Granny Forks A Fugitive (Fuchsia Minnesota Book 4)

by Julie Seedorf

  Granny stood still for a moment, her expressions changing and then becoming unreadable. She looked at the others in the room. They began to clap. Wide smiles lit up their faces.

  Granny sat down next to her sister. Nodding her head, she acknowledged, “It’s possible that I could like Silas a little bit. Maybe you’re right about Franklin and me, Amelia. I have been blessed.” Granny sat for a moment longer before leaning over and giving Amelia a hug. “But I have missed one thing––my sister.”

  Amelia looked up, and with tears running down her cheeks, she hugged her sister.

  The others in the room clapped louder.

  “More wine for everyone! “Mavis announced.

  “Does Silas know?” Granny asked Amelia.

  Amelia shook her head. “No, I was waiting for the right time to break it to both of you––and then Franklin.”

  A sound at the door to the factory caught their attention. The door burst open and Granny saw a flash of red before she saw the gun being pointed at all of them.

  Granny stood up, holding her pitchfork in front of her. “Sonny Boy!”

  The man with the gun leered at Granny. “Thought you’d never see me again, didn’t you? My mother’s dead! She died of a broken heart in prison––all because of you!”

  “Sonny Boy, it was you who stole my car and tried to run me down, not your mother,” Granny said as she moved over in front of Amelia.

  Sonny Boy waved the gun around the room, targeting all of them. “You’re right! It was me! Loved your house! Great donuts, by the way. Are you missing any weapons? Put the pitchfork down, Granny, I’m on to you. Gently! So I don’t have to shoot you too soon. I don’t want to harm the rest of them. I figure I’m going back to prison anyway. My mother’s funeral provided me the perfect escape. The rest of you can go––out that door. Go on!” he waved the gun at them.”

  “Go,” Granny said. “I can handle myself.”

  Pastor Henrietta stepped forward. “I’m not leaving. I will be protected.”

  Mavis, Ditty Belle and Delight murmured to each other. They linked arms and refused to leave. “All for one and one for all!”

  “Fine! Suit yourselves and sit down and be quiet.” Sonny Boy turned his attention back to Granny. “Hard to believe there are two of you. Although from what I’ve observed, she’s a little bit wimpy.” He gestured toward Amelia.

  Sonny Boy laughed at Amelia’s expression. “Yah, I know all about you. I met Dickey Lee Hatchet in prison and he told me about this woman who pretended to be her sister and pulled the wool over his brother’s eyes. I didn’t put two and two together until he broke out of prison and contacted me. Then my mother died. I wanted revenge. It’s your entire fault. You ruined everything for us, Granny. When he told me where he was, I knew I had to be here. Told me he and his brother were holed up in an old basement that everyone had forgotten about. So after I knocked off my guard at my mother’s funeral––they wouldn’t even let her be buried back here in Fuchsia--in some forgotten cemetery in New York––I knew where I was headed.”

  Mavis’s voice interrupted his story, “Did you kill that Dickey Lee too?”

  “Did I hear a voice from the quiet corner?” he snarled, waving his gun. “Maybe I’ll change my mind about letting you all live!”

  Delight’s soft voice answered him, “Well, if we’re going to die, please, we want to know.”

  Sonny Boy laughed at Delight’s soft voice, “Well, since it was your forest I stole a few years ago, I guess I can give you an answer. Yes, I killed him and that brother of his too.”

  Amelia gasped. “You killed Robert? He didn’t die of a heart attack?”

  “Nope, an injection, but the police know that,” said Sonny boy as he looked at Granny. “But that detective son of yours didn’t tell you that, did he?”

  Pastor Henrietta stood up. “What did you do to Jack Puffleman?”

  “Sit back down, sister.” A laugh erupted from Sonny Boy. “Sorry, wrong religion!”

  “He saw me that night but didn’t realize it right away. He recognized me from when I was dating Estelle. Justine did though and that’s why I had to lure her here. I’ve been watching all of Fuchsia right under their eyes. Those small town cops were looking all over for me but they had no idea I was hiding right under their noses here in the chocolate factory.”

  “You were hiding in my factory!” Amelia exclaimed.

