The Vanishing Houseboat

Excerpt

A SANDWICH AT RINI’S

“You know, Lou, I’ve been doing a lot of wondering here of late,” remarked Penny Parker to her chum, Louise Sidell.

The girls were riding in Penny’s mud-splattered blue coupe, otherwise known as the Leaping Lena. At the moment Lena was bouncing more than usual for the pavement was bumpy in this section of Riverview.

“Wondering what?” inquired Louise, absently brushing a wisp of brown hair from her eyes.

“Wondering if maybe there isn’t something wrong with me,” Penny replied with a grin. “My appetite doesn’t seem to be normal.”

“Oh, why beat about the bush?” countered Louise. “Why not come right out and admit you’re hungry again? Or maybe ‘again’ is the wrong word. I should have said ‘yet.’”

“Well, I could do with a lunch. How about Rini’s? We’re close there now.”

“Rini’s would suit me,” Louise nodded. “They have perfectly gorgeous sandwiches. Ham and cheese, olives, lettuce and mayonnaise on a toasted bun—all for twenty cents.”

“What, no mustard?” Penny laughed. “Well, that sounds good to me. Suppose we try it.”

She guided the coupe into a rectangle of space by the curbing, and ruefully dropped a nickel into the parking meter.

“If we’re not back here before that old machine clocks off an hour, I’ll get a parking ticket,” she warned her chum as they started toward Rini’s Cafe. “We’ll have to work fast on those sandwiches.”

“Oh, your father knows all the policemen in town,” Louise said carelessly. “He could get the ticket fixed.”

“He could, but he wouldn’t. You don’t know Dad, Louise.”

Penny liked to believe that her father, Anthony B. Parker, editor and publisher of the Riverview Star, ruled his only daughter with a hand of iron. Actually, he was very indulgent, and made few rules, but those few he expected to be obeyed. One of his pet rulings was that Penny must live within her weekly allowance, and this she found trying, for Leaping Lena had a persistent habit of running up expensive repair bills.

The girls entered Rini’s which at the hour of three was quite deserted. They sought a booth at the rear of the room and waited for a waitress to bring them a menu.

Complacently, Louise studied her reflection in the mirror. She had dark brown eyes, and a slightly plump, oval face. In contrast, Penny was an outright blond, with curls combed back over her shapely ears, bringing well-molded features into prominence. Both girls were dressed very much alike, in white blouses and dark skirts.

A waitress in a neat, starched green uniform, arrived with water glasses and the menu cards. Penny glanced up in astonishment for she recognized the girl.

“Why, Laura Blair!” she exclaimed. “I didn’t know you worked here.”

“I’ve only had the job a week,” the waitress admitted, speaking in low tones so the proprietor would not hear.

Penny studied Laura with interest, reflecting that in the year since the girl had left Riverview High School, she had grown thinner and much older looking....