Dodging and Burning by John Copenhaver

Author:John Copenhaver
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Published: 2018-03-22T04:00:00+00:00

12

CEOLA

For several days, questions spun through my head as I built up the nerve to confront Jay with the first page of Lily’s letter that I’d found in his room. I considered the places she had mentioned—DC, the Howard, Carroll’s, the Showboat, Croc’s—and the people she had mentioned—Teddie B. and Billy, and in the second page of the letter, George and Aunt Kathy. I wanted to know, I had to know, what these places really meant and who these people really were. So finally I set off for the Greenwood farm to find Jay.

Like a diligent Blue Hearts Club member, I checked for an encoded message as I passed by the dead tree. The hollow was empty. I took the shortcut over a ridge, the way Ceola often took, but one I usually avoided because of the scraggly underbrush and the steepness of the grade.

On the climb up the ridge, I grabbed tree limbs above me to hoist myself over the outcroppings of limestone bedrock. Toward the top of the climb, I noticed a bright yellow piece of paper caught in a mesh of blackberry bushes. I would’ve dismissed it as trash if it had been in a more frequently trafficked area, but here it was out of place.

I plucked it from the bramble. It was a flyer for the Amazing Zelkos Carnival. On the back, Jay had written: “Cee—Do you want to go?” I stuffed the flyer into the pocket of my dress and quickened my pace.

When I arrived at the house, I threw open the door to Jay’s lair in an impulsive, almost cavalier gesture. Again, I had been left out. I wanted Jay to pay attention. But to my surprise (and I was quite startled), Letitia was there on his cot, a faint outline in the semidarkness of the room. She didn’t bother to look up.

“Mrs. Greenwood?” I said rather loudly, fear registering in my voice. She didn’t respond. I repeated myself, but more softly this time.

“He’s gone,” she said.

“Where? To the carnival?” I held up the flyer.

She raised her head, and a thin bar of light fell across her face. Her watery blue eye blinked. For an instant, I felt certain she knew everything. I stepped forward.

“Stop!” she said, and I stopped.

“I don’t understand.”

“These shoes aren’t your shoes?” In her lap were the ribbon-bowed Ferragamos.

“They don’t fit. I already showed you.”

“You did. Yes, you did.”

“They belong to a dead woman.”

She looked away.

“Mrs. Greenwood, do you know anything about Lily Vellum?”

“I couldn’t say.”

“Jay knew her.”

“And you believe the shoes belong to her?”

“Yes.”

“You’re wrong about that.”

“Why?”

“Get out of here. Leave me alone.”

“Who do they belong to? Who is FL?”

“Ask my grandson. Now, get out of here!”

“Please.”

She reached behind her and pulled her shotgun across her lap. The end of its polished black barrel caught the light from the door. One of the shoes fell from her knees and clattered on the tiles, the FL R showing on its sole. She didn’t move to pick it up.

I backed out of the room, keeping my eyes on her and clutching the side of the doorframe as a guide.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.