The Mystery of the Singing Serpent - M. V. Carey [38]
“We saw a movie on TV a while back,” Allie explained. “It was a spy picture, and the lady spy hid some microfilm in a box of bath powder. Aunt Pat doesn’t have a lot of real original ideas. After you left this morning, I went into her bathroom and there it was in the powder box.”
“I hope you found a good place to hide it,” said Pete.
“In case I get run over by a bulldozer before my folks come home, look in the oat bin in the garage,” Allie told him.
“Not bad,” said Pete.
“No. Except that now I’m the one who’s got to decide, and it’s rough. Aunt Pat just lies there in bed and looks at the wall. I’m afraid she’s really sick. I mean really, truly sick.”
“She may get worse,” warned Jupe. “She hasn’t been well for some time, has she?”
“No. Not since Mrs. Compton’s accident.”
“I don’t think you should be alone with her,” said Jupe. “I’ll call Aunt Mathilda and ask her to come and help you.”
Allie brightened suddenly. “Jupe, your aunt’s a strong character, isn’t she? Do you think if we told her the whole story, she could make Aunt Pat talk?”
“Aunt Mathilda is made of iron,” said Jupe, “but in this case, I don’t think she could help. Your aunt is too terrified of Shaitan and Ariel. No, it will be better if we just tell Aunt Mathilda that your aunt is having an attack of nerves and you can’t handle it alone.”
“I can’t,” said Allie.
“Okay,” said Jupe, and he went to the telephone and called the Jones house. Within fifteen minutes Aunt Mathilda was in the house. She surveyed the situation, frowned fiercely at the sight of Pat Osborne huddled in her bed, decided that Allie needed a nap and that the boys would have to leave.
“You and your uncle can eat dinner out,” she told Jupiter. “I’ll stay here tonight and we’ll see how things are in the morning.” Aunt Mathilda then disappeared into the kitchen to explore the Jamison refrigerator and the cupboards. Jupe heard a pot clang down on the stove.
“You’ll have a good meal tonight,” he told Allie.
“I don’t like to leave,” said Pete. “I mean, shouldn’t we go on guard duty here to make sure nothing else happens?”
“Disaster has already struck,” said Jupiter. “I don’t think anyone will try anything more now. Besides, Aunt Mathilda will cope, and she isn’t afraid of singing serpents or anything else that I know of.”
He turned to Allie. “Even if your aunt won’t talk,” he said, “you can. You can call the police. You said yourself, you have to decide.”
Allie shook her head. “It would be a nightmare. What could I say? That my aunt’s being victimized by witches? And she’s so ashamed. She thinks she’s the one who hurt Margaret Compton.”
The kitchen door opened. “Jupiter!” said Aunt Mathilda sharply. “Pete! Bob! You boys go on now and let that child get some rest.”
The boys went, and when Jupe called the Jamison house late that evening it was a snappish Aunt Mathilda who answered the telephone. She told Jupe that Allie was sleeping and that Pat Osborne was not, and that she had the situation well in hand. She then told Jupe to go to bed and not to call again.
Jupe went to bed and lay for a long time staring at the ceiling. He finally slept, and dreamed dark dreams in which he followed a flickering candle down damp and moldy corridors while unseen things slithered at his heels. He woke in the silent hour before dawn and thought of the little serpent on the table in the Jamison living room. He thought of Pat Osborne, wasted and sickened by fear.
In his mind’s eye, Jupe saw Shaitan again, with his dark cloak and his ghastly, pallid face. Two nights before, Shaitan had lounged amid his seedy black trappings and plotted leisurely plots. Now the man was in a hurry. He had come openly to the Jamison house to threaten Pat Osborne. Why?
Jupiter decided that he knew why. In the blaze of floodlights at Torrente Canyon, Shaitan and his accomplice had seen Jupiter Jones — a curious boy snooping on unusual householders. But Shaitan must also have seen the man with the mustache, Bentley. And Bentley had acted quickly to save Jupe and to defy Shaitan. In some way, Bentley