The Drop Edge of Yonder - An Alafair Tucker Mystery

by Donis Casey

  In the afternoon, after a nice long layabout to facilitate digestion, and a few games of penny-toss, mumbledypeg, and checkers, Shaw had combined the sweet, custardy base that Alafair had made earlier with a puree of the peaches she had canned in June, and poured them into the ice cream maker. He packed chipped ice and salt into the bucket around the tin container, fitted the revolving paddle into the lid and immersed it into the ice cream mix, and started cranking. Shaw had reason anew to be thankful for such a large family, as one son or daughter or son-in-law or nephew after another took a turn at the crank.

  Alafair had finally given in to fatigue and agreed to a brief lie-down while the ice cream made, and Mary had lent her a supporting shoulder when she limped into the bedroom.

  But as Mary turned to leave, Alafair had encouraged her to stay and keep her company while she rested. Their talk of ordinary things had turned of its own accord to more serious topics, and for the first time Alafair had learned the complete story of Mary’s wander through the darkness of her mind and journey back into the light.

  As Mary waited for her mother to comment, Alafair studied her daughter’s face. The glaze of grief that had dulled the blue eyes had lifted, and they were clear, peaceful, and alive again. However, the merry sparkle that had always glinted there was still missing, and Alafair feared that it would not return in the same way again. She closed her own eyes and turned over on her back with a sigh.

  “I don’t know anything, honey,” she said. “I’m just like one of Daddy’s mules hitched to a plow. I just put my head down and go, come sun or storm. But I do have my opinions, and I think you’re right about there being a part of you that’s connected square to the truth of things. Thing is, most of us can’t get out of our own way enough to see it. It takes something like what happened to you to shock you so bad that you can’t think, and then suddenly the answer whacks you over the head like a sledgehammer. That’s happened to me, once or twice. You’d think that would be a good thing, to finally understand what ‘knowing’ really is, and I guess it is. Too bad that sometimes it hurts like sin to learn it.”

  “How are you feeling, Mama?”

  “Pretty stove up,” she admitted with a laugh. “But full. What with you girls doing all the cooking and chores I’ll be getting fat directly.”

  “Gee Dub seemed pleased, both with the dinner and with the Winchester Daddy and you gave him.” Mary smiled. “That was a mighty fine birthday present, if I do say so.”

  “Well, Gee Dub’s a good boy. It’s time he had something nice of his own, and Daddy says that a good firearm will last him a lifetime, if he’ll take care of it.”

  “I can hardly believe he’s eighteen now. Has he told you if he has plans for his future? We were talking about it the other day, and if he has something in mind he didn’t want to admit to it. Martha mentioned that Uncle Charles is looking for another hand at the sawmill.”

  Alafair shrugged. “I wouldn’t be unhappy if he decided to go to college. It’s a new world, sugar, from when Daddy and me was young. Extra schooling would help anybody nowadays; even you girls, if y’all wanted to go. Look what it’s done for Martha. She likes working, sure enough, and has her own money. Of course, I notice that she’ll be twenty-three years old in a few weeks and seems to have no interest in marrying.”

  “Well, now, that’s her lookout, Ma,” Mary chided. “Twenty-three isn’t that old.”

  “No, you’re right.”

  Mary perched herself on the edge of the open window sill. “What about Gee Dub, Ma? I’ve never heard him talk about going to college. Besides, school has already started.”

  “Oh, I was just wishing aloud, darlin’. Truth is, I don’t really know what Gee Dub wants. He plays it pretty close to the vest.”

  “He probably doesn’t know himself.”

  Alafair forgot herself long enough to try to stretch, and winced. She turned back over onto her side with a grunt. “I’ll ask Daddy to mention it to him. Gee Dub is going with him tomorrow to the big Farmers’ Union meeting in Oklahoma City. With Gee Dub, whenever I try to talk to him, I’m the one who does all the talking.”

  Through the open bedroom window they could hear a clatter and commotion coming from the front of the house. “Sounds like more company has drove up,” Alafair noted. Mary stood and walked over to peer out the side window.

