I was getting a cramp in my foot when Henry silently prodded us onward. What if Blythe heard us here? What if she hadn’t fallen for Henry’s deception and was quietly stalking our footsteps? Then suddenly there was the cabin: Mama Doc’s cabin, snug against the mountain with the clouds for a coverlet and the hillside for a lap. And there on the stoop stood Miss Corrie with a big smile on her face, and Leslie, waving, was running to meet us.
I wanted to call out to her, to warn her not to shout, but Henry shook his head and smiled. “Ain’t no need to worry now,” he said, plopping down on Mama Doc’s big rock doorstep. “The way she was agoin’, and with this fog thick as it is, won’t be long afore that woman takes to flyin’.”
“Flying?” I felt all weepy watching Leslie and her aunt hugging each other.
“Yep. Nothing out there but a sheer drop-off. Straight down for at least three hundred feet.”
And that was when I heard Blythe Cornelius scream.
Epilogue
“I heard some of the students who left Sarah Bedford have already returned,” Zee announced as The Thursdays gathered in my sitting room to work on our annual project for children who would be spending the holidays at the local hospital. This year, instead of the customary sock dolls, we were making rag dolls from a pattern Claudia had found in a craft magazine. It was too soon to be sure, but the idea seemed like an improvement of sorts.
“Blythe Cornelius always seemed like such a nice person,” Jo Nell declared. “For the life of me, I just can’t imagine her being behind a cold-blooded plan like that. Did the woman have no conscience at all?”
“Crazy,” Ellis said. “Pure-T crazy! When people get like that they lose all ability to reason.”
“Blythe was wonderfully patient with Dean Holland, though,” I pointed out. “I think she was genuinely fond of him. You’re going to have your work cut out for you, Claudia.”
Our friend would soon be taking over as the dean’s assistant as well as various other duties and could hardly wait to begin.
Ellis smiled. “Oh, he’s such a teddy bear! You’ll get along just fine.” She glanced at my efforts at stuffing. “Lucy Nan, I don’t want to start a rumor here, but you might want to keep a closer eye on your little Daisy Marguerite. She looks a little bit pregnant to me.”
“There’s no such thing as a little bit pregnant,” I said, examining the lumpy creation I had named Daisy Marguerite because the doll resembled a girl I disliked back in the second grade.
Idonia reached for the fiberfill. “I’m just relieved to know Blythe Cornelius won’t ever hurt anybody again. Must’ve bounced off every rock going down—”
“It was kind of Willene to take in her cats,” Nettie said quickly.
“They should be good company for her,” Zee added, “but if I had an ex like Willene’s, I’d rather have a great big guard dog.”
“I think that judge shook him up pretty good,” I said. “And besides, Willene’s a lot tougher than we gave her credit for.”
“Sure is. I heard she was toting a piece,” Zee said.
“And even wears white after Labor Day,” Idonia added.
Ellis giggled. “Chews gum in church, too—bless her heart.”
Jo Nell tossed a sofa pillow in her direction. “Oh, hush! You’re bad—all of you! Nettie, you and Lucy Nan must have been terrified up on that mountain, knowing that woman was lurking somewhere close by.”
My cousin has become fond of the verb lurk, I’ve noticed, and uses it as often as possible. “What’s done is done,” Nettie said, biting off a thread. “I just hope Leslie can put it behind her. Under the circumstances her parents have persuaded her to transfer to another school when she finishes with her treatment.
“I’ll never forget Corrie’s brother, Henry, though. What a peculiar little fellow he was! I asked him how he knew what to do when Blythe was so close to finding us, and do you know what he said? Told me an angel warned him—said he saw her plain as day! Can you believe that—an angel?”
Ellis concentrated on her sewing. “Yes, I can believe it,” she said.
“Well, frankly, I’ve slept sound as a baby ever since,” Nettie vowed. “What about you, Lucy Nan…Lucy Nan?”
“Earth to Lucy Nan Pilgrim, come in, come in!” Ellis said, and I realized I had let bits of the conversation sail right past.
“Sorry, I was just thinking about what to serve Jessica for Thanksgiving dinner since she won’t eat turkey,” I explained, although, to be honest, I was a little miffed at my friends’ recent secretive activities and wasn’t in much of a mood to chat. They had tried to gloss over their little get-togethers, explaining them away with flimsy excuses, such as, Nettie wanted to show me that old photo of my mother when they were in school together…Zee needed a fourth for bridge…Idonia asked for help refinishing a table…Jo Nell promised she’d teach me how to make ambrosia…I was beginning to get that “cold left-out feeling,” and frankly, I was sick of it. It was on the tip of my tongue to say just that when Ellis stepped up with a smile.
“Shall we let her in on it, ladies?”
“Let me in on what?” I asked, immediately suspicious.
“We know your birthday isn’t until January, but since Julie will be here for the holidays, we thought you might like your present early,” Jo Nell said, producing a large brown bundle she’d stuffed into the hall closet.
“What present?” We usually didn’t give birthday gifts, but the year I turned fifty they had all chipped in for a box of denture cleaner and a membership to the AARP, so I was understandably leery.
“It’s something you’ve always wanted,” Nettie said.
Claudia took the misshapen doll from my hands. “Why don’t you just open it and find out?”
I glanced up to see Augusta standing by the fireplace with what can only be described as an impish smile on her face, and tugged at the yarn bow. Folded inside the paper was a quilted coverlet of multiple colors and designs. “You’ve made me a quilt!” I couldn’t say another word because the tears were on the spillway and I hate it when people cry over things like that.
“Well, not a quilt, exactly,” Zee said. “We didn’t have time for a quilt, so it’s more of a throw, but if you feed it vitamins, maybe it’ll grow into one.”
