The Possum Hollow Hullabaloo (The Penelope Pembroke Cozy Mystery Series)

by Nickles, Judy

  “Oh, that’s what he did, all right. And you walked right into his trap.”

  “I got out.”

  “By the skin of your teeth. Mother, you…” He turned his back on her, his shoulders slumping.

  Penelope realized he was fighting his emotions. “Bradley, I’m sorry. Not for doing what I did, since it turned out all right, but for upsetting you.”

  “Just go home, Mother. Go home and stay there. Please.”

  She rose and touched his shoulder. “Bradley…”

  “Go home.”

  In the main room, Sam waited, pacing. “Now where are you going?”

  “Home.”

  “I’ll be along.”

  She nodded.

  “Harry Hargrove’s already retrieved his wife. Last seen, he was chewing her up one side and down the other on the way out.”

  “She couldn’t exactly jump out of my car.”

  “She should have.”

  “Has Miss Maude come in yet?”

  “Rosabel’s gone to get her.”

  Penelope smiled. “She’s probably the only one Miss Maude won’t eat alive.”

  Sam threw up his hands. “It’s all a joke to you.”

  She shook her head. “No, it’s not, Sam. I know I shouldn’t have gone out to the Hollow this morning, but if I hadn’t, Miss Maude would still be out there somewhere. Archie Hadden held onto her when he thought she might be useful, but eventually he’d have killed her.”

  “So what did you have last night at the church—a divine revelation? Now you’re Joan of Arc?”

  A knot of hurt formed in her throat. “Nothing like that.”

  “Go on home, Nell. I’ll be there after a while.”

  ****

  Sam brushed by Jake and Penelope, who were eating sandwiches in the kitchen, without speaking. “It’ll be all right, darlin’,” Jake said as the other man disappeared through the swinging door.

  “Daddy, I know I did a dumb thing, but isn’t the end result more important than the risk?”

  “In this case, I’d say so.”

  “Then you’re more sensible than Bradley and Sam.”

  “No, I’m not, Nellie, but it’s too late for hindsight. You’re the only parent Brad has. And Sam’s in love with you.”

  “He’s furious with me.”

  “He should be. Sam hasn’t confided in me, but I get the impression he’s taken some bad hits in life.”

  “Lost people he loved?”

  Jake nodded. “Go easy on him, Nellie. Brad, too. Try to see things through their eyes.” He popped the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth. “I’m going out to watch my shows.”

  “I’ll be here all evening, Daddy.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “Best place to be, darlin’.”

  Sam pushed back through the swinging door from the dining room. “Do you want a sandwich?” Penelope asked.

  He nodded, jerked back a chair, and sat down. “If it’s not too much trouble.”

  “Ham or turkey?”

  “Ham.”

  She went to the refrigerator. “I’m sorry for what I put you and Bradley through,” she said. “I mean that.”

  “Okay.”

  “Maybe the girls can come back now that Archie Hadden’s behind bars with their father.” She set the sandwich on a plate in front of him. “Tea or soda?”

  “Soda.”

  She took a can from the refrigerator and brought a bag of chips from the pantry. “You didn’t eat much breakfast this morning—or much sleep last night, for that matter.”

  “Nothing new.” He took a bite of his sandwich and chewed.

  “Why did you think you had to sit up with me? Did you think Archie Hadden would come after me?”

  “I wasn’t taking any chances.”

  “Sam, I’m really sorry about everything, but at least Miss Maude is all right, and hopefully George Harris will be, too.”

  His fingers closed around her wrist like a steel vise. “I don’t operate on at least and hopefully, Nell.”

  “What do you operate on, Sam?”

  “Facts. Calculated risks I’m trained to take, and you’re not.” He loosened his grip on her wrist and folded her hand into his. “Nell, if anything happened to you…”

  Penelope brought his hand to her cheek and held it there. “Are you in love with me, Sam? Daddy says you are.”

  He chewed his top lip for a long moment. “When the time’s right, I’ll let you know.”

