“We won’t do that to Jack,” Quill said finally. “Try and nudge him down a path he doesn’t want to go.”
“It sounds as if they did more than nudge.”
“They did. You should have seen Sophie’s face when she realized that she hadn’t gotten the job at Bonne Goute on her own merits. She was crushed. On the other hand…” Quill put her hands lightly on the screen, framing Myles’s face. “You should have seen her diving into the lake. She was having the time of her life. And that song she sang to Marge and me. It’s called “Fast Freight” and she told me, before the three of them got on the train to head to New York, that she loves the song because it’s about living with choices. If she doesn’t make a choice, she said, she’s free.”
“Until she falls in love,” Myles said. “Until she falls in love.”
Epilogue
Quill sat in the Home-Cooked Foods tent of the Finger Lakes Autumn Fete and wondered if she could find a doctor who would excuse her from judging the Homemade Pies, berry and fruit division for the very sound medical reason that she was going to go stark staring crazy. She pulled a charcoal pencil from her skirt pocket and sketched a tiny Quill with wide-open mouth galloping madly off in all directions. Then she drew an even tinier Quill snatching herself bald.
She slipped her pencil back into her skirt and sighed.
The weather outside the tent was glorious. A bronze and beneficent sun shone on the grounds of Peterson Park. The aspens were in full gold glory. The maple trees glowed like crimson fire. It was the first day of the fete, and the week before, a stream of craftsmen and artisans had come from all over the northeast to set up their booths. Potters displayed clay dishes, pots, urns, jugs, and coffee cups in an astonishing array of vivid glazes. Quilters sat amid hangings of unique and marvelous colors. Exquisite wood carvings, handmade furniture, woven wool, hand-blown glass, and a dizzying variety of pictures in pastels, acrylics, oils, and charcoal were displayed in booths spread all over the velvety acres of the park.
The fete was thronged with tourists moving happily from the cheese tent to the wine-tasting tent and all of the booths beyond. The Home-Cooked Foods tent was thronged, too, mostly with the contestants and their supporters in the Homemade Pies, berry and fruit division. The Furry Friends pet show tent was immediately adjacent and the sound of bored puppies, cranky kittens, and irritable birds mingled with the chatter and gossip of the crowd around the display of pies.
Quill recognized a welcome face in the crowd and waved. “Mr. Swenson! How nice to see you!”
Jeeter raised his cane in response, made his way across the floor, and sat in the empty chair beside her. “It’s my hostess with the most-ess,” he said happily. “How come you’re sitting all by your lonesome? I thought you knew most of the people here.”
Marge Schmidt glanced at them and hastily away again. Adela Henry and Dolly Jean Attenborough cruised up and down the long, cloth-covered table that held a delicious-looking array of fruit and berry pies. Carol Ann Spinoza walked behind them, examining each pie entry with a big magnifying glass. Adela and Dolly Jean stopped every few feet, whispered furiously together, then glared back at Carol Ann, who reacted with superb indifference.
“I’m the judge,” Quill said glumly. “Nobody’s allowed to talk to the judge until the competition’s over and the results are turned in to the awards committee. You may think that I’m on the awards committee because I’m on every other committee for this darned fete, but I’m not.”
“You mean you get to pick the best out of all those pies?”
“I do. And then I’m dying my hair blond and moving to Detroit.”
Jeeter laughed so hard he started to fall over. Quill righted him and resettled his cane firmly in his grasp. “Getting the hell out of Dodge, eh? Can’t say as I blame you. ’Course, I’m gettin’ out of Dodge, too. I expect you heard about that.”
“I did.” Quill put her hand over his. “You’re moving to that nice adult community near Rochester.”
“Sunwood,” Jeeter said. “Yep. I am. You heard that I got a damn good offer for my cottage on the lake.”
“Did you? That’s wonderful!”
“Yeah, well, I thought the better of it. Don’t need the money as much as I need peace in the family. I turned it over to Portly in return for his guarantee in writing, of course, to pay my way at Sunwood until I croak.” He snickered. “Figure if I make it to one hundred and seventeen, like I intend to, I got the best part of that deal. I’ll tell you, that place ain’t too bad. Might just make it, with them takin’ care of me.”
