River's Call by Laurel Thomas

Author:Laurel Thomas [Thomas, Laurel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: historical fiction, U.S. historical fiction, Southern U.S. historical fiction, historical mystery/suspense, historical coming of age
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2019-07-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Back at the shelter, Missy tracked Adele down. She’d tell Adele about Mr. Lucas and see if she could help. She was an honest woman, and strong. But how would she feel about hearing one of their founders had probably murdered the other one?

Adele was in Missy’s room, changing the sheets on Gwen’s bed. She stood up when Missy came through the door. Something about her body looked like a giant sigh. Missy’s insides choked up. She couldn’t accuse an adult like Jeremiah Lucas with what she suspected, not unless she could prove it. Adele didn’t operate in think so’s and maybe’s.

Instead, she’d face the matter at hand.

“What are we going to do about Gwen?” Missy asked, hoping that Adele heard the “we” part.

“Don’t know. Plan to figure it out, though.”

“Pa said he went to school with you. And Emmett and Mr. Lucas.”

“That’s right.” She plopped down on the bed, as if tiredness had zapped her last bit of strength. Missy paused, then sat beside her. Not too close, but in the same vicinity.

She needed to know about those years when she, Pa, Emmett, and Mr. Lucas had been young. Maybe there were some clues there. She took a breath, hoping her question wouldn’t sound like an interrogation. And that Adele wouldn’t get spooked.

“Were you and Pa friends with Sheriff Davis and Mr. Lucas?” asked Missy in a soft voice as Adele closed her eyes. She was quiet so long, Missy thought she’d forgotten she was there.

Finally, she spoke. “Until the night we graduated from high school.”

Missy ventured one more question. “What happened?”

Adele looked at her, then at the floor. She clasped her hands in front of her, as if she wasn’t sure what to do with them. “There was a drowning at the river. A friend of mine.”

Missy tried not to gasp. She thought about Clarence and how he’d almost drowned. And would have, if Pa hadn’t shown up. “Who was it?”

“Her name was Janie Truett. We were neighbors when we were little. Spent lots of hours exploring, hanging out together. Grew into teenagers, fell in love every other week, stayed friends through it all.

“Don’t know what happened.” Adele stopped again. The hallway was quiet, the shelter still, as if they waited, like Missy, for her to go on.

“The party was on the beach near our favorite cove. Maybe she’d been showing off. Don’t know how she could’ve slipped in without notice. She’d died alone right in the middle of a bunch of people. We were the bunch of people.

“Still haunts me. Can’t figure out why I wasn’t there when she needed me.”

Missy felt as if she’d been tossed into a painful secret with kids in another time. Ones who’d seen what kids should never have seen. Like her, they’d stored it inside, only to find it pop up in the quiet, unwilling to be forgotten.

Missy had to ask a question that she knew was somehow rooted in history she hadn’t been a part of.

“Did Pa and Emmett hate each other back then, too?” she asked.

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.