Music Welcome to Snuescast, the podcast designed to help you fall asleep. Find us at snoozecast.com and if you enjoy our show, please share us with a friend. This episode is brought to you by a warm, smoky cafe. Tonight we'll read the opening to Ghost Beyond the Gate written by Mildred A. Wirt and published in 1943. In this story, Mr. Parker is taken to the hospital by another driver after getting into an accident. However, Mr. Parker never arrives at the hospital. Penny takes over running the newspaper in her father's absence and discovers a clue to her father's whereabouts at an old abandoned mansion.

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Let's get cozy. Close your eyes. Relax your body into the softness of your bed. Now take a few deep breaths. one. Chapter 1 Lost on a Hilltop The little ice boat with two laughing, shouting girls clinging to it, sped over the frozen surface of Big Bear River. Penny, we're going too fast!" screamed Louis Sidel, ducking to protect her face from the biting wind. Only about forty an hour shrieked her companion gleefully. At the tiller of the icicle, Penelope Parker, in fur-lined parka, sheepskin coat and goggles, looked for all the world like a jolly eskimo. Always delighting in a new sport, she had built the ice boat herself. Spars from a woodlot, the sail from an old tent. Slow down, Penny! pleaded her chum. Can't shout at Penny cheerfully. Oh, we're going into a hike! As one runner raised off the ice, the boat tilted far over on its side. Louise Shrieked and held tight to prevent being thrown out. Penny, hard pressed, sought to avert disaster by a snappy starting of the main sheet. For a space the boat rushed on, runners roaring. Then as a sudden puff of wind struck the sail, the steering runner leaped off the ice. Instantly, the icicle went into a spin from which Penny could not straighten it. We're going over! Screamed Louise, scrambling to free her feet. The next moment the boat capsized. Both girls went sliding on their backs across the ice. Penny landed in a snow drift at the riverbank. Her parka awry, goggles hanging on one ear. Are you okay, Lou?" she called, jumping to her feet. Louise sprawled on the ice, some distance away. Slowly she pulled herself to a sitting position and rubbed the back of her head. Maybe this is your idea of fun, she complained. As for me, give me Bronco Busting. It would be a mild sporting comparison. Penny chuckled, dusting snow from her clothing. Why? This is fun, Lou. We have to expect these little upsets while we're learning. The sale of the overturned ice boat was billowing like a parachute. Slipping and sliding, Penny ran to pull it in. Take the old thing down, Urge Louise, hobbling after her, I've had enough ice boating for this afternoon. Oh, just one more turn down the river and back. Cokes Penny? No. We're close to the clubhouse now. If we sail off again, there's no telling where we'll land. Anyway, it's late and it's starting to snow. Penny reluctantly acknowledged that Louise spoke pearls of wisdom. large damp snowflakes were drifting down, dotting her red mittens. The wind steadily was stiffening, and cold penetrated her sheepskin coat. They will be dark within an hour, added Louise. She scanned the lead in sky. We've been out here all afternoon. Guess it's time to go home, admitted Penny. Oh, well, I won't take this long to get the icicle loaded onto the car trailer. Lucky we upset so close to the clubhouse. Setting to work with a will, the girls took down the flapping sale. After much tugging and pushing, they righted the boat and pulled it toward the Riverview Yacht Club. Closed for the winter, the building looked cold and for lawn.

Penny, however, had left her car in the snowy parking lot, which was convenient to the

river.

I wish we could get warm somewhere.

Louis said, shivering.

It must be 10 below zero.

