Read Invitation to a Stranger Online

Authors: Margaret Pearce

Invitation to a Stranger (3 page)

BOOK: Invitation to a Stranger
5.88Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads
Chapter Six

 

They all put “lost” notices and photographs around the streets and shops, and spent every moment of time they could spare on their bikes hunting and calling their pets. The animals hadn't been collected with other strays at the local animal refuge.

On the way home from school one night they dropped into Drake's place. He stopped cleaning the pool, as Jasmine told him about the missing pets.

“I mean, they never stray,” she said with a sigh. “They are the most loved and spoiled
stupid
members of our family, and being so valuable, I'm sure someone has stolen them.”

“Rotten luck for you,” Drake said slowly. “Never ever had pets when we lived in the country. Father was very uptight about me making pets of any of the animals. They all had to be named breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or else.”

The girls exchanged horrified glances. What a dreadful family to be so unpleasant
. Drake really did have a bad background with them.

“Not even a dog?” Katie asked.

“Working animals, not allowed to be spoiled,” Drake explained.

“A bit rough to grow up without animals to care for,” Jasmine said as they left.
“I couldn't survive without my darlings.”

“Which have gone missing,” Ronnie said. “We've got to find them.”

The week passed, and there was still no sign of the missing animals.

“Maybe your cats got kidnapped,” Ronnie argued with Jasmine as they rode their bikes across to the animal refuge for another check on the Saturday morning. “I mean, they are valuable, but who would want an elderly Shepherd?”

“Jenny says their Great Dane
, Binkie, has
gone missing,”
Katie
replied. “Who would steal such a noticeable dog?
He's the only Great Dane in the district.”

They left their bikes outside and went into the office. The girl behind the counter smiled and shook her head even before they asked.

“Sorry, kids. None of them have been handed in. In fact we haven't had any strays in at all these last few weeks. It's the emptiest the refuge has been for ages.”

The three girls went out to their bikes, and stared at each other.

“So where do we try now?” Katie asked glumly.

“Some pet shops might be dishonest enough to sell stolen animals,” Jasmine said with a sigh.

“The police said they would keep an eye on the pet shops.” Katie reminded her.

There was silence. There was nowhere else they could possibly think of checking for their precious pets.

“I've been thinking,”
Ronnie
said. “Why aren't there any stray animals in the refuge lately?”

“Why should there be?”
Katie
asked grumpily. “Maybe unwanted animals only get dumped after Christmas when they stop being cute.”

“The animal shelter has strays all the time,”
Ronnie
said. “What if someone is stealing all the animals around the district?”

“What for?” Jasmine demanded. “What are they going to do with all the strays they steal? Can't see anyone skinning old Rex for his fur.”

“Maybe someone is cutting them up for tinned cat food,” Katie suggested.

“Erkk!” moaned Jasmine and Ronnie together.

“Got any better suggestions?” Katie asked.

“Let's go up to the shopping mall and at least look at the pet shops,” Jasmine said. “My Wing and Sing are valuable enough to end up there, and the cops might have missed checking this week.”

The mall, as usual for Saturday morning, was bustling with shoppers. The girls locked their bikes carefully to the bike rack and went inside. They headed straight for the pet shop.
There was a
cage with three puppies sleeping in it. Behind that was another cage, with a Blue Point Siamese cat curled up inside.

“It's Wing,” Jasmine gasped, as she reached over to open the cage.

“Two hundred dollars,” the man behind the counter said. “It's only that cheap because there aren't any papers.”

“I've got papers for Wing at home,” Jasmine said. She had transformed from being a
giggly flirtatious
girl into a raging defender. “Are you dealing in stolen animals these days?” She snapped her fingers. “Wing. Come here.”

Wing ignored her, and Jasmine gasped. “Wing always comes when he's called.”

“Made a mistake this time, young lady,” the man said. “After all one Blue Point Siamese looks identical to another.”

“He's got the nick in his left ear from a fight he had when he was a kitten,” Jasmine said as she leaned in and picked him up from the cage. “You've drugged him or something.”

“Got a receipt from the previous owner, Missy,” the pet shop owner said. “All legal and above board.”

“I don't believe you,” Jasmine almost stuttered. “But it's easy enough to prove. Wing has a microchip.”

“Easy enough to prove,” the man agreed. “The vet's just across the road.”
His tone turned sarcastic. “I don't buy any stolen animals. “

He took the cat off Jasmine. It sagged bonelessly in his hands. He went out of the shop and across the road into the vet's building. The girls waited. He was back inside a few seconds later holding the sagging cat.

“Got any identification that your name is Purdue?”

