Shadows on the Sea Page 12

  Oh, Nana, please come home!

  Then another thought shot through her. No! Nana mustn’t come home. Not with Clayton Bishop here!

  She heard the telephone ringing. The banging stopped and Clayton descended the stairs. The phone continued ringing. Could it be Quarry? Maybe he’d be worried and come looking for her. Then he’d be in danger too! She had put so many people in jeopardy, just because she hadn’t trusted anyone.

  The telephone finally stopped ringing and the house was silent. Where was Clayton? She lay still, listening intently.

  Suddenly a car started up in the driveway. Jill crept to the side of the railing and peeked over the rim. Clayton was leaving!

  Jill waited until the car went around the bend and out of sight, then ran to the hatch door. She pulled at the bolt and tried to lift the door with both hands. It wouldn’t open! She rattled it and pushed. But the door was sealed shut. Clayton had thrown the bolt on the other side and imprisoned Jill on the widow’s walk. He’d locked her up to give himself time to get away!

  Jill rattled the door and screamed, “Let me out! Help!”

  Then she remembered Quarry’s flashlight. She felt around the floor of the deck. There!

  “Come on, Quarry. Look this way,” she whispered as she began clicking the light in the direction of the lighthouse. Three dots, three dashes, three dots. SOS. That was the international distress code she’d learned in school.

  She flashed the beam on and off until her fingers were sore. “Please look over here, Quarry, please.”

  Dot, dot, dot. Dash, dash, dash. Dot, dot, dot.

  House lights in the town were blinking off. Jill wished she had her binoculars. She could see the Tearoom Inn and make out the half-painted headlights of cars as they moved down Main Street. Was Adrie getting away with her German agents?

  What a dimwit I was, Jill thought. It’s so obvious now that Adrie’s inn was a cover-up—a front for foreign agents! Who would question vacationers showing up at an inn?

  Adrie was so clever! She knew that Jill had seen the pigeons the day she fell off her bicycle. That’s why she’d taken off in such a hurry. Adrie must have gone directly to Clayton’s house to figure out a way to throw Jill off track. Then, when Nana went to the store that day she had seen Adrie’s car in Clayton’s backyard.

  It was out of character for Adrie Dekker to suddenly invite Nana and Jill to a squab dinner. Adrie was not the neighborly type.

  To think I fell for it! And all the time I was suspecting people I should have trusted—like Nana and Tante Ida.

  Dot, dot, dot. Dash, dash, dash. Dot, dot, dot.

  Jill flashed the light more urgently. “Please see the light, Quarry.” But the flashlight gradually grew dim as the batteries gave out. It was cold and she was shivering. She untied the sweater from her waist and put it on.

  How long had Jill been on the roof? Nana should have been home ages ago.

  It seemed as if she’d been on the roof for hours, when Jill finally saw faint lights coming up the road. Four vehicles. One of them was Nana’s car. Two others were police cars. She recognized Hugh MacDonald’s truck. Quarry must have seen her signal! They all stopped in the driveway and got out of their vehicles.

  “Help!” she screamed. “I’m trapped up here!”

  “We’re comin’!” Quarry yelled, looking up.

  Moments later, Nana unbolted the trapdoor and Jill fell into her arms.

  On the sunporch, Nana tucked a blanket around Jill and sat next to her. “You must be frozen, honey. You’re shivering.”

  “I saw a German U-boat!” Jill exclaimed. “Right in Frenchman’s Cove! Adrie Dekker and Clayton Bishop met some men from the U-boat and brought them back. I watched from the cliff … then Clayton chased me home and I hid on the widow’s walk.”

  “Godfrey!” Quarry exclaimed. “You had them sized up right all along.”

  “Who knows what he might have done if he caught you,” Hugh MacDonald muttered.

  “What were you doing out there?” Nana asked.

  “I had to find out what was going on, Nana.”

  “You could have been killed!” Nana exclaimed, hugging her. “Thank God you’re all right! This was the first time our meeting went on until after midnight!”

  “I’m so glad you weren’t here, Nana. He might have hurt you.” Sarge rubbed against Jill’s legs, then climbed into her lap, purring.

