Free Conquering Kilmarni by Hugh Cave Page B

sleeping now. It could be cold in the Blue Mountains on a rainy night.
    Zackie wouldn't be seeking shelter at Miss Lorrie's house; it wasn't safe for him there. Maybe he would walk up to his garden. If he did that, he would find the note.
    But would he want to walk all that way in a rain so hard it would soak him to the skin? There were small fertilizer shelters scattered through the coffee fields. He might decide to bed down in one of those.
    Mr. Devon's question snapped Peter out of his anxious reverie. Did the corporal know where Zackie's mother was? Alert again, Peter stared at the tall man and waited for the answer.
    "Yes, Mr. Devon, I do."
    "You do?"
    Corporal Buckley nodded. "As it happens, I have a sister who lives near the Constant Spring market in Kingston. Elaine is now a higgler there, she tells me." He hesitated, as if not sure he ought to say any more. Then he added very quietly, "I've been thinking I might go there and look for her, Mr. Devon."
    Mr. Devon hesitated, too, then apparently decided not to respond to the corporal's last remark. "A higgler?" he said. "She sells things in the market, you mean?"
    Corporal Buckley nodded. "She buys certain vegetables from farmers who bring them in from the country, and sells them there at Constant Spring. Most of the city higglers work that way. Some sell one thing, some another."
    Peter felt that his ears must be sticking straight out from his head and quivering. He sat statue still, not wanting to miss a word of what came next. If only the rain, now falling harder, would stop making such a racket on the roof!
    "Just where is this market?" Mr. Devon asked. "I've heard of it, but I'm afraid I have no idea how to get there."
    "You know where Half Way Tree is, of course."
    "Yes."
    "Well, you go out Constant Spring Road from there, same way you would go to Stony Hill or across the island to the north coast. It's a big open-air market. You can't miss it."
    "I see," Mr. Devon said. "This is most interesting, Corporal. I'm glad we had this little talk."
    "But now I'd better go." The man with the red stripes on his pants stood up. "This rain sounds like it's going to get worse and last awhile." To Peter's surprise, he held out his hand. "Sorry if I seemed a little rough before, Mr. Devon, but this stealing is a serious thing. We have a good deal of stealing from gardens and such, of course, but breaking into houses is something that must be nipped in the bud."
    "I understand, Corporal."
    "And I still say it could be the Leonard boy, in spite of your defending him. I'll be keeping an eye on him."
    Mr. Devon nodded, but said quietly, "May I suggest, Corporal, that you also keep an eye on his father? With his addiction to ganja and his drinking—both very expensive habits—to me he also seems a likely suspect."
    "I'll do that, too," the policeman said on his way to the door.
    He left, and Mr. Devon turned to Peter. "Well, Peter, what do you think?"
    "Dad," Peter said, "we're going to Kingston tomorrow, aren't we? You said we were."
    "Yes. Why?"
    "Can Zackie go with us?"
    "Well . . ."
    "And can we visit this Constant Spring market Corporal Buckley talked about, so he can look for his mother?"
    The change of expression on his father's face told Peter he hoped for too much. The long silence that followed his question did, too. Finally Mr. Devon took in a deep breath, let it out, and said, "Peter, I don't believe we should get any deeper into this than we already are. I do want to be sure Zackie is treated fairly by the police, of course. I think I've shown you that. But to get even more involved . . ."
    "But he needs help, Dad. And we're the only ones he can turn to."
    "Even if we found his mother, what could we do?"
    "We wouldn't have to do anything, Dad. He wants to talk to her, that's all. That's mostly why he works so hard in his garden, to earn the money to go to Kingston and look for her. And if we could just help him a little . . . Dad, we have to."
    This time the silence