“My old school jumper still has my name at the back of the neck,” Jasmine said. She pulled it off.

See.”

“You're lucky this time, Missy.” The pet shop owner sounded aggrieved. “The previous owner didn't take any money. Just said it was a family pet he wanted to go to a good home.”

“So who was the previous owner?” Katie asked.

The man handed the cat over to Jasmine, opened his ledger and checked. “A kid named Drake Demento.”

“Drake Demento,” Ronnie
repeated
.

“Drake Demento,” Katie echoed.

“That's what I said,” the pet owner said irritably. “Anything else you want here?”

This was a sufficient hint, and the three girls, with Jasmine carrying the cat, walked out of the shop.

 

Chapter
Seven

 

“So why would he do anything like that?” Ronnie burst out as she and her two friends walked out of the shopping mall to where they had locked up their bikes.

“Maybe Wing strayed into their place,” Katie said. “And Drake thought the pet shop the best place to leave him.”

“But he knew that Wing must be your missing cat,” Ronnie said.
“Why didn't he say anything if he had him?”

“Why indeed?” Katie said.

“Wing's a lot heavier,” Jasmine said, sounding puzzled as she dropped him in her front basket. “He doesn't usually put weight on like this.”

“Maybe he's been drugged,” Katie said uneasily.

“Why wouldn't Drake drop him at the animal refuge?” Ronnie asked.

“Or say that Wing was
his
pet? Jasmine demanded. “It doesn't make sense.”

“What if the Dementos are behind all the animal disappearances?”
Katie whispered. “The animals have only just gone missing since they arrived in the
district
.”

“Dumb idea,” Ronnie jeered. “What for?”

There was silence as they rode back to their turnoff by the lane.
But Katie's whispered suggestion sort of hung in the air. What if the ridiculous suggestion was true and the Dementos were responsible for hiding all the missing pets?

Wing h
ad been given, not sold, to the pet shop, Ronnie thought.
The
Dementos weren't
making money by selling them.

“Anyway, at least Wing is safe,” Jasmine said. “Catch up with you tomorrow. I've got music this afternoon.”

“And we've got netball practice,” Katie reminded Ronnie. “And we're running late.”

All through netball practice Ronnie kept thinking of a reason why Drake had handed the cat to the pet shop. He knew that Jasmine was upset about her missing Siamese cats. Why had he told the pet shop owner that Wing belonged to him?
Why hadn't he just given Wing straight back to Jasmine?

Wing and Sing were always straying, but the locals knew them so well that they just rang Jasmine to come and collect them. Perhaps he hadn't realised that the district had an animal shelter? But if he found Wing, where was Sing? The two cats always kept together all the time and why hadn't he told Jasmine he had found him?

“Will you concentrate
?
” the coach yelled at Ronnie.

Ronnie shook her head, put the puzzling matter of the missing animals out of her head, and tried to focus on the teamwork the coach said they needed so much to win the next game.

After practice she and Katie collected their bikes and rode off. They slowed and turned into Jasmine's place. Jasmine was sitting watching Wing, sleeping soundly in his basket.

“How is he?” Ronnie asked.

“If it wasn't for the microchip I wouldn't have believed it was him,” Jasmine said
.
“He's
got this ferocious appetite and sleeps all the time. Mum is putting him on
a
d
iet.”

“Having a ferocious appetite shouldn't affect his memory,” Katie said.


Very weird,” Ronnie agreed. “Maybe he'll be better in a few days.”

“We hope,” Jasmine said with a sigh.

Ronnie and Katie then left and rode off on their bikes. It was getting dark. Ronnie was thankful they didn't have far to go to reach their homes.

“It gets dark so early now that daylight saving's finished,” Katie said with a sigh.

“Still nice weather, even if we are into autumn,” Ronnie said.

“I've been thinking,” Katie said.

“About?”

“How we've been running around like headless chooks,” Katie replied. “Let's just ask Drake why he left the cat at the pet shop instead of the animal refuge, or give it back to Jasmine, and find out if he knows where Sing is.”

“Why didn't you think of that earlier?”

“Why didn't you or Jasmine?” Katie retorted.

Ronnie felt her worry and tension drain out of her. Katie was so right. It was the simple and straightforward thing to do.

Without another word, they turned their bikes around and pedalled towards the big mansion at the end of Castle Street.

 

Chapter
Eight

 

By the time they arrived at the Demento place the sun had set and it was dark. The street light in front of the house was on. They left their bikes by the front gate and walked slowly up the driveway.

The big black car was parked in the
front
. Ronnie and Katie paused. The house loomed very dark and silent in front of them. It looked creepy. Maybe it was because there were no lights on in the house. Or maybe it was because the house was set in such large grounds that it was isolated from the cheerful lights of the other houses in the street.

