Previous chapters of the River Road story:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

How should the story continue? Voting is open on the current chapter!

Last time, at the old courthouse where the “Woman in Gray” had most recently been seen, Mrs. DeLorca and Ebenezer discovered that the “rusty” lock on the gate leading down to the abandoned courthouse’s basement door wasn’t really rusty at all, but rather coated with clay and rust colored paint in order to make the gate appear unusable. Mrs. DeLorca noted that the same trick had been used many years before by art thieves who had been sneaking into a Londonderry museum. Once the gate had been opened, the group found their way down the stairs and into the courthouse’s dim basement as they began their search for clues as to the identity of the person impersonating the Ghost of Theodosia Westwick. Suddenly, Mr. DeLorca’s pelican, Shakuntala, seemed to become nervous. Without further warning the great bird flew off into the darkness, upsetting Mr. DeLorca. What did they do? Here’s what you decided

Chapter 18:
Moaning Glory

“Oh dear, oh dear. My poor pelican. We must find her!” Mr. DeLorca was distraught.

“She’ll fly back to us, dear.” Mrs. DeLorca hugged her husband.

“The spiders will protect her.” Eugenia Victoria suggested.

“She’ll eat your spiders.” Mr. DeLorca snapped. “No! I can’t let my precious pelican be alone in this strange place.”

“Father, I agree.” Eben nodded.

“She’s a smart bird.” Uriah shook his head. “She’ll come back. We really need to continue with our investigation.”

“No.” Eben shook his head. “If my dog, Sheridan, had run off in a strange and dangerous place such as this, I’d follow him for his own safety. It’s our responsibility to take care of our pets. After all, for many of us, pets are like family.”

“Oh, yes, yes,” Mr. DeLorca wrung his hands, “Shakuntala is definitely a part of our family.”

“How true.” Mrs. DeLorca nodded. “Last New Year’s Eve we even gave Shakuntala her own party hat.”

“And a lovely pair of earrings.” Eben nodded.

Mr. DeLorca smiled nostalgically. “Yes, she tried to eat them, the brave little thing.” He put his hands to his head. “We must find her!”

“We will,” Eben nodded.

“After all,” Mr. DeLorca continued, “if it’s true that there is no concession stand in the building, she’ll be hungry. There are no fish living wild in this courthouse and frankly, I was remiss in not bringing her snack box. Oh, how could I have forgotten? I always bring it. One little bottle of fish slurry, one fried pie with a lovely filling of cherries and sardines—delicious that—and one stuffed tomato. Oh, I’ve been neglectful and all that!”

“Don’t worry, darling,” Mrs. DeLorca said to her husband. “We’ll go find Shakuntala right now.”

“What’s fish slurry?” Eugenia Victoria whispered to Annie.

Annie shrugged.

“Could spiders eat it?” Eugenia Victoria asked.

“I imagine so.” Annie nodded unconvincingly.

“Good. I’ll get some.” Eugenia Victoria muttered to herself.

“That big brave bird saved my beloved brother, and my sympathetic sister-in-law. She rescued me from rapacious rascals. We will forthwith find the feathered, faithful fowl.” Miss Trotter declared.

And, so, they set about following the path that Shakuntala most logically would have flown. All they while, Nancy, Sarah, Isaac and Kathy searched the floor as they walked so that they wouldn’t miss any possible clues that the “Woman in Gray” might have dropped or left behind.

“There’s a staircase leading up.” Eben pointed to a dark corner.

“Where?” Mrs. Conn asked.

“Right over there.” Eben pointed. “You see—in the curve of the wall?”

“Oh, yes, now I see it.” Mrs. Conn said, rubbing her arms as she shivered.

“Are you cold?” Uriah Trotter asked.

“A little.” Mrs. Conn nodded.

“Here, take my jacket.” Uriah offered.

“Thank you.” Mrs. Conn said, taking the jacket and putting it on. She giggled. The jacket was much too big on her. “Are you sure you won’t be cold?”

“I’m fine.” Uriah smiled.

“I do hope that my dear pelican isn’t catching a chill.” Mr. DeLorca continued to worry. “She doesn’t like to be cold. That’s why we always keep the temperature in her room a bit higher.”

“She has her own room?” Eben asked. “When did that happen?”

“Oh, it’s just your old room from your childhood.” Mr. DeLorca waved his hand. “I moved out your trophy case and put in a microwave oven so Shakuntala could heat up her fish slurry. You should see her poking at the buttons with her little claws. What a dear.”

“What happened to my trophies?” Eben asked.

“They’re all still there,” Mr. DeLorca nodded matter-of-factly. “Shakuntala keeps her bait collection in them.”

“I wash them out from time to time.” Mrs. DeLorca smiled at her son. “You know, you really should visit more.”

“I should.” Eben agreed.

Their conversation was interrupted by a squawking sound from the floor above.

“That’s Shakuntala!” Mr. DeLorca exclaimed. “She is upstairs! She’s rose like a soufflé—a lobster soufflé, yes, she’d like that. Me—I’d prefer something else.”

“Well, then, let’s go upstairs.” Eben headed toward the staircase.

“It doesn’t look very safe.” Mrs. DeLorca said.

“Perhaps we should each go up one a time.” Mrs. Conn suggested. “That way we won’t be putting too much weight on it at once.”

“Good thinking.” Annie nodded.

“Well, we have had plenty of experience with creaky, dangerous staircases. Haven’t we?” Mrs. Conn laughed. Annie giggled, too.

“Mr. DeLorca, you go first.” Nancy suggested. “Then, Mrs. DeLorca and Eben. Since Shakuntala knows you best, she may come to you right away.”

“Good show!” Mr. DeLorca answered quickly, carefully stepping on the first stair tread. “Here we go.”

The others watched as one by one, the DeLorcas climbed the stairs, followed by Mrs. Conn, The Trotters, Isaac and, then, Kathy.

“You next,” Nancy said to Sarah.

“Okay,” Sarah smiled, as she approached the staircase, something on the floor caught her attention.

“What’s that?” Sarah pointed. “It looks like an envelope.”

“I don’t know!” Nancy picked it up and studied it. “It is an envelope. It’s fancy stationary. The corner has the logo for the Vista Falls Museum. There’s a name written on it. Look!”

“I can’t make it out.” Sarah looked at the envelope. “Someone has very bad handwriting.”

“Looks like the last name is ‘Barrymore.’ Do you know anyone named Barrymore?” Nancy asked.

“No.” Sarah shook her head. “But, since the envelope is from the museum, I bet it was written by Miss. Whiteside.”

“Maybe she dropped it when the ‘ghost’ got her.” Nancy suggested

Before they could discuss anything else, they were interrupted by a low, moaning noise.

“What’s that?” Nancy asked nervously.

“Do you think it’s Shakuntala?” Sarah asked.

“It’s coming from the other side of the basement.” Nancy gulped.

From upstairs, they could hear the footsteps of their friends in search of the missing pelican.

“We should get up there.” Nancy said quickly.

“I want to see what’s making that noise over there.” Sarah shook her head.

What should they do?

Go to next chapter!

Voting results for how the story continues: