The Strange Message in the Parchment (6 page)

“And this one like a broken harp with all the strings missing,” Nancy added. “Junie, let’s do something else. By the time we come back, maybe my imagination will return. Right now I’ve run out of ideas for a Triple Creek symbol.”

“What would you like to do?” Junie asked.

The girl detective thought they should call on Eezy as soon as Junie finished her chores, with Nancy’s help. “Maybe he’ll be willing to tell us more about those two men who knocked him out, and also what he knows about Mr. Rocco.”

Junie agreed. After two hours of work with the newborn sheep, the girls changed clothes and were ready to set off for the shepherd’s cabin.

As before, they drove part of the way, then climbed up the hillside among the sheep. Eezy was there, sitting on a log in front of his little cottage and casting an eye over the hundreds of healthy-looking sheep in his flock.

“Howdy, girls!” he greeted them. “I had a feelin’ maybe you’d run up here today. Glad to see you.”

When Nancy said, “I hope we’re not interrupting your work,” the shepherd chuckled and immediately answered. “As it says in the book of Hebrews,
‘Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.’ ”
²

The two girls smiled at the compliment, then Junie said, “I’m not an angel, but I do like to help people. Nancy does too. That’s why we’re here.”

“Eezy,” Nancy said, “did the two men who attacked you ever return?”

“No.”

She asked him if he was still unwilling to talk about what his attackers wanted him to do for them.

“I’m afraid I am,” the shepherd replied. “Sorry, but it might get some innocent people into trouble.”

Nancy now asked Eezy to tell them all he knew about Mr. Rocco. The herdsman repeated the story Mr. Flockhart had told, then added, “I don’t know anythin’ else about the Italian, because he’s a man without a civil tongue.

“Not one of his workers can speak English, and somebody told me he pushes them very, very hard in the fields. He overworks his men on the produce farm. Besides, he is often cruel. I understand that sometimes he beats that little boy who lives with him. Rocco says he’s his uncle, but I don’t believe him. He sure doesn’t look like the boy or have his disposition.”

“Mr. Rocco beats the boy? How dreadful!” Nancy remarked. “Don’t the authorities get after him?”

“Guess not,” Eezy replied. “But there’s a proverb in the Bible that says,
‘The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubleth his own body.”’
³

The girls thought about this and decided the proverb was indeed true. They wondered what punishment might come to Rocco for his cruel and unwarranted actions to others.

At this moment a cute and friendly little lamb came up to the girls and stood patiently waiting for their affection. Both of them leaned down and hugged the young animal.

“You’re a cutie all right,” said Junie. “I’m going to call you ‘Cheerio.’ ”

“Oh, I hope it won’t have to be slaughtered,” Nancy said, worried.

Eezy smiled. “I won’t recommend it, ’cause the little sheep is a real comfort to me. You know it gets mighty lonely up on this hilltop. This little critter comes and sits by my side and listens to all my woes.”

“That’s something that shouldn’t be changed,” Nancy said. “I suggest you put a sign around Cheerio’s neck saying, ‘Private Property. I belong to Eezy.’ ”

The shepherd smiled and said he would like that.

In a few minutes the visitors left and started down the hillside. They had not gone far when Junie called Nancy’s attention to a large ram standing close by, silhouetted against the cloudless skyline.

“Sometimes he’s mean,” Junie said. “We’ll avoid him.”

The girls kept walking but their eyes were on the ram. He looked at them balefully, tossed his head into the air, then lowered his horns.

“He’s going to attack you!” Junie cried out. “Run! Nancy, run! Follow me!”

Both girls sped off like a couple of deer, but the ram was also quick. Nancy and Junie managed to stay ahead of him until, without warning, a strange dog began barking nearby.

“Maybe that will frighten the ram away,” Nancy suggested.

Junie said there was not a chance of that happening. “This ram is not afraid of dogs,” she explained. “One day I saw him toss a big black one high into the air. He almost killed it!”

Nancy was thinking, “This mustn’t happen to me!” and ran faster.

