Hydrofoil Mystery (15 page)

“Never too rich that a hundred dollars extra isn't welcome.”

“But you can't keep the money. You cheated me!” “Are you accusing Alexander Graham Bell of cheating?” he asked in a mocking tone. “Would anybody believe such an accusation, Mrs. McCauley-Brown?”

“Oh, no sir! You're known far and wide as a man of integrity.”

“This isn't right … it isn't fair,” I stammered. “Cheating seldom is. Not here, not when you took money off the other employees with loaded dice, and not last night in town when you cheated those three young men.”

“I didn't cheat any …” I started to say, but realized there was no point in even trying to argue.

“Of course you did, but let's not talk about what was. Instead let's discuss what will be.” His voice was dark and deep and serious. “You must now work for me, for free, for the summer.”

“But you cheated,” I argued.

“Well, yes I did, but I cheated fair and square. Did you think it was right for Angus and his friends to try to beat you up?”

“Of course not, but this is different!”

“You're right. It is different, but not in the way you think. Cheating is cheating. It doesn't feel so good, does it? I want you to think about that sick feeling in your stomach when you lost and never forget it.”

Remembering it would be simple because I didn't think it would ever leave my gut.

“And that sense of shock and outrage you feel right now, when you've discovered that somebody took unfair advantage of you simply to win a few dollars. And now I ask you, sir, will you keep your commitment, will you honour your word and agree to work here for the summer without pay?”

I didn't know what to say, and even if words came to my head I didn't think I could force them through my clenched teeth. This was insane!

“Will you honour your commitment?” he demanded again.

Weakly I nodded my head.

“That is what I hoped. William, do you know why such efforts were taken tonight?”
To humiliate and cheat me, I thought, but remained silent.

“Because,” he paused for a few seconds, which seemed to stretch out into forever, “because I like you and I am obligated to you.”

“You cheated me because you like me?” I asked in astonishment.

“And because there is something worthwhile about you … something that is still there but will slip away unless it is saved. I am now going to present you with one more option.”

Slowly and deliberately he took money from the pile in front of him and counted out one hundred and forty dollars. He pushed it toward me, leaving it on the table just in front of me.

“This is your wages for the entire summer as well as the money you took from the others. I want you to take it. You have two choices. You can keep all the money and leave, right now, go home or wherever it is you want to go. Or, you can return the money you won by cheating and remain here all summer and earn your wages. The choice is yours.”

He got up and walked across the room, pausing at the door. “And by the way, if you decide to stay, your work assignment will be changed. You will be working exclusively under myself and Mr. Baldwin on the
HD
-4.”

“The
HD
-4! You want me to work on the hydrofoil!” I exclaimed.

“Because of you the
HD
-4 is still here and not burnt to ashes. I believe you deserve the opportunity to work on it, but you must understand that you will spend much
longer hours, and work much harder, on the hydrofoil than anyplace else on the estate. If you think you were working hard already, you have been mistaken. And as you've been told, there is an element of both importance and possible danger to being part of this enterprise. Now if you'll excuse me, I think my supper is getting cold. Please feel free to join us for dinner if you wish. I know Mrs. Bell would greatly enjoy your company … as would I.”

He disappeared from the room leaving me alone. Mrs. McCauley-Brown had quietly slipped away from her post a moment before. The pile of money sat on the table before me. I picked it up and started to count it. Maybe this amount of money didn't mean anything to him, but it meant I could leave right now … if I wanted to. It was all up to me. I folded the money and stashed it in my pocket.

I still didn't know the layout of the house very well. Unless I left by the front door I'd have to pass by the dining room. The wooden floors were mostly covered by carpets and my feet made no sound as I moved. The doors to the dining room were open; I could hear conversation, and there was a burst of laughter. They were probably laughing at me. I peeked into the room. Mr. and Mrs. Bell, Casey and four other guests were seated at the table. With the exception of Mr. Bell, who had just started eating, the rest were finishing up dessert.

“William, I'm glad you're going to join us!” Mrs. Bell said enthusiastically. “I'll have them warm up another plate!”

“No thanks, ma'am. I appreciate you inviting me and all, but I'm not going to eat with you tonight.” My
stomach was still far too upset to even consider eating. Almost certainly, anything that went in would come right back out.

“Perhaps another night,” she said.

“Alec was telling me you've been offered an assignment working on the hydrofoil,” Casey said.

I nodded.

“But William hasn't given me an answer yet,” Bell added.

At that very moment, I really didn't have one to give. “So, shall I expect to see you at the boathouse, bright and early tomorrow morning?” Mr. Bell asked.

“No.”

“No?” he asked in a surprised tone. The look of disappointment on his face shocked me.

“No.” I took a few steps and stopped, suddenly sure. “
You
won't see me in the morning. I'll be there, but you'll still be in bed until noon I'm sure.”

I walked away on unsteady legs, and I heard the room behind me erupt into laughter.

Chapter Thirteen

I
HURRIED DOWN THE
noisy steps. It was almost seven o'clock and I wanted to get to the boathouse. I had a few chores Casey had given me the day before, my first day at the new job, and I wanted to finish them up before anybody else arrived. I was wondering if Mr. Bell would make another early appearance. I'd been shocked my first day working on the hydrofoil when I found him puttering around in the newly built boathouse. When Casey arrived about fifteen minutes later and saw Mr. Bell, he looked as though he was going to faint. Mr. Bell only stayed for an hour or so and then told us he had things to do elsewhere. Casey and I watched him walk away, and then Casey quietly said he was positive he was going back to bed and how grateful he was for that turn of events, since Mr. Bell could get very grumpy when he didn't have enough sleep.

