Granny Forks A Fugitive (Fuchsia Minnesota Book 4)

by Julie Seedorf

  Granny noticed the construction as she stepped onto her porch. Bending down, she picked up a key that was lying on the porch steps. Examining the key, she asked Amelia, “Is this yours?”

  Amelia looked at the key that Granny was holding in her hands. “That looks like the key to the factory, but I think I have mine on my keychain.” Digging the keychain out of her pocket, she showed Granny the key.

  “It does look like the same key. How did it get here?”

  “That’s a good question; Lars is the only other one who has a key to the factory. Let’s go over to the factory after we get done with Silas and find out if this is his key and how it ended up on your porch.”

  A noise from across the street caught the women’s attention. The shysters and the cohorts, along with Radish, who was sitting on Mrs. Bleaty’s head, were lined up on the curb watching the construction across the street at Granny’s.

  Amelia laughed, proceeding across the street to Silas’s house, passing the animals on her way. Granny, following Amelia, stopped to address her animals, “Glad you approve! You’ll have your own house soon. Then you can stay home instead of visiting Mr. Supercilious. Even you, Radish, I’ll adopt you so you don’t have to put up with that cantankerous old man.”

  Silas, answering the door to Amelia’s knock, yelled in response, “It’s a kennel!”

  The shysters and the cohorts, hearing the word kennel, began barking and meowing. Mrs. Bleaty bleated and Radish quickly flew through the open door into Silas’s house. The rest of the crew ran across the street and into Granny’s house through their respective pet doors.

  Granny shook her head and moved to join Amelia and Silas. “Apparently, you need to let us in, Silas, Amelia’s got a plan and she thinks she needs you. Can’t imagine why she’d need a crabby, know-it-all old man. I should warn you, her plans never work out.”

  Silas led the women into his house. Turning to Amelia, he said, “Always a pleasure, Amelia. What can I help you with?”

  Amelia, with tears in her eyes, said, “Oh, Silas, I just have to find my son. Can you help me?” She launched herself into Silas’s arms and wept delicately on his shoulder.

  Granny watched silently, a suspicious look on her face.

  Silas gave Amelia a small hug and patted her back, then held her away from him and gently said, “What’s your plan, Amelia? Of course, I’ll help.”

  Granny rolled her eyes, but still stayed silent waiting to hear Amelia’s plan.

  Amelia sniffed. “If Robert was looking here for our son, then he must have put him up for adoption in this county. I called yesterday to see if I could see the records from that year, but they said adoption records were sealed and locked away. This is a crazy county. They don’t do things like the rest of the world. Anyway,” Amelia sniffed again and wiped her nose with a tissue that Silas handed to her. “Get this, the records are kept in the judge’s chambers. Who does that? I talked to the judge and he won’t give me the information I need.”

  Granny frowned. “So what is your idea? We could hide in the courthouse when it closes and then sneak in and see if we can find something.”

  Amelia gasped. “Oh, no! That would be illegal. We might get arrested.”

  Granny shook her head and looked at Silas, “I warn you, her plans never work.”

  Amelia put her head down on Silas’s shoulder. “I need to find my son.” She accompanied the words with a few sobs.

  Silas again patted her shoulder and then grabbed her shoulders gently and moved her away to look her straight in the face. “Okay, what’s your plan?”

  Granny again rolled her eyes.

  “The county seat is in Ramshackle, fifty miles away. That’s where I checked and talked to the judge. I have a friend who makes fake documents––don’t ask.”

  “You have a friend who makes fake documents?” Granny exclaimed. “Amelia, you do amaze me sometime.”

  Ignoring Granny’s outburst, Amelia continued, “We have a fake marriage certificate made up for you two. The judge performs marriages in the room just outside his chambers. You two––Granny and Silas––get married––pretend of course. It won’t be legal because of the fake marriage license. The judge’s clerks and I will be the witnesses. You only need two witnesses, but we’ll say that you think it’s good luck to have three. While the marriage is being performed, I’ll pretend to not feel well and slip away to the bathroom in the judge’s chambers. Take a little while saying your vows. Anyway, I’ll see if I can find the old adoption records. We’ll leave and no one will be the wiser.” Amelia flashed a big grin at Granny and Silas. “After all, who would suspect subterfuge by two old women and an old man?”

