by Ellie Moses
My cousin opened his mouth to speak and I shushed him. "Zip it before Ray really brings the roof down on our heads."
After Ray left us, I stretched and sat back down on my bed. I pulled the quilt Granny Mack made for me years ago around me as the room still held the extreme chill from Ray's tirade.
“So, where did you go after checking in on Genie?"
Billy Jack wasn't sheepish about his answer this time. "I turned into my wolf and ran a circuit to check my stills. I finished at still #4 because everything was wrong when I got there. I never made it to the others."
I didn't want to interrupt and so I gestured with one hand for him to go on.
"I could feel something was wrong. Your ward was down and the air was different. I could smell the storm coming, but there was something else. Then I saw the still broken to pieces and smelled human blood. Coleman Davies was laid out deader than a doornail. I ran like the dickens back to the amphitheater and shifted. Not long after, I went to your shop."
A chill raced up my spine. My cousin had obviously just missed the fight that Aunt Dixie and I had seen while investigating the murder scene.
"Someone wants us to believe you’re a murderer. If Sheriff Quinn locks you up, you'll stay locked up until they find the real murderer or you'll be convicted."
Billy Jack wiped his face and yawned. "He'll have to catch me first and I don't intend to wait around for that."
My mind was turning over the enemies my cousin had. My wards on our land inadvertently protected his moonshine business and created many who envied him and maybe some who wanted to poach his customers. That was par for the course in moonshining circles, but it could end up in bloodshed.
I stood and showed him out what remained of my bedroom door. "You can sleep on the sofa tonight. Come first light, you have to vanish. I'm betting Sheriff Quinn will be searching here and your mama's house. Maybe Uncle Joe's place, too. The safest place for you might be behind bars after what Aunt Dixie and I saw.”
Billy Jack gave me a rare hug and patted my head. "I ain't gonna sit in no pokey while you and mama try to clear my name. Too close to being wrongly convicted for my taste, cuz."
4
My morning began as usual, with Delilah licking my face. During the night, she had calmed down enough to return to her cute kitty self. Snuggling her close, I stroked her fur and apologized for Ray and Billy Jack. She purred and kneaded my shoulder with her dainty paws.
When I sat up, I saw the damage from Ray’s tantrum the night before. I closed my eyes and whispered a spell to put my place to rights again. I didn’t have the time to do it without magick since Billy Jack was a wanted man.
When I finally finished and went out into the living room, the lack of the loud snores of my cousin told me he'd left to go back underground. At least I hoped he’d made it safely away from Devil’s Elbow.
In my tiny kitchen, I opened some Fussy Feast for Delilah. Ray appeared, but Delilah ignored him since she was happily devouring her three cans of food.
"As much as I'd love to see Billy Jack behind bars for his criminal activity, I don't like to see an innocent man hang,” Ray said as he placed his amorphous arms around me. I cherished his faint touch and wished again for the thousandth time since his death that he was still alive.
"Yeah, well, since it’s Saturday and time for the Gala Parade, I'm going to do my own detective work to find out what really happened at the murder scene. Zeke and Floyd might have some insight, strange as that sounds.”
I looked into Ray's eyes and hoped he would help. His experience as an ATF agent would come in handy to say the least.
"You don't want to watch the parade? I wanted to see Genie riding in the back of dad's classic convertible. I want her to feel my presence, you know?"
In the midst of Billy Jack's predicament, I'd almost forgotten she’d be in the parade today. "I wouldn't miss it, Ray. I guess I'm just frazzled by this murder and what I saw at the scene of the crime with Aunt Dixie."
Ray's hand moved the air beside my right ear and my knees grew weak at the memory of that gesture when he was still living. He loved my long hair. I felt the cool tingle his lips left on my forehead and let myself enjoy the moment. I wished I could touch him.
Delilah gave a soft growl as she circled my feet and broke the romantic spell. It was just as well since our limited ability to love on each other only served to frustrate the both of us.
"You never said what it was you saw out there. Tell me, Jolene. I want to help." Ray was sincere and it settled my nerves.