“People have made it to one hundred and seventeen before. I’ll bet you do it, too.”
“Damn straight.”
“Mr. Swenson. There’s something I’ve been wondering about, since the events two weeks ago.”
“Those murders.”
“Those murders. Did you remember anything about that note? The one that told you to go out to the gorge the night you fell?”
“Sure. Came back to me a couple of days after I got concussed. Doc Bishop said that happens sometimes after a bump on the noggin. It said: ‘Meet me at the gorge at one o’clock if you want the truth about the Seneca Lake Monster. Tell no one.’ Something like that.”
“Do you remember who you met?”
“Didn’t know her. It was the one that got killed, or so she said.”
“Linda Connelly?”
“That’s the one. Except she wasn’t any Linda. She was a Russian agent, right?”
“Apparently.”
“I figure that’s going to get me some attention at Sunwood. That I almost got taken out by a Russian agent. Pretty damn slick, isn’t it? I guess she thought I was going to go public about the monster. That’d poke a pretty big spoke in her wheel.”
Quill tightened her grasp on his hand. “I’m very glad she didn’t take you out, Mr. Swenson.” Then, as what she’d actually heard sank in, she asked. “Who said? Someone told you Linda Connelly tried to kill you?”
“That whacking tall pretty girl. The one with the bright blue eyes.”
“Sophie Kilcannon?”
Jeeter shrugged. “Might have told me her name. If she did, I forgot. Came to visit me at the hospital. Said she was sorry I’d been in harm’s way, but not to worry about Linda Connelly again. Did you know her name wasn’t Linda Connelly at all? She was a Russian agent.”
“Yes,” Quill said.
“Anyway. She went away and didn’t come back after that. That Sophie. I’d sure like to see her again.”
“So would I,” Quill said crossly. “She was supposed to judge this darn pie contest, not me.”
Elmer bustled into the tent. He greeted Adela with an affectionate peck on the cheek, waved at Quill, tapped his wristwatch with an officious air, and prepared to bustle out again.
Quill got to her feet with a sigh.
“You stop right there, Elmer Henry!” Carol Ann said in a sweet, piercing, poisonous voice. “The piecrust in this entry is store-bought.”
“So what?”
“This is the Homemade Pies division, that’s so what.”
“That is my blueberry pie and I made that piecrust with my own two hands!” Dolly Jean shouted. “How dare you accuse me of a cheap trick like that?”
“Did you hear that, Quill?” Carol Ann said. “I thought so. Mayor, these are supposed to be blind entries, aren’t they? So the judge can’t give the blue ribbon to her friends? Well, the judge just heard that this pie was made by Dolly Jean, and you have to disqualify her.”
Quill stepped out of the tent, and into the mainstream of foot traffic. Parts of the squabble inside drifted out; the gist of it appeared to be that Dolly Jean was going to swap entry numbers with another blueberry pie entry and Quill didn’t want to hear any more than that.
Suddenly, a slim, blue-eyed blonde a head taller than anyone else in the crowd appeared at the edge of the Furry Friends tent.
“Hey!” Quill shouted. “Sophie Kilcannon! Is that you?�
�
The figure turned and waved. It was Sophie. She was eating a corn dog. Quill raced toward her and grabbed her by the arm. “Hey!”
“Hey, Quill. How’s it going?” Sophie wore tan cargo pants and a blue work shirt with the sleeves rolled up. A small knapsack was slung over her back. She looked tanned, healthy, and totally carefree. She gently disengaged Quill’s hand from her arm and took a bite of her corn dog.
“You’re back. Thank God. And you’re back just in time.”
“Raleigh Brewster had to take a couple of days off to get one of her kids settled in college. Clare asked me to come back for a few days to help out.”
“You mean you’ve been here all along and you didn’t tell us?” Quill wanted to strangle her.
“Not all along. Just since Tuesday.”
“Good,” Quill said grimly. “I’m supposed to be judging that bloody pie contest right this minute. Except that you’re supposed to judge this contest, so come on and start judging.”