She was finally outdistancing the ram when a large sheep, frightened by the strange dog, ran directly in front of Nancy. She tried to leap over the broad-backed, woolly animal, but could not make it. The next moment she fell flat!

By now the ram had caught up to her. The next moment Nancy felt his curved horns reach speedily under her body.

Wild thoughts went through the trapped girl’s mind. Would the ram toss her into the air as he had the dog?

 

 

 

As the ram got ready to toss Nancy into the air, a desperate thought came to her on how she might save herself. She reached out to grasp the animal’s curved horns, caught one with each hand, and hung on.

The animal, angered, tried again and again to throw the girl off, but she kept her grip on the horns, and braced herself against his body. Nancy swung crazily from side to side but did not lose her hold, as the animal endeavored desperately to shake her off.

After one more try, the ram stood still. Was he exhausted or defeated? No matter what the answer was, Nancy regained her balance and stood up, but kept a wary eye on the unfriendly animal.

Junie came running up. “What a dreadful experience!” she exclaimed. “Oh, Nancy, I’m so sorry.”

The ram, though mean, knew Junie and made no attempt to attack her. She gave him a resounding slap and sent him galloping off.

The girls had counted on their luck too soon. The ram had not gone far when he suddenly turned around and made a beeline for the girls, horns lowered. At the same moment a loud commanding voice came to their ears.

“Eezy is using his giant megaphone!” Junie said. “He’s chastising the ram.”

The command lasted for a few seconds, then the insistent animal started moving forward again. At once the strains of beautiful music could be heard. Nancy looked at Junie, puzzled.

“Eezy plays an Irish harp to calm the sheep,” her friend explained. “It has never failed yet to halt fights.”

This time was no exception. The ram stopped short, sniffed the air, then lay down. All the other sheep on the hillside that were not already resting slowly dropped to the grass.

“That’s remarkable!” Nancy exclaimed. “I’d like to go back and thank Eezy. In a way he saved my life.”

“All right,” Junie agreed. “I’m sure we’ll have no more trouble with that ram. No doubt by this time he knows that you and I and Eezy are friends.”

When the girls reached the shepherd’s cabin, they found him seated outdoors, strumming his harp. As soon as he finished the number, Nancy complimented him on his playing. “You’re like David in the Bible,” she said.

The elderly man smiled. “Thank you,” he said. “You know it says in the book of Amos,
‘Chant to the sound of the harp, and invent to themselves instruments of music, like David.’”
⁴

The girls nodded and Nancy said, “Your small Irish harp is a good tuneful substitute for David’s lyre.”

“That’s what I decided,” Eezy replied. “And to tell the truth, I think I can get a lot more music out of it than David did out of his lyre!” He chuckled.

Nancy thanked him for helping her ward off a second attack by the ram. She begged for an encore of his harp playing. The shepherd obliged, then put down his instrument.

He picked up his megaphone and called out, “Rest period is over, boys and girls. Stand up and get to work!” He winked at the girls. “The sheep’s only work is to eat grass!”

Nancy unexpectedly asked Eezy if he had a pad and pencil in the cabin. The shepherd went to get them, and at once Nancy started sketching. In a few minutes she drew three streams with a woolly sheep superimposed over them. Under the sketch Nancy printed TRIPLE CREEK FARM.

“How do you like that as a trademark?” she asked.

“It’s great,” Junie replied.

“Mighty good work,” Eezy added. “And it’s real picturesque.”

Nancy said she hoped Mr. Flockhart would like it. She folded the paper and put it into her pocket. Then she and Junie said good-by to the shepherd and walked down the hill toward the car.

As it carried them toward Triple Creek, Nancy asked, “Junie, do you know anyone around here who speaks Italian?”

Junie said she knew no one in the immediate vicinity, but that her boyfriend, Dan White, was studying Italian at a nearby university. “Why do you ask?”

Nancy replied, “Would he be willing to come here and secretly talk with some of Mr. Rocco’s farm workers?”

Junie laughed. “There goes that detective mind of yours again,” she said. “I’m sure Dan would love the assignment. I’ll try to get him on the phone as soon as we reach home.”

