Rodeo Granny

by Marilyn Miggles

My mom looked like she had literally just been dragged out of bed, which she had! Her blonde hair was sticking out all over the place.

  "Ring me, won't you, honey? As soon as you arrive. Speak to that neighbour when you get there, she sounded nice. I'm sure she'll help you get settled in." This was followed by a big yawn, shielded behind her hand.

  "I promise you, I will," I replied, smiling.

  "Ring me too, I want to hear everything that happens, all the gossip. Be sure to keep me posted, girl," Reese said, giving me a great big hug.

  "Oh, don't worry, I will. I'll need your advice as

  soon as I get there, I'm sure."

  "Take care of yourself, hon," my mom said.

  "I am sure I'm capable," I said, giving Reese a knowing wink.

  Reese smiled and they left me in the que to get my baggage loaded on board, waving and blowing kisses my way as they disappeared into the crowd.

  And so I settled on the flight with a good book and fell asleep with it open on my lap. I was awoken by the air hostess with meals on wheels. I ate a good breakfast of cereal, followed by fruit salad and then toast and

  jelly, which was very tasty and was finished off with a pain au Chocolat, served with dollops of thick whippcream!

  I was made up for the rest of the flight!

  C h a p t e r3

  My plane landed at the airport at just after eleven O' Clock that morning and after finding my luggage, I boarded the coach that was headed for Sunshine Bluff.

  As we got off the highway, the area was sparce and the roads seemed to go on for miles, with dessert land and cacti everywhere, something I was not used to seeing living in New York. We passed a few inhabited places, small villages mainly, and a small run-down motel on the sidewalk.

  We arrived in Sunshine Bluff, passing the sign which had a sunshine with a smily face, saying bring your sunglasses on it, just after one-thirty in the afternoon and I was dropped off at a car garage of a sort, on the outskirts of the town to pick up a car I was hiring temporarily, until I could find one to buy. Having to say goodbye to Riz was a huge blow! But hey! A car was a car, right?

  The keys were waiting for me at the garage and the man behind the desk in the big hut handed them to

  me and I went to find the car at his direction. It was easy to find as there were not many hire cars available and I had walked passed it once on my way in!

  It was a bit of a wreck, but it would serve me well for the time being! An old starlet. The only snag was that I had to try about four times to start her up and when the engine did eventually fire up, it spluttered it's way out of the garage and onto the quiet, bumpy road towards the main town.

  I would describe Sunshine Bluff as a middle-of-the-road town, a small space in the centre of huge rock formations and surrounding desert land. It was like walking into a cowboy movie, or driving as the case was with me!

  I stopped at a small grocery store in the tiny high street in the middle of the town to pick up some things, as I figured the house would probably be empty, and found a friendly face at the checkout to greet me.

  "Thanks for the warm welcome, I'm new here. I've just arrived from the airport," I told the checkout girl.

  "I know you're new, I know everyone who lives in Sunshine Bluff. I guess you're from somewhere bigger."

  She looked about my age and she was tall and slender, with shoulder length blonde hair.

  "I would say. I'm from New York," I replied, laughing.

  "Yep, definitely bigger."

  She smiled and I knew I'd made a friend here

  and now, just how much of a friend still remained to be seen. Would she turn out to be as good a friend as Reese? I hoped so.

  "I'm Bryony Womack, by the way. My gran left me her house, not to mention Sunny the cat. I decided to give it a go out here. You probably knew my gran?"

  "Nelly Womack?"

  "That's right."

  "Sure I did! Allison Pine, but my friends call me Alley, my mom owns Lulu's diner. You have to visit, she does a mean milk shake, all flavours, not to mention her amazing tray bake creations."

  "Sounds good, I think I'll be trying that later. I used to come out here and visit my gran, but I stopped when I grew up and got a job."

  "Cool! That would have made an interesting holiday for you."

  "It was that, alright. Anyway, thanks for the chat, but I'd better get to the house now. I'm not sure what sort of a mess I'm going to find there," I said as I gathered up my shopping.

