The Mystery of the Singing Serpent - M. V. Carey [16]
The boys had to smile. It was a struggle for Ariel to get his long legs out of the purple Corvette. He wriggled sideways, slid out and pulled his black shirt straight about his thin waist.
“I’d love to know what he’s been up to,” said Allie.
Ariel opened the back door and came in. He let his flat, dark eyes rest on Allie for a moment, then started past her without speaking.
Allie promptly stood in his way. “Mr. Ariel, I don’t think you’ve met my friends,” she said.
Ariel looked intensely annoyed, but he stopped and permitted Allie to introduce the boys. When Bob cheerfully held out his hand, Ariel allowed his own limp hand to be shaken. He said absolutely nothing. When the introductions were completed he stepped around Allie as if she were a post and went on into the hall, pulling the kitchen door shut after him.
“How’d you like that?” demanded Allie. “I get it from him all the time. He acts like I’m some kind of a … a thing! I’d want him out of here even if he didn’t make that horrible singing.”
“Mr. Ariel!” Aunt Pat’s voice, high and excited, carried to the group in the kitchen.
“Has it been accomplished?”
Allie went to the door, leaned on it slightly and applied her ear to the resulting crack.
“There is no need for anxiety,” said Ariel from the front hall. “The wishes of the fellowship — your wishes — will be carried out. The serpent has been delivered. All is in the hands of Belial. You have only to wait.”
“But the twenty-first isn’t far off,” protested Aunt Pat. “Are you sure there’s time? Oh, perhaps it is a silly whim, but I do want it, and if Margaret Compton gets there first …”
“Your faith wavers?” demanded Ariel. There was an edge to his voice.
“Of course not!” said Aunt Pat quickly. “I have the most profound trust.”
“Then you will excuse me,” said Ariel. “I must rest now. These affairs are demanding.”
“I understand,” said Miss Osborne.
Ariel went up the stairs.
“Sounds like he’s sacking out for another day,” said Allie. “What a slug!”
“The serpent has been delivered,” said Jupe. “Now what did he mean by that?”
“Is somebody mailing out snakes?” asked Pete.
Allie shook her head. “Aunt Pat can’t abide snakes. That’s just the way they talk. They say something and it means something else. The other night they talked about the voice of the serpent coming across the miles, remember?”
“And we heard it, didn’t we?” Jupiter reminded her. “We heard the singing.”
“Whatever that was, it was no snake,” insisted Allie. “Snakes do not sing.”
“But something is going on,” said Jupe. “It has to do with Hugo Ariel and the house on Torrente Canyon and that strange singing. And it may have some connection with your new houseman. There’s nothing we can do at the moment except watch and wait. Let us know if something odd happens. I have to get back to the salvage yard.”
“And I’m due at my job in the library,” said Bob.
“And I’ve got to mow the lawn,” said Pete.
“What a bunch of private eyes!” complained Allie. “You’ve all got other jobs on the side. Okay. Go do whatever it is you do when you’re not falling off walls and I’ll call you if anything happens here.”
The boys finished their pop and went their separate ways. When Jupiter reported at The Jones Salvage Yard, Aunt Mathilda was directing Hans and Konrad, who were unloading the larger of the two trucks.
“Jupiter, I need you,” said Aunt Mathilda.
“Yes, Aunt Mathilda.”
“Your Uncle Titus has lost his mind. Look what he bought!”
Jupiter looked. The truck was loaded with old cast-iron stoves.
“Wood-burning stoves!” said Aunt Mathilda. “In this day and age! They were in an old warehouse in East Los Angeles, and it was going to be torn down. Your uncle said they were so inexpensive he couldn’t pass them up. Jupiter, however will we sell them?”
“We’ll find a way,” said Jupe.
“Well, help Hans and Konrad get them off the truck and put them someplace where I can’t see them. The very idea!”
Aunt Mathilda stormed away, and Jupiter