The next day was a Thursday and Ned knew that was Sid Topp’s day off, so he asked Sid to help him retrieve the books from Harry’s cabin. The Tip Topp diner was gossip central in Chanceville, but Ned had never known Sid to talk about any of his customers to other customers. When he told Sid what they were going to be doing and that he and Mrs. Tree thought it best to keep their mission quiet for a while, Sid agreed.
“Yeah, no need to give some of those blabbermouths anything else to chew on,” said Sid.
“You got that right,” said Ned. Sid saw a wheelbarrow and several cardboard boxes in the back of Ned's pickup and asked why they needed them.
“You’ll see why when we get to the cabin,” Ned replied.
“Okay,” replied Sid looking skeptical. He couldn’t imagine that Harry had enough belongings to fill a even one box.
When they pulled up, Ned had an uneasy feeling. The crows were gathered at the top of the old sycamore cawing loudly to each other and possibly to the two men. Ned signaled to Sid to be quiet as they walked up to the cabin’s front door, which was slightly ajar. Ned was sure he had closed it firmly. He slowly opened the door as it creaked loudly on its rusty hinges, alerting anyone inside to their presence. The crows revved up a decibel or ten. Ned and Sid stepped inside, but no one greeted them except the mice. The two men went immediately into the sleeping room.
Damn it all to hell,” said Ned as he saw that the drawers had all been pulled out and were empty.
“Ned, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you curse before, even when Tarsal Henley was yanking your chain,” said Sid scratching his head.
Ned and Sid hightailed it over to Mrs. Tree’s to tell her about the missing books and make sure that she had not had any problems during the night. Ned was worried about all of the noise the crows had been making every time he walked up to the cabin. When they pulled into Mrs. Tree’s drive, nothing looked out of the ordinary, but that didn’t help to alleviate Ned’s uneasiness. Sid was picking up some strange vibes, too.
“That cabin kind of gave me the creeps. Those crows were trying to tell us something. I’m sure of it. When we went inside, it felt like someone was watching us. I’m still feeling that way,” Sid told Ned.
“I know what you mean,” replied Ned. “Something’s going on or those books wouldn’t be missing. Speaking of missing. I wonder why Junebug didn’t come running out to greet us?”
“That is strange. Sometimes if Mrs. Tree is under the weather, I’ll bring out a plate from the diner for her dinner. Junebug always comes out to make sure I’m supposed to be there,” said Sid.
“You check the barn, Sid. I’ll go and check on Mrs. Tree,” said Ned.
‘Righto,” said Sid.
Sid headed for the barn calling out for Junebug. Ned walked up to Mrs. Tree’s back door and started to knock, but he could see the door was ajar. There were marks around the lock as if it had been forced open. He stepped on into the kitchen and called out to Mrs. Tree. No answer. All was quiet except for the grandfather clock ticking in the living room.
“Mrs. Tree?” Ned called again. No answer.
He went down the hall checking doors until he found her bedroom. Mrs. Tree was still in bed, unheard of at nine o’clock in the morning for this farmer’s widow. She seemed to be sleeping soundly and was snoring lightly. He didn’t want to scare her, so he said her name again and gently patted her shoulder. Mrs. Tree slowly opened her eyes. He noticed a pungent odor in the room and started looking to see where it was coming from and noticed the corner of a white handkerchief sticking out from under the bed. When he leaned over to pick it up, he didn’t have to hold it too close to recognize that smell. Years ago, Old Doc Ivory had to pull an abscessed tooth and used chloroform on him to put him out. Ned had never forgotten that sickening smell.
“This explains why Mrs. Tree is still asleep in the middle of the morning,” Ned said, as he held out the smelly hanky toward toward Sid as he came into the room.
"Junebug is snoring away in the barn, " said Sid. "I'd better go back out and see if I can rouse her."
“Good take that thing outside would you, Sid?” said Ned, handing him the handkerchief. “Would you mind making some coffee when you come back in? We need to get this lady to wake up and I don’t want to leave her alone.”
“Sure will,” said Sid. “After I’ve checked on Junebug and washed my hands real good.”
Ned opened Mrs. Tree’s bedroom window to get some fresh air in there. Then he went in the bathroom and got a cold cloth to use on her forehead. He might have to call Old Doc Trueblood if he couldn’t bring her around soon.
Ned returned with the cold damp cloth and wiped Mrs. Tree’s face with it. She opening her eyes and looked questioningly at Ned.
“What’s going on? What are you doing here?” she asked, her eyes looking pretty cloudy.
About that time Sid came in with a cup of instant coffee for the old lady. “Here you go, Mrs. Tree, maybe this will perk you up a bit,” he said as he set the mug on her nightstand. “Sweet and milky, Tip Topp Diner style, just the way you like it.”
Ned helped her to sit up in the bed propping her back with her pillows against the headboard.
“Do you have any recollection about last night?” Ned asked her.
“No. What has happened to me? Did I have a stroke?” she asked.
“Noo,” said Ned. “It looks like you and Junebug were chloroformed last night.”
“Junebug!” cried Mrs. Tree. Sid leaned over and patted her hand, “She’s fine. I brought her in the kitchen. She had a good long drink of water. Now, don't you worry, she’s coming around nicely.”
“Why would anyone chloroform me and my Junebug?”
“Well, someone took all of the books out of the cabin. I had Sid check under your guest bed and the papers that you hid in your box of photographs are gone also,” said Ned.
“That is were you put them, right?” asked Sid.
“Oh, yes. Just laid them right on top. Are my photos still there? she asked.
“Seem to be. I’ll fetch the box and you can take a look, Sid answered.
“I wouldn’t do that yet,” Ned cautioned, as he got up to leave the room. “Sheriff Orange will probably want to come out here to take a look around. We need to find out what is going on. I’m going to call him now.”
“Good idea,” said Sid. “Meantime, why don’t you come into town and stay with me and the missus until we figure out what is going on around here?”
“Good, Lord. I’m not lettin’ anyone scare me out of my own home,” she said. "And, besides, I can't leave Junebug."
“Not up for debate,” Ned told her when he came back in the room. “The phone was dead; I went outside and found the phone line cut. You get dressed as soon as you feel like it. We’re taking you into town and paying a visit to Doc Trueblood and then on to see Sheriff Orange.”
“Yes, and I’ll call Tippy from the doc’s office to let her know you’ll be staying with us,” said Sid, holding up his hand to fend off any protest from Mrs. Tree.
“And I’ll take Junebug home with me,” said Ned. “She’ll feel at home on the farm.”
They loaded a still groggy Junebug into the back of the pickup and Sid rode in the back with her so she wouldn’t be scared. They dropped her off at the farm and briefly filled Gardenia in about the latest events.
“Now, don’t say a word, Honey Bunch, said,” Ned, already knowing he was wasting his breath.
Sid winked at Mrs. Terry. They both knew full well that, even with a gun to her head, Gardenia Cochran would have a hard time keeping her mouth shut, and since Ned had only given her a couple of facts, they also knew that she was quite capable of filling in the blanks where she felt it was needed.
No comments:
Post a Comment