  “Then I’ll wait. I’ll wait as long as it takes for the time to be right.”

  ****

  Later, Sam brought down his laundry, started a load, and sat in the kitchen reading the newspaper while Penelope tried to stifle her guilty conscience by making chicken curry with Lady Fingers for dessert. She called the police department and left a message for Bradley. “Peace offering,” she told Sam as he came in from the utility room, his arms full of clean clothes.

  “Smells good. I’m going to pack so I can get out of here early tomorrow morning.”

  “Before breakfast?”

  “Probably.”

  “Oh. Will you be back for Thanksgiving?”

  “I don’t know, Nell. I’ll try.”

  “Penelope?” Shana’s blonde head poked around the kitchen door.

  “Come on in, Shana.”

  “I heard what happened today.”

  “So much for keeping police stuff confidential in this town.”

  Shana laughed. “I got six different versions of how Miss Maude got away from Archie Hadden, including one about how she beat him half to death with her grandmother’s pearl-handled umbrella.”

  “I wish.”

  “Are you all right?”

  “I guess so.”

  “Hello, Sam.”

  “Miss Bayliss.”

  “Oh, come off it. It’s Shana.”

  He disappeared through the swinging door.

  “I left one of the volunteers in charge of the library, but I had to come by and get a look at you for myself—be sure you’re okay.”

  “I’m okay.”

  “Tabby’s grandparents are coming this weekend. Peter’s been a bear all week. We’d planned to drive up to Petit Jean State Park if the weather stayed nice, but then they called and asked nicely to see Tabby. He doesn’t want to rattle their cage by not making her available.”

  “Does she even enjoy being with them?”

  “It’s hard to tell. They always bring her some new clothes and toys. It’s like Christmas every time.”

  “That wouldn’t be good for her even in different circumstances.”

  “Peter lets it go for her sake.”

  “So what are you going to do with yourself this weekend?”

  “Prissy Pendleton is having another meeting with the parents of the kids who’re going to be in the Christmas program and a sort of run-through rehearsal. I told her I’d help out.”

  Penelope turned around, her eyes watering from the onion she was chopping. “Which reminds me—Harry and the Town Council had a meeting this morning about that guy who’s trying to shut down the program. I need to call Mary Lynn and see how it turned out.”

  “I already heard.”

  “You did? How?”

  “Bitsy Cosgrove came by the library when the meeting finished. She said the guy is threatening to get the ACLU to file suit. Apparently Harry and a couple of the others told him to go for it. Bitsy said it was all she could do not to stab him with her pen when he walked by her chair. She says he’s a creep, top to bottom and in-between.”

  “That’s all we need—a lawsuit against the town. Like we’ve got the money to fight it.”

  “Harry’s a lawyer.”

  “He’s no match for the big guys.”

  “Maybe there won’t be a suit.”

  “Well, the fat’s in the fire now. All we can do is wait and see.”

  Shana reached for the door. “I’ve got to get back. I’m glad you’re okay. I’m glad Miss Mau
de’s okay. Tell the Gray Ghost I said goodbye.”

  The librarian blew a kiss on her way out.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Penelope sat down at the table when Sam came back. “I don’t want you to leave tomorrow with things bad between us.”

  He picked up the paper again, then folded and set it aside before he replied. “You could’ve gotten yourself killed, Nell.”

  “I’m sorry I did something to upset you.”

  “Upset doesn’t even begin to describe it. And what you did to your son is despicable.”

  “I didn’t set out to hurt either one of you.”

  “What is it with you, Nell? You’re basically a sensible woman, but sometimes I think I don’t even know you.”

  “I don’t know you either. I thought I knew Travis, but I didn’t.”

  “What does he have to do with all this?”

  “I think he still haunts me in an odd sort of way. Like I said, I thought I knew him, but I didn’t.”

  “Sure you did, Nell. Growing up in a small town like this, you had to know what he was like. You just didn’t want to know.”

  “I guess not. I was on the verge of breaking our engagement when he…when we…”

  “So then you thought you had to marry him.”

