Part 5 (1/2)
He throttled down and let the houseboatto Steve Ah room for the boat He reversed hisslowly into position Scotty stood ready with a line, which he heaved to Steve Then Scotty ran lightly to the foredeck and got the bowline ready The houseboat nestled against the dock smoothly and Rick killed the rinning fro since yesterday afternoon,” Steve told theht worried me some I didn't knohether you could ride it out or not”
”No trouble,” Rick said ”We ran into Swaht there” He watched the agent's face closely, but Steve didn't react
”Come on in,” Steve invited ”Coffee's on Had your breakfast?”
”We ate before hauling anchor,” Scotty said, grinning
Steve A's up,” he stated ”Rick is watching , Scotty Coffee first, then talk Come on”
Rick shook his head in adent had a deceptive appearance, athletic and good looking, with the forthright friendliness of a college undergraduate But his trained eyes and earsroom was attractive and comfortable, with bookshelves between the s, a stone fireplace, a striped rug, and deep, restful chairs There were laent brought in a tray of coffee cups, with a pot of coffee and platter of doughnuts ”Even if you've eaten breakfast, you can e a couple of these” He poured coffee and made sure the boys were comfortable, then sank into an arht Out with it”
Rick chuckled ”You're too sharp,” he accused ”We had a plan all cooked up I was going to co, and then ask--very innocently--when the season for flying stingarees opened”
The agent's eyebroent up ”Flying stingarees? Swi ones, no What is all this?”
”Rick saw one last night in the storm,” Scotty explained
”That's not all,” Rick added He told of their conversation at the Narrows and of the talk with Orvil Harris thatfishy around here besides crabs and rockfish We thought you ht know,” he concluded
Steve shook his head with obvious admiration ”Leave it to the Spindrift twins! If there's a mystery afoot, you'll unearth it Nope, lads Never heard of your flying stingarees, or flying saucers, either But that's not surprising I'm down here mostly on weekends, sometimes with a friend or two, and the only local folks we see are at the store or gas station Usually I'et the local papers, and when I listen to the radio or watch TV, it's either a Washi+ngton or Baltimore station So I'm not in touch with local events”
”Anyway,” Rick said, ”stingarees don't fly”
Steve had been in the Virgin Islands, too, and had been involved in the adventure of _The Wailing Octopus_ ”You found out that the octopus didn't wail,” he reh you'd found a new species Maybe this is the saaree fly?”
”It would be fun to find out,” Scotty admitted
”You'll have time to make a start, and I won't be in the ith plans for fishi+ng or crabbing I'ton for a few days Got a hot case working that I can't leave for long”
The boys protested ”You deserve some vacation,” Rick said hotly
Steve held up his hand ”Whoa! I' a vacation This case should be settled in three or four days, and I'll be with you Meanwhile, you e and pick me up when I come back That will leave you a car, and you can use theIf you feel like skin diving, you can try for rock or hardheads off the northern tip of Taylors Island, right at the ear?”
”The whole set,” Rick replied ”Lungs, couns, and even suits”
”You won't need suits The bay is shallow and warht here Plenty of books, TV, radio, or a chessboard If it gets cool, there's wood for the fireplace”
”Sounds good,” Scotty agreed ”But anted you with us”
”I will be Before the weekend”