Chicken Scratch (The Sisters, Texas Mystery Series Book 1)

by Becki Willis

  Madison heaved a deep sigh, struggling to find the words to describe her change of character. Even to her, it seemed bizarre. “I think it’s living back with Granny Bert again, in my old house, my old room, my old bed. She still has up all my Homecoming mums and my posters of Tom Cruise and Billy Ray Cyrus from his ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ days. I think it’s messing with my head. I feel like that same lost teenager again, trying to figure out where I belong in life.”

  Madison pointed to a stand of trees and bramble that lined a small section of fence on their left. The paved city street would give way to dirt in about ten yards. Genesis nodded and said, “I see it”, without Madison having to say a word. She swung a wide right, whipped the car around, and pulled as far off the road as possible. The dark vehicle blended well with the dark shadows. Should they need to make a hasty get-away, the car was now pointed in the right direction.

  As they sat in the darkness, Madison made a confession. “I made a fool of myself tonight.” Genny waited patiently for her to continue. “What was the one thing I always dreamed of in high school? The one thing I wanted more than anything else?”

  “To go to a Bryan Adams concert?”

  “No, my wildest dream. The one that was almost too impossible to come true.”

  “To kiss Brash deCordova.”

  “I was this close.” Madison held up her hand and demonstrated a sliver of an inch, by glow of the dashboard’s light. “Pathetic as it sounds, tonight I realized there are some dreams you never quite outgrow. And I was this close to making my wildest dream come true.”

  “What happened?” Genny’s tone was breathless.

  “I called him a liar and a cheat. Maybe I didn’t say liar, but it was implied.”

  “But… why?”

  “I thought he was married, Genny. Bethani introduced me to Brash’s daughter and her mother. I just assumed they were still married.”

  “Okay, logical mistake,” Genesis said, trying to defuse her friend’s guffaw. “That doesn’t sound so bad.”

  “That wasn’t the worst part. Not the really foolish, shameful part.”

  “I’m almost afraid to ask.”

  With a defeated exhale, Madison pulled the toboggan from her head.

  “Your hair!” Genesis gasped. “You cut it all off.” Genny’s surprise quickly gave way to delight. “It looks fantastic! Wow, Maddy, you look fabulous.”

  “Really? You think so?” Madison raked through the mess with her fingers, knowing the cap had destroyed the stylist’s hard work.

  “I know so. You. Look. Amazing.”

  “Thanks, Gen,” she smiled at her friend. “But don’t you see? I did it for him. Secretly, even if I was hiding the truth from myself, I did it to catch the attention of a married man. I know it was wrong, but when I saw Shannon again, she looked so beautiful, so perfect. It felt like high school all over again. I felt like the same gawky giraffe next to the beautiful, exotic leopard. All I knew was I couldn’t stand it any longer. I wanted to look different. Different enough that Brash would notice. I’m a horrible, horrible person, Genny.” She dropped her face into her hands, fully ashamed of herself.

  “You are no such thing. You didn’t do anything wrong. And Brash is not a married man.”

  “But I didn’t know that! I wanted him to kiss me,” Madison admitted miserably, raising soulful hazel her eyes to her friend.

  “Did he?” Genesis asked pointedly.

  “No. I finally came to my senses and stopped him.”

  “So see, you didn’t do anything wrong. Even if he really was married, you wouldn’t have kissed him.”

  Madison leaned her head back against the neck rest. “I’m thirty-nine years old, Genny, and I’m living with my grandmother.” The words were hard to say. “I’ve lost my husband, my home, my job, and now my car. I don’t recognize my life anymore. And thanks to this new haircut, I don’t even recognize my own reflection!” She made a sad attempt at laughter. “I don’t know where it all went wrong, and I’m not sure I know how to make it right. Coming back may not have been the wisest thing to do.”

  There. She had said it. She had admitted it.

  Genny’s voice was soft and curious in the dark confines of the car. “And why do you think that?”

  “I thought coming back would make things clearer for me. I thought I could come home, clear my head, lick my wounds, and then go back to my life in Dallas. But instead, I keep getting the past all mixed up with the present. It’s been too easy to fall back into the old habits of things, the old spirit of life in Juliet. The old dreams. Dreams that include a man I hardly even thought about for the past twenty years. One step back into Granny Bert’s house, and I’m a teenager all over again.”

  “Maybe it’s because the first time you came to live with her, you were lost and going through a hard time, too. Your parents more or less gave you to her. It would be difficult at any age, but at fourteen it’s horrible.”

  “But living here, with Granny, was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

  “So it’s only natural that you want to come back here and recapture some of that magical healing,” Genesis reasoned.

  “But this time, instead of making things clearer, it’s making me more confused. How could I allow myself to be intimidated by my high school nemesis like that, after just one ten-minute conversation? Have I not grown at all? It’s not like she even threw the first barb.”

  “Now probably is not the best time to mention that Shannon is actually a very nice person, nothing like the monster we made her out to be in high school.”

  Madison nodded miserably. “To be honest, I kind of got that impression. Did I mention that Bethani is spending the night at her house tonight?”

  “I know. They came by the café after school.”

