The Old Buzzard Had It Coming by Donis Casey

Author:Donis Casey [Casey, Donis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Murder, Mystery & Detective, Frontier and Pioneer Life - Oklahoma, Oklahoma, Fiction, Murder - Oklahoma, Mystery Fiction, Women Sleuths, Historical, General
ISBN: 9781590581490
Google: KV3qAAAACAAJ
Amazon: 1590581490
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Published: 2005-07-02T04:00:00+00:00

Alafair had a side word with Shaw as the children were readying for bed. What she told him was the truth, though not the whole truth. She implied to the bewildered father that she was offering counsel and comfort to a girl teetering on the edge of heartbreak, and that mother and daughter intended to step outside for a little walk and a heart to heart before sleeping. Shaw had no reason to find this suspicious, having lived through several girlish traumas in the twenty years he had had daughters. He did offer the opinion that it was too dang cold to go traipsing around outside in the dark, but after Alafair pointed out to him with some asperity that there was not a corner of the house that was beyond eight sets of prying ears, he admitted that she was correct. She comforted him by promising that they would go to the barn for a bit.

When Alafair and Phoebe finally left the house, bundled to the eyes and clutching food and drink under their coats, it was pitch dark and bitingly cold. They made their way to the soddie with a detour through the barn, because Alafair had said they were going to the barn, and she did what she said. When they reached the soddie, Alafair paused by the door and drew Phoebe over to her.

“I don’t want you telling him anything about what Doctor Addison found, Phoebe,” she warned the girl. “In fact, don’t be talking to him about his father’s murder at all, or about what’s going to happen. You leave that to me.”

“But I can talk to him?” Phoebe asked anxiously.

“Sure you can. I’ll even let you two alone for a few minutes before we go back to the house, if you promise to do as I ask.”

“You know I’ll do whatever you say, Mama,” Phoebe assured her.

John Lee was sitting on a bale of hay in his little cubicle, obviously waiting for them. He stood when Alafair squeezed herself through the opening in the bales. “Hello, son,” she greeted. She reached back through to relieve Phoebe of the lantern, and was holding the light high when Phoebe popped into view, so she had a clear and unobstructed view of John Lee’s face.

The greeting he was about to give Alafair died on his lips when Phoebe appeared, and the look of absolute adoration that came into his eyes when he saw her daughter startled Alafair. Oh, she had known beforehand that she had a problem on her hands with Phoebe’s affection for John Lee. But in one moment of insight, she realized that these two children loved one another with the kind of love that would wither them if it were thwarted. She swallowed.

“Phoebe, I’m glad to see you,” John Lee managed.

“Oh, John Lee, me too,” Phoebe breathed.

Alafair cleared her throat ostentatiously, and both youngsters looked at her, abashed. “Well, John Lee, I’m glad to see you’re still here,” she said.

His eyes widened in mild surprise.

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