  “Subterfuge.” Granny shook her head, “That’s the most scatterbrained idea I’ve ever heard of and it’s going to end up with us in the hoosegow.”

  Silas cackled, “When has that ever bothered you before? Getting soft in your old age, Mrs. Persnickulous?”

  “I warn you this isn’t going to work. When are we doing this?” asked Granny.

  “I have it set for Monday morning. We can’t tell anyone, especially Franklin,” Amelia instructed.

  “I happen to know he’s going to be busy on Monday,” Silas informed the women. “Thor’s taking the week off because of little Herman so Franklin’s going to be working with Ephraim. They still don’t have any idea why Justine was murdered. Franklin’s going out of town to question Justine’s family. He’s asked me to watch out for you two, and I guess that’s what I’ll be doing on Monday. Count me in.”

  “Remember I warned you. It’s going to be an orange jumpsuit for all of us or else the wrinkle farm for all of us when my kids find this out. It’s strange that Penelope and Starshine haven’t been nosing around my life,” Granny commented.

  “We have to go,” Amelia announced.

  “Go where?” Silas asked, suspicious of Amelia’s announcement.

  Granny answered Silas’s query, “To the chocolate factory.”

  “Um, yes, um, Granny hasn’t tasted our chocolate.”

  “I’ll drive you,” said Silas.

  “Nope, no chocolate for you,” Granny informed him.

  “Maybe we should tell him about the phone call,” Amelia said in a soft voice.

  “Phone call?” asked Silas.

  Granny gave Amelia a stern look. “Oh….the phone call….yes. The florist has time open for us today to pick out the flowers for my wedding. It’s going to be a full day. See you later, Silas.” Granny grabbed Amelia’s arm and hustled her out of Silas’s house.

  “Amelia, Silas is on a need to know basis and believe me when I tell you he doesn’t need to know. Got that? I have so much to teach you.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  The police gave permission for Amelia’s chocolate factory to continue on with their preparations for their opening in October. Granny and Amelia found Lars in the office chatting with the designer, Crunch Drizzle, about the demo kitchen where visitors would be able to take instructions in creating chocolate candies at home. The chocolate store, which would be located on the premises, would be right next to the demo kitchen. Crunch also was a chocolatier and would be working with them in creating their chocolates.

  “Crunch, good to see you,” Amelia greeted her friend.

  Crunch looked back and forth from Amelia to Granny. “I’m seeing double!”

  Amelia laughed as Granny stepped forward and eyed the chocolatier. “Granny here, I’m a dear; chocolates’ my second name, I like your game.”

  Crunch laughed. “The pleasure’s all mine. Since you like chocolate so much and it’s obvious you’re related to Amelia, perhaps you could be our new chocolate taster.”

  Granny’s eyes lit up at the offer.

  Lars spoke up, “We could make that happen, Aunt Hermiony. I am your nephew.”

  “I’ve got to be going. Time for this Crunch to crunch some chocolate numbers,” Crunch chuckled, walking out of the room laughing at his own play on words.

&
nbsp; “Lars, do you have the key to the factory?” Amelia questioned.

  “Right here on my key ring, why?”

  Granny stepped forward. “Because we found a key that looks like it belongs to the factory door on my front step.

  Amelia showed him the key. Frowning, Lars took the key out of Amelia’s hands and left the room. He came back a few minutes later.

  “It’s the factory key, all right.”

  “Lars, I….oh, someone’s here?”

  Ella Delure, Delight’s daughter, entered the room.

  “Ella, what are you doing here?” Granny gave Lars a suspicious look.

  “Ah, hi, Granny, I ah…was applying for a job.” Ella glanced at Lars.

  “Yes, yes, I’ll get you that application.” Lars took Ella’s arm and led her from the room.

  Granny wrinkled her nose. “If you believe that, I’ve got some trees I can sell you in Latvia.”

  “I believe that’s land in China,” Amelia countered.

  Lars came back into the room.

  “Now about the key,” Granny reminded him.

  “We do have an extra key,” he said.

  “We do?” Amelia questioned. “I didn’t give permission to give out extra keys.”