"I saw Billy Jack attacked, I saw him fight back and kill that other wolf...err...man." I bit my lip as Ray thought about my words.
He crossed his arms and looked down at his hand-tooled boots. They were a gift from me for his twenty-eighth birthday, two weeks before the accident that took his life.
"You know the victim worked for the Covey brothers right?"
His question surprised me. "How did you know?"
"I went down to the station last night. They don't know much, but they at least know that."
I nodded, grateful for his recon efforts. "Granny Mack told me yesterday. Do you think the Covey's are behind the attack?"
Ray seemed certain. “I don't see how they wouldn't be. I'm surprised they haven't come to Devil’s Elbow themselves yet, to be honest. Billy Jack should be more worried about them than Sheriff Quinn."
He had a point. "Let me get dressed and we'll go over to your mama’s house and see Genie. I bet she's nervous as all get out. I'll keep my eyes peeled at the parade for Zeke and Floyd.''
Ray went downstairs and Delilah followed after him. I was shocked to see her go. Maybe she was warming up to my favorite ghost.
In the shower, I let my mind wander. I thought of Genie and the customers she'd had while I was off with Aunt Dixie. Something bugged me about the man who bought all my arrowheads and the lady who bought the dresses but wouldn’t look me in the eye.
It was probably my intuition working overtime. I knew I'd look for both of them at the parade in case they might have some connection to the Covey brothers.
As I stepped out of the shower, I spied the sliver of summoning stone and wondered how it got there on my bathroom floor. I bent to pick it up and as soon as my finger touched it, a wave of nausea swept over me and I fell to my knees. My head ached and my vision blurred. It was just like my experience at the still when I first found it.
My eyes focused, but I was no longer in my apartment. I was at the murder scene and the forest spun around me. In the trees below, as Billy Jack fought with the murder victim, something glinted in the foliage.
Someone moved from tree to tree, hiding as they went. I tried to force my legs to move but only my eyes could follow the shadowy form.
I came to myself mumbling and shaking to find Ray beside me. His lips moved as he called my name, but my hearing was the last sense to return from that sight world.
Ray’s mama’s house was down the road a piece from Granny Mack’s, and it sat back off the road with a long, gravel lane leading up to the wide front porch. The stone steps brought back so many memories. Ray and Billy Jack and I used to sit there playing jacks while baby Genie toddled around us trying to grab the tiny rubber balls we bounced just out of her reach.
So much of my life was wrapped up in the Davis family that this house felt as much my home as Granny Mack’s house and even Aunt Dixie’s place. We were raised by everyone we knew. It made for tight bonds that held our magickally mixed community together.
Genie opened the screen door and waved me in before I could make it up the steps. “I didn’t know you were coming by, Jolene, but I’m glad you did. I know you can help me get my hair done just right.”
Before opening my second-hand shop, I’d been to beauty school and still had a few clientele from those days who begged me to make house calls. Since my friend PJ was the actual town beautician, I sent them her way. But for Genie today of all days, I made an exception.
&nb
sp; Ray smiled beside me and I saw his hand rest on Genie’s shoulder. She shivered in response. “Oooh, a goose just walked over my grave.”
I took her hand and we went inside. That old saying was the automatic reply whenever a person got a chill down their spine.
“Geese can be pesky like that, but your grave is a long way off, my dear. Mine might not be if I don’t get your hair just right.”
Genie laughed. “Never, Jolene. You’re the big sister I never had. Losing Ray was hard, but having you around has helped a bunch. I hope you know that.”
Her large, light brown eyes were bright with unshed tears all of a sudden. I put my arm around her shoulder and pulled her close, my voice husky with emotion. “I know. I miss him too.”
Ray had moved to stand by the front room fireplace like his dad always did and I swear if ghosts could cry, he would have been bawling like a baby calf looking for its mama.
We went through the dining room into the kitchen where Ray’s mama was busy making a beautiful corsage of mountain laurels for her baby girl.