  “It’s a big place. I stole the key from Justine. She thought she lost it. I let myself in and out at night as I pleased. Stole the key on the wall too and planted it on Justine’s body. I made sure it had Jack Puffleman’s fingerprints all over it. You did see a woman with a red wig driving your car, Granny. I dressed in disguise like a woman, but I changed my wig when I was out in public.” He plucked a blonde wig out of his pocket and plunked it on his head.

  Delight gasped, as did Ditty Belle and Lulu. “I know you! You have the triple chocolate latté with a dollop of whipped crème on top.”

  An evil grin lit up Sonny Boy’s face. “You got it. You were my test. I passed when you didn’t recognize me. But the night Justine and Jack Puffleman saw me I didn’t have my disguise on.”

  “Granny frowned. “But why kill Dickey Lee and Robert and switch their identities?”

  “You ask too many questions, Granny. I think it’s time for your questioning to end.” He pointed the gun straight at Granny. A gasp came up from the back of the room. Amelia stood up and moved toward Sonny Boy. “No, don’t kill her yet. Let her know why first, then kill her.”

  Another gasp came from the corner of the room.

  “Thanks, Amelia, how touching. Apparently, you still hold a grudge because Robert preferred me over you.” Granny winked at her sister.

  “That’s right. I’m glad Robert’s dead. You did me a favor when you killed him, but tell me why you wanted him dead, Sonny Boy––if that’s your name.” Amelia nodded that he should continue.

  Keeping his gun pointed at Granny, Sonny boy thought for a minute before continuing, “It’s kind of a fun story. Ol’ Dickey Lee and Robert didn’t like my plan to off Granny here; it seems Robert still had a little yen for the old woman.”

  At the words old woman, Granny moved over a bit and gently stepped on the pitchfork handle while holding his attention with her eyes so he wouldn’t notice.

  “They were going to give themselves up and tell the police,” he said. “Seems the only thing they were interested in was finding Robert’s son and they weren’t having any luck anyway. Ol’ Robert was in the silo. I injected a little hard to detect substance and he had a heart attack––worked great on Jack Puffleman too. I killed his brother after Robert died, because he was still going to go to the police and turn himself in. I couldn’t let him do that. Did I tell you I’m good with a knife?” Sonny Boy’s cackle filled the room.

  “Tell me where my son is and then you can kill her,” Amelia ordered.

  Granny turned her head and nodded to the women in the corner. They looked confused at her nod but nodded back.

  “Sorry,” Sonny Boy said to Amelia, “but don’t know; don’t care. It’s time to put your sister out of her misery. The rest of you back there might want to shut your eyes because I know I’m not getting out of here. I want to be with my mother. Granny goes first,” he said, prodding the gun at Granny, “and I go next!”

  At the word next, Granny and Amelia let loose with a fake faint. The faint was enough to detract Sonny Boy. The women in the corner jumped up with their BBQ forks ready to attack, but Granny had quickly grabbed her pitchfork and knocked the gun out of Sonny Boy’s hands. Both the door to the factory and the patio burst open. The room filled with policemen with the Tall Guy and Thor leading the charge.

  Granny looked up from the floor. ‘“Bout time you guys got here! What! No shysters or cohorts to help you?”

  Thor helped his mother off the floor and the Tall Guy did the same for Amelia. The police hustled the other women out the back door while Franklin
and Silas came in the front door.

  “Woman, you are going to be the death of us yet––or worse yet, the death of you!” Silas scolded.

  Franklin hugged Granny and Amelia at the same time in one giant bear hug. “Amelia, what did your sister talk you into this time? Hermiony, I can’t take much more of this; trouble seems to find you or you find trouble. We can’t be married soon enough.”

  Granny eyed Amelia to see if she was going to spill the secret.

  Amelia extracted herself from the bear hug and saw her stepson coming through the back door. He moved towards her and scooped her up in his arms. “I should have told you I’m sorry.”

  Amelia patted him on the chest. “We’ll talk about this later.”

  “Aren’t you supposed to be home with my new grandson?” Granny said to Thor.