  “It’s Grandma and Grandpapa.”

  “Oh, good. I was expecting they might show up sooner or later.”

  Mary straightened and looked back over her shoulder at her mother. “Laura Ross is with them.”

  “I declare!” Alafair struggled to sit up, and managed to roll herself up onto the edge of the bed before Mary could step over to give her a hand. “I know y’all girls have been over there to see Laura since she come around, but I’ve been stuck here like an old foundering cow. How does she look?”

  “Mostly healed, except for a cast in one eye and a slight drag in her gait. She’s looking a lot better, Ma. Better than you, right now. She’s mighty pale, though. I’d say she almost glows like an angel.”

  Alafair expected that was only right, considering that she had spent two weeks between the mortal plane and the heavenly one. She wondered if Laura remembered anything of the other side. She resolved to ask her some day far in the future.

  “Orlen Kelso returned the hundred dollars that Bill put down on the property he was fixing to buy,” Mary was saying, “and Grandpapa said it should rightly go to Laura.”

  Alafair reconsidered her plan to stand up and sank back down on the bed. “Well, that’s good, then. She’ll have a little bit of money to start her a new life. Why don’t you go on back outside, sugar? I’ll just nap a little while and join y’all directly. Save me some ice cream. By the way, darlin’,” she said, halting Mary at the door, “I never did like how that kitty song ended, so me and my mama made up our own ending when I was a girl.”

  “Leave it to you to make things turn out the way you want, Ma. What happened to the kitty in your song?”

  Alafair folded her hands over her stomach and began to sing:

  “Your little gray kitty has not been drowned.

  I’ve found her and brought her back home.

  But before you take her, a promise please make me,

  You won’t blame that poor boy no more…”

  Mary chuckled. “That doesn’t even rhyme, Ma! But I do like a happy ending.”

  ***

  Mary was glad to get out of the stifling bedroom, and as she walked through the parlor and into the kitchen, it occurred to her that she was actually looking forward to getting back to the party. That ice cream sounded particularly inviting, especially with a piece of pie. It was a relief to have her appetite again.

  She opened the ice box and took out the tin pitcher of sweet tea that Ruth had made up that afternoon. She poured herself a tall glass and put in a handful of ice chips as a special indulgence, then leaned back against the cabinet and took a long swallow. She heard the screen door creak open, but didn’t see who walked into the kitchen, since her eyes were closed, the better to savor the cool sweetness sliding down her throat.

  She choked and sputtered when she opened her eyes to find Kurt Lukenbach standing in front of her.

  He snatched his hat off and grinned at her surprise. His teeth were big, white, and even. Mary realized that she couldn’t remember ever seeing him grin before. It suited him. She sat the glass down on the cabinet, bemused.

  “Howdy, Miz Mary,” he said. “Your sister sent me in here to fetch bowls for ice cream. How nice I find you here.”

  “Kurt, for pity’s sake. I’ve told you a dozen times to call me Mary. I reckon anybody who saves my life is welcome to call me by my first name.”

  The grin widened, and he glanced away, but he didn’t say anything. Mary bit her lip, amused. “How’s the eye?”

  He looked back at her and fingered the fading shiner. “Much better, thank you. Mr. Tucker has a big punch.”

  “Daddy packs
a wallop. You’re lucky he didn’t kill you before Scott and the boys got him pulled off.”

  “He was protecting you, like I tried since your uncle was killed and Miz Laura done so cruelly. It was good. Worth a black eye to me.”

  Mary’s mouth quirked. She set her glass of iced tea on top of the ice box and shook her head. “I never suspected Micah for a minute. I was wondering, Kurt, didn’t you ever guess that Micah was up to no good, what with y’all being such good friends?”

  “No, I didn’t. Never for an eye-blink. I think always that he is my friend. I don’t care I killed him, though. I’m happy.