  “Oh that’s right. While I was at Talk of the Town, trying to impress the girl’s father. I am officially pathetic.”

  “If you are going to keep talking about my best friend like this, I am going to get really mad.”

  “Your best friend is a hot mess right now.”

  “My best friend has gone through a lot recently. She just needs a little time to regroup and refocus. And for the record, I don’t think reviving old dreams is such a bad thing.”

  “Don’t be playing match-maker,” Madison warned. “Despite my crazy lapse of good judgment today, I really am not interested in a relationship right now, with Brash or any other man.”

  “I didn’t necessarily mean your dreams about Brash, although that is not such a bad thing, either. I meant of your dreams overall. You used to dream of staying in Juliet and raising your family here. You could still make that dream come true, you know.”

  “I don’t know, Genny. My life is in Dallas.”

  “Really?”

  With just one searing look, her friend saw straight through the lie and directly into Madison’s soul. Deflated, Madison admitted, “Okay, so everyone I care about is in Juliet. Which now includes my children. . . But we’re living in my grandmother’s house.” Even she could hear the whine in her voice.

  “There are other houses in town, Maddy. And maybe if you had your own house you would feel more independent, while still having family and friends to fall back on for support.”

  “But having my own house takes money. And money is another thing I no longer have.” Madison made another confession. “Including the money Lily Ngyen paid me to clear her son’s name. That’s why I had to come out here tonight. I told Mrs. Ngyen I might not be able to do anything, but she put her faith in me. The money is non-refundable and I’m under no legal obligation to return it if I fail, but I have a moral obligation to do my best.”

  Genesis blew out a long, heavy sigh. Without another word, she grabbed the extra toboggan out of her friend’s hands and crammed it onto her own blond head. As Madison scrambled to put hers back on, Genesis asked, “So what’s the plan?”

  “We’ll keep low, walking along the tree line that borders the Thompson
place. I think we can get a good look at the backyard of the Muehler house from there. If we’re lucky, we’ll recognize some of the people there and can turn their names over to Brash.”

  “And if we’re not lucky?”

  “Just pray that we’re lucky,” Madison said as she opened the car door.

  With their cell phones on silent, the two friends scurried across the road, crossed through the barbed wire fence, and moved stealthily toward the tree line. The ground was difficult to navigate. Clumps of dried grass, gopher’s mounds, and hidden dips made walking across the field not only difficult, but dangerous. More than once, the women turned an ankle or stumped a foot as they found yet another oddity in the terrain. By the time they reached the cover of the trees, they had to stop to rest and readjust shoes.

  “What now?” Genesis whispered.

  They were within fifty yards of the house now. The old farmhouse was dark and empty, but the sky behind it reflected a faint glow of light. Even from there, they could hear laughter and the sound of a dozen excited voices.

  “We need to get around to the back of the house, toward the old barn.”

  “How are we going to do that without being seen?”

  Madison glanced up to the dark sky. There was only a tiny sliver of moon, and it was playing peek-a-boo with the clouds. “When the moon goes behind a cloud, we cross over to the house, then slip around the side of it.”

  “Too risky. I think we should go further back, cross over to those trees back there, and come up from behind.”

  Madison debated the plan. “It’s farther from the car.”

  “What if someone is inside the house? Or is stationed out front?”

  “Okay, the back it is.”

  It took fifteen minutes to pick their way toward the back of the barnyard. When there were no trees for cover, they moved with shadows cast by a covered moon. Genesis stepped in a muddy hole and almost lost a shoe. Madison stumbled on a fallen limb and fell on one knee before catching herself. The night around them grew colder and the wind stirred, chilling them both to the bone. They might would have given up, except for the fact that something was definitely happening on the abandoned farm.

  The closer they came, the brighter the lights were. Portable work lamps hung along the railings of one of the pens, shining away from the women as they made their way among the shadows. Even if someone looked their way, the glare of the lights offered protection. From the sounds of the farmyard, however, no one noticed their approach. Amid the horrible din of flogging roosters were the men’s excited cries of encouragement and disbelief, victory and defeat, all heavily laced with profanity and intoxication.

  By the time they reached the old barn, the fight was in full swing. The women did not need a clear line of sight to know what was happening. From the shrieks of the roosters and the cries of the audience, this was a blood sport. Sickened by the sounds, neither Madison nor Genesis tried too hard to see into the makeshift ring.

  About twenty men and at least two women gathered around the horrific site, begging for more action, more blood. Most held alcohol in one hand; many had cigarettes in the other. A pungent sweetness in the air hinted at marijuana in some of the joints. Genesis knew she shouldn’t be surprised, but she saw three men huddled behind the spectators, most likely conducting a drug deal. While one of the men motioned to the paper bag he held, another was snorting white substance up his nose. She realized two of the men weren’t men at all, but teenagers who often came into her café after school. Her heart sank with the knowledge.

  Madison scanned the crowd, trying to identify as many spectators as possible. Shadows made it difficult to see exact faces, but that did not keep her from recognizing certain people. Few men were as tall and reed thin as Jerry Don Peavey. No one else in town wore overalls over their extended belly quite like Buster Howell did. And the distinctive crimped brim of Luis Gonzales’s cowboy hat revealed his identity, face or no face.