  Lars looked uncomfortable. “I gave a key to ah..ah…Starshine. That’s probably why you found it on your steps.”

  “I love my niece, but why does she need a key?”

  “Yes,” Granny echoed Amelia’s sentiments, “Why does my daughter need a key to the chocolate factory. It doesn’t quite fit with her hippy image. By the way, what happened to your hippie image? You seem quite the polished fellow now.

  “Oh, he was testing the waters when he met Starshine and fell in love, now he has to polish his image a little so he can fit in with the factory. Although, I do think you’re a little too polished, Lars. This is Fuchsia and Fuchsia allows each person to be their own unique self and that suit doesn’t quite look like you or Fuchsia,” Amelia observed.

  “We’re off the subject which is the key,” said Granny. “I’ll ask Starshine if she’s the one who answered the phone at my house last night since we found the key at my house.”

  Lars jumped at Granny’s words. “No, no! Don’t do that! Let me handle it. Starshine doesn’t want you to know she was at your house. It’s supposed to be a surprise.”

  Granny and Amelia stared at Lars for a moment before Granny said, “I don’t like surprises so you’d better tell Starshine and her conspirators. Got that!” Granny took her pitchfork and poked Lars in the chest with the handle.

  Amelia stepped between Granny and Lars. “He’s a good boy, Hermiony, and he’s my boy and he’s your nephew. Cut him a little slack. Apparently, he’s in cahoots with your daughters. Maybe that’s why they’ve been so silent lately.”

  Granny put down her pitchfork.

  Lars heaved a sigh of relief.

  “Drop me off at my house, Hermiony, I need a day of rest. I’m sure Franklin’s looking for us.” Just then, Amelia nodded in the direction of the door. “Speak of the devil.”

  Amelia quickly turned and opened the doors on a cabinet in the corner. Pulling a couple of boxes out, she handed them to Granny. “Franklin, Silas! How nice! I was just giving Granny some samples of our chocolates. I brought her here for a tour of the factory.”

  Granny nodded. “Yup, Amelia, nice factory but I still think you should put in the roller-coaster chocolate ride. That’s a good idea to drop chocolates in the customers’ mouths when they come around the last curve.”

  Lars shook his head in confusion. Amelia, seeing Lars was about to open his mouth, stuffed a piece of chocolate in it. “What do you think Lars? Is this kind too creamy?” Smiling sweetly, she took Silas’s arm and led him out of the office. Granny stuffed a second piece in Lars’s mouth as she took Franklin’s arm and led him out the door. “You know what they say; life is like pieces of chocolate in your mouth.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  There was no pounding when Granny woke up on Sunday morning. Woodly Spackle had put a temporary barrier up in the kitchen where the hole was, and where French doors would lead to the new shyster and cohort apartments. Granny pushed the button to brew her coffee and checked the pet dishes to make sure the animals had eaten their food before they left the previous night on their nighttime journeys. Mr. Pigster still wasn’t too sure about wandering around town so he stayed at Granny’s house most days, missing out on Granny’s rescue and the curb sitting to watch the new rooms go up. This morning, Granny had left him snuggled underneath her bed.

  Taking out her favorite coffee cup that said, “You’re better off dead than wed,” Granny sat down to enjoy the peace and quiet of her house. She closed her eyes and tried to picture Robert Blackford. Who had he hung out with while he lived in Fuchsia? She couldn’t remember. They’d never spent any time with friends. Life together was so exciting that they didn’t need friends, at least, that’s what he said. Why would he come back here all these years later to look for his son if he didn’t have friends or family here? And why would his brother have been helping him? Why would he come here after breaking out of jail?

  Granny shook her head. There seemed to be too many lose ends. Poor Justine, finding her father and then being murdered, why? Was Jack Puffleman telling the truth?

  Granny picked up her cell phone to call Starshine to see if she was the one answering the phone the night Woodly called. Granny put the phone down. She didn’t want to ruin the surprise for Starshine and Penelope.

  Her phone rang. “Granny here. No, I don’t drink beer.”

  “Hermiony, I’ll pick you up for church in a half hour.”

  “Franklin, I guess it would be nice to see a little bit of you. What about Amelia?”

