Free Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander Key Page A

he's here. Ben, I think we ought to ask him a few questions.”
    “So do I. I'll go get 'im.”
    Tony, worried about how they were going to slip away safely in daylight, was suddenly glad of the chance to see the office again. Then, too, there was his harmonica. Without it he felt like Samson shorn. Somehow he had to get it back, for he might need it later in an emergency.
    As he sat down in one of the broken chairs, the short man studied him a moment, then said, “You know anybody here in Fairview, son?”
    Tony shook his head.
    “Then why did you an' your sister come here?”
    “Because we wanted to.”
    “That ain't answering my question, son.”
    “It sounds like a good answer to me. May I have my harmonica back, please?”
    “Afraid not, son. There's got to be a reason why young folks travel so far to a strange town. 'Course we know you're running away from the law, but it don't make sense to come to a place like this unless you know somebody around here.”
    “Or was planning to meet someone,” added the mayor.
    “Please,” said Tony again, “may I have my harmonica?”
    “I done said no,” the chief replied irritably. “Now I want some straight answers, son, an' I want them quick. Y'hear me?”
    “You've no right to ask me questions, and I don't have to answer them. But if you'll give me my harmonica I'll tell you the truth—only I know you won't believe it.”
    The chief regarded him a moment in angry silence. Then the mayor growled, “Aw, give 'im the fool thing, Ben. He ain't likely to hurt nobody with it.”
    The short man unlocked the cabinet, took out the harmonica,and began turning it slowly in his square hands as if he expected to find that it was really a deadly weapon in disguise. Finally he blew upon it before he tossed it to Tony.
    Tony wiped it carefully on his sleeve, and placed it to his lips. In the corner behind the two men he saw an umbrella and a broken-down broom; and near them a raincoat hanging on a hook. With his eye on the broom he breathed lightly into the harmonica, and saw the broom handle rise a few inches beside the raincoat. He allowed it to settle back into place, and in turn moved an ashtray on the desk and a small pebble beyond the open door. He could have shifted all these objects without the aid of the harmonica, but somehow the music seemed to give him power. With its help he'd sometimes felt he could move great weights he couldn't have budged with his bare hands.
    Ben Purdy said impatiently, “Come on, boy; I'm waitin' to hear you talk.”
    Tony slid the harmonica into his pocket. “All right, but I said you won't believe it. Tia and I are running away from a man who says he's our uncle, but who isn't. His name is Deranian. He's got a man helping him—I don't know who he is, but he may be the one you talked to in Washington, who calls himself Karman. The reason we came here is because we've a relative living down here somewhere. We're not sure of his name, but it's something like Caroway, or Castaway.” Tony stopped and wearily rubbed his hands over his face. He was so tired it was becoming hard to keep his eyes open. “That's about all,” he added, “except that the Government doesn't want us for anything.”
    The men looked at him silently for a moment, then glanced at each other. Finally the short man spat irritably on the floor. “Pshaw, anybody could tell a better one than that. If you're so innocent, how come they're paying a big reward for you?”
    “And not only that,” said the mayor, “but if Washington doesn't want you, how'd you happen to know about Karman? I'm sure, young feller, we never spoke that name in front of you.”
    “I heard you talking about him after you locked us up.”
    “Not through that closed door you didn't.”
    Tony shrugged. “My hearing's better than you think.”
    Ben Purdy said, “We're tired o' lies. You gonna answer our questions, boy?”
    “I've answered them.”
    “What you need is a good licking. I got a