CHAPTER 1 _MIDNIGHT AT THE GATE_
After a long, tiring climb, the two friends, Penny Parker and JerryLivingston, had reached the summit of Knob Hill, far above the city ofRiverview.
Now as they paused in the moonlight to catch their breath, the slim,golden-haired girl bent to adjust the irons of her skis before making aswift descent to the clearing below.
"We'll not have many more glorious skiing nights like this one," she saidregretfully. "Anytime now, the weather is due to turn warm."
Jerry, a reporter at the _Riverview Star_, nodded as his gaze swept thesnowy hillside, unmarked save for the herring-bone tracks made by theirown skis.
Tall and muscular, he was several years older than Penny, who attendedhigh school. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly, giving him theappearance of a semi-amused spectator of the world's goings-on.
"Jerry, it's getting late," she reminded him. "This will have to be ourlast run tonight. Ready?"
"Okay, I'll race you to the valley!" the reporter challenged. "Let's go!"
Digging in their poles, they flashed off down the hillside. Though theystarted together, Penny soon forged ahead, descending the steep slope ingraceful, curving Christiania turns.
Beneath the mellow moon, snow crystals were brilliant with light. Everypine bristled with glowing icicles. Penny, feeling the rush of wind onher cheek, drew in her breath and was glad to be alive.
With effortless ease, she swung her hips for the sharp turns between thetrees. Finally reaching the clearing, she brought up with a spectacularjump-turn and waited for Jerry who was close behind.
"You're getting faster every trip!" he praised. "I haven't a chance anymore!"
Penny laughed, and with her arm linked in his, glided on to the firewhere a group of noisy young people were roasting wieners and boilingcoffee.
"Time you're getting back!" declared Louise Sidell, a dark-haired girl inheavy red woolen snowsuit. She was on her knees in the snow, feedinghickory chips to the cherry red fire.
Louise considered Penny her dearest friend. Though she would not haveadmitted it, she was slightly green-eyed whenever another person claimedany of her chum's attention.
"M--m! That coffee smells delicious!" Penny cried, sniffing the fragrantaroma. "I'm starved too!"
She and Jerry made their own sandwiches and poured the steaming beverage.After they had finished eating, the reporter suggested one last climb toKnob Hill.
"It's nearly midnight," said Louise, before Penny could accept. "Oughtn'twe to be starting home?"
Immediately a loud chorus of protest arose from other members of theparty. Penny looked at her wristwatch regretfully.
"I hate to break up the party," she said. "But I promised Dad I would bein fairly early tonight. Lou and I will run along, and the rest of youstay."
"I'll take you home if you must leave," Jerry offered.
"Oh, Penny has her car," said Louise quickly. "It's parked on theroadside just over the hill."
"Yes," Penny added, "we'll ski down there and be home in a few minutes."
"You're not afraid to go alone?" Jerry asked teasingly.
"Afraid?" The question caught Penny by surprise. "Why should we be?"
"You'll have to pass the old deserted Abbington Monastery to reach yourcar. It's a spooky place at night!"
Penny arose and slipped her wrists through the loops of her ski poles."Now don't put ideas into our heads!" she chuckled. "It's just anotherbuilding."
"Sure you don't want me to go along?" urged Jerry.
"Of course not! Louise and I can handle any ghost we'll meet tonight!"
The girls glided away, pausing at the top of the slope to wave goodbye totheir friends. Then they shot down the hill on a trail which skirted adense grove of pine.
Ahead loomed the gloomy old Abbington Monastery, a structure of moldystone enclosed by a high brick wall. To the right, inside the enclosure,was an ancient graveyard, many of its white stones at rakish angles.
Penny studied the building with keen interest as she waited for Louise tocatch up with her. Built generations earlier, the property first had beenused by an order of Black Friars bound to the vows of poverty andobedience.
Later, the monastery had been taken over by an order of nuns, but as thebuildings deteriorated, the property had been abandoned. For ten yearsnow, it had stood unoccupied.
"Ugly old place!" puffed Louise, pausing beside her chum to catch herbreath. "All the windows broken--why, that's funny!"
"What is?" demanded Penny.
"The windows aren't broken! They've been replaced!"
"Probably the owner did it to save his property from going completely towreck and ruin. Wonder who owns the place anyhow?"
"The last I heard, it was sold at public auction for taxes. I think areal estate man bought it for a song."
"Then maybe he intends to fix it up for rent or sale," Penny remarked."But who would want to live in that ancient shell? Somehow, the placegives me the creeps!"
Louise was staring hard at an upstairs window of the distant building.
"Penny!" she exclaimed. "I saw a moving light just then!"
"Where?"
Louise pointed to the window high on the stone wall of the monastery.
"I don't see anything," replied Penny. "You must have imagined it."
"I did not! The light is gone now. But I saw it plainly. It may have beenfrom a lantern. Someone was moving from room to room!"
"Maybe it was a reflection of moonlight then." Undisturbed, Penny removedher skis. Carefully placing the running surfaces together, she threw themover her left shoulder.
Far away, in the city of Riverview, a tower clock began to chime the hourof midnight.
"Penny!" insisted Louise in a half-whisper. "I did see a light! Maybe theold monastery is haunted--"
"Now hush!" Penny silenced her. "What are you trying to do? Work up acase of nerves?"
"But--"
"Just climb out of those skis and come on, my pet." Penny moved brisklyaway. "We're late now."
"Wait for me!" Frantically, Louise fumbled with her ski irons. "Don'tleave me here alone!"
"Then not another word about ghosts!" Penny chided.
However, she waited patiently until her chum had removed the skis. Thetwo girls then walked rapidly toward the roadside where the car had beenparked. No longer could they see the friendly campfire in the valley. Asthey drew closer to the monastery, towering pines blotted out themoonlight.
Like a powerful magnet, the old stone building drew their gaze.
Deep snow, glittering with an eerie blue lustre, lay heavy on the highboundary wall. In the deserted garden beyond the gatehouse, severalstatues also were covered with soft white shrouds.
Louise clutched her chum's hand and urged her to a faster pace.
Then suddenly, with one accord, the girls halted.
Directly ahead, at the front entrance to the monastery, a big rusty gatestood slightly ajar!
"It's open!" whispered Louise. "Why, never before have I seen that gateunlocked!"
For an instant, Penny too was slightly unnerved. But she repliedsteadily: "What of it? Perhaps someone has moved in."
While Louise watched uneasily, she walked to the gate, fingering therusty chain which dangled in the snow.
Then boldly, she pushed the gate farther open.
"Don't go in there!" Louise warned, her voice sharp with anxiety. "Pleasecome on."
Penny's ears were deaf to the plea. She stared intently at a trail offootprints which led from where she stood to a circular stone gatehouseonly a few yards away. The marks were very large and had been made by aman's heavy boot.
"Lou--" she began, but the words froze on her lips.
From inside the monastery came a shrill, piercing scream. As the girlshuddled together, the sound died slowly away.
Then a silence, even more terrifying, fell upon the grounds.
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