Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax Read Online Free PDF

in any case tell you. Although actually,” he added dryly, “I can in all honesty say atthis particular moment that I don’t know myself what he will give you. You will of course—as soon as you have paid for the book—leave and not return again. There will be nothing more asked of you but to continue your sight-seeing for two more days and return by jet on the twenty-first. You will receive your tickets and reservations by mail within the next few days, as well as the tourist card necessary for entering Mexico.”
    She nodded. “What happens when I come home? What about Customs?”
    Carstairs smiled, saying gently, “That need not concern you. Let’s just say that we will be aware of your arrival in this country, and there will be no problems for you. None at all.”
    “Oh.”
    “In the meantime I must emphasize that you are a tourist who happens merely to be dropping in at the Parrot Bookstore. I want you to think of it that way.”
    “Oh,” Mrs. Pollifax said sadly, and as Carstairs lifted his brows inquiringly she added, “It doesn’t sound dangerous in the least.”
    Carstairs looked shocked. “My dear Mrs. Pollifax, there is always risk—we discussed that—but if there was the slightest element of real danger involved I can assure you that I would never allow an amateur to be sitting here in my office. This is what we call simple courier work, and in this case your amateur status is especially useful. I know that I can trust you to follow directions intelligently—”
    “Oh yes,” gasped Mrs. Pollifax.
    “And out of it you will have a very nice little vacation in Mexico. We will both be satisfied.” He stood up, smiling lest he might have sounded reproving, and added, “Bishop will now show you to a quiet corner where you can memorize that address. I hope you weren’t insulted at taking a lie detector test?”
    “Oh no, it was terribly interesting,” she told him, beaming.
    “Good. Nothing personal, you understand, it’s routine for everyone, even our clerks.” He had held out his hand and shaken hers. “I won’t be seeing you again, Mrs. Pollifax—have lots of fun.”
    She shrewdly suspected that he had used the word
fun
deliberately, to rid her of any lingering fancies concerning her trip. Well, she didn’t mind; she was going to have fun. Her suitcase was fairly bursting with tourist literature on Mexico City and its environs, and Miss Hartshorne had insisted upon giving herthree rolls of color film. “As a bon voyage gift,” she explained, “because you will just adore having slides of your trip, they’re the perfect souvenir for your Memory Book.” Miss Hartshorne had insisted also upon coming to her apartment to instruct her, and had left telling Mrs. Pollifax she just knew she would come home with perfectly marvelous pictures of Mexico that everyone in the apartment house would enjoy viewing.
    Mrs. Pollifax’s daughter had received the news with dismay. “But Mother,” Jane had wailed over the long-distance wires, “if you wanted to do some traveling why didn’t you tell us? You could have come out here to Arizona. I’ve hired Mrs. Blair to take care of the children while John and I are in Canada. If I’d only known—we’d feel so much better if it could be you, and the children just love it when you come.”
    “It’s just a little trip I thought I’d take for myself,” Mrs. Pollifax told her gently, and wished her daughter a happy vacation in Canada.
    Her son, Roger, on the other hand, had visited Mexico in his student days, and he told her that she must eat no green stuff and be terribly careful about the water. But there was a great deal more of his mother in him than in Jane, and he had added, “I was getting worried about you, Mother, you haven’t erupted in years. Godspeed and all that. See you at Christmas and if you get in a jam send me a wire.”
    Dear Roger, she thought as she fastened her seat belt. She leaned forward to glance out of the window and