How to Get a Neigh with Murder : A Cozy Mystery for Animal Lovers (Bought-the-Farm Mystery Book 10) by Ellen Riggs

Author:Ellen Riggs [Riggs , Ellen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781989303788
Published: 2021-09-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

After the training session, Gertie followed my truck and trailer to an abandoned gas station on the main highway, where the rest of my family had agreed to convene before our road trip to Mt. Wilshire.

Edna was riding beside me, musing aloud about Trelise’s chances of survival after the apocalypse. “I don’t give her a week, Ivy. The bigger the ego, the harder and faster they fall. Yet she had the audacity to challenge you about humility.”

I laughed. “I think that’s what therapists call projection, Edna.”

“Well, I don’t have patience for psychobabble, as you know, but it sounds about right.”

“I expect to see plenty of projection during our visit to my grandparents today,” I said. “How is it that you’ve never mentioned Albert and Gardenia, Edna? I assume you knew them.”

“Knew of them,” Edna said. “They moved while I was working down the range—long before I came back to Clover Grove. They wanted to disappear and they did a very good job. I guess part of me respected that and I put them out of my mind.” She tapped her permed curls. “There’s a lot going on in here, Ivy, and I can’t keep up with all your family dealings. They weren’t relevant, before. Now they are.”

“Okay. Makes sense.” I wasn’t sure I fully bought her story, but Edna wasn’t a collector of information like Myrtle McCain. She had her own obsessions, and Gertie did, too. The latter was a relative latecomer to Clover Grove who’d spent years fighting crazy treasure hunters. I doubted they’d deliberately kept this information from me, or if they had, perhaps they were waiting for the right time. And there was never a right time.

“I’m hardly in a position to advise on family issues,” Edna said. “So I’ll just stick to what I know, which is tactical warfare. Go in with an open mind and you might add more bodies and knowledge to the side of good.”

“That means less room in the bunker,” I said, smiling.

“There’s always room for smart, capable people who contribute. If they don’t contribute, just delete them again. That’s what I do.”

At the gas station, Jilly and Asher waved from his truck. Daisy’s van sat behind them holding everyone else.

Mom hopped out and called, “I’m riding with Ivy. Edna, you’ll need to ride home with Gertie. Be a love and drop Keats and Percy at the farm? My parents are animal haters. It’s one of their many flaws.”

“I’m taking orders from Dahlia, now?” Edna grumbled.

“Hang tight,” I said. “I’ll get this sorted out.”

Mom clicked toward my truck on her favorite heels. Those red alligator pumps had taken a beating and still looked brand new. Some evenings, I found her polishing them lovingly, the way I decompressed by patting Keats and Percy. Today, she’d paired them with her power suit, also red, which probably had an imaginary girdle just like Jilly’s.

Despite the polished outfit, it was obvious she was completely flustered. Her eyeliner and red lipstick were not only excessive but uneven, which meant her hand had trembled as she applied them.

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