Mrs. Georgia Davis had purchased a flower shop in town after Ray’s dad died and she did a brisk business. Her flower gardens had always been legendary in Devil’s Elbow so it only made sense that her shop would be a hit.
She stopped when she saw me and hurried around the table to hug me. “Jolene, darlin’, I’m so happy you came. Poor Genie could use your expertise today.”
“I’m happy to help. I figured she might need me and after all that money she made for Value Vintage, I owe her.”
Mrs. Davis went back to her corsage making. “You two head on out to the sun porch. Everything is set up since I was going to try to wrangle a nice ‘do out of all those curls myself in a little bit.”
I loved their sun porch off the kitchen, it caught a good breeze in the shade at the back of the house. As kids, we spent many an hour back there when the rain kept us inside. It had served as a fort, a pirate ship, and the rabbit hole Alice fell down in Wonderland. It was also the place Ray gave me my first kiss.
We’d been playing cards that afternoon, the rain on the tin roof making us all drowsy after the huge lunch his mama had made for us. Billy Jack got up and left us to curl up on the old hammock on the third round of War. Genie had gone inside to drag out her paper dolls and when Ray’s hand touched mine, we both kinda jumped. He got up from the table, his face red, and went to stand by an open window looking out on the puddles in the backyard. An anxious feeling made me go after him. When I touched his shoulder, he turned and looked at me with such longing. Before I knew what hit me, he leaned in for a quick kiss on the lips. It was over so soon, I thought I was dreaming. His mother’s voice made us jump and hurry back to the table. For the rest of the afternoon, we stole glances at one another. That was the beginning of a lifelong love affair. Too bad Ray’s life had not been nearly long enough. I shook off the old memories and sighed.
Genie’s dress for the parade caught my eye and I was pulled to the mannequin where it hung gracefully in all its glory. The whole design was very sleek and modern and the color was a rich shade of amaranth, a bold red choice for the Gala Parade.
“Honey child! Them other girls don’t stand a chance now and that’s a crying shame. The judges are gonna be fit to be tied and crown you queen on the spot, baby girl.”
Genie laughed nervously. “Do you think it’s too much, Jolene?”
Ray had followed us in and I looked in his direction before answering. The cut of the neckline was daring and I recognized the expression on his face.
“Anybody with two eyes can see clear to the promised land if she wears that Jo! Tell her to wear something less revealing,” he begged.
The dress wasn’t near that bad. But I wasn’t a protective big brother either. I ignored Ray and assured his sister all was well. “Not at all, it’s perfect for your complexion and hair. I’m fixin’ to give you a ‘do that’ll make the paper tomorrow. A little teasing and a French twist will be glamorous with your curls. You got lots of hairspray, right?”
Genie pointed to the four cans of Aqua Net on the table and I smiled. A good Southern woman knew the tools of the trade when it came to keeping big hair looking fabulous for hours.
“All right, missy. Take your seat and tell me all your troubles like you used to back when I braided your hair on your mama’s front steps.”
The parade began promptly at noon and Ray stood beside me as anxious as a cat with brand new kittens. I tried not to speak to him in public. It wasn't a good thing to have folks thinking I was addled or crazy. Come to think of it, they probably already thought so as many of them had caught me chatting to him when stopping by my shop.
While Ray moved through the crowd giving folks goosebumps with his passing, I searched for Zeke and Floyd. I wanted to know what rumors they'd heard.
Everybody and their mama used their garage. It didn't matter that they took twice as long as they should to fix an engine. Gossip and general jawing on the topic of the day was worth the inconvenience to their customers.
Shielding my eyes from the bright sun, I spotted Floyd's shiny dome as he took off his hat and wiped the sweat from his brow. I made a beeline in his direction. I didn't need to search for Zeke, he was Floyd's right-hand man. When you found one, you’d found t’other.
When they saw me, the guilty looks they gave each other put my back up. If they weren't hemmed in on all sides by the parade crowd, the pair of them woulda’ bolted.