  Alley laughed, "It's been great talking to you."

  I turned in the doorway of the shop on my way out. "You wouldn't be able to give me directions, would you? I have a few hastily written ones, but I'm sure it will be better coming from a local."

  "Sure, the house is on Sunny side, two streets down from here on your left. Your gran's place was the large white one on the corner. You can't miss it."

  I waved and left the store. I honestly didn't remember anything about gran's house, maybe I would when I got there!

  When I drove up and parked aside, though, I honestly couldn't remember it at all! It had been a long time, so I must have just forgotten and memories of childhood are never the same when we are older. I shrugged and stepped out of the car, standing outside the wooden, whitewashed fence to get a better look at the place. I placed my hands in my jean pockets and had a good look over the outside.

  The garden needed a lot work and the house itself looked run-down, with dirty shutters across the windows. I couldn't complain about this. It was only to be expected after all.

  The good point about the house I saw as I turned around to face the other side of the road. There were no houses facing and the house had a good view, of rocks and cacti, mainly, though the gardens of the surrounding houses provided a little color variation to break it up.

  I passed through the gate, which didn't fall off in my hands, hurray! As I walked upto the house, a real life cowboy came out, wearing a trilby and breaches with a leather belt around the waist. He stopped short on seeing me and looked as if he had been caught red handed.

  "Hey!" I called to him.

  He ran down the steps and passed me at lightning speed, and he was gone before I could say anymore!

  What on earth was he doing in there? And why the guilty look? I rightly wondered.

  "Hello!" I heard a voice calling me from the other side of the fence. I turned to find the next door neighbour, who must have been the Louisa Froome my mom mentioned had found my gran, staring at me.

  "Hi, are you Mrs Froome?" I asked.

  She pulled a face, "never call me Mrs, I'm divorced. Louisa will do nicely." She said the word divorced in a whisper. She was middle-aged and had a plain face and this thick, auburn hair, almost standing on end, that she had attempted to tame by tying it back, but with little success. Her mouth had this kind of lilt to one side that made her face seem lob-sided.

  "Okay, Louisa. It's nice to finally meet you. My mom told me you were the one to find my gran."

  Her faced changed into a type of grimace that I couldn't make out the cause of. "That's right, sugar," she said politely enough.

  "Did you get on with my gran?"

  She screwed her face up even more before she answered, "not if I'm honest, sugar. But I think I'm going to like you. That's a relief."

  "What did you have against my gran?"

  "If I'm honest, she was a bit of an old busy body, everyone said so. I don't suppose she could help it really, with her age and everything, but she poked her nose in after the divorce. She said I had no business divorcing my husband like that. So I gave her what for. Things were always a bit rocky after that, as you can imagine. I did my best for her, though before the end." She could still talk despite the lilt!

  "Is that why you went to see her before she died?"

  "Yeah, she needed someone there. I found her tucked up in her bed, so she didn't suffer, sugar."

  "Please call me Bryony." I was annoyed with how she kept on calling me sugar by this tim
e.

  "Bryony, isn't it? That's right. I remember her telling me now."

  "She talked about me then?"

  "Oh, a lot," she said nodding away.

  "Is there anything else I should know about her death?"

  "Not really, Bryony. It's been nice meeting you, anyhow. Better get on." She said this last part way too fast and it made me feel uneasy.

  "Wait a minute!" I called after her.

  She turned around somewhat unwillingly, I felt. "Yes, sugar?" She had forgotten my name already.

  "That man who was here, did you see him?"

  "Man? No, I don't think so."

  "I thought he was a real cowboy, he came out of the house as I got here and disappeared before I could talk to him."

  "Cowboy! Oh, that'll be Midge. Midge Dexter his name is. I didn't see him come to the house, though. I have been busy gardening all morning, so I wouldn't have noticed really. I only saw you 'cause you were standing there staring at the house."

  "Do you know where I might get hold of him?"

