by Amy Boyles
“Not at all,” he said hurriedly. Clearly I was bothering him.
“Well, I was looking at the apple trees out here, and I think one of them might have a disease. I thought you could take a look at it for me.”
“Sure,” he said. “Show me what you’ve got.”
I led him down the steps and all the way to the sidewalk, beside a strip of green where the trees stood.
“It’s this one down here,” I said, pointing to a tree that looked exactly like all the others.
Lord, Willard Gandy was either going to think I had lost my marbles, or he would suspect something was up when he looked at this tree.
But as I led him over, I did manage to find a yellow streak in the bark. “Is that disease? That’s what it looks like.”
Meanwhile I turned my head just enough to watch from the corner of my eye as Malene slipped from the bushes and headed up the plank staircase.
Willard started to turn in that direction, but I linked my arm through his and dragged him closer to the tree.
I pointed at the discolored bark. “See that? Right there. Is the tree going to make it? I just hate to think that something bad will happen to one of our pretty apple trees on the street. I mean, if one of them gets infected and it spreads to the others, we could lose all of them.”
Please, please hurry, Malene. Because the more I looked at the streak, the more I realized that it wasn’t diseased at all.
Willard bent down and squinted at the yellowish-brown smear. “Uh-huh,” he said, scratching his head.
“Do you think it’s fatal?” I sounded like such an idiot. I could nearly slap myself. “Because if it is, I just don’t think I can handle the emotional turmoil.”
Willard straightened. “Well, Clem, I’ve got some good news for you.”
“Great! What is it?”
“It appears that the tree will live. It’s only—”
Just then, Lady started barking her head off. The hold that I had on her leash was loose, too loose. The next thing I knew, she was gone, darting toward—a squirrel.
That same blasted squirrel that had been torturing my dog stood on Willard’s porch, smack-dab in the middle of it. The animal chattered at Lady as she rushed up the steps.
“Lady, no!”
The squirrel darted right. Stopped. Moved left. Stopped. Then faced itself toward Willard’s open front door and ran right on inside the house.
Where Malene was.
Willard sprinted toward the house. “Get out of there,” he yelled.
That man could move faster than I ever thought. But it was wrong, bad. There was no way for me to warn Malene and tell her to get out of the house.
The only thing that I could do was follow. So I charged after Willard, who was running after Lady, who was chasing the squirrel, all of us barging up the stairs and straight into the house.
I burst through the open front door into the living room to see Lady barking and snarling at the squirrel, who had swung its way onto the mantle and was chittering at Lady, taunting her.
On the other side of the living room sat a box. Inside the box came a scratching sound and next to the cardboard sat Malene, petting a gray kitten.
Willard took one look at Malene and jabbed a finger at her. “This is all your fault. I should have known. You dragged Clementine into your little ruse with a silly story about a tree with bird poop on it.”
Malene batted her lashes at him. “Why, Willard Gandy, why didn’t you tell me that you were nursing kittens?”
“Because it’s none of your darn business. Now, get out. All of you! And take that squirrel with you!”
Two minutes later, with the help of a net, we were standing on Willard’s porch.
“And stay out,” he yelled before slamming the door shut behind us.
I cringed. “Think he’s mad?”
Malene slowly nodded. “He’s gone nuclear.”
I sighed. “Think he’ll ever forgive us?”
“Maybe so.” She paused, thinking. “Know what will help this situation?”
“You mean my bruised ego?”
“That’s the one.”
“A chocolate sundae.” My eyebrows arched. “You can make one?”
She pulled me toward her house. “Come on. Nothing like a little food therapy.”
Next thing I knew, I was leading Lady toward Malene’s to use food to cure my bruised ego.
Chapter 18
We had a sundae and I asked Malene why she didn’t leave Willard’s house after she discovered the kittens, you know, like we’d planned, and she told me that it was impossible to abandon all that cuteness.
Well, I understood that. The first time that I met Lady, she was only a puppy and it was (hand-to-God) love at first sight.
It still is even though now she has a mouth on her.
“Well,” I told Malene, “I hope it was worth it, because now Willard Gandy won’t trust either of us.”
She shrugged. “Nothing new there. But I tell you what, I’ll explain to him that I’m the one who forced you into it. He’s more likely to forgive you. Our beef goes way back. But you and him—I’ll make sure it all turns out okay.”
I thanked her before washing up my dishes and walking Lady back to the house. We had decided to meet at Knight’s home after supper, but first I had to find out where Knight lived, which meant some more investigating.
I pulled his journal from the bookcase, but there was no clue in there. In town there were a few people who knew where everyone lived, and one of them was Julie Bender. As a coffee shop owner, Julie talked to everyone in town, so I called her.
“It’s Clem,” I said when she answered.
“Hey, Clem, did you call looking for John?”
I bristled. “No, why would I do that?”
“Because he’s standing right in front of me looking quite dashing in leather pants and a dark shirt.”
“I think that’s his spell-hunting uniform.”
“Hmm, is that a euphemism for something else?”
I nearly choked on a gob of saliva that slid down the back of my throat. “What? Are you suggesting that I’m calling spell hunting something that it isn’t?”