Instead, they tried to look at anything but my eyes when at last I muscled my way through the crowd and stood with my arms crossed, feet planted wide to stake my claim on the pavement between them. “So fellers, why the guilty faces?”
Floyd pulled down the brim of his grimy green hat settling it in place again. “Ain't nobody guilty here, Jolene. We's just watching the parade like everybody else.”
Zeke glanced up when Genie’s car went past. She was looking like a queen on her classic car throne. “Lookie there! Yee Haw! It's Miss Genie. She shore does look mighty purty up there.”
I wasn't impressed by Zeke's distraction technique. Without taking my eyes off Floyd, I allowed how Zeke was right about Ray’s little sister. “Genie is the prettiest girl in these hills. She’s doin’ her hometown proud.”
Floyd lifted his head to look and I stepped right in front of him blocking Genie from view. “I know you know all the gossip in these hills and hollers Floyd Eustis Hatfield. Out with it.”
Zeke turned red as a beet and began to stutter, scared into action by my bad cop act with his friend. “Miss Jo…Jo…Jo...”
Floyd took off his hat again and swatted his friend with it. “Hush up Zeke. It’ll take till evening if you have to tell it. ’Sides, she asked me.”
Floyd gave a huge sigh and took me by the arm pulling me back towards an alley. “There ain’t no need for everybody and their dog to hear this.”
I looked at him like he was crazy. It was a miracle the pair hadn't told half the county by now. But Billy Jack did keep them stocked with the best shine in the state, so there was something there to keep them silent.
Floyd looked up and down the alley to be sure we were alone. “The sheriff is sure Billy Jack did that murder, but me and Zeke heard different.”
I crossed my arms and looked at the two men. They seemed genuinely scared of the news they were about to share. I sighed gently and let out a breath that lent a calming air to our small gathering. Think of all those people selling essential oils, like lavender oil but turbo-charged, that was what I could do just by exhaling and inhaling if I chose to. And right now, I chose to.
It wasn't a spell that would harm them, but Floyd and Zeke staggered around as if they’d been drugged. They slumped against each other like they were ready for a nap.
I quickly called up a breeze that was a bit too strong and realized my magic was being enhanced somehow. I checked the pockets of my old faded jeans.
My fingers found the sliver of summoning stone. It sent a zing up
my arm. I sure didn't recall putting it there. Especially after the incident in my bathroom. I pulled my hand out of my pocket right quick.
Floyd's head cleared first and he looked at me with an accusatory stare. “Tarnation, Jolene! Don’t be pulling none of your funny stuff now.”
I shrugged and mumbled an embarrassed apology.
Zeke and Floyd knew about the magick that my family held. They were both regular folk, but held no bias against magick folk, especially Billy Jack.
Floyd held up his hands. “No more messin' around, Jo, I promise. Me and Zeke overheard Luke Woolum braggin' about how he was gonna take over Billy Jack's business once your cousin was convicted.”
I tried to hide my shock. Luke wasn't a bad guy and his girlfriend, though annoying, didn't have the brain power to mastermind a plan to set my cousin up for murder. But the information was more than I had to go on before.
Zeke shook his head in disbelief. “It ain’t right. Luke is money hungry, and he hates Billy Jack…” he trailed off like he was afraid to continue.
“Spit it out, Zeke. If I can’t find out what really happened, Billy Jack is headed for the federal pen and you’ll be out of some free moonshine.” My warning got him to talking again.
“Luke’s girl is a cousin of them Covey brothers,” he whispered and wiped his face with a faded, blue handkerchief.
I grew quiet thinking about what I knew of the young lady in question. Sissy Prather, Luke's girl, hadn't grown up in Devil’s Elbow, and I hadn’t known her folks was related to the Coveys.
I tapped my foot letting my mind work over this information. “Where'd y’all hear them talking like that?”
Floyd pulled out the toothpick he'd just put between his teeth. The motion reminded me of the trick I'd played on Sheriff Quinn.
“We was over to Kudzu's having breakfast and they was in a booth nearby. I don't think they saw us on account of that new wall of fake kudzu Miss Merlene put up last month.”