  “Well, I could be but someone called me and told me my mother was in trouble again. I have to call home; your daughters are both at my house waiting for news.” Reaching for his cell phone, he moved outside to make the call.

  “I suppose you want our statement,” Granny said, approaching the Tall Guy.

  “No, we heard it all. Lars and Ella were on the patio when Ella recognized Sonny Boy through the blinds and saw what was happening; they called us. We were already out looking for Sonny Boy. We’ve known for weeks that he’d escaped and was looking for you, Granny, but we decided to not tell you so you wouldn’t get in trouble trying to find him. We were out looking for him tonight. He was spotted earlier.”

  Granny commented, “I guess that plan worked well; you should have Amelia plot out your plans.”

  “What?”

  “Finish your story.”

  “There’s an intercom system here. We were right outside waiting for the right moment to come in. Lars activated the system so we could hear what was happening. We heard Sonny Boy’s entire confession. He’s going away for a long time.”

  The Tall Guy nodded to Franklin and Silas. “Take these women home. It’s 3:00 a.m. and past their bedtime. The other women have already left.”

  “I’m kind of getting used to these late night meetings,” Granny stated as they left Amelia’s office.

  “Not me,” Amelia said, “I like my beauty sleep.”

  “You always did sleep through life.” Granny gave Amelia a playful jab on the arm.

  Amelia laughed, “Until I left home.”

  “Glad something I taught ya when you were home carried you through.”

  Franklin shook his head. “Well, Crickett, I guess we didn’t do such a bad job working together keeping these two safe. Maybe we don’t make a bad team.” He turned to Silas to shake his hand. “Thank you for helping me keep my fiancé safe.”

  “Till the next time, Gatsby, with that one,” he said, nodding at Granny. “Believe me, there’ll always be a next time.”

  Franklin shook his head. “Nope, our wedding’s coming up and nothing will stop us this time. I have plans for the future.”

  Granny paused and looked at her sister before commenting on Franklin’s words, “Well, Franklin, you know what they say about the best laid plans.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  Granny paced the floor waiting for Amelia to arrive. She took a sip of wine, followed by a sip of coffee, followed by a bite of a donut, followed by a piece of chocolate. Little White Poodle, Fish, Furball, Tank, Baskerville, Mrs. Bleaty and Mr. Pigster watched the back and forth movement that was uncharacteristic of their owner.

  Amelia rang the doorbell and walked in, not waiting for Granny to answer. “What are you wearing?” she asked her sister.

  Flip flops flipped and flopped as Granny paced. A purple hat adorned her head, a red chiffon blouse covered a pink t-shirt and they all topped her polyester granny skirt.

  Granny looked down to see what she’d thrown on when she woke up after sleeping all day, catching up on her rest from being up the night before.

  “Tell me I’m not married to Silas Crickett.”

  Amelia sat down on the couch. “I can’t tell you that because you are.”

  “I want a divorce. I have to have a divorce; my marriage to Franklin is coming up soon. How could you do this?”

  “Hermiony, I told you why I did it. I am the voice of reason here.”

  “You want to steal Franklin from me so you arranged this scam.”

  “Yes, yes, I do want to marry Franklin.”

  “What happened while he was keeping his eye on you?” Granny stopped pacing long enough to look Amelia straight in the eyes.

  “Nothing, nothing; that’s the problem. He thinks he wants to marry you. But, Hermiony, you won’t be happy. He has a lot of Ferdinand in him. He likes his way and I like that. I had to do it.”

  “What’s Silas going to say? He doesn’t want to be married to me anymore than I want to be married to him.”

  “We have to tell them. I’ve asked Pastor Henrietta to come over while we do it.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Trust me,” Amelia said with a sly grin.

  Granny was about to respond when the doorbell rang.

  Amelia instructed, “Now, go back there and get dressed in something different. Something like I’m wearing.”

  The doorbell rang again. Amelia called out, “Just a minute! Coming!”

  Granny looked at Amelia. “You’re dressed like I usually dress.”

  Amelia smiled, “Exactly. No more questions, get dressed.”

  Granny was going to argue, but was curious about this new side of Amelia. As Amelia answered the door, Granny heard the shysters and the cohorts’ door swishing. They too were home.

