Norton, Andre - Novel 32 (22 page)

Then their part was over and the boys fol
lowed. It went smoothly for them
also.

"Now"—Mr. Simmons was nearing the end—
"I have another part of this
story, an even more
recent
discovery, which will be told by Sheriff
James Wylie. Sheriff Wylie—"

He told about finding the stagecoach and how
it might even be the ghost coach
of the old
stories.
He added what they suspected might
be the true story—that the passengers had been
driven off and killed for what
they were car
rying on their persons—but
that might never be
proven now.

The program came to an end and Mr.
Charvez
put the lights on.
Then the other people staying
in the
motel gathered around the Kimball s and
the
Wildhorses
to ask questions. Then Mother
shooed the
children off to their own rooms. She and Libby and Perks shared one room, the
boys
another.

"Chris," Libby asked through the dark, "do
you think Mr.
Cranford wants Lady Maude?
Maybe the
government will take her."

Christie had not thought of that before. "I
don't know," she answered
unhappily.

Tomorrow seemed a long way off, but Chris
tie was
more
sleepy
than she had thought and
it was suddenly morning.

Mother and Father did not go the
sheriffs
office with
Christie and Libby—they had busi
ness with Mr. Colby. But Mr. Cranford came
to pick them up in a rented car.
Sheriff Wylie took them into a small side room where Lady
Maude's box waited on a table.

" 'Miss Maude Woodbridge,
Woburnscott
,
Maine
,' " Mr.
Cranford
read off the lettering
.
"
She had a long way to travel,
didn't she? And
she
never got home after all."

"She came from
Hong Kong
," Christie said,
"and that's a long way, too.
Clear from the
other
side of the ocean. And before that from
France
—"

"How do you know all that?"

Christie hesitated. The letter was no secret
any longer. Still, it should have
been turned
over with those in the bag.
However, she might
as well tell.

"There was a letter inside the box. It was
from Captain
Asa
Woodbridge to his little girl.
He said that Lady Maude had been sent to
Hong Kong
from
France
for another little girl.
Only when Lady Maude got there
that girl had
gone. So he bought Lady Maude to bring her
here for his daughter's birthday. Then when he
got to
San Francisco
there was another ship he
had to sail on.
so
he sent Lady Maude with the
mate from his ship who was going
home."

"Where is this letter?"

Christie looked at Lady Maude. "I sent it to
Maine
. You see, Daddy said they would
try to
find the
families of the people to whom those
other letters were written. I wanted Lady
Maude to go to her real home. If
we couldn't
keep her
for our plan—"

"What plan?"

Again Christie hesitated, glancing from the
doll to Mr. Cranford. "It was
what we thought
we could
do to help make people want to stop
at the station. We thought of making a kind of museum
with things people would want to see.
Then we could put up signs on the highway
advertising it. We were hunting for arrowheads
to use when we found Lady Maude and all the rest.
For a while we hoped we could keep the
things
and have them to show. Then Mr.
Toner—he—well—"
The rest spilled out in a rush of words—the claim on the station, Mar-
lene's
demand to be given Lady Maude.

"So," Christie ended, "I wrote a letter
about
how we found
Lady Maude and I put it with
the old letter and sent it. But I haven't heard
anything and maybe there is no one
to get it
now.

"It has come back." Mr. Cranford took from
his own coat pocket the fat
letter Christie had
taken
so long to write. It bulged even more for
the top had been cut open and she could see
the brownish paper of the old letter among her
sheets.

"But how—"

"You were right, or your father was, about
the families concerned with the
old letters being
notified.
Luckily I was in
Woburnscott
when
this arrived, so the postman
brought it straight
to
me."

"But you're not named
Woodbridge
," Libby
protested.

"No, but my grandmother was Maude
Woodbridge, before she married
Rufus Cran
ford.
Captain
Asa
Woodbridge was my
great
grandfather
. My daughter is Maude Wood
bridge Cranford and many people
think she
looks very
much like that other Maude for
whom this birthday gift was intended. Even
more exciting than the finding of Lady Maude
herself—though you may not believe
this—is
the letter.

"You see, for all these years my grand
mother never knew what had
happened to her
father.
He was supposed to have started east,
but,
though time and money was spent search
ing
for him, he was never found. Now we know
it was his mate who was coming overland, using
the stage ticket the captain had bought in his
own name. The ship in which he had come from
Hong Kong
was, as he said in this letter,
sold
to a firm in
South America
. He took the place of another
captain who had died of fever. The
records of the company in
San Francisco
did
not say that. There was a fire
there and the company went bankrupt as a result, their rec
ords lost in the fire. While the
ship the captain
had
taken was never heard of again after it
sailed. We still have a mystery, but not an un
pleasant one now."

