“Yes,” said Bob weakly. “Thank you.”
He got up and went out past the younger woman in a rush. This place gave him the creeps. He couldn’t wait to get away!
Chapter 14
Ernie Makes a Deal
THE TWO YOUNG MEN who roomed with Ernie were coming back down the beach towards the pier. Ernie was still painting away at the wheelhouse. Everything was as it had been twenty minutes earlier, and yet it was all changed.
Danger! Mrs. Denicola had spoken of danger.
About a hundred metres down the highway there was a tiny shopping plaza. Bob saw a little market, a launderette, and a real-estate office. And he saw a telephone in front of the market. He went down to it and dialled the Headquarters of The Three Investigators.
Pete answered immediately. When he heard Bob on the telephone he said, “You okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. I guess I am. But the old lady — old Mrs. Denicola — she told me she had a dream about me. You remember that her daughter-in-law said she dreamed true dreams? Well, in this dream she had about me, I was in danger. I was in a place where everything was twisting and falling. Like in an earthquake. She told me I shouldn’t be here. Creepy, huh?”
There was silence for a second. Then Pete said, “Hey! Hey, Bob, if that old lady really does dream true dreams, maybe you should get away from there. You want me to come and take over for you?”
“It was only a dream,” said Bob. He said it more to convince himself than to persuade Pete.
“Well, listen, be careful, huh?” said Pete.
“I will,” Bob promised. “I don’t want to leave right now. There’s something up.
You know those two guys who are Ernie’s room-mates? They’re churning around the dock today, talking Spanish with Ernie. They’re really excited about something.”
A pickup truck was coming slowly down the highway. It turned in at Denicola’s drive and