  "He lives at the other end of town with his wife, Liza, whose sick. He's an odd jobs man, happen he was doing some work there. He may expect you to pay him. He does that sort of thing, finds himself work and then charges unexpectedly later. He doesn't do a lot these days, though. Not since his wife, not to mention the other thing. The poor man."

  "What other thing?"

  She put her hand over her mouth as if to silence herself, "it's personal sugar. He doesn't want it talked about. I shouldn't have mentioned it."

  "Right. I'm going to go inside now, take a look at the place."

  "You may find it dirty and untidy, you can always crash at my place for a bit, until you get things sorted."

  "Thanks for the offer. I'll see what needs doing first."

  Louisa ignored me and continued her gardening as I let myself into the house, though it didn't need unlocking, as I already knew!

  As soon as I had stepped foot into the house, I heard the jingle of a bell and a small, long-furred, black and white cat came hurtling out of the front room for a pet.

  "Hello, Sunny. You are a fussy kitty, aren't you?" I said in my best cat voice, as I leaned down to pet him.

  The place smelled of old people and the decor could really have done with sprucing up a little, but it was not as bad as I'd expected conditionally, which was something. As I walked around, I didn't see any evidence that the cowboy had done any work at all. Then why was he here? What was he looking for? I asked myself.

  Something about the whole thing didn't sit right with me!

  C h a p t e r4

  As the weeks rolled by and turned into a year, I was getting more settled now in Sunshine Bluff and I'd had the main part of the house decorated. It now felt like home and I had just moved back into the main part of the house, as I'd been sleeping in the other half, which I would begin on at a later date.

  Me and Sunny had become the best of friends now and we loved cozing up together on the couch of an evening, what could be better?

  For now I was concentrating on finding enough work to keep me in pocket and I'd started by working at Lulu's diner where my new bff Alley's mom worked. The job should have been her's but she couldn't get on with her mom in a working relationship, I could well understand why that wouldn't work!

  I had just finished working there as I had a business venture of my own getting going, namely, my own newspaper! The New Yorker Gazette, I had named it and it highlighted all the glamorous New York news, particularly for Arizonian ladies, letting them know about the latest fashions in clothes and make-up. And I got to stay home while I worked as I'd set up an office in the one of the smaller bedrooms upstairs, it was perfect! And the best part yet, was that there was no Penelope finding fault with everything I did.

  I was still a regular customer at Lulu's diner, though, and I placed an advertisement for her in my paper. Alley had been right, the milkshakes were simply irresistible! I was heading out there now to have my weekly fix. I had restricted myself to going only once a week, usually on a Friday, as a treat.

  When I entered the diner, Lulu was sitting at one of the nearby booths talking to a group of regulars and she waved to me as I stopped at the counter, reading the menu.

  "Hi, Bry, what can I get you? The usual?" She asked walking over. As usual, she was chewing gum and she leaned on the counter awaiting my order.

  "I'm determined to have something different," I said.

  "Ooh, we have a new milkshake!" She said in her usual boisterous tone, holding up her hand for emphasis. She was as you'd expect a Lulu to look really, bright magenta hair and lots of make-up, a bubbly personality.

  "Let's here it."

  "Well, it's a chocoholics dream."

  "Sounds fantastic, I am the biggest chocoholic, as you know."

  "Yeah, it's coming right up, while you decide what food you want." She disappeared into the kitchen and came out minutes later, she was so fast at making them! It certainly looked a dream, it was creamy and bubbly with lashings of chocolate cream on the top and sprinkles of caramel pieces.

  She sat beside me on one of the tall chairs as I tried it. I ate some of the cream mixed with the caramel pieces and looked across at Lulu. A smile broke across her face as she probably knew what I was thinking.

  "You approve?"

  "Oh, yeah. It's amazing!" I said, sipping a little of the milk.