  She looked away from him.

  “How old were you? Eighteen? Nineteen?”

  “Almost twenty.”

  “You were still a kid. You made a mistake.”

  “And I paid for it, too. I don’t want to make another one.”

  “There aren’t any guarantees in life, Nell. You can spend the rest of your time on this earth looking for something safe and sure, and you’ll never find it.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  “Then don’t believe it. It’s still true whether you believe it or not.”

  “I don’t know anything about you, Sam.”

  “You know how I feel about you.”

  “I know you want to sleep with me.”

  His harsh sigh echoed in warm kitchen. “I want to make love to you, Nell. There’s a difference.”

  “Is there? Travis slept with me. He slept with me for fifteen years while he was making it with half a dozen other women at the same time.”

  “Why did you let him in your bed if you knew what he was doing?”

  “He was my husband.”

  “That’s not a reason.”

  “I thought so at the time.”

  “This is now.” He disappeared into the utility room and came back with another basket of clean laundry. “I’ve got to finish packing.”

  “Do you need some help?”

  He looked at her for a long, uncomfortable moment. “I just need you, Nell. I need you in more ways than I can tell you.” He backed up against the swinging door until it opened and stood there, almost as if he were waiting for something.

  Why don’t I go upstairs with him right now? Maybe he’s right—maybe nothing’s really safe. Maybe there really is only now, and he’s here, and I’m here, and… But instead of walking into his arms, the way she wanted to do, she turned her face away. When she heard him leave, she dropped her head on the table and wept.

  ****

  Bradley and Rosabel showed up at six-thirty. “Chicken curry,” Rosabel said, sniffing the kitchen.

  “And all the trimmings,” Penelope said, pointing to the Lazy Susan bearing nuts, coconut, and assorted raw vegetables. She looked at her son. “Peace offering.”

  Bradley pecked her cheek.

  Jake slapped his grandson’s shoulder. “So you got the so-and-so, huh, Brad?”

  “The state police got him, Pawpaw.” He cut his eyes toward his mother. “And Mother.”

  “Go fill your plates from the stove,” Penelope said. “Rice in the pot on the left.”

  Jake handed Rosabel the plate from her place. “Where’s Sam?”

  “Packing,” Penelope said. “Or that’s what he said he was going to do. But I’ll go call him.”

  She met him coming down the stairs. “Dinner.”

  He pulled her into his arms. “I’m sorry I was rough on you, Nell.”

  “It’s all right. I understand.”

  “I don’t think you do, but as long as you aren’t holding a grudge, I can live with that.” He kissed her lightly, then let his mouth take complete possession of hers. “I’m going to miss you.”

  “I’m going to miss you, too. We’d better go to the kitchen before somebody comes looking.”

  He slipped his arm around her shoulders. “I’m a starved puppy.”

  ****

  “Miss Maude came to the station with Rosie and made a statement, and then her niece took her to see her doctor. The word is she’s a little dehydrated but nothing too serious.” Brad scraped the last of the rice and curry sauce from his plate and shoveled it into his mouth.

  “Maude Pendleton is a tough old bird,” Jake said.

  “Did Archie Hadden admit to anything?” Penelope asked.

  Brad shrugged. “Not a thing.”

  “I saw him shoot George.” She glanced at Sam. “And if Ellie saw Jeremiah kill her mother…”

  “What she told me isn’t up for discussion,” Bradley said. “Not right now.”

  “Right, I should’ve known that. Sorry.”

  “But he’ll be put away. That’s all that counts,” Jake said.

  “Oh, yeah,” Bradley said. “Oh, yeah, he’s a gone goose, and good riddance.” He wiped his chin. “Miss Maude understands she can’t talk about anything either.”

  “Well, I’m certainly not going to go over there and ask her!” Penelope glared at her son. “I don’t know how she survived a day and night out there.” Penelope glanced at his empty plate. “There’s plenty more, Bradley.”