“Aren’t you?”
“No,” I nearly screamed. “I am not. Anyway, I thought you were on my side.”
“Uh, the more I talk to him, the more I realize I think he’s changed.”
“Okay. Whatever. He’s not standing right in front of you, is he? Where he can see you?”
“No, he’s off to the side. I do have some tact.”
I sighed. Thank goodness. “So I did not call to discuss John. I need to know where Knight Owens lived.”
“Why do you need to know that?” she said, sounding suspicious.
Because I want to stalk the house? Not a good answer. I had the feeling Julie would be one thousand percent against that idea. “Um, because I think I might have something of his and I need to return it.”
“What do you have?”
“Um, nothing important.”
“Because Payne is here, too, and I can let him know if you have something for the family.”
“No,” I said quickly. “I don’t want him to know about it. It’s sensitive. Can you please just tell me?”
She exhaled a shot of air. “Is this going to get you into trouble?”
“No. I just need to know where he lived, like I said.”
“Fine. He lived on Cherry Street. It was the house painted blue with yellow shutters.”
“Blue house, yellow shutters,” I murmured. “Great. I’ve got it. Thanks, Julie.”
“Clem, whatever you’re doing, be careful. Don’t get yourself hurt.”
“I won’t,” I said. “Promise.”
When I hung up, a sour feeling crept over my stomach. I had a feeling that no matter how hard I tried to make that promise to Julie, I wouldn’t be able to keep it.
Malene, Urleen and Norma Ray arrived at my house in black clothes and with smears of dar
k shoe polish on their cheekbones.
I leaned forward. The lines cracked at the edges. “Is that paint?”
“Malene was out of shoe polish,” Urleen said, “so she suggested paint.”
Malene pursed her lips. “It was the best alternative that I had.”
Urleen shot her a pointed look. “I hope it doesn’t burn my delicate skin.”
Norma Ray squinted as she stepped into my living room. “It is so dark in here; how can you see?”
First, it was not dark. The sun hadn’t even completely set yet. I had one lamp lit and maybe it was a little dim, but it wasn’t pitch.
The problem was, Norma Ray refused to get glasses. She saw so-so during the day, but I had the feeling that nighttime was a different story.
Urleen clucked. “If you wore glasses, you’d see just fine.”
“I can see good enough,” Norma Ray said. “It’s just dark, is all.”
“Are we ready to get going?” I asked.
Malene jingled her keys. “I’ll drive.”
We arrived on Cherry Street just before dusk to make sure that we had the right house.
A few houses down on the right, I spotted it. “There it is,” I said at the same time that Urleen pointed to the left side of the street and exclaimed, “Found it!”
I glanced in Urleen’s direction. Directly across the street from the blue house with yellow shutters that I had found sat a twin home.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said.
“Well, this is a pickle.” Urleen pulled a pair of night-vision goggles from her purse and strapped them on. “What do we do now?”
Malene pulled over. “Urleen, did you bring enough goggles for the entire class?”
“Oh, I think so.” Next thing I knew, Urleen had passed me my very own pair.
“Okay, I’m only going to say one time how suspicious we’ll look sitting in here wearing night-vision goggles. Anyone who walks by and sees us is going to call the police.”
“That’s the least of our problems,” Malene said. “Which house do we watch?”
“We watch them both,” Norma Ray said. “There are four of us, so two sets of eyes on each house.”
“Well, we can’t watch them sitting in the car with our night-vision goggles on,” I snipped. “We’ll be spotted.”
“Well, my knees won’t let me sit in the bushes,” Urleen said.
“If I push you down, they will,” Norma Ray added, turning around with a smile.
I wanted to scream. We had two houses, four pairs of night goggles and three grumpy old women.
We sat in silence for a moment before Malene poked her finger in the air. “I’ve got it. I know exactly what to do. I’ll drive on down the street a little bit and come back so that we’re not right on top of the houses. Then we don’t put the glasses on until dark. But we’ll need to be out of the cars. If someone suspicious does approach either home, we’ll have to be prepared to see what’s going on, which means that we can’t be in here.”
“So we’ll be hiding in bushes,” Urleen said unhappily. “I just knew that I shouldn’t have fixed my hair today.”
“I’ll fix it back for you,” Norma Ray said. “Did you bring a set of curlers in that purse of yours?”
“I did, but I can’t use them because of my arthritis,” Urleen said.
And this was my team to catch the bad guy. Boy, was I in trouble.
Malene continued. “Clementine and I will take the house on the right while Urleen, you and Norma Ray will take the house on the left. We’ll each set up station a little behind the houses, so that we’re out of sight. Urleen, did you bring the walkie-talkies?”
Urleen riffled through her bag until she retrieved two black rectangular boxes. “I’ve got them.”
“How do you have everything in your purse?” I asked.
She winked at me. “It’s a secret.”
Of course it was.
“Good.” Malene drove down the street. “I’m going to turn around, and as soon as it’s dark enough, we head out and get to our stations.”
She drove the car into position and killed the engine. We sat with the air off, waiting until the sky turned dark.