  “We need to get closer,” Madison whispered, still unable to see at least half the people there.

  Genesis shook her head and lifted a finger to her lips. Then she pointed to a shadowed spot in front of the barn. She only saw the back of one man as he stood talking to another, both their faces hidden by the cover of night. Straining, the women could hear snatches of the conversation.

  “Good crowd tonight,” one of the men said.

  “Better than last week. I think Gleason’s death scared some of them off,” the other man replied.

  “Too bad Ngyen’s gotta take the fall for something he didn’t do.”

  “Damn fool.” The wind stirred again, taking the man’s next words hostage and sweeping them away. Only the last of his sentence was audible. “….. but his temper got the best of him.” It was unclear which man they spoke of.

  A pattern began. The women could hear only bits and pieces of the conversation, a few words at a time.

  “- good profits.”

  “Next week … Havlicek’s … good crowd.”

  “Boss … be happy.”

  “Greedy bastard. Tried cutting into my take.”

  “… show him who’s…”

  Determined to hear more, Madison moved a few steps closer. Her foot connected with an unseen object and made a distinct clink that echoed in the night. She froze in place, her heart thudding so loudly she was certain the men could hear it.

  “What was that?” one of the men asked in alarm.

  “How can you hear anything over that blood-thirsty crowd? This crowd is…” his words were lost on another breeze.

  She heard only part of the second man’s reply, but it was enough to know it was time to leave. “Need ….ing out the dogs.”

  With a frantic hand motion, Madison backed slowly away. She bumped into Genesis before her friend understood the message. Once in motion, the women moved in tandem, keeping their backs against the side of the barn as they slid slowly away from the cockfight.

  Genesis waited to speak until they were at the rear of the barn. “What? What is going on?” she hissed in a whisper.

  “They’re going to bring out the dogs. We have to get out of here!”

  In silent accord, they ran across the open field to the safety of the trees. Knowing the dogs would not respect the boundary line, they crossed the fence anyway, onto the back of the Thompson property. If caught, it was easier to explain their presence there than on the abandoned farm.

  They moved as quickly as they could in the darkness, stumbling over the litter of fallen branches and muddy imprints left by the Thompson’s small herd of goats. When they disturbed a sleeping billy, the goat was not happy. The irritated animal rammed his head into Madison’s derriere and gave her a non-too-gentle shove. Her squeal of surprise seemed to satisfy him as he searched for a new place to sleep.

  Behind them, they heard the first bay of the dogs.

  “We’ve got to get out of here!” Genesis cried as she began to run.

  With only the slightest of limps, Madison followed. Her long legs soon out-paced her friend as she led their frantic race across the pasture.

  Their sudden movement frightened the rest of the slumbering goats. Soon all five of the animals were loping behind them in alarm, fueled by the barks of the advancing dogs. The moon came out from behind the veil of a cloud long enough to illuminate the scene below: two figures in black, racing across a rutted field and stumbling now and then, followed by five disoriented goats and, further behind but gaining ground, two large Rottweilers. Much further behind, just coming from the shadows of the abandoned farmhouse, was a man with something in his hands.

  Madison glanced over her shoulder as they reached the fence. She stretched the barbed wires apart for her friend to slip through, ignoring the sound of ripping fabric as a moonbeam bounced off something metal in the distance. Instinct told her it was a gun. She shimmied through the wire, yelling for Genny to start the car. The dogs were close now, but the startled goats snagged their attention and temporarily shifted the cani
nes’ focus.

  The moon was their friend that night, choosing that moment to hide again in the clouds. The car remained hidden in shadows as the women flung themselves inside. Madison did not bother going around; she jumped into the back seat on the driver’s side. Her door was still open as Genesis peeled out onto the road and spun past the dogs and goats in a cloud of exhaust.

  “Oh my Gosh, that was close!” Madison gasped, collapsing back against the seat. Her breath came out in huffs from their frantic run.

  Still trying to catch her breath, Genesis could only nod emphatically from the front seat.

  “Are you alright? I heard something rip on the fence.”

  “Th-That’s the least- least of my worries!” Genesis puffed out the words. “Scraped my back. Turn-Turned my ankle. Scared five years off my life.”

  “My butt still stings,” Madison realized, rubbing the offended area.

  “Be glad he wasn’t really mad,” Genesis managed to say between gulps of air. “He wouldn’t have stopped.”

  “Once was enough, thank you very much.”

  They raced through the empty streets, even though no one followed. Genesis pulled up in the rear parking lot of the café and explained their destination. “We’ll take stock of our injuries here, before we have to face Granny Bert.”

  “With any luck, she’ll be sleeping off the margaritas.”

  “I happen to have the makings for our own margaritas inside,” Genesis said, opening the car door and gingerly stepping out. “Come on, girlfriend. You definitely owe me a drink.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Madison arrived later than usual at the Gleason farm the next morning, still half-asleep and more than just a little sore after her late night adventures. Minor scrapes and scratches were the least of her concern; her butt was bruised and her knee twisted, making movement slow and painful.