by Roxe Anne
He opens the car door for me and then gets some blankets out of his trunk for us to use to keep warm. “You kids just sit here and take it easy while we go over the scene. You don’t need to be frightened any longer. I will take care of you until we find your Mama!”
It isn’t long before our whole street is lined with police vehicles, fire trucks, ambulances, and the coroner’s van. Our street is lit up with all those lights brighter than a Christmas tree. I even saw a car pull up that said Dixon Evening Telegraph. I hope they don’t find me and take my picture. The last thing we need is some old news reporter flashing his camera in our dirty faces for the entire world to see.
We have been sitting in Uncle Riley’s car a couple of hours when I see two stretchers being wheeled out of our house. One has a bag on it that looks to be the size of a small child. That must be poor Sandy’s body. The other stretcher has a white sheet over a large object. Old Frank must be under that sheet. The object is too big to be anything else.
Uncle Riley walks slowly over to his car where we still sit. He waves at me to roll down my window. “Missy, you hitting Frank in the head with the baseball bat isn’t what killed him, Hun. When Frank fell backwards, he landed on his own knife. It went clean through his back and straight into that black heart of his. He died instantly. You didn’t kill Frank, Missy. I thought you would sleep better knowing!”
We see policemen bringing out plastic bags full of our items. I think one of the items is Billie’s wooden baseball bat. He sure will miss playing with his wood bat. It is the first bat Mama ever bought him.
• • •
Someone is tapping on Uncle Riley’s window. It isn’t a policeman; the man isn’t wearing a hat.
“Katie, are you in there?” We hear someone ask.
Katie turns toward the voice. “Charlie! Oh, Charlie!” She opens the car door and gives him a big hug. Not being able to hold back her tears any longer, she cries and sobs in his arms while she tells him everything that happened.
He tells her everything will be all right now. It isn’t her fault and she shouldn’t feel guilty. Frank is to blame, not her. Charlie sits in the car next to Katie telling her how happy he is to find us alive.
But nothing is going to be all right again until Mama comes back home. We all say prayers for Mama’s safe return.
• • •
We see a car pulling up to our house as the sun is starting to rise. It looks like Mama’s car, but there are too many vehicles in the way to be sure.
The coroner begins loading old Frank’s body into his van when I hear, “No, not my babies! Where are my babies? Oh God, what happened here, Riley? Don’t tell me something has happened to my kids. I’ll never forgive myself!” Mama looks like she was about to faint. Some strange man is at her side, holding her up.
“Dot, the kids are all fine. Nothing happened to them. That’s Frank’s body they’re loading into the coroner’s van!”
“Frank’s? What was he doing here? I told that sorry bastard to pack his bags and move out days ago. He told me he was leaving and moving in with Sam DelRosa yesterday.”
“He wasn’t too happy with that decision, Dot!” Uncle Riley tells her aggravated.
“Where are my kids, Riley?”
“They’re in my car. Go let them know you’re all right. Your kids have been through enough stress for a while. At least they can have some relief with you still alive. I’ll talk to you later!”
Mama runs to Uncle Riley’s car as we open the car doors to greet her. She gives us all a hug and kisses us each over and over.
“Mama, I’m fine! You don’t have to kiss me anymore,” Billie complains.
Katie looks directly into Mama’s eyes. “Where have you been, Mama? We thought old Frank killed you! He was going to kill…”
“Everything is going to be okay from now on. Kids, there’s someone I want you to meet. I want you to meet your new dad, Clark Guthrie! We were married yesterday. Isn’t that wonderful? You can just call him Uncle Clark!”
“Hi, Uncle Clark, it’s nice to meet you,” I say, rolling my eyes at Katie and Billie. We all know that no one will ever replace our daddy. And we don’t need any strange man to take care of us either. Maybe someday Mama will know it, too. I guess when we asked God to keep Mama safe, we forgot to ask him not to let her bring home any new uncles.
About the Author
Roxe Anne Peacock is the author of LEAVE NO TRACE, two short stories and seven poems. She lives outside Rockford, Illinois with her husband, Tom.
The Rockford Chamber of Commerce sponsored a juried art book, Art Rockford, copyright 2004, which Roxe Anne was asked to participate in. It sold at Barnes & Noble and Borders, Rockford Art Museum and at other book venders throughout the Rock River Valley area.
While raising five daughters, she was a Girl Scout leader, 4-H leader and hosted several AFS students.
She participated in Civil War re-enactments for over ten years, helped host ladies’ teas for the public, participated in Civil War balls, and helped educate the public at living histories. She also appeared on CSPAN in the Lincoln-Douglas debates.
At the present, Roxe Anne is working on another mystery and a historical cookbook. She enjoys her pug, Spike and being with family and friends.
For your reading pleasure, Roxe Anne Peacock invites you to visit her website to view her mystery, LEAVE NO TRACE, published by Whiskey Creek Press LLC, February 15, 2011.
LEAVE NO TRACE
Jessica Waters was looking forward to attending college in the fall with her best friend, Sandra Adams. But when Sandra disappears the night after prom, mutual friend, Jason Harris becomes the number one suspect. Jason isn’t the only suspect in the tight-knit community of Carlsbad, New Mexico. Before Sandra disappeared, she confessed to having an affair with her coach and teacher, Carl Lundstrum. Now Jessica is going to make it her mission to find out what happened if it is the last thing she ever does.
www.whiskeycreekpress.com
Roxe Anne Peacock
www.roxeannepeacock.com
