Argosy: The Short Story Magazine — page 110: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

110 JOHN WYNDHAM With all I was carrying, there was no room for Petra in front of me. She got up behind, and hung on round my waist. Then, quietly, we slipped out of the yard and down the path to the river bank while the hoofbeats on the upper track drew nearer to the house. * Are you away?” I asked Rosalind, and let her know what was happening with us. % I was away ten minutes ago. I had everything ready,’’ she told me with reproof. ‘‘ We’d all been trying to reach you for more than half an hour. Luckily Petra happened to wake up.”’ | _ Petra caught her own thought-shape, and broke in excitedly to know what was happening. It was like a fountain of sparks. ‘“ Gently, darling. Much more gently,” protested Rosalind. “We'll tell you all about it soon.’’ She paused to get over the blinding effect, then, ‘‘ Sally ...? Katherine . . .?” she asked. They responded together. ‘‘ We’re being taken to the Inspec- tor’s. We're all innocent and bewildered. Is that best?” Michael and Rosalind agreed that it was. “We think,” Sally went on, “‘ that we ought to shut our minds. It will make it easier for us to act as normals if we don’t know what is happening to you. So don’t try to reach us, any of you.” ‘Very well—but we shall be open for you,’ Rosalind told her. She diverted to me. ‘‘ Come along, David. ‘There are lights up at the farm now.” ‘It’s all right. We're coming,” I told her. ‘It ll take them some time in the dark to find which way we’ve gone.”’ ‘*“'They’ll know by the stable warmth that you can’t have got far yet.”? I looked back. Up by the house I could see a lantern swinging in someone’s hand. We had reached the river bank now, and it was safe to urge Rachel into a trot. We kept that up until we came to the ford, and then for another half-mile until we were close by the mill. It seemed prudent to walk her past that, in case any- one should happen to be awake. Presently I caught Rosalind’s feeling of relief coming from somewhere straight ahead. We trotted again, and in a few moments I[ noticed a movement in the shadow of the trees to the left of the track. I turned the mare that way, and found Rosalind waiting—and not only Rosa- lind, but her father’s pair of greathorses, that had caused trouble between the Inspector and my father, who had failed in his attempts to condemn them as monstrous deviations. Both the huge creatures were saddled and wearing pannier baskets. Rosalind sat in one of the baskets, waiting, her bow laid across it, ready to hand. I helped Petra down, and then slid off the mare myself with my armful of gear. Rosalind leaned out of the basket and peered down to see what I had. ““'Throw the blankets up here,”’ she directed. ‘‘ What’s in the sack?’ I told her. ‘‘ Is that all? ’’ she said disapprovingly. She arranged the blankets to pad the saddle-board between the panniers. I hoisted Petra as high as I could. Rosalind leaned down and managed to reach her hand. With a heave from both ofie us, Petra scrambled up and perched herself on the blankets. comiclooks.comn