  The sheriff pulled up a chair and patted Jill’s hand. “What made you follow them, Jill?” he asked in a kind voice.

  “It all began when Sarge here found a carrier pigeon with the message, Sonnabend iv attached to its leg. I thought it might be German, but I wasn’t sure. Then, when Quarry and I let the pigeon go, it went directly to Clayton Bishop’s house. I was suspicious of him because he acted too angry when I happened to stop by and see his pigeons. He was scary! I’d heard about our ships being torpedoed and it made me wonder if some of the shadows we’ve seen on the sea could have been U-boats. After all, they couldn’t very well communicate with Nazi sympathizers. Not with the naval base monitoring radio messages! But pigeons could carry messages from ship to shore with no problem. So when I saw Adrie and Clayton going off into the woods, I followed them. And that’s when I saw the U-boat.”

  The sheriff stood up and motioned to two police officers who stood nearby. “Get over to Bishop’s house and see what you can find out. It’s probably too late, but I’m going to ring the station and send some men over to the Tearoom Inn. I’m sure Adrie Dekker and the rest of’em flew the coop hours ago.” He went into the hall to use the telephone.

  “Locking Jill up there on the roof gave ’em time to get away,” Hugh said.

  “At least he didn’t hurt her.” Nana hugged Jill again. “Thank goodness you saw Jill’s signal, Quarry.”

  “I didn’t think to look over here right away after I tried to reach you on the telephone,” Quarry confessed. “I’m sorry, Jill.”

  “Clayton Bishop would have gotten to me, if you hadn’t called when you did, Quarry. The phone call scared him away,” Jill told him gratefully.

  “As soon as Quarry saw your SOS, he came straight to me and spilled the beans,” Hugh said. “That’s when we buzzed the police and got in touch with Elizabeth at Ida’s house.” He smiled a wry grin. “I’m surprised Quarry could keep a secret this long.”

  “What about Wendy?” Jill asked the sheriff when he returned. “Where is she?”

  “I dunno. We’ll know more in a little while. The naval base is sendin’ someone right over to talk with you. Meanwhile, we’ll wait till we hear what my men have found out. They’ll call once they know somethin’.” He leaned closer to Jill. “Why didn’t you tell anyone about the carrier pigeon or your suspicions, little lady?”

  “I heard all kinds of rumors in this town,” Jill said. “I didn’t know who was sending messages by carrier pigeon or who was receiving them. I was afraid to tell anyone, because I didn’t know who … might be involved.” Jill blinked back tears as she turned to Nana. “I even wondered about you and Tante Ida when I heard her use the word Sonnabend.”

  “No wonder you were confused,” Nana said gently, “after seeing the same word in the pigeon’s message.”

  “When you talked to Ida about ‘keeping secrets as usual.’ I was scared to tell anyone,” Jill confessed. “I was afraid you’d get in trouble.”

  “Well, honey, it’s time you knew some of our secrets.” Nana squeezed Jill’s arm. “It’s too bad that we aroused suspicions and gossip, when actually we were trying to do nice things for Winter Haven.”

  “What do you mean?” Jill asked.

  “Our little group gets together to do some good for the community—anonymously. We hear about people who are sick or having babies or new to town, and we try to give them special treats, like flowers, baby clothes, food … things like that. We do it anonymously, because—as the scriptures say—‘let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.’ To get credit or applause for do
ing good deeds spoils the joy it gives us. Besides, it’s fun to let people wonder where the gifts and flowers are coming from.”

  “The flowers Wendy and I received when we arrived? Were they from your group?”

  “Of course! And we sent flowers to Adrie when she opened for the season. She didn’t seem to have any friends, so we wanted to make her feel like someone cared,” Nana explained. “In fact, tonight we packed a basket full of casseroles, baked goods, and flowers that we were going to leave on Guy Binette’s doorstep, to show our sympathy for his loss.” She sighed. “Not that anything could ever make up for the sacrifice he and Paulie have made.”

  The telephone rang. Nana answered, then beckoned to the sheriff. “It’s for you.”

  The sheriff talked briefly, gave some orders, then hung up. “Just as I figured, that Dekker woman and her German friends are gone. Looks like she took the girl with her, ’cause there’s no sign of any of’em.”

