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There’s a warp where my neck is. But if someone was shorter—which almost everyone is—they would look like they didn’t have eyebrows.”
    She glanced back to see if Mrs. Glenn had hung up the phone. Mrs. Glenn held up one finger.
    Does that mean one minute or one hour, Herculeah wondered.
    At last Mrs. Glenn hung up the phone and beckoned to Herculeah.
    â€œNellie remembers the coat,” she said.
    â€œShe does? Great!”
    â€œYes. Her daughter tried it on, but the daughter said she felt colder with the coat on than she did with it off—I don’t know how that could be. She said it gave her the shivers. You know how young people are these days.” She then realized she was talking to one of the young people and added quickly, “No offense.”
    Herculeah shook her head impatiently. “So where did the coat come from?”
    â€œIt was in a box—in the bottom of a box of horse stuff.”
    â€œHorse stuff?” Herculeah asked.
    â€œHorse stuff. You know, bridles, bits, stirrups, whips—I don’t know the names of what all was in there. Nellie thought the whole box was full of horse gear, but when she got to the bottom of the box, there was the coat.”
    â€œWhere did the box come from?”
    â€œShe bought it at a sale.”
    â€œWhat sale? Where?”
    â€œShe said she went to so many sales she couldn’t be sure, but she thought it was—Oh, what was the name of that street? It was a tree.”
    â€œMaple? Oak?”
    Mrs. Glenn shook her head. She bit her bottom lip and then gave up. “It’ll come to me directly.”
    â€œMrs. Glenn, this is really important.” Herculeah opened her notebook and took the note from the side pocket.
    â€œRead this, and you’ll know why it’s so important that I find out where this coat came from.”
    Mrs. Glenn took the paper. “Lawd, my eyes aren’t good enough to read that.”
    â€œI know it by heart,” Herculeah said. “I’ll recite it. It says—”
    Mrs. Glenn turned over the note. “And what’s that on the back? It looks like a number.”
    â€œLet me see that,” Herculeah said sharply.
    â€œNow I can make the numbers out.” Mrs. Glenn pulled the paper closer to prove her point. “Eight ... eight... one, no not a one ...”
    Herculeah broke in. “Please let me see that. I didn’t know there was anything on the back. I can’t believe I didn’t turn it over.”
    â€œThe next number is a two, but it’s backward. Oh, I know what happened.”
    â€œPlease, let me see. Why didn’t I turn it over? I guess I was so upset by what the note said that ... Please, let me see.”
    Mrs. Glenn closed one eye. She stared as intently as if she were reading an eye chart.
    â€œYes, I’m right. Somebody wrote a number on the page behind this one, closed the book, and—voila!—”
    â€œPlease.” Herculeah reached out for the note.
    â€œI think it’s a telephone number,” Mrs. Glenn said, reluctant to give up the paper. “Something—that number is blurred—eight, oh, oh, two, eight, eight—only since it’s backward, the phone number would be eight, eight, two, oh, oh, eight something.”
    She handed the paper triumphantly back to Herculeah, and Herculeah read the numbers for herself.
    She started quickly for the door.
    â€œYou never told me what the note said.”
    â€œI can’t stop. I’ve got to make a phone call.”

9
    PHONE CALL
    Herculeah sat at her mother’s desk. She had rushed home from Hidden Treasures so fast that she still had not caught her breath.
    The telephone was in front of her.
    Herculeah took another deep breath. She held the note up to the light and looked again at the numbers on the back of the note.
    The phone number, Herculeah had figured out, was either 882-0085 or 882-0086.
    She reached out her