Once I'd started working on the
HD
-4, Casey had explained to me why it was so important to keep the project confidential. The hydrofoil was being developed by Bell for the Royal Navy, and its purpose was to attack and destroy the Germans' U-boats, or submarines, which were proving to be so devastating to the navy's ships. If it worked, it would be a tremendously important weapon in the war effort.

Yesterday had been work, very hard work. Part of me still didn't believe that I'd chosen to stay here instead of just leaving with my money, but there was something about being there … it wasn't just shovelling sheep manure, we were doing something important. Whenever I wanted to sit down and take a break, I looked around and saw that everybody else was still working, so I kept working too.

They were continuing to change the angles on the foils that lifted the boat up off the water. Mostly I carted and fetched things, including bringing lunch down from the house, and cleaned up. I also used a brush to apply lacquer to waterproof the skin of the craft, and the fumes were terribly strong. They stung my eyes and left a terrible taste in my mouth, which didn't really go away completely until after I'd eaten my supper. We didn't leave until well past eight in the evening. They tried to chase me away earlier, but I refused to leave until the floor was so clean you could eat off it. Mrs. McCauley-Brown fixed me a big, late meal, which I ate in the kitchen while she told me stories about my mother as a schoolgirl. It sounded like she used to get into her share of trouble. Maybe she did know more about things in the world than I gave her credit for.

That morning I would double my pace. Casey was going to take the boat out on the lake soon and told me if I finished up my work I might be able to come along for the ride. Although it was early and the sun was still low in the sky, it was already getting hot. It was going to be a scorching day, and it would be good to be on the water.

The big sliding door was partway open. It was left that way to let the fumes escape the building so there would be
less chance of another fire. I took hold of the door and pushed it all the way open. The
HD
-4 was sitting on the rails in the middle of the building. It was really a strange contraption. The cockpit sat in a long thin tube that looked like a sixty-foot cigar with wings extending out on each side. The foils were like metal steps at the front and on both wings, and I was told the boat would rise up out of the water on the foils as it picked up speed.

Yesterday Casey had been tinkering with the engines and then started them up. Inside the building, the sound bounced back off the walls and was amazingly loud; so loud Casey gave me little pieces of rag to stuff in my ears.

“Good morning!” Casey beamed. He was taking sips from a steaming cup of coffee. In the other hand he was carrying a basket. “There's some more coffee in here,” he said, “as well as sandwiches. You won't be able to go up to the house to get our lunch … unless you can walk on water.”

A smile split my face.

“We'll put her in the water about eleven … assuming Alec is here by then.”

“He's coming with us?”

“Not on the
HD
-4. He never goes on it, although Mrs. Bell has been out for a few rides. Alec will be accompanying us in a motor launch.”

“Another boat will be coming along with us?” “There's always a boat or two in escort. The observers can see things about the way the hydrofoil moves that can't be seen from the boat itself. Besides, it's a safety precaution.”

“What do you mean?”

“It's just wise to have another boat in the water in case the
HD
-4 loses power or develops a leak … or crashes.”

“Crashes!”

“Don't worry, nothing has ever happened, but it
is
an experimental boat.”

I knew I could trust Casey, but that wouldn't stop me from worrying.

J
UST AFTER NOON
we heard the rumble of a motor coming around the point and a motorboat appeared. Mr. Bell was sitting in a seat at the rear of the boat and Mr. McGregor was at the wheel. They came up close to the
HD
-4, where I was sitting up front with Casey, and yelled out greetings.

“It's a little choppy outside the shelter of the bay,” Mr. Bell called out.

“It's important to test her in less than ideal circumstances. It's not like the Germans keep their U-boats in port when there's a bit of a blow.”

“Regardless, I want you to take it slowly today. Nothing above fifty miles an hour. We want to test the angles on the foils, not set a new speed record,” Mr. Bell warned loudly.

“Agreed!” Casey yelled back. He turned to me. “Here we go.”

He pulled on a red lever, the ignition switch, and the twin engines sputtered and coughed and then came to life. The sound wasn't too bad. I guessed it was much quieter than yesterday in the boathouse because the sound wasn't bouncing back from the walls but was escaping across the open water.

“It's not too loud,” I commented.

“I'm idling the engine. It will get a lot louder when I rev the motors, but in fact it'll seem quieter once we really get moving,” Casey said. “We'll be travelling so fast we'll leave the sound behind us.”

The
HD
-4 moved along behind the motor launch, keeping pace. We rounded the point and the waves hit us broadside and we bounced much more noticeably. It was rougher on the open water than in the shelter of the bay.

“Hold on,” Casey warned. I felt the hydrofoil start to accelerate and I was pushed back against the seat.

As we picked up speed, the waves hitting the hull became louder and more frequent. We were taking a pounding and we still weren't moving that fast. I looked over my shoulder. Flickers of flame could be seen within the twin engines and between them I could see the motor launch being left farther behind. The engine became louder again as Casey gave it more gas. The pounding of the water became harder and spray started flying against and over the windscreen.

“How fast are we going?” I yelled.

“Maybe thirty miles an hour. It's too rough at this speed. I'm going to give it more power.”

Before I could even think about what he'd said, I felt the boat gain momentum, and we rose higher out of the water. At the same instant the pounding of the waves decreased dramatically and I realized we were no longer plowing through the water but skipping across the top. We were up on the hydrofoils, skimming along the top of the water! It was incredible! There was a sudden sensation of sideways movement. Casey was turning the
HD
-4. We
were travelling in a large, smooth circle, and dead ahead, through the windscreen, I could see the motor launch.

“Ever driven a car before?” Casey asked.

“No, but I've seen it done. It doesn't look too hard.” “It isn't, and driving this isn't much different. You're just along for the ride today, but watch carefully. I'll let you drive a little on another run.”

“Are you kidding?”

“I never kid about fun,” Casey laughed.