“Who’s in there?”
“Marge,” Quill said reluctantly. “Adela. Dolly Jean.”
“Carol Ann?”
“Carol Ann.”
Sophie shook her head. “I’m not doin’ it.”
“Please, Sophie. I’ll…” Quill tried to think of a suitable bribe, and couldn’t. Sophie didn’t care about money, didn’t seem to care about clothes, and in general, had a take-it-or-leave-it attitude toward practically everything except her career as a chef, and Quill wasn’t about to offer her a job. “I’ll be in your debt forever. I’d do anything rather than judge those pies.”
Sophie glanced over Quill’s left shoulder and broke into a brilliant smile. Quill turned to see whoever it was that could get that sunny look; maybe he could talk Sophie into judging.
There wasn’t anyone there—just the stream of tourists.
Quill turned back, a question half formed.
Sophie was gone.
Quill went back into the tent. The contestants were massed into a far corner, with a bellicose Carol Ann right in front.
She picked up her clipboard with a sigh. There was a shout behind her. Then a sharp, piercing whistle. A half-eaten corn dog rolled past her feet and came to rest under the table bearing the pies.
A puppy dashed after the corn dog. A mass of puppies followed the first one and they were followed by Nadine’s poodle, Harvey Bozzel’s schnauzer, and the rest of the uncaged occupants of the Furry Friends pet show.
~
“There were pies everywhere,” Quill said to Myles’s image on the computer screen. “It was an unholy mess. By the time Dr. McKenzie had rounded up the dogs, half of them were sick to their stomachs from gulping all that pastry down and the other half decided to roll in the pies that hadn’t been eaten. Jeeter Swenson was laughing so hard I thought I was going to have to take him back to the hospital.”
“So you were spared the judging.” Myles shook his head with the first real smile Quill had seen from him all week. “I’m glad for your sake, dear heart.”
“A lot of hard work went into those poor puppies’ stomachs. Those poor ladies. It was awful. I have to admit it, though I never thought I’d say this. I’m truly grateful to Sophie Kilcannon, even if she is the daughter of spies.”
Myles looked at his watch. “I have to go, Quill.”
“Stay well. Keep safe.”
She told him she loved him. She didn’t tell him she missed him.
They’d agreed that they wouldn’t do that.
And the Winners Are…
Every year, the Finger Lakes Autumn Fete provides the cooks, bakers, and amateur chefs of Hemlock Falls a wonderful venue to showcase their recipes. Recipes that featured local foods and produce were highly regarded by the judges.
Readers will be glad to know that despite the murderous activity leading up to this year’s fete, the event itself was a splendid success. Well, except for the pies, fruit division, which ended in a free-for-all when Carol Ann Spinoza accused Adela Henry of using store-bought piecrust. In the ensuing melee, the pie table was turned over and the Furry Friends (puppy division) ate the entries. No ribbons were awarded in that division.
Division, Breads, Quick
TIED FOR FIRST PLACE:
~Cambridge Gingerbread~
1⁄3 cup butter
2⁄3 cup boiling water
1 cup molasses
1 egg
3 cups flour
11⁄2 teaspoons soda
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger
1⁄4 teaspoon clove
Melt butter in water, add molasses, egg, well beaten, and dry ingredients, mixed and sifted. Bake in an eight-by-eight buttered shallow pan at 350 for forty-five to fifty-five minutes. Serve with whipped cream. Serves four.
~Rebecca’s Fruit Crumble~
21⁄2 cups in-season fruit (blackberries, strawberries, apples, peaches, whatever is freshly picked; stone fruits should be peeled and sliced)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons raw sugar (for topping)
1⁄2 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup fat-free milk
1 cup heavy cream
Add cinnamon and raw sugar to fruit and set aside. Melt the butter. Mix butter and sugar together. Add flour and baking powder. Stir until smooth. Add milk and stir until well blended. Spoon into ungreased eight-by-eight baking pan. Spoon fruit mixture over top. Bake for forty-five to fifty-five minutes in a 375-degree oven. Serve with heavy cream. Serves four.
