The Mystery of Wandering Caveman - M. V. Carey [38]
He doubled up his fist and struck the wall with the side of his hand. And then, “It moved!” he cried. “It’s loose!”
He scrabbled with his fingernails, and more mortar fell away. Then there was a scraping sound as he lifted a brick out of the wall.
“Hot dog!” he cried.
The brick crashed down to the floor of the crypt, and in the darkness Jupe said,
“Hey, watch it!”
“Sorry,” said Bob. He got a grip on a second brick, and he dug and tugged and scratched and pulled until it came away.
The third brick came more easily, and then a fourth. Beyond the first row of bricks there was a wall of mortar that fell away almost at a touch, and beyond that was another row of bricks.
Pete put a hand out and shoved with all his might, and two bricks fell outward and dropped from sight in the clearing around the old church.
And Eleanor and the boys saw daylight!
After that it was easy. They pulled at the bricks, and they scratched and picked at the mortar, and they shoved and yanked. Soon Bob was able to squirm through the opening. He was dirty and scratched, and his fingers were bloodied.
A minute later the three remaining captives heard scraping noises overhead. Bob was shoving away the heavy beams and rocks with which DiStefano had barricaded the trap door. While he waited, Jupe studied the crypt by the light from the hole they’d made in the outside wall. It was a long, narrow room, not very large. Along the inner wall, niches that had once held coffins gaped blackly. Jupe shivered at the thought of how close they’d come to needing coffins themselves.
Finally Bob lifted the trap door and the three in the crypt scrambled up the stairs.
Eleanor’s face was dirty and her eyes were red and there was a rip in the knee of her slacks, but she looked determined. For the first time since the boys had met her, she seemed sure of what she wanted to do.
“Okay,” she said, leading the way out of the ruined church. “Let’s go grab Frank before he can get away. If we don’t, everybody could be in big trouble. He took the notes from Dr. Birkensteen’s journals, and he’s got them now. He’s got the formula for 4-23!”
“You mean he can go on making stuff to put people to sleep?” said Pete.
“Sure. It isn’t hard to do, once you know how. And Frank took chemistry before he dropped out of college.”
“Oh, no!” exclaimed Pete.
They jogged through the woods and across the meadow. When they reached the barn, they found the car was there with the keys in the ignition. Thalia McAfee must have just returned from grocery shopping, for there were bags in the back filled with canned goods and bread and produce.
Eleanor leaped behind the wheel and reached for the keys.
“Hey, wait a second!” yelled Pete. He snatched open the back door and jumped in. Bob climbed in behind him, and Jupe sprinted around the car and got in next to Eleanor.
Thalia McAfee popped out of the back door of the house and shouted as Eleanor gunned the motor and roared backwards out of the barn. Eleanor ignored her. She shifted gears, jounced towards the road, and sped towards town.
“Where are we going?” asked Jupe.
For the first time Eleanor faltered. She slackened speed and looked at Jupe in panic. “I … I thought maybe Centerdale,” she said.
Jupe looked worried. “Frank is probably running,” he said. “He’s most likely afraid that we might manage to get out of the crypt, or that we’d be missed and there would be a search.”
“But he’s got to be in Centerdale!” cried Eleanor. “He wouldn’t hurry, would he?
He wouldn’t think we’d get out so fast! If we don’t get him, it will be really terrible.
He could make gallons of Dr. Birkensteen’s formula. He could put the whole country to sleep.”
Eleanor pulled into the parking lot next to the cafe. “I’ll call the sheriff,” she declared. “I’ll tell them to get out an alert for him.”
“Wait a second,” said Jupe. He closed his eyes and pictured the list of errands he had seen in Frank DiStefano’s car.
“What is it?” said Eleanor. She seized his arm and shook him. “Hey, let’s not