  “I should think you could trace them in that fancy car of hers,” Nana said.

  “Nope. Miss Dekker didn’t take the car. It’s parked in her garage,” the sheriff said. “And Clayton Bishop’s car is still in his driveway. Someone else in this town must be involved and helped them get away.”

  “Perhaps they’re heading for Canada,” Quarry suggested. “The border’s just a few miles from here.”

  “We’ve contacted the border patrol, but it’s probably too late,” said the sheriff. “They may have already passed through.”

  “Wouldn’t they need papers to cross?” Nana asked.

  “They’ve thought of that, I’m sure,” the sheriff replied.

  Jill spoke up. “Do you suppose they’ve been taken aboard the submarine?”

  “It’s poss’ble,” Hugh agreed. “Why, they could be halfway ’cross the Atlantic by now.”

  “Now we know how the Germans communicated with Bishop. He simply brought carrier pigeons to the submarines,” the sheriff explained. “When the U-boat wanted to contact him, they surfaced and let the pigeon carry the message home.”

  “The navy people should be here soon, Jill,” the Sheriff said. “And you’d better stay, Quarry. There may be some questions for you, too.”

  “I ain’t goin’ nowhere,” Quarry said. His father nodded.

  Jill watched Quarry’s solemn face. The war seemed very close and the enemy very near.

  It was after midnight when a navy lieutenant and an investigator from the FBI came to question Jill. “Did you see any number on the U-boat?” the FBI agent asked her.

  “Yes. U-I230,” Jill answered. “I saw it clearly.”

  “Operation Elster,” the agent said to the lieutenant. “The first Operation Elster, which was to land agents here in Maine on the U-1229, failed when that submarine was lost. So they tried again and it worked this time, unfortunately.”

  “They chose the holiday for their operation, because they knew the whole town would be occupied with its big clambake. No one suspected a U-boat had surfaced at Frenchman’s Cove and positioned agents ashore. Looks like they had a lot of help.” The sheriff smashed his fist into his hand. “Judas! We had them right here and lost ’em!”

  “They were very clever,” said the lieutenant. “By the way,” he looked at Jill and smiled. “Elster means ‘magpie’ in German.”

  “They should have named it Operation Pigeon,” Quarry muttered.

  “Did they all get away?” Jill wondered out loud.

  “We were able to locate Max Braun hiding out in a barn near the highway. He was Adrie’s cook and entered this country as a Nicaraguan. He speaks perfect Spanish as well as German. He’s being questioned now. Bishop and the other two men may be on their way to New York. All the trains heading to Boston and New York are being searched,” the FBI agent told her.

  “What about Adrie?” Nana asked.

  “That woman’s been a German agent for several years now. We think she may be under pressure to protect someone over there,” the FBI man explained. “The Nazis often threaten the safety of relatives who are still in Germany, and they’re able to acquire agents in this way. We’re not sure whether she had someone in Germany she was trying to protect or if she was a true German sympathizer. She was being paid lots of money for her work. That’s how she could afford that fancy car. She’s a clever woman to get away with it for so long.”

  “But her life ain’t worth two cents now that we have proof she’s involved in espionage against the United States,” the sheriff stated.

  The lieutenant nodded. “She could be executed.” Jill gasped. “This is wartime, young lady. Think of the number of lives lost off this coast this year. U-boat wolf packs are destroying American ships—many of them innocent merchant ships and fishing trawlers. They don’t care who’s on board. Adrie Dekker could be to blame for those casualties.”

  “I feel like some of it is my fault. If only I had told someone earlier.” Jill buried her face in her hands and Nana wrapped her arms around her.

  “You were temptin’ fate, followin’ those agents out to Frenchman’s Cove.” Hugh shook his head. “It’d be time to hang up your boots for sure, if you got caught.”

  “But she wasn’t hurt. And she’ll be just fine, thank heavens,” Nana said.

  “I can’t help but worry about Wendy,” Jill said. “What will happen to her?”

  “We contacted the Taylor family in New York and they’re being questioned. We don’t think they were any part of this, so Wendy, being a minor, may end up back with them at some point. If we ever find her, that is.”

