The Banner (Book 13: Jab Boone Murder Mystery Series) (Jab Boone Murder Mysteries) by Michael Catalano

Author:Michael Catalano [Catalano, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-20T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“Let’s ask that woman in the fields. Perhaps she’s seen Mr. Boone.”

Mickey was surprised Clare said that. He expected her to bulldoze pell-mell into Sykes, the next camp on the map. He had to ask. “Why? What difference does that make?”

Clare smiled. “I want to know Mr. Boone’s state of mind.”

“Okay—but back to my original question. Why?”

“I’m not just a one-dimensional tracker anymore. Mr. Boone calls this ‘seasoning.’” Clare sighed. “Knowing these little tidbits might make me a complete tracker.”

Mickey was impressed. Clare wasn’t a know-it-all. She was still, after all, a high school student. “Very well. Let’s you, Dr. Boone, and I have a chat with her.”

The woman was examining several plant roots. She had graying, tangled hair that could best be described as one large snarl. However, you could not disguise her smile. She was happy to be grimed in the dirt. “Welcome, strangers to the wilderness. I am Mountain Woman.” She gazed at Clare. “Are you their daughter?”

“No, ma’am,” grinned Clare. “I’m here on a—”

“Did you know you could sustain life in the wilderness? You could subsist on its nutrients as well as glean its healing properties?”

“I—didn’t know that,” confessed Clare. She felt out of Mountain Woman’s league.

But Tippy didn’t. “I’m a medical doctor, Mountain Woman. I have included folk medicine and American Indian remedies as part of my practice.” Lately, Jab was her “practice.”

Mountain Woman grinned. “Is this girl your daughter?”

Tippy chuckled. “No, she isn’t. But if I ever have a daughter, I hope she turns out half as good as Clare.”

The herb lady stopped her labors. She saw ten other people waiting on the other side of the field. She nodded knowingly. “You must be part of the peace game.”

“The peace game?” echoed Mickey. He was lost since the lady gave her name.

“Are you searching for John Allen Boone?” Mountain Woman asked.

Clare saw no reason to deny it. “We are, ma’am. He’s my teacher at school.”

“I’m Dr. Tippy Boone. John Allen Boone is my husband,” said Tippy simply. “Mickey here is a good friend of our ‘peace’ quarry.”

Mountain Woman laughed. “I wish I could be part of a peace game. That sounds so groovy. Your man, Dr. Boone, had more respect for nature than most of my constituents. He ate some miner’s lettuce, roots from cat-o-nine-tails. I gave him an energy bar that has no artificial preservatives—”

“So you’ve seen him, ma’am?” Clare asked. She didn’t want to lose too much time with Mountain Woman’s incessant rambling. She sensed another Ezra Parkinson in the mix.

“I have, young mountain guide. I asked your teacher if he would plant a tree. He said he would like to but he had to stay ahead of you. He promised to hug the ground for me.”

Clare refrained from laughing. “That sounds like my teacher, ma’am.” She wasn’t sure if she should say “Ms. Woman,”“Miss Woman,” or “Ms. Mountain Woman.” “Ma’am” was safe.

Mountain Woman wasn’t finished with Clare. “Would you like to plant a tree?”

“I would—but not now, ma’am,” said Clare civilly.

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