  I ordered nacho's, followed by one of Lulu's speciality tray bakes. This one was a baked biscuit base with a mississippi mud pie centre, drizzled in hot chocolate fudge sauce. I'd had my fill of chocolate by the time I'd finished!

  "By the way, Bry, have you seen anything of Midge Dexter?" Lulu asked as I was leaving.

  I shook my head, "no, I still haven't been able to ask him what he was doing in my gran's house when I arrived. I've tried calling at his house, but he doesn't seem to answer the door. I never see him in town."

  "He's a strange one. You know he used to be a rodeo rider, right?"

  "No, I didn't. Was he really?"

  "Yep, he won loads of competitions, apparently. I had it from your neighbour, Louisa. But he doesn't like people knowing so don't tell anyone I said anything."

  "Louisa seems to know a lot about him, saying he's the sort to keep himself to himself."

  "Yeah, well he and Louisa were close once, or so I gather."

  "How close?"

  "Oh, nothing like that. They were just friends and then his wife became ill and he seemed to just shut everyone out after that."

  "Do you know if he knew gran that well?"

  "I can't say. I don't think he ever went over there."

  "Hm. It's strange. It's been on my mind lately."

  "I shouldn't worry. Maybe it is as you thought at first, he was looking for some work and then decided there was too much."

  "You're probably right. See you later." I hugged her and went on my way.

  I couldn't deny that my mind was troubled by my gran's death. She had been so full of life that last time I spoke to her and I was surprised how hostile people seemed to be towards her in Sunshine Bluff. I thought she had been a sweet, innocent lady. Had I been wrong? I hadn't seen her in ages and children always adored their grandparents, whatever others might think of them. Had someone wished her dead?

  ∞∞∞

  M Y M I N D W A S N O T settled on the matter of my gran's death a week after talking to Lulu about Midge Dexter, and something occurred that made me even more uneasy in my mind about it.

  The something was in the form of a note I had found one evening while sorting out the other part of the house, getting it ready to be decorated. It was a roughly scribbled note in my gran's handwriting and it fell out of the pages of a book I had picked up.

  The note said she needed help and that she thought it very likely someone was trying to kill her! She said there was someone she didn't trust, someone in the house. Louisa Froome, maybe? They didn't get on. Or could it have been Midge? Lulu had said they hadn
't been friends, but maybe he was calling on her when she became ill?

  Could Midge have given her some of his wife's medication? An overdose? It would have to be something that didn't show up in the post mortem.

  Wait a minute, she didn't have a post mortem! The doctor had said it was natural causes!

  I ran downstairs and throwing on my bomber jacket, headed out the door and made for the Sunshine Bluff doctors. This had to be her doctors, as it was the only one in town.

  I went inside and spoke to the receptionist who told me my gran's doctor was a Doctor Wade, but that he was no longer at the practice. I went away with my head bowed down, I was hoping he could have put my mind at rest, but it was not to be.

  C h a p t e r5

  With my mind still ill at ease a few days' after visiting the doctor's, I decided to give the police a call. I called in on Lulu at the diner to ask her opinion on the matter. I felt it was best to talk it over with someone first.

  "I need your advice, Lu," I said, leaning on the counter where Lulu was busy designing her new menu.

  "Yeah?" She asked. She sounded unsure about what I was going to ask her.

  "It's my gran again, I'm afraid. I'm still not sure she died of natural causes. My mind is getting more paranoid by the minute and I'm having these terrible nightmares about it all," I said, rubbing my tired eyes.

  "Oh, Bry. You look terrible, my heart goes out to you seeing you like this. It must be such a worry for you. You're welcome to crash at my place anytime, you know that. Especially if it will help you sleep easier at night."

  "I might take you up on that temporarily, but I think I really have to get used to living in gran's house alone. I am beginning to think I should call the police, get them to keep their eyes peeled. What do you think?"

  Lulu pulled a face, "you could call them, if it would put your mind at rest, but I have to warn you, Bry, the police round here are not worth your time. The branch is so disorganised and they hate time wasters. Not to mention the Sheriff."