“It’s hot in here,” Norma Ray complained.
“Open a window,” Malene said.
“It won’t open.”
“That’s because I’ve got to turn the car on.” Malene cranked the engine. “Now roll it down.”
As soon as Norma’s window was down, Malene cut the engine again.
“It is hot in here,” Urleen said.
Malene’s eyes lit up the rearview mirror. “Let me guess—now you want to roll down your window.”
“I did give you the night-vision goggles,” Urleen said in a snappy voice.
Malene huffed. “Why don’t I just turn the car back on and we can sit with the air running?”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Urleen said.
Mumbling in frustration, Malene cranked the engine, and Norma rolled her window back up.
“I was really enjoying the breeze,” she mumbled.
Malene’s voice filled with grit. “If anyone says one more darn word about the air, I’m gonna kick all of you out.”
Surprisingly no one said one word. We all sat quietly listening to the hum of the air and feeling the cool artificial breeze on our faces.
“I don’t have enough cold on me,” Urleen griped.
“That’s it.” Malene shut off the engine. “We’ll sit here and roast.”
Luckily like ten minutes later, a smattering of stars lit up the sky, signaling that it was time to get into position.
“Goggles on, everyone,” Urleen said. “If they’ll stay on over the sweat on your forehead.”
“It’s not my fault y’all annoyed me so much that I had to turn off the engine,” Malene snapped. “Now let’s get out and set up. Try not to look suspicious.”
I stared at the giant set of goggles in my hand. “I’m pretty sure that’s impossible. Like, really. I mean, if no one sees us, we’ll be okay, but if anyone takes one peek at us, it’ll be obvious that we’re up to no good.”
“Just tell them we’re playing a new type of Pokemon Go,” Malene said.
I looked at her in surprise. “You know that game?”
Her bottom lip jutted out in pride. “Of course I do. You don’t think I’m just a boring old woman who spends all her free time quilting, do you?”
“I plead the fifth,” I replied, suggesting that I didn’t have to legally answer that question.
“Get in front of me, chicken,” Malene said. “Let’s go.”
I led her over to the blue house on the right side of the street while Urleen and Norma Ray, walkie-talkie in hand, crossed and took the other cottage. Now, I realize that all four of us could have watched from the car, but we would only have been able to see the front of the houses, not the back.
Malene and I settled behind a hedge. The air was thick with humidity. Sweat sprinkled my forearm. I swiped it off only for new blots of perspiration to appear.
The scent of a honeysuckle vine behind us trickled up my nose, and since it had been years since I’d tasted one of the sweet flowers, I plucked off a flower and pulled out the stem. With the help of my goggles, I saw the tiny drop of sweetness dangling from the end, and I sucked it off. The sugary flavor burst on my tongue. I smiled and took a deep breath, inhaling even more of the sweetness.
A thought occurred to me. “Malene, were your son and daughter about the same age?”
Her gaze zipped from the house to me. “What’s that?”
I shrugged. “Well, I knew that Sadie had dated your son. Was your daughter about his age, too?”
Malene shook her head. “No, he was a late-in-life baby. There was a good twenty years difference in them. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody, having a baby when you’re older—at least not after you’ve already done it once.”
“So then your grandchild is closer in age to your son?”<
br />
“Yes, but you and I both know that he disappeared. I doubt I’ll ever see him again.”
I patted her shoulder. “Well, I’ll be your family for you.”
Malene’s lips trembled. When she spoke, her voice broke. “Will you?”
“Of course.”
Just then, the walkie-talkie crackled with static. “Malene?” Norma Ray shouted.
I’m not kidding. She shouted. Not only could I hear Norma Ray over the walkie-talkie, but I could hear her speaking across the street as well. So much for being covert.
Malene hit the button on the walkie-talkie. “What is it?”
“I just remembered that Dancing with the Stars is on. I’ve got to get home to watch it. They’ve got that man who was on The Bachelor dancing.”
“Which one?”
“The cute one,” Norma Ray said. “The one that you like, too.”
Malene sat up straighter. “The one with the blond hair who was the fireman?”
“That’s the one.”
“Let’s go.”
Malene rose and pulled off her glasses. “Sorry, Clem, but I’ve got to get. The girls and me have been waiting months for this to come on.”
I yanked off my own goggles. “Are you kidding me?”
She shook her head. “I wish I was, but I’m not. But don’t you worry, I’ll be back as soon as it’s over, which will be in about an hour. You’ll be fine on your own, and I doubt that anyone will be snooping around this early anyway.”
I rose, started walking after her. “You’re seriously just going to leave?”
She cringed. “I’m sorry, but I’ll return.”
Norma Ray and Urleen sprinted across the street. “Let’s go,” Urleen said.
The next thing I knew, the women were in the car and speeding off, leaving me standing in the dust. I closed my eyes and exhaled, curling my hands into fists.
Well, since I didn’t have a ride, it looked like I had to stay right where I was, so I crossed back to the house and settled in the bushes, hoping no bugs would crawl on me.
I’d only been there a few minutes when someone stepped out of the shadows, arriving from the rear. It was a man; I could tell that much.
