The Mystery of the Singing Serpent - M. V. Carey [44]
her words were a gentle lullaby, sometimes a
harsh and terrible threat.
Suddenly the gypsy clutched the green sack
close to her faded blouse, threw back her head, let her eyes roll wildly and fell to the floor.
Aunt Pat stared. Mara’s mouth was open,
and from her throat came a dreadful, gurgling sound, and then a series of high, keening notes.
Mara the gypsy was singing, and she was
singing the song of the serpent.
As the frightful sound went on, Mara twitched.
Her back arched so that she touched the floor only
with her head and her heels. Then she began to roll, thrashing from one side to another, cradling the sack in her arms, her open eyes sightless.
The scarfs which bound her head came undone,
one after another. They slipped away and long, gray hair streamed over her face.
Still the song went on, louder and louder, higher and higher, piercing, chilling.
Pat Osborne sat up straight in the bed.
Mara gave a mighty shudder. She screamed, and her body went limp.
Allie and the boys waited. Pat Osborne watched. The gypsy woman seemed to sleep.
“Jupiter!” Aunt Mathilda’s voice was loud in the hall outside. “Jupiter, what’s going on in there? Open this door!”
Mara moaned and sat up. She groped at the green sack which somehow had remained in her grasp. She smiled. “I saw him,” she said. “There is a man in black. His face is very white. He struggles. He is in the coils of the serpent.”
“Jupiter, open the door this minute!” called Aunt Mathilda.
Mara got up from the floor. She went to Pat Osborne with the sack. “It is as I promised.”
Miss Osborne’s shaking hands tugged at the drawstrings that closed the sack. She peered inside, felt the sack, shook it. It was empty.
“My spirits are strong,” said Mara. “The serpent has returned to sting the one who sent it. The power of Belial has been broken, and Belial has turned on his master. You have nothing to fear.”
She went to the door and opened it. “You can come in,” she told Aunt Mathilda. “The woman in bed — she is well again.”
Chapter 22
The Last of the Snakes
“IT’S LIKE A MIRACLE,” Allie told The Three Investigators. “Aunt Pat had soup last night and milk and crackers at bedtime and two eggs this morning. Now she’s hungry again.”
Allie took two slices of toast from the toaster and began to spread them with butter. “I don’t know what I would have done without your Aunt Mathilda,” she said to Jupe.
“She’s always there when you need her,” Jupe informed her. “However, by this morning she has convinced herself that the entire affair of the singing serpent never happened. No matter how Dr. Barrister explained it, she can’t believe it. She is now down at the salvage yard, attending to business as usual and seeing that Hans and Konrad are not idle.”
Allie put the toast on a tray and poured a glass of milk. “How come you’re not at the salvage yard?” she asked. “I had an idea your aunt liked to keep you busy, too.”
“Chief Reynolds came to the salvage yard this morning,” said Jupe. “The Los Angeles police want to see us again. We’re just on our way in.”
“Did the Chief have any news?” asked Allie.
“That phony tramp named Ellis is in jail, of course,” said Bob.
“That’s the place for a bomber,” said Allie.
“Chief Reynolds said he talked his head off,” Pete told Allie. “Noxworth talked, too.
The police collected Hugo Ariel and the man called Max. They were at Torrente Canyon.
Noxworth didn’t know they’d paid Ellis to bomb Hendricks’ store. He only thought something would happen to lay Hendricks low.”
“That accounts for everybody,” said Allie. “All except one.”
“Dr. Shaitan,” said Jupiter.
Allie sat down at the table. “They didn’t get Shaitan?”
“He wasn’t at Torrente Canyon,” said Jupe. “He disappeared, leaving everything behind, including his car. Chief Reynolds thinks he’s probably in Canada by now.”
Allie tucked her feet up on the rungs of her chair. “And what do you think?” she asked.
“You’re still our client,” said Jupiter Jones. “We can’t consider the case closed