"Unpleasant?" Christie wondered.

Mr. Cranford nodded. "Yes, you see it was thought
that Captain
Asa
was carrying quite a
large sum of money for the
company. In fact
it
was the loss of that money that added to the
bankruptcy of the company. By the evidence
of this letter he must have given
the money to his mate and it was stolen in the stagecoach
holdup. The mate must have made
the mistake
of
letting someone know what he carried when
he bribed the driver to take out the missing
stage. Now, after all these
years, we have proof
that
it was not Captain
Asa
who disappeared
with the money."

"Then Lady Maude is yours?" Christie
fingered the little jewel case
reluctantly.

"Let us say that Lady Maude is a Wood-
bridge, yes. But her final home
is not yet de
cided.
However, do you suppose you can set
her up, spread out all her treasures, so I can
take some
pictures? I promised Maude to send
her
a set as soon as I could."

Christie and Libby went to work, and Mr. Cranford took a
number of pictures with his Polaroid camera. Libby and Christie viewed
these critically and selected the
best.

"Now, for the present we can return her to
Sheriff Wylie's care and go mail
these off to
Maude.
After that I have a conference with
your
father, Mr. Colby and Mr.
Wildhorse
, and
you are all to be my guests at lunch. I have a
very great deal to thank you for, and especially
you, Christie, for having the enterprise to send
the letter."

It was not until they had finished lunch that
they heard the rest of the story.
Mr. Cranford
looked
around the table. There were so many
in
their party that the restaurant had given them
a side room to themselves, and, when the door
was closed, it was quiet and private.

Mr. Cranford pushed his coffee cup to one
side as they waited for him to
speak.

"I am what you term a history buff," he be
gan, "and for the younger
members here who
may
not know what that means, I will just say
that I like history very much. So it was a plea
sure for me to find a place,
while serving in
Congress,
on a committee that deals with the
preservation and conservation of our historical
sites.

"Though I come from
New England
, the
western part of
the country has long interested
me.
Perhaps because at the end of the Civil
War two of my great-uncles came west and
helped in the growth of this very state of Ari
zona. For all I know, they may have traveled
on the Bright coaches and stayed overnight at
Ten Mile Station. The opening of the new high
way to the
Jemez
National Park
will make this part of the
country available to those who want
to see something of the Old West.

"The plan you, Kimball and Colby, have in
mind is the type of thing that
needs fostering—
the
rebuilding and maintenance of part of our
historical heritage. Since I have been informed
of the situation—the legal
tangle—now facing
you,
I think matters can be worked out. Water
rights can be shared if care is taken.

"The TV program yesterday, which I have been since
informed was picked up to become
a national broadcast, will be beneficial—not only for your
project, but for attracting atten
tion to the park area in general. I have already
called Senator
Meegan
and your local congress
man.

"Now as to the things found in the cave.
While the mail must go through
regular channels, the mailbag itself and the strong box— minus its
contents—plus the luggage is a dif
ferent matter. These articles could be put on
display at Ten Mile Station. The
stage found
in the
valley can perhaps be restored and
moved also to Ten Mile to exhibit. These are all
just suggestions."

He paused for a sip of coffee. "About the
actual ownership of Ten Mile—the
lawyers will
have to
look into the facts concerning that. It
may be that the title can never be really cleared.
The Navajo council also has a
claim to put forward. However, it can be that a very long-term lease might be
had—which would satisfy most of you. And I have been informed that sugges
tion has already been most
favorably consid
ered
by your local court and the Navajo coun
cil.

"We come now"—he smiled at Libby and
Christie—"to the matter of
the lady who has
waited
a long time to enter the world again. In
fact, she is not unlike the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty,
is she not, girls? Lady Maude's future
is
mine to settle since my family can
claim her.
It is my decision that she is to
remain here,
under the joint
guardianship of Christie Kimball
and
Libby
Wildhorse
. If a museum does be
come part of Ten Mile, she is to be put on
display there. If, for some reason, that is impossible,
her guardians shall determine where
she
will go, but this is to be her home. Christie
and Libby shall make a report once a year to
my daughter concerning Lady Maude and her
welfare.