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Celia Jade [Drakhom Taboo 03] The Drakhom Taboo III [MF] (epu
Atherton, Nancy Tante Dimity Tante Dimity und die unheilvoll
Cynthia Wicklund [The Garden In the Garden of Seduction (epu
Chelsea Chaynes [Battle for t Battle for the Womb 1 [MF] (epu
C L Scholey [Vampire Coven 02 A Vampire To Watch Over Me (epu
Cora Seton [The Cowboys of Ch The Cowboy Imports a Bride (epu
Chandra Ryan [Universal Defia Ulterior Motives [EC Aeon] (epu
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[heft] Perry Rhodan 1070 Gefangene der Materie

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.A lot of people do, you know.Folks come here from all over just to see the rodeo and the local people leave just to avoid it.” She laughed without humor.“Guess that’s human nature.”“Do you have any idea where she might go?” Nancy pressed.“It’s really very urgent that I get in touch with her.”“What do you want with her?” The eyes were suddenly hostile.“It has to do with her little girl,” Nancy explained.“Do you know anyone Mrs.Buckman might have gone to visit or who might know where she is?”The woman considered for several minutes, then shook her head.“I only know Lorna to say hello and good-bye to, that’s all, and I didn’t even do that much this time.Just waved out the window at her.She could be just about anywhere and nobody in this neighborhood would know it.”“Well, if she should happen to come back, could you give her a message for me?” Nancy asked, sure even as she spoke that her mission was hopeless.“Could you give her my name and phone number and ask her to call me right away?”The woman didn’t look particularly eager, but after a few moments’ thought, she nodded reluctantly.“If I happen to see her,” she said, “I guess I could do that much.”Nancy wrote her name and Grace’s phone number on a piece of paper from her purse, then thanked the woman and returned to the car.An equally discouraged-looking Ned was waiting for her.“Any luck?” he asked.Nancy shook her head.“She was there the first of the week, but no one seems to know where she went or why.”Ned nodded.“No one I talked to even knew she was here.It’s not a friendly neighborhood.”Nancy started to get into the car, then stopped as a blue automobile came along the street.“It might not be friendly,” she observed, “but it certainly is curious.”“What do you mean?” Ned asked.“Unless I’m very mistaken, that’s not the first time I’ve seen that car,” Nancy told him, squinting against the sun, though it did no good.She couldn’t see the person or people inside, not with the shiny sun shades pulled down over the windows and the sun glinting on the front windshield.She also missed getting the license plate number as the car quickly rounded the corner.“Maybe they know where Lorna Buckman is,” Ned said in a serious tone, as Nancy hurriedly started the car.But before they reached the end of the road, the blue automobile had vanished into the heavy flow of traffic on a nearby street.Nancy sighed.“What am I going to tell Jennifer?” she asked, well aware that Ned couldn’t answer that question any more than she could.There were times when being a detective was very discouraging.4.Close CallThough the bright lights of the town and the colorful music and neon glow of the carnival near the rodeo grounds offered excitement, Nancy was too discouraged and worried to be interested.She was glad when Ned drove her back to the Reed house, even though she wasn’t looking forward to telling Jennifer that she hadn’t been able to find her mother.Fortunately, Jennifer was too tired by the day’s events to notice the lack of conviction behind Nancy’s assurances that she would do better tomorrow.Once dinner was over, Jennifer soon went up to bed, leaving the three worried adults alone to discuss what to do next.“I made some calls while you were gone,” Grace began.“Checked the hospitals, things like that.There’s no record of Lorna Buckman being treated anywhere in Cheyenne.”“I just don’t know where to look next,” Nancy admitted.“I’m beginning to feel haunted.First, Clarinda Winthrop disappeared forty years ago and now Lorna Buckman seems to have done the same thing.”Grace shook her head.“I just don’t see how a mother could leave a child like Jennifer on her own this way.She wouldn’t have any way of knowing that you were flying with the girl.Suppose she’d come into Cheyenne all alone?” Nancy shuddered, then got up to move restlessly about the room.“Would you like to go for a walk?” Ned suggested.Nancy nodded.“I really think I need one,” she admitted.“I’m much too restless to sleep right now.”“Grace?” Ned asked.Grace Reed shook her head.“Why don’t you take Brewster?” she suggested.“He’d love a walk, I’m sure.”The night was cool and a breeze ruffled Nancy’s titian hair.The stars seemed extra close and bright once they looked away from the glow of Cheyenne’s many lights.“I think we should take Jennifer to the parade tomorrow,” Ned said as they followed the white plume of the collie’s tail along a rough path.“Oh, Ned, what about searching for her mother?” Nancy asked.“You said you didn’t know where to start,” he reminded her.“Maybe a little relaxation will do you both some good.Besides, I think she’d enjoy it and I know I would.”Nancy responded to his teasing grin.“So would I,” she admitted.“And that’s a good idea.We can always start our search after the parade.”The July sun was hot the next morning as they waited on the crowded curb.Nancy looked longingly at the shade near the storefronts behind them, but knew she couldn’t relinquish her position if she wanted to see the parade.Jennifer, somewhat recovered, was already dancing off the curb into the street to look for the first riders.“Should be coming pretty soon,” Ned announced, checking his watch.“It’s past ten.”“Parades are always late,” Jennifer informed him.“Not too late,” Nancy said as her sharp ears caught the distant sounds of a band.“It must be coming now.”A shout from the crowd confirmed her statement and everyone pressed forward as the first riders came into view, their horses dancing wildly as the wind caught the flags their riders carried and made them snap around the horses’ ears.One of the horses, a big bay, reared and slipped on the unfamiliar pavement.Nancy pulled Jennifer back quickly as the rider spurred the horse forward, then steadied him so he didn’t fall.Wagons, buckboards, carriages, and even stagecoaches followed each other along the parade route.Teams, nervous and wet with sweat from the excitement and unfamiliar crowds, danced and jumped from the sounds of firecrackers and the blanks fired by a number of riders costumed as possemen or desperados.There were floats depicting Old West scenes.One featured square dancers who swirled and danced on the wide bed of a truck as the music and voice of the dance caller filled the air.“That looks like fun,” Ned commented as an old-fashioned chuck wagon barbecue scene passed, filling the air with an all-too-authentic scent of cooking meat.“I wonder how you get to be on a float.”“I’d like to ride in a wagon,” Nancy said, her attention caught by a buggy that was passing [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]