  “Amelia is going to church with Lars. She’ll be fine.”

  “Franklin, when are you going to tell us why you’re watching us like hawks? Wouldn’t it better if we knew who’s supposed to be after us?”

  “Thirty minutes.” Franklin hung up without answering Granny’s questions.

  Finishing her coffee, Granny trekked back to her bedroom to get dressed. She could hear Mr. Pigster snoring away. She hoped the pig would soon feel more comfortable when the new apartments were finished. Again, Granny decided to don her Granny clothes for church.

  She was ready when Franklin beeped the horn indicating he was there. Locking the door, she eyed her pink pitchfork that she’d left on the porch last night. She’d leave it home. After all, what could happen at church again that she would need it? She thought about her wedding that didn’t happen.

  It was a comfortable drive to We Save You Christian Church. Franklin and Granny stuck to safe subjects. They talked about nothing––meaning the weather, flowers and other generic subjects. Granny knew there was more of something just sitting under the surface that needed to be said but she left it alone for another day.

  Pastor Henrietta was again the preacher for the day. She explained why she’d been preaching so many Sundays in a row. “Youth trip, Fishing trip, camp trip, Catholic Priest tripped!”

  Granny saw that Tricky Travis Trawler was again in the pew waiting to pilfer from the collection plate. She indicated to Franklin that she was going to sit next to Tricky. Franklin followed her to the pew. Soon Amelia and Lars joined them on the other side of Tricky. Amelia was dressed almost identically to Granny this morning except her dress was green. Granny smiled when she saw Tricky look first at her and then at Amelia. Amelia winked at Granny.

  Pastor Henrietta gave a nice sermon on little white lies. At the end, she made an announcement, “I’m so happy to announce that Franklin Jester Gatsby and Hermiony Vidalia Criony Fiddlestadt have again set a wedding date and will be married in this church on August 6th. The bride and groom will not be sending out invitations but everyone is invited to attend.”

  At the announcement, Granny sat up straight and whispered to Franklin, “You invited everyone?”

  Franklin nodded. “I want
everyone to experience our joy.”

  “You didn’t consult me?” Granny’s voice was still a whisper.

  “Didn’t see the need; thought you’d be happy about it.”

  Granny stood up, moved past Franklin and out of the pew. “Well, let me tell you something Franklin Jester Gatsby,” the entire congregation turned when they heard Granny’s loud voice, “apparently you still thought I was on a need to know basis and I didn’t need to know. Well…….here’s something you need to know, when I’m not on a need to know basis, then you’re on a need to know basis and I’m not telling you what you need to know. Figure it out for yourself!” Granny turned and walked out of church leaving Franklin open-mouthed.

  Pastor Henrietta, still on the podium, inquired of Franklin, “I didn’t quite understand that, did you Franklin?”

  Amelia reached across Tricky Travis and patted Franklin’s arm. “I’ll decipher, Pastor Henrietta,” Amelia said, standing up. “The wedding’s off!” Amelia sat back down.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  “Make sure you dress like a bride,” Amelia instructed.

  Granny barked into the phone, “The pretend bride, you mean. I wasn’t born in a barnyard.”

  “Silas will pick you up and then he’ll pick me up and we’ll go to Ramshackle. The pretend wedding is set for 11:00 a.m. I have the fake marriage license.”

  “What time will my persnickety groom be picking me up?” Granny asked.

  “At 9:30 a.m., which will give us time to prepare and plan. Wear red; it’ll prove you’re not dead.”

  Amelia hung up, leaving no one to hear Granny mutter, “You can’t rhyme and this plan isn’t fine.”

  Mr. Pigster snuffled at Granny’s feet as she pulled the red dress out of her closet that Mavis had her buy during her makeover.”

  “Do you like this, Mr. Pigster? It better work.”

  Shuffling to the bathroom in her flip flops, she looked in the mirror to check out her hair. She’d decided that for her mock wedding she would wear it down. Possibly no one would recognize her with her hair down and wearing her fancy red dress. She’d even put on red heels to match the dress. Though Ramshackle was fifty miles away, it was chancy that she might run in to someone she knew. It would be better to go incognito.