Division, Breads, Yeast
~Beer Rye Bread~
1 package (21⁄4 teaspoons) fast-rising yeast
1⁄2 cup dark beer at 72 degrees F
1⁄3 cup water at 80 degrees F
11⁄2 tablespoons softened salt-free butter
2 tablespoons dark molasses
11⁄2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1⁄4 teaspoon ground cloves
1⁄4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups unsifted bread flour
11⁄4 cups unsifted rye flour
Combine yeast, butter, beer, water, molasses, and salt. Set aside. Combine cloves, ginger, and both flours. Add to yeast mixture and knead for five minutes or until smooth. Cover bowl with clean cloth and set in proofing oven (72 to 80 degrees F) until loaf has doubled in size. Knead for ten minutes and set aside to let rise. Bake in 375-degree oven forty-five minutes to an hour. Makes a one-and-a-half-pound loaf.
Division, Preserves
TIED FOR FIRST PLACE:
~Mary’s Peach Chutney~
21⁄2 cups red wine vinegar
11⁄2 cups molasses sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1⁄2 tablespoon chopped, preserved ginger
1 teaspoon allspice
1⁄2 dozen cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup raisins
2 small sweet onions, peeled and sliced into thin rings
Six large slightly under-ripe peaches, peeled and sliced
Combine all ingredients except peaches and simmer for thirty minutes on low heat. Add peaches and simmer until peaches are fork-tender, about fifteen to twenty minutes. Let cool. Serve as condiment with pork.
Note: Molasses sugar can be homemade by adding 1 tablespoon molasses to one cup white sugar. Put into blender and pulse until combined.
~Whit’s Blueberry Chutney~
1⁄2 cup apple cider vinegar (or use white wine vinegar)
1⁄2 cup molasses sugar (or use light brown sugar)
1 medium onion, chopped
1⁄4 cup minced fresh ginger, or 1⁄2 teaspoon powdered ginger, or 1⁄2 cup crystallized ginger (chopped)
*optional spices: 1⁄4 teaspoon cinnamon, cloves, or allspice
*optional (but delicious): 1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate
1 teaspoon cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tablespoon vinegar or water
3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries or blackberries
In a two-quart saucepan, bring the vinegar, sugar, onion, and ginger to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Cook about twenty minutes until onion is soft. Stir in optional spices and/or tamarind. Stir in dissolved cornstarch, cook another five minutes. Stir in the berries, simmer another five to seven minutes, until just starting to break up. Pour into hot, sterile jars and put lids on right away.
Division, Candies, Chocolate, and Confections
~Butter Taffy~
2 cups light brown sugar
1⁄4 cup dark molasses
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 cup sweet butter, unsalted
2 teaspoons vanilla
Simmer all ingredients except vanilla until a small amount dropped into cold water solidifies into a hard ball. Remove pan from heat, and quickly stir in vanilla. Pour into a greased jelly-roll pan and let cool.
Division, Canning, Vegetables
~Sauerkraut~
1 pound Kosher salt
1 40-pound cabbage
Remove outside leaves of cabbage, core the cabbage, and slice into fine shreds. Add salt and mix well. Pack firmly into stone crock, leaving about two inches to the top. Cover with a clean dishcloth and a heavy plate. Store at sixty degrees for a month or more. As soon as fermentation begins, remove the scum daily and re-cover with a clean cloth. When formation stops, pour a layer of hot paraffin over the top to seal and store at sixty degrees F.
Division, Canning, Fruit
~Arlene Peterson’s Spaghetti Surprise~
6 pounds heirloom tomatoes, washed, blanched, and peeled
1⁄2 pound bacon, diced
2 large green peppers, washed, cleaned, and diced
2 large sweet onions, peeled and diced
1 handful chopped fresh parsley
I handful fresh oregano
4 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed
Simmer tomatoes until done, about ten minutes. Strain through sieve and set aside. Cook bacon until just starting to crisp. Add peppers, onions, parsley, oregano, and garlic, and continue cooking until vegetables are al dente. Combine simmered tomato and vegetables/bacon mixture. Follow standard canning procedures.
Fete Worse Than Death (9781101595138) Page 22