  “But since two weeks, I look back on the years I rode with him, and I wonder why I did not know what kind of man was Micah. Twice, he talked me into leaving jobs real fast, in the middle of the night, one time. He would say, ‘Kurt, I’m fed up to here with this crew,’ and off we go. He was always quick to change like that, so I was not suspicious he did wrong. I hear now that your uncle’s friend died while we were at the Glenn Pool. I didn’t know. Maybe Micah did something bad in New Braunfels too, steal Mr. Schwartzenfeld’s rifle…” He shrugged. “I wonder how I am so blind.”

  “Good people never expect others to be so bad.”

  “You think I am a good person?”

  “Of course you are.”

  Kurt reddened, but looked pleased. He started to speak, hesitated, then took a breath and tried again. “I confess, M…Mary, that I did not come into the house for bowls. I seen you through the screen, and I come into the house with no invite, so I can talk to you.”

  Kurt’s statement surprised her, and she felt a thrill of alarm. The events of the past month had made her skittish, she thought. She shook herself. “What’s on your mind?”

  ***

  Lying on her side, half-asleep, Alafair was roused by the slap of bare infant feet on the bedroom floor. She opened her eyes to find herself nose to nose with her youngest.

  “Ma!” Grace’s tone was commanding.

  Alafair drew her head back on the pillow, far enough to be able to focus her eyes on Grace’s face, at least. “What can I do for you, cookie? Why aren’t you outside with Daddy? Did you bring me something?”

  Grace extended her fist for Alafair’s inspection. Since she had been hurt, a concerned and solicitous Grace was continuously bringing treats for her mother’s comfort and pleasure. This afternoon’s offering appeared to be a slightly squashed piece of white sheet cake. Alafair expected that Sally had brought it, and was currently meting it out with the ice cream on the front porch.

  “Birfday,” Grace informed her. “Birfday cake. My birfday.”

  “Not yet, puddin’. Today is Gee Dub’s birthday. But your birthday will be coming along right quick.”

  “Right quick,” she repeated, satisfied. “Eat the cake, now, Mama.”

  Alafair smiled, thinking that Grace spoke very clearly, considering that she was not quite two. She opened her palm and Grace delicately placed the worse-for-wear piece of cake in it. Alafair ate it with a great show of pleasure, not particularly bothered by the griminess of the little fist or the suspicious grittiness of the cake.

  The child grinned from ear to ear and crawled up onto the bed, causing Alafair to gasp involuntarily as a small knee grazed her sore ribs.

  Alafair gave an exaggerated moan of discomfort. “Oh, Mama’s a mess! I reckon I need some good sugar.”

  Grace’s expression changed instantly to one of concern. She grasped Alafair’s bruised face between her two sticky hands and covered it with wet kisses.

  ***

  Kurt shifted from one foot to the other and back. For a long moment, he stared at the hat in his hand as though he didn’t quite know what it was. Finally he took a breath and lifted his gaze to look at Mary. “After your uncle was killed, and no one knew where the murderer was, Mr. Tucker set me to guard you.”

  Mary nodded. “Me and all the family, yes.”

  “From the first time I watched the house, I realized that if anything should happen to you, my heart would be broke. It made me know how I would feel if…It made me know how I feel about you.”

  Mary’s eyes widened. Was she hearing what she thought she was hearing? “What are you trying to say, Kurt?”

  “I got so afraid, Mary. I could not sleep or eat. I hardly could work. I only wanted to watch you, every minute I was free. Hide behind the shadows and watch, to keep you safe.” He paled and looked down at his boots. “I know I am not good enough for you.”

  She reached out abruptly and put her hand on his arm. “Kurt, don’t say that. You’re a fine man. I like you. I like you a lot. Maybe more than that. There’s something about you that makes me feel tender. And it’s sure a good thing that you did keep an eye on me, or I’d be dead right now. There are no words to say how grateful I am for what you did. But I’m not looking for a beau right now. I’ve just started teaching, and I like it. I figure to keep at it for a spell.”

  “Oh, no, I know that. You should have time, think about how you want your life. We are friends, yes?”

  “Yes, good friends.”

  “Maybe, a long time from now, you will feel more for me, if you know how much I care for you.”