Pulling the icicle behind them, the girls climbed the slippery riverbank. Snow now swirled in clouds, half-curdening the clubhouse. I'll get the car and drive it down here. Penny offered, starting toward the parking lot. No use dragging the boat any further. Abandoning the icicle, Louise went with her chum. A dozen steps took the girls to a windswept corner of the deserted building. Rounding it, they both stopped short, staring. On the snow-banked parking lot where the car had been left, they're now stood only one vehicle, an unpainted, two-wheel trailer. Great fishes exclaimed Penny, where's the coupe? Maybe you forgot to set the brake and it rolled into a ditch. In that case, the trailer would have gone with it. Her face grim, Penny ran on toward the parking lot. Reaching the trailer, the girls saw by tire tracks in the snow that the car had been detached and driven away. I knew it, I knew it! Penny wailed, pounding her mittens together. The coups been stolen. What's that across the road? Louise demanded. It looks like an automobile to me in the ditch, too. Taking new hope, Penny went to investigate the little ravine. Through a screen of bare tree branches and bushes, she glimpsed a blur of metal. It's the car!" she cried Jubilently. But how did it get across the road? Penny's elation quickly died. Drawing nearer, she was dismayed to see that the coop appeared to be lying on its stomach in the ditch. Four wheels and a spare had been removed. Stripped of every tire, she exclaimed. The thief ran the car out here on the road so we couldn't see him at work from the river. What are we going to do, Louise asked, weekly Were miles from Riverview, no houses close by? Were half frozen and night is coming on. Penny, her face long, had no answer. She measured the gasoline tank with a stick. All of the fuel had been siphoned. She lifted the hood, expecting to find vital parts of the engine missing. However, everything appeared to be in place. Seeking protection from the penetrating wind, the girls climbed into the car to discuss their situation. Can't we just wait here until someone comes along and gives us a lift to town? Suggested Louise? Yes, but we're on a side road and few cars travel this way during winter. Then why not go somewhere in telephone? The nearest stores are at Cam's corner about two miles away. Louise Gaste thoughtfully at the soft snow which was banking deeper on the windshield of the car. Two miles in this, facing the wind, will be a hard hike. Think we ought to try it, Penny? I'm sure I don't want to, and we need it either. Do you remember summers? The photographer who works on your father's newspaper? Yeah, he spends his spare time as an airplane spotter. His station is over in the hills, not more than a half a mile from here. Why not trample over there and ask him to telephone our folks? Are you sure you know the way? I was there once last summer. Penny said confidently. One follows a side road through the woods. I'm sure I can find it. All right. Louise consented, sliding from behind the steering wheel. If we're going, let's move right along. Stiff with cold, the girls trudged past the clubhouse and on down the road. Snow was falling faster and faster. Several times they paused to wipe their frosted goggles. This promises to be a man-sized blizzard, Louise observed. It's getting dark, too. Penny nodded. Her thoughts on what she would say to her father when she reached home. The car had been fully insured, but even so, it would not be easy to replace five stolen tires. Rufuly she reflected that Mrs. Weems, the kindly housekeeper who had looked after her since her mother's death, had not favored the river trip. Oh, don't take it so hard, Louis tried to cheer her. Maybe the thief will be caught. Not a chance of it. Penny responded gloomily. A hundred yards farther on, the girls came to another side road, which wound upward through the wooded hills. Although there was a dusk settling over the valley, Penny paused to take bearings. I think this is the way she said, doubtfully.

You think, well, I'm pretty sure, Penny amended. Salt station is up there on top of one of those hills. If this snow would stop, we should be able to see the tower from here. Slightly reassured, Louise followed her

chum across the wooden bridge and up a narrow winding road. On either side of the frozen ditches, tall frosted evergreens provided friendly protection from the icy wind.

Nevertheless, walking was not easy for the road bed bore a shell of ice.

Confident that they soon would come to the airplane listening post, the girls trudged on.

Penny, looking to make the most of the daylight, set a stiff pace.

Should we be coming to the station? Louise presently asked.

Surely we've gone more than a half mile.

The post is a little ways off from the road.

Penny confessed, peering at the unbroken line of Evergreens. We should be able to see it. In this blinding snow, why, we may have passed a station without knowing it. Well, I don't think so. Here not one bit sure, Penny Parker. Louis accused. We were crazy to start off without being certain of the post-location. We always can go back to the car. I'm nearly frozen now. Louis complained, slapping her mittens together. There's no feeling in one of my hands. Penny paused to wipe the moisture from her goggles. From far down the road came the sound of a laboring motor. She listened, hopefully, a car-loo. She cried. Everything will be all right now. We'll hail it and ask the driver for a lift. Greatly encouraged, the girls waited for the approaching vehicle. They could hear it climbing a steep knoll and descending. From the sound of the engine, they decide that it must be a truck

that was rounding the curve. The girls stepped out into the middle of the road. As the trucks swerved around the bend, they shouted and waved their arms.

The driver slammed on his brakes, causing the big black truck to slide like a sled. Penny and Louise leaped aside. As they watched, the driver recovered control of the machine. He straightened out and brought the truck to his standstill farther up the road. Penny seized her trumps hand. Come on, Lou, he's going to give us a ride. Before they could reach the truck, the driver lowered the cab window. Drusting his head through the opening he bellowed. What are you trying to do? Wreck my truck. Giving the girl's no opportunity to reply, he closed the cab window. Penny saw that the man was intending to drive on. Wait, she called. Please give us a ride or lost. The man heard. For he flashed a smile. Shifting gears, he drove away. Of all the shabby tracks, that's the worst." Penny said. It wasn't our fault, is old trucks get it? But it is our fault or lost on this road, Louis added. How are we ever going to find the listening post? Penny leaned against the leeward side of a giant pine. Already it was so dark that she could see only a few feet down the road. There were no houses, no lights, nothing to guide her. Penny, are we really lost? Louise demanded.

We really truly are, her charm answered, in a quavering voice. The post must be somewhere near here, but we'll never find it. All we We can do is try to get back to the car.

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