  Mr. Pigster, sleeping under Granny’s bed, gave a snort and went back to sleep, not caring that there was a live person in the room or that barks, bleats and meows were coming from the living room.

  When Granny joined Amelia back in the living room, Franklin was there along with Pastor Henrietta and Silas.

  Amelia came over to greet Granny, winking at her so that the others couldn’t see and said, “Amelia, about time you showed up! Sure takes you a long time to get gussied up.”

  Granny looked at Amelia, moving her eyes around the room, skeptically wondering what Amelia had up her sleeve. This wasn’t the Amelia she remembered. “Ah, yes, took a little longer than I expected. Silas, Franklin, Pastor Henrietta. So, uh Granny,” Hermiony put a heavy accent on the word Granny when addressing Amelia, “what are we all doing here?”

  “I have an announcement to make. Franklin, don’t say anything until I’m done. Understand!”

  “You’re in trouble, Franklin,” Silas spouted, followed by a scowl from Amelia. “What? You didn’t say I couldn’t say anything!”

  Amelia, still pretending to be Granny continued, “I can’t wait to marry you, Franklin; we’ve waited too long. What if another murder or kidnapping creeps up or they decide to close down the Fuchsia underground streets. It would delay our marriage, so I‘ve asked Pastor Henrietta here to perform the ceremony. Silas and Amelia can be our witnesses.”

  “Well, ah, ah, what about the marriage license?” Franklin sputtered.

  “All taken care of,” Pastor Henrietta said, stepping forward. “Sign here.” She left the top part of the paper covered.

  “Well, maybe we should wait for our families. They might feel bad,” said Franklin.

  “Franklin, do you want to marry me or not? We’re getting married today. Sign that paper!”

  Franklin swallowed and could barely be heard saying, “Fine.” He took the pen and signed the paper.

  “Shall we begin?” Pastor Henrietta asked.

  “Yes, but cut out all the stuff except for the ‘I do’s. We were almost there the last time before I got kidnapped,” Amelia sounded exactly like her sister.

  “Do you, Franklin, take this woman to be your wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, in sickness and in health? Please say I do.”

  Franklin looked deep into Granny/Amelia’s eyes and said, “I
do.”

  “Do you,” Pastor Henrietta nodded at Amelia, “take Franklin to be your wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, in sickness and in health?”

  Amelia looked deep into Franklin’s eyes and said, “I do.”

  Pastor Henrietta continued, “I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

  Franklin gathered Amelia in his arms. He set her back apart from him and said, ”Amelia, no more pretending to be Hermiony as long as we’re married.”

  Amelia jumped back out of his arms, “You knew?”

  “You married her anyway and you knew?” Granny jumped forward. “You were supposed to be marrying me!” Granny ranted.

  Silas and Franklin exchanged a look and laughed.

  “It would be awfully hard to marry you when you’re married to Silas,” said Franklin.

  Granny turned to Silas. “You knew?” She then turned to Amelia. “You told me he didn’t know.”

  Amelia shrugged. “I didn’t tell him.”

  The animals quietly took in the scene. Baskerville put his paws over his eyes. Mrs. Bleaty nibbled on the flowers that were still there from Granny’s wedding to Silas. The rest of the animals left the living room to retreat under the bed in Granny’s room, waiting for the eruption of the Granny volcano.

  “I told him,” Silas announced. “I noticed the wedding license that I signed with Granny was the real deal. I also know the judge so after the ceremony I had old Snowshoe go back over and check it out. I was wondering when you were going to reveal the entire plan, Amelia.”

  “And this is okay with you?” Granny questioned.

  “Mrs. Persnickulous, my ornery, crabby lady. I’ve been trying to tell you for the past year that you belong with me, not Franklin. I knew you’d wake up to it sooner or later, but hay! When Amelia has a plan, she has a plan!”

  Amelia looked Franklin in the eyes and asked, “And you, Franklin?”

  “Well, I didn’t see your plan, but when Silas told me what had happened and I thought about how much I enjoyed the time I’d spent with you, I realized this was maybe meant to be, and then in a light bulb moment today, when you arranged this ceremony, I knew that I did want to marry you.”