  Mary was unsure how to respond. She was taken aback by his declaration, but not blind-sided. She was not totally unaware of his regard. However, this entire episode was one more in the parade of surreal events that had twisted and reshaped her life over the last month. She was unable to stop her face from involuntarily forming an incredulous smile.

  “I declare…” she murmured. She looked him in the eye. “I have a job of work this year, and I’ll be saving my money. I suggest you do the same. If—and I mean ‘if,’ now,—my feelings for you grow and we ever get around to marrying, I’m not living in that little room behind the tool shed for the rest of my life.”

  The joy that illuminated his face was blinding. “Now, hang on,” Mary cautioned, before he could respond. “I’m not making any promises. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last month, it’s that you can’t predict what will happen in the future.”

  “No, you must not.” His voice was lilting. “You must be sure you are not liking me because of being grateful. You must be sure you will be happy to be with someone so unwurdig as me.”

  “I don’t know what that means, but…”

  He spoke over her. “And you mustn’t worry about money. I have money.”

  Mary stopped in mid-sentence, taken aback. “What?”

  “I have enough money to buy a farm now. In Germany I was a good metal smith, besides working in the stables. And in New Braunfels I bought a fine mare and bred and sold a few foals of my own. I have saved well, but I had thoughts that I should wait a while to buy my own farm. If you should decide, some day, to make me the happiest man, then we can find a place together.”

  “Why in the frog hops have you been working as a mule wrangler for Daddy for the last two years, if you could have had a place of your own all this time?”

  Kurt shrugged. “I like it here. I learn a lot from Mr. Tucker, and here I can save my money for when I decide what I want.” He paused and smiled. “I’m a good saver. And as time went by, there was you, and I know now what I want.”

  ***

  In the midst of being drenched with baby kisses, Alafair caught sight of Sophronia standing in the bedroom doorway. When she saw her mother look at her, Sophronia shrugged apologetically. “Sorry, Ma. I snatched at Grace when she run into the house, but she’s got real fast lately. Daddy told us to let you rest. You want me to take her outside?”

  “No!” Grace hollered, right into Alafair’s ear, which caused her to laugh and grimace at the same time.

  “It’s all right, Fronie. I’m all rested. Mercy, what happened to you? Your pinafore is a mess, and look at your skinned-up legs! Have you kids been playing rodeo again and letting Charlie rope you? I told him not to be doing that.”

  Sophronia looked down at herself, apparently just as surpris
ed by her state as Alafair had been. “Aw, Ma, it was fun. Besides, Charlie could never rope me. It was Daddy.”

  “Oh, Lord have mercy. Come on, help me up. Let’s get you washed up and put some marigold salve on them scratches. Then we’ll get some ice cream and cake, if there’s any left…”

  She was interrupted by a peal of laughter, clear and musical as a mountain stream, melodious, exalted, like a thousand larks. Alafair caught her breath.

  Sophronia joined in with a chuckle of her own, and a mischievous smile. “Mary’s in the kitchen with Kurt.”

  “What’s that, Mama?” Grace asked, as the laughter bubbled and danced through the house.

  Alafair grabbed the little girl and squeezed her, her happiness masking the jolt to her bruises and sore bones. “Honey, that’s music to my ears.”

  Alafair’s Recipes

  OKRA

  Is okra an acquired taste? Does one have to be raised eating okra in all its myriad glorious forms in order to be able to appreciate it? Alafair and her entire family loved it however it was cooked, which was a good thing, since okra is a plentiful summer staple for the Southern cook. Once it started to bear, Alafair’s family would have had okra in some style at practically every meal. Alafair was perforce creative with her okra recipes, if only to keep her family interested enough to keep eating. Okra would have been used in every soup and stew, boiled with tomatoes, pickled, fried, and served with whatever was going. The uninitiated may be put off by its initial sliminess and prickliness, but if one can endure the preparation and knows the proper way to cook it, it can be quite wonderful. Okra is a good thickener in liquid dishes like soup. As a bonus, it is very soothing to the digestive tract. When picking okra, choose silky, tender pods. Cut off the top and slice into rounds. The pods should be easy to cut. Avoid pods that are dry, tough to cut, stringy, or shriveled.