  Jill recalled the ruby ring on Wendy’s finger. Wendy wouldn’t go back to New York willingly, Jill thought. She and Adrie would stay together now—no matter what.

  When You Wish upon a Star

  The blaze-eyed kelpie appeared in Jill’s dreams again that night. It gathered itself from the surf and burst into the sky. Galloping in the wind, it soared over the widows’ walk and melted into the storm clouds that hovered over the house.

  Jill awoke in a cold sweat. The events of the day before came sweeping back. And what about Mom? Why hadn’t she heard from her again? The German U-boat was still out there. Dad had yet to take a long trip to New York and the news was full of scares of sabotage to planes. Nothing really had changed. She was more worried than ever!

  Jill ached all over and her arm and leg were raw from her fall off the bike. Maybe she’d feel better after breakfast. She trudged downstairs in her pajamas. Nana was in the kitchen, totally absorbed in the radio, which was turned on low. She started when she saw Jill and quickly turned the radio off.

  “Hello, sweetheart,” she said. “Hungry?”

  “What were you listening to, Nana?”

  “Er … just the news.” Nana turned away and poured water into the percolator. Jill noticed her hand was shaking.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know that anything is wrong.” Nana scraped hunks of rationed butter with a knife and plastered it onto bread.

  Jill switched the radio on.

  “No, Jill,” Nana said. “Please don’t listen to the radio right now.” She tried to turn it off, but Jill had already heard the words “Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the Cabot Strait.”

  “The Germans have done it again, haven’t they? They’ve torpedoed another boat.” Jill turned the volume up loud. “Is it the Caribou?”

  “I don’t know,” Nana said. “Sit down, Jill. We’ll listen together.”

  “Here’s the very latest news on the merchant ship torpedoed this morning near the coast of Newfoundland. We have not been informed what ship it was or how many survivors there are. We do know that U-boats have been finding refuge in harbors along the Maine coast, where they surface at night to recharge their batteries and air the ship. German ‘milk cows,’ which are older, larger submarines, have rendezvoused with U-boats in our waters, refueling them and bringing supplies.

  “Nets have been placed in Portland Harbor to prevent U-boats from approaching. Howeve
r, enemy subs may be hiding out in small harbors and even communicating with German sympathizers. Just this week …”

  The news report went on to relate the discovery of the U-boat 1230 in Winter Haven. But now Jill was more concerned about the latest bombing off the coast. Was it the Caribou? She turned the knob to another station. “Nana, how can we find out if it was the Caribou that went down this morning?” Her voice rose. “I’ve got to know!”

  Nana nodded. I’ll ring up Hugh MacDonald. He can usually find out the news from the coast guard.” She took Jill’s hand and stroked the little monkeys on her bracelet. “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.”

  “It doesn’t work, Nana,” Jill said, her eyes filling up with tears. “I’ve tried not to see bad things, but they were there anyway. I’ve tried not to hear evil—but the radio is full of bad news. Just listen to what’s happening now!” Her voice broke.

  Nana gathered her into her arms. “I know, Jill. You’ve had so much to deal with in the short time you’ve been here. I’ll ring up Hugh right away and find out what he’s heard. You just hold on, honey.”

  She went into the hall. Jill closed her eyes and waited. Please don’t let it be the Caribou!

  “The coast guard doesn’t know yet what ship went down or whether it was British, Canadian, or American,” said Nana when she came back. “We’ll have to be calm and wait.” She sat at the table and took Jill’s hand. “Dear Lord, our Father …”

  “Don’t!” Jill cried, jumping up. “Who does God hear, anyway? Everyone prays—even the Germans! And I’m sure Guy Binette prayed!” The tears streamed down her cheeks.

  She ran up the stairs, her bare feet slapping against the cold wooden steps, then raced for the door that led to the widow’s walk. Jill scrambled feverishly up the stairs, shoved the hatch with all her might, and thrust herself out onto the deck of the roof. Black storm clouds hovered above the house and the ocean was dark with angry waves, just like in her dream. She thought about the victims out there—the ones who had been torpedoed this morning.

  Jill sat cross-legged on the floor and closed her eyes. “Dear God, I’m sorry I ran out when Nana started to pray. I’d rather come up here and talk to you myself, in private.