“Why, this is from that dress you made to wear to Roger’s wedding,” I said to Nettie, recognizing a square of turquoise silk. “And you’ve embroidered your name on it, too!”
“We all did,” Claudia told me. “That’s why it took us so long. I hope you can read mine.”
“It’s wonderful! Beautiful!” I held the coverlet to the window light to better see a square of tiny red and white stripes. “Mama made me a dress like that when I was in the fifth grade, remember?” I looked at Ellis. “Where did you find the scraps?”
She shrugged, exchanging smiles with Augusta. “I just had to know where to look.”
Idonia fingered the throw, lingering over a lavender iridescent square in the center. “How lovely! Why, it seems to change colors. Where on earth did this one come from?”
But nobody answered, because nobody knew that most likely it didn’t come from earth at all. Except for Ellis and me. And Augusta, of course.
Some of Stone’s Throw Favorites
Augusta’s Savory Fish Stew
4 cups mild fish
3 strips bacon
1 lb. can diced tomatoes
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 28 oz. can vegetable juice
½ lemon, sliced
1 large onion, chopped
5 or 6 small potatoes, peeled and diced
2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
1 tablespoon hot sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon curry powder (optional)
Precook fish. Fry bacon in large pot. Remove bacon and save. Combine all ingredients except fish and bacon, bring to a boil, and simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour. Scoop out lemo
n and add crumbled precooked fish. Cover and simmer for an hour or more, topping servings with crumbled bacon. May be served over rice. Serves 6-8.
Orange Cranberry Scones
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup sugar
grated rind of one orange (can use dried variety)
½ cup butter, chilled
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup dried cranberries
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Stir together flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, and orange rind. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Gradually stir in buttermilk until all ingredients are moistened and a dough forms. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead in cranberries. Roll out dough to ½ inch thickness and cut in rounds. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown, on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Makes about a dozen.
Grated Sweet Potato Pudding
2 fairly large raw sweet potatoes, peeled and grated (about 2 cups)
1 cup sugar
¾ cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
¼ cup melted butter
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cloves
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all ingredients and pour into a greased baking dish (better in a cast-iron pan). Bake for 1 hour, stirring several times during cooking. Good served with cream. (Or even without!) Serves 6.
Lemon Mystery
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons flour
juice and grated rind of one lemon
3 eggs, yolks and whites beaten separately
1½ cups milk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream butter and sugar together. Add flour, salt, lemon rind and juice. Stir in egg yolks mixed with the milk, then add beaten whites. Pour into a greased baking dish and set the dish in a pan of hot water. Bake for 45 minutes. Good just plain or served with whipped cream. Serves 6.
Lemon Chess Pie
1 tablespoon plain flour, sifted
1 tablespoon plain cornmeal, sifted
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
¼ cup milk
¼ cup melted butter
¼ cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 deep dish unbaked pie shell
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Toss together flour and cornmeal and add sugar. Cream in eggs, milk, butter, lemon juice, and grated rind. Pour into pie shell and bake until set (about 40–45 minutes). Cover crust with foil for part of the baking time to keep it from burning. You can get two pies from this recipe, but I find they are a little shallow. I sometimes use this filling for tarts. Serves 6.
Mimmer’s Squash Casserole
1½ pounds small summer squash (about 2 cups, cooked)
1 medium onion, chopped (save half for casserole)
3 tablespoons butter
½ cup milk (canned is good)
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup toasted bread crumbs or soda-cracker crumbs
¾–1 cup grated cheddar cheese (optional)
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
extra bread crumbs and a little extra butter
paprika
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook squash and ½ onion in salted water until tender; drain well and mash coarsely with fork. Add butter, milk, eggs, crumbs, cheese, ½ onion, and salt and pepper. Pour into greased casserole dish and sprinkle with extra crumbs. Dot with about a tablespoon butter and sprinkle with paprika. Bake for 45 minutes, uncovered. Serves 6-8.
Cheese Olive Balls
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup sifted flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon paprika
dash of hot sauce
dash of Worcestershire sauce, if desired
48 small pimento-stuffed olives, drained
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cream butter and cheese and stir in other ingredients, except the olives. Mix well.
Wrap a little over a teaspoon of dough around each olive, covering it completely. Bake on ungreased baking sheet for about 15 minutes, or until done. (Watch closely, as ovens vary.) These can be frozen on a cookie sheet and transferred to a freezer bag, to be baked later if you want to make them ahead of time. Makes 48.
Also by
Mignon F. Ballard
Augusta Goodnight Mysteries
Too Late for Angels
The Angel Whispered Danger
Shadow of an Angel
An Angel to Die For
Angel at Troublesome Creek
The War in Sallie’s Station
Minerva Cries Murder
Final Curtain
The Widow’s Woods
Deadly Promise
Cry at Dusk
Raven Rock
Aunt Matilda’s Ghost
Acknowledgments
Sincere appreciation to my agent, Laura Langlie, and my editor,
Hope Dellon, masters of the craft.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE ANGEL AND THE JABBERWOCKY MURDERS. Copyright © 2006 by Mignon F. Ballard. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ballard, Mignon Franklin.
The angel and the Jabberwocky murders: an Augusta Goodnight mystery (with heavenly recipes) / Mignon F. Ballard.—1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN: 978-1-4299-9467-5
1. Goodnight, Augusta (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Guardian angels—Fiction. 3. Women college students—Crimes against—Fiction. 4. South Carolina—Fiction. I. Title.
PS 3552.A466A83 2006
813'.54—dc22
2006046582
The Angel and the Jabberwocky Murders Page 24