Fortunately Dan was in his room, studying. When Junie gave him the message, he expressed surprise. “If you think I can speak the language well enough, I’ll be over. I’d certainly like to try acting as interpreter.”

It was arranged that he would arrive the next morning around ten o’clock, since he had no classes at that time. Nancy liked him. The tall, red-haired young man was intelligent looking and had a great sense of humor. He was intrigued to hear that Nancy was a girl detective.

“Junie didn’t mention this to me,” he said. “I’ll never be able to match you in tracking down clues.”

Nancy grinned. “You won’t find that hard.”

Dan asked for instructions on the part he was to play. Nancy started by telling him they were becoming more suspicious each day of Mr. Rocco, who seemed to be carrying out some wicked scheme in the area and mistreating the little boy he said was his nephew. “Besides, we’re sure that the parchment hanging over the mantel, which Mr. Flockhart bought from Mr. Rocco, holds some special significance. If we could discover the meaning of it, we might solve a couple of mysteries.”

Dan asked, “What makes you suspicious of Mr. Rocco?”

Junie told him about the insolent men who had talked to Mrs. Potter at the store; how Eezy was attacked by two strangers who, they suspected, were henchmen of Rocco’s; of his reported cruelty to little Tony; and about his unwillingness to permit visitors onto his grounds or into his home.

“Sounds complicated to me,” Dan said. “But if I can do anything to help unravel the mystery, I’ll be at your service. Shall we go to the Rocco farm at once?”

“Oh yes,” Nancy replied. “All right with you, Junie?”

“You bet.”

The three set off. Junie took a route that led them through the small nearby village. She pointed out the general store and said, “That’s one of our clues!”

Nancy told Dan that she thought clue number two was about four miles away. When they reached the area, Junie turned down a side road.

“I think it best if we are not seen near the gate or the Rocco house,” she said. “I’ll park down here, under some trees, and we’ll walk across the fields until we locate the workmen.”

As they started off, hoping to find the Italian laborers, Dan and the girls found most of the terrain hilly. It was a long trek before they saw the first workman. The three detectives walked up to him. Dan smiled and said good morning in English, but the man did not reply, nor even smile. Were these Rocco’s orders?

“Try it in Italian,” Junie urged Dan.

He did so, but the man shook his head. Puzzled, Dan said a few more things to him. Finally the laborer answered but hopelessly Dan threw up his hands. “This man speaks one of the dialects used in Italy, but he doesn’t understand my college Italian, and I don’t understand his regional Italian.”

The three visitors said good-by, although they knew the listener did not understand them, and went on.

Nancy said, “I see another man way over at the end of this field.”

The three trekkers headed in that direction. After a long walk in the hot sun, they reached the farmer’s side. Once more Dan tried his college Italian. All he received in reply was a blank stare.

“This is maddening,” Junie burst out.

The workman went on with his hoeing. In a last desperate attempt to get some information, Dan said several things to him in the Italian he knew. The laborer merely shook his head.

“I guess we’ll have to give up,” Dan said. “I’m terribly sorry.”

“Let’s make one more try,” Nancy suggested. “It’s possible these men are under orders from Rocco not to talk.”

“There’s no one else in sight,” Junie Flockhart pointed out.

“That’s true,” Nancy replied, “but how about little Tony?”

Both Dan and Junie felt they had nothing to lose by trying, so the three set off across the field. It was a long walk to where the little boy was at work. This time he was busy with a hoe. His drawing pad and pencils were not in sight.

As the visitors arrived, Tony politely stopped working and bowed. At once Dan said to him in his college Italian, “Good morning!”

Tony replied, a great smile breaking over his face. Then, as he and Dan talked, Junie’s friend translated. “Tony says he is an orphan and that Mr. Rocco is his uncle, but that he has to work very hard and has no chance to play.

“Tony tells me he loves to draw but has to do this on the sly. After you girls were here the other day, his uncle caught him and tore up a drawing pad one of the men had given him secretly. Rocco even burned the pencils.”

Nancy was furious. There was no doubt that the boy had great talent. It was shameful that the tools for his art should have been destroyed!