“Someone must be home, otherwise the car wouldn't be here,” Katie whispered.

“What are they doing, sitting in the dark?” Ronnie whispered back. “Didn't Drake warn us not to drop by if the car was there?”

“Rubbish,” Katie said firmly. “We're just going to have a few words with Drake. Shouldn't be any problem.”

She groped her way up the winding path that led to the ornate porch over the front door. Ronnie followed close behind her.

“What do you think you are doing?”
Ronnie hissed.

“Knocking on the front door,” Katie replied.

She raised her hand and knocked three times, hard. The knocks sounded very loud in the silence. Ronnie shivered, and stood closer to Katie.

A porch light went on, lighting up their white, scared faces. The heavy front door swung back, revealing a dark shadow in the opening.

“Drake?” Katie asked, as she peered into the darkness of the house. “Have you had your electricity cut off or something?”

“What do you want?” Drake's voice whispered. He sounded unfriendly and unwelcoming.

Ronnie was revising her ideas of Drake. He didn't sound nice any more.
.
Maybe he was involved in some weird scheme of kidnapping the district pets, but if he was, why had Wing ended up at the pet shop?


We wanted to thank you for dropping Wing into the pet shop,” Katie said. “Jasmine collected him this morning.”

“And have you seen anything of Sing?” Ronnie asked. “The two cats are usually together.”

“Brod's here, so clear out,” Drake whispered and shut the door in their faces.

The porch light was turned off. It was abruptly very dark. Ronnie clutched Katie, as they turned and groped their way down the steps and along the winding path that led back to the street, and under the welcome street light.

“What's eating him?”
Katie grumbled as they collected their bikes.

“Brod, I guess,” Ronnie said.
"
So we catch up with Drake some other time.
Or maybe not,

she said after a pause.

There was something weird about a family that lurked in a darkened house. What were they all doing in the dark? Why had Drake turned so unpleasant?
She wasn't game to admit it, but she had been scared when the heavy front door had swung back. What if that whispering man introduced as Drake's father had answered Katie's knock or even that nasty Brod?


Maybe not
,
” agreed Katie in a relieved tone. “Maybe Brod will be gone again tomorrow afternoon.”

“Wonder if his grandfather is as creepy as his father?” Ronnie said when they reached Katie's house.

“Wonder,” Katie said. “Also why was Drake so upset at seeing us?”

“Maybe because Brod was there,” Ronnie suggested.
Or maybe not as Katie had said. What if Drake was as equally unpleasant as Brod only they hadn't realized it because he had put on the charm?

The next day started badly. It was another clear, sunny day and Katie and Jasmine had turned up to meet so they could put up more “lost” posters for the missing animals.

“You are not going anywhere until you clean that room,” her mother yelled, as she spotted Ronnie, with Kate and Jasmine leaving the house. “It is a disgrace!
I don't see that it is too much to expect you to hang your clothes somewhere else but the floor.”

“Give you a hand,” Katie offered.

“Me too,” Jasmine offered.

They helped Ronnie change her bed, pick up and put away her clothes, and sort
out
her library shelf.

Katie had already told Jasmine about Drake's odd reception when they visited him in his unlit house and they discussed it in more detail.

“So maybe they
did
have their electricity cut off,” Jasmine suggested. “And Drake wouldn't have wanted us to front Brod again.”

“The porch light went on,” Ronnie said.

“Maybe just one of the light fuses went,” Jasmine argued. “In a house that large they would have more than one fuse in their fuse box.”

“Maybe,” Ronnie agreed.

Now it was broad daylight and such a sunny day, she felt a bit stupid. It was embarrassing to remember she had been so scared of a little thing like a darkened house, and seeing Brod again.
Maybe Drake was just unfriendly because
he didn't want them to have to deal with
him
again?

Then the subject got around to bands and Jasmine's
MP3 player
and they experimented with Katie's latest makeup. After that Ronnie's mother put her head around the door.


Soup and hot scones for lunch,” she said. She stared more closely at Katie. “You look as if you need a good night's sleep. You're too young to have those black bags under your eyes.”

“It's my new eye make-up, Mrs. Campion,” Katie explained.

“Humph,” said Mrs. Campion.

“Yeah, they call her goggle eyes at school,” Jamie jeered.

Katie breathed deeply. “Any cheek from you, young Jamie Campion, and do you know what I'll do?”

“I'm shaking with fear,” Jamie said.

“I'll come over to the junior school and kiss you in front of all your mates,” Katie promised.

“You wouldn't.” Jamie went white.

