Chapter 6 The Secret of the Wooden Lady by Carolyn Keene
Locked In
Nancy tore the coat from her face. She was in a small dark space, surrounded by clothing on hooks and hangers. It must be the captain’s wardrobe, she thought, trying to force the door open. It would not budge.
She could hear the intruder moving quickly about the cabin, upsetting things, careless now of the noise he made. If only she could catch a glimpse of him!
Nancy put her eye close to the keyhole, but the key was in the lock and she could see nothing but a glint of light. She began a careful search of the door panels for some tiny crack through which she might watch the man’s movements.
At last she found one—a small hole halfway up the right panel where someone had driven a nail. Nancy glued her eye to the tiny opening and waited for the prowler, whoever he was, to cross her line of vision. When he did, Nancy gave a little gasp.
Grizzle Face!
He had a chisel in his hand and began forcing the lock of the desk drawer. The fine wood splintered. Seizing the drawer, the man dumped its contents upon the floor. What was it he hoped to find?
Whatever the sailor wanted, it was not in the drawer. He abandoned the heap of things he had dumped out and began to explore the polished oak wall next to it. His big hands passed quickly over the wood, pressing here and there. Was he looking for a secret spring which would open one of the panels?
Then, as suddenly as he had come, Grizzle Face left. The cabin was silent. Nancy waited, wondering if he would return. Perhaps he had gone for an accomplice.
“Or he’s searching in another part of the ship,” she told herself.
Once more Nancy tried to force the door. It was heavy, and her only reward was a bruised shoulder. The air was becoming bad, too.
In a moment she was relieved. She heard two familiar voices. Bess and George were coming down the companionway! She shouted and pounded on the wardrobe door.
“Nancy!” Bess cried in a panic. “Where are you?”
“I’m locked in the wardrobe,” Nancy answered, but George had already turned the key to let her out.
“Hypers!” George breathed. “Who locked you in here?”
“Grizzle Face, and look what he did to Captain Easterly’s desk!” Nancy said, pointing to the heap of assorted articles from the drawer. “He’s searching desperately for something—he even felt along the wall as if he hoped to find a secret panel.”
Bess wanted to know where he had gone. “If he’s still on the ship, I’m leaving,” she added, looking around the cabin and giving a shudder.
Nancy said she was sure he had been frightened off the clipper by the approach of the cousins.
“Then why didn’t we see him?” Bess argued, edging toward the door.
Nancy reminded her of the mysterious exit of the old fellow the day before. He had probably left the same way.
“And I’m going to find out where the place is,” Nancy determined.
“Not now,” George suggested. “Let’s investigate this cabin. Do you suppose there is a secret panel?”
“Oh, come on,” Bess pleaded. “It’s getting late.” She looked at her watch. “It’s almost suppertime.”
“Always thinking of food,” George said in disgust. “Nobody could be hungry after the sundae you just had.”
Bess said she was not hungry; she was frightened. “We can come back in the morning, and Captain Easterly will be here to protect us, Nancy,” she urged.
“Why don’t you go ashore and wait?” George suggested. “Nancy and I want to see if there’s anything to this secret-panel idea.”
Bess hesitated. She did not want to stay on the clipper, yet she did not like the idea of being thought a poor sport. Suddenly she had an idea. She would ask the dock guard to come aboard. Without telling the others her plan, Bess left the cabin.
George and Nancy continued their search. George had taken off one of her sandals and was tapping along the wall with it.
Bess had been gone only a minute when there came a bloodcurdling scream. Nancy and George rushed into the passageway and around a corner. Bess was huddled against the wall, shivering with fright.
“Oh, Nancy,” she whispered, “a head came right up through the floor!”
“What?” George was unbelieving.
“It did. I saw it.”
“Where did you see it, Bess?” Nancy asked quietly.
“Down there, in the middle of the passageway.” Bess pointed a shaking finger. “Don’t go near it!” she pleaded.