  He headed for the stove. “I figured he’d kill her as soon as he got away.” He helped himself to another full plate and added, “But maybe she put the fear in him the same way she put it in us when we sat in her classroom. She can be pretty intimidating.”

  “She had to be scared to death,” Rosabel said. “I would’ve been. He reminds me of Blackbeard the Pirate.”

  Penelope laughed. “That’s a good comparison. At least we can all sleep better tonight. And I guess I’m sprung from house arrest tomorrow?”

  Bradley gave her a long look. “Yeah, you’re sprung, Mother.”

  “Maybe you and Mrs. Hargrove will even make it to Little Rock this time,” Rosabel said, showing her dimples.

  “But no detours,” Bradley said. “None whatsoever.”

  ****

  At the top of the stairs, Sam held Penelope against him and kissed the top of her head. “I’m leaving before sun-up.”

  “I packed you some food while you and Daddy were watching the late news. Big brown paper bag in the refrigerator, but if you have an ice chest, transfer everything in there.”

  “I do. Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Hadden won’t make bail, I’m sure of that, but I still think the school isn’t the safest place for you to be.”

  “I’ve got to go back, Sam. With George out—and probably Carol, too, until he’s a lot better—it’s going to take all of us to keep things going.”

  “Is it really worth it, Nell? I mean, ninety-nine per cent of those kids won’t make it to town for junior high school.”

  “But if one per cent does, that’s better than nothing.”

  “Depends on how you look at it.”

  “We’ve all made a commitment out there. You’ve made one, too, to something somewhere.”

  “I guess I have.” He kissed her hard. “Goodbye, Nell. I’ll be in touch.”

  Only when his door had closed behind him did Penelope go to her own room.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  When the Possum Hollow School opened the next week, though no one else could tell anything had happened, Penelope’s eyes were drawn immediately to the spot in the main hall where George Harris had almost bled out. The ch
ildren seemed skittish the first couple of days, especially Carol Harris’s kindergartners who had to deal with a substitute. Paul Hollis juggled his classroom duties with the principal’s responsibilities. Penelope and Mary Lynn did double-duty everywhere else. The redoubtable Miss Maude Pendleton, in her standard navy blue dress, sailed in on the first day back, her serene bearing shouting the message that nothing had changed, and life would go on.

  Prissy Pendleton, supported by parents and students alike, pushed forward with preparations for the Christmas program. Penelope was sorting costumes one Saturday afternoon when a man stalked down the aisle of the auditorium and called out, “I’m going to put a stop to this!”

  Penelope moved to the edge of the stage and looked down. “Who are you?”

  “I’m going to put a stop to this,” the man repeated.

  Penelope squinted into the darkness below. The man’s khaki topcoat swung open, displaying a sunken chest beneath a brown and tan plaid flannel shirt. His thin hair, once blonde but now a dirty yellow, fell around a distinctly weathered face and brushed the collar of the coat . Bitsy Cosgrove was right—the guy’s a creep. Penelope noticed how his eyes didn’t quite seem to focus on her. Or a psycho.

  “Do you have a name?”

  “Harrison Snively.”

  Penelope put her hand over her mouth to hide her laughter. Fits. Just like the character who was always tying the heroine to the railroad tracks.

  “Why do you want to shut down our Christmas program, Mr. Scrooge?”

  “Snively.”

  “Oh, sorry. Why do you want to cause trouble?”

  “This is state property. You can’t have a religious program here.”

  “Uh, no, the school was willed to the town by the owner, who happened to be a descendant of the man who built it over a hundred years ago.”

  “Town’s part of the state.”

  “All the money to renovate it has come from private donations.” That’s only a little lie. The Town Council did give Mary Lynn some money to get started. And why am I telling him what he probably already knows? He’s not from around here, so it’s none of his business anyway.”

  “I filed suit to get this program stopped,” he said in a gravelly voice.

  “Well, when some judge issues an injunction, I guess it’ll stop. Meanwhile, we’re going to get ready for it. Why don’t you go back wherever you came from? Find some children somewhere and steal their candy.”