“I would,” Katie assured him.

“I was only joking,” Jamie said in a subdued tone.

The three girls were still giggling as they finished their lunch of soup and hot scones, and then help do dishes and tidy up the kitchen.

So it was well into the afternoon by the time they had finished riding around the district to put up their “lost” posters. As it happened they finished putting up their posters just near the big Demento mansion.

Someone had been working on the house during the week. The shrubs and trees had been pruned, and the lawn freshly mowed. The front porch had been repaired; there was new guttering, and the windows and shutters freshly repainted. The house didn't look creepy any more. It looked well cared for and welcoming.

“Must've spent some money on it to get it cleaned up so quickly,” Jasmine remarked.

“Are we going to visit Drake?”
Ronnie
asked
. She wasn't sure if she wanted to meet Drake again
,
but then she wasn't sure if she didn't.
“No car in the
front
.”

“What if Brod is still around?” Jasmine asked.

“I'm not scared of Brod,” Katie said. “He won't try anything stupid with the three of us around.”

Ronnie was doubtful. She remembered the hatred in his eyes as he was dragged away. He was a very uncool sort of guy and he could still get very nasty with them. Still, Jasmine and Katie didn't seem that worried, so they opened the brand new gate and wheeled their bikes up the driveway.

The big covered freshly painted porch along the back of the house was now furnished with porch swings, tables and chairs and even a barbecue. The porch overlooked the fenced off pool, and the yard behind, jungle like with overgrown trees and creepers.

“The pool still looks a mess,” Katie said.

“And they haven't got around to pruning back the back yard,” Jasmine remarked. “Maybe Sing could be down there somewhere.”

She went around the fenced pool to the start of the overgrown yard.

"
Sing,” she called. “Here Puss, Puss, Puss.” She pushed further in among the trees and vanished, her voice still faintly calling. “Here, Puss, Puss, Puss.”

“Maybe everyone's out.” Ronnie started to feel uneasy again. For some reason she didn't like this well-kept for house any better than the local kids had when it looked like a haunted mansion.

“No,” Katie said as she went up the steps to the porch.
"
Someone's sleeping in the porch swing.”

Ronnie followed Katie reluctantly up the steps on to the porch. The back door was shut, and the windows overlooking the porch looked blank with heavy dark blinds pulled right down. It definitely looked as if no one was home.

“It's one of the twins, Sam or Dan.” Katie leaned over and shook the boy sleeping in the porch swing. “Wake up!”

“Huh!” the boy said. He opened his eyes and blinked. “Where am I and where's Sam?”

“You're on a porch swing in Drake Demento's place,” Katie said. “You look terrible!
Maybe Sam's inside if you stayed here the night.”

“Maybe,” Dan said. He struggled to sit up and buried his face in his hands. “I feel bad,” he groaned and he looked it. His face was pasty with heavy dark shadows under his puffy eyes.

“A heavy night was it?” Katie jeered.

“Dunno,” Dan said. “We went night clubbing with some of Brod's mob, and I don't remember anything else.” He yawned, closed his eyes and collapsed back across the swing.

“What do you think you're doing here?” a voice growled.

Ronnie and Katie spun around. A man stood at the bottom of the porch stairs glaring at them.
It was Drake's father.
He
didn't give the impression of
being old enough to be Drake's father. His hair was very black, and
his skin was very clear and white with no wrinkles in it. H
is black eyes under the arched brows
watched them.
He stood erectly, his broad shoulders filling out the check shirt he wore under dark overalls
and
held a shovel in strong capable hands.

“It's
Mr.
Demento
,
” Katie whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

“No one's home, so clear out,”
he
growled. “You're trespassing.”

The girls hurried down the steps and grabbed their bikes.

“Jasmine!” Katie yelled. “Jasmine! We're leaving. Do come on out.”

They waited. There was no answer.

“Our friend Jasmine is somewhere in the yard,” Katie said.

“I've been working in the yard all the afternoon, Missy,”
he
said. “Wherever your friend is, it isn't in this yard. So take off and take the extra bike with you.”

Katie and Ronnie exchanged frightened looks. If
he
was right
…
where was Jasmine? The backyard was fenced all around. She couldn't just have disappeared!

BOOK: Invitation to a Stranger
5.88Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

SUMMER of FEAR by T Jefferson Parker
Praetorian by Scarrow, Simon
The Revolutions by Gilman, Felix
Bandit by Ellen Miles
Meet the New Dawn by Rosanne Bittner
Dying To Marry by Janelle Taylor
Maggie on the Bounty by Kate Danley
Starlighter by Bryan Davis
Grilling the Subject by Daryl Wood Gerber