Nancy and George went to the spot nevertheless, and bent over to examine the floor. Nancy discovered a small hatch with an iron ring. She and George lifted it, despite Bess’s fearful protests.
“There’s a ladder,” Nancy said excitedly. “It’s an escape hatch leading from the hold. If we’re going down, we’d better have a flashlight.”
“Nancy, you’re not going down there!” Bess screamed. “He’s down there! I know he is!”
“That’s what we want to find out,” Nancy told her firmly.
She already was hurrying back to the captain’s cabin, where she grabbed the flashlight from the shelf over the bunk, and then joined the others.
“Come on, George,” she said, starting down the narrow wooden steps.
“What am I supposed to do?” Bess wailed.
“Stand guard here,” George told her.
Bess, not in the least comforted by this thought, decided to go with the others. Nancy, who was in the lead, stopped on the steps, and swung her flashlight over the rough planking at the foot of the long, steep ladder. They could see some kegs and barrels, an oil drum, and a packing case.
There were plenty of places, Nancy decided, where a man could hide. It was completely dark, and the small light in her hand illuminated only a small space. She descended slowly, careful not to proceed until she was sure no one was hiding underneath the ladder.
The three girls reached the bottom of the steps. Staying close together, they began to work their way among the cases and barrels and coils of rope. Gradually Nancy gained the feeling that there was no one else in the hold. George must have reached the same conclusion, for she said:
“Nancy, he got away. I’m sure he’s not down here.”
“I wish I could be sure,” Bess said weakly. Her knees were shaking so much she could hardly stand up.
The girls quickly covered as much of the cluttered space as they could without climbing over the stacked-up articles, but they found no trace of the man Bess had seen.
“You imagined the whole thing,” George accused her finally.
“I didn’t. I tell you I saw him—the top of his head, anyway. It came right up out of the floor. Then it just vanished.”
Nancy had gone forward alone. “Here’s the answer,” she called, swinging her light over another ladder which led up to the lower deck. “He escaped through this hatch.”
The three girls hurried to the main deck and went ashore. Nancy walked over to a warehouse guard lounging against a wall.
“Did you see a man come off the clipper a few minutes ago?” she asked.
The guard looked up lazily. “No, miss. Why?”
“Are you sure?” George persisted.
The man smiled. “Ain’t seen nobody but you girls for the past hour. And I’ve been right here.”
Nancy thanked him and approached a second watchman, who was walking along the dock. She repeated the question.
“Sorry, girls.” He shook his head. “I haven’t seen a soul. The captain been telling you his ghost stories?”
“Captain Easterly is a truthful man,” Nancy said loyally. “I saw the intruder myself—twice. He is about sixty, and has a grizzled beard.”
The watchman gave Nancy an odd look from under his black eyebrows. “No, never saw anybody of that description around here, young lady. You a friend of Captain Easterly?”
Nancy said she was, and hurried away before he could ask any more questions. The girls found a taxi and went straight to the hotel.
Bess threw herself on the bed and breathed an immense sigh of relief. “Am I glad to get away from that horrible old ship!” she said. “Tonight we play!”
After dinner the three girls went to the theater. Nancy was surprised that her father had not returned. He was not back by morning, either.
Bess had lost her fright of the day before. The clear, warm day seemed to give her courage.
After breakfast, the three girls returned to the harbor and boarded the Bonny Scot, expecting to find Captain Easterly. Nancy shouted a “hello” into the interior. The only reply was the slight creaking of the vessel.
The captain’s morning paper, neatly folded, lay on the deck where it had been pitched by a delivery boy.
“Captain Easterly’s not here,” George said. “He would have picked up his paper by this time.”
“You’re probably right,” Nancy agreed. “Maybe something has happened to him in his cabin. I’m going down and take a look.”
“Please don’t,” pleaded Bess, whose apprehension had returned. “Let—let the police investigate this.”
“If anything’s wrong with the captain, he needs us immediately,” Nancy reasoned, hurrying down the companionway.
She found the door to his cabin standing open. The girl was shocked at the sight that met her eyes.