Tidewater Murder by C. Hope Clark

Author:C. Hope Clark
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BelleBooks Inc.
Published: 2016-12-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

I ARRIVED AT the Amicks’ home around ten. Ivy chattered with energy to spare, but I could’ve slept standing. I wanted to drag my worn out body to bed. Dolly, Buddy, and Ivy studied a Scrabble board as though it held the answers to world peace.

“So how’s it going?” I asked. No tiles left in the box. Good. The game was in the home stretch.

“Shhh, Momma,” my daughter scolded. “I’m concentrating.” Dolly Amick cut a glance at me and smiled. Ivy laid down five tiles and hit a triple word score. “Pow! Y’all beat that. P-R-A-N-K.”

“I’ll be danged.” Buddy’s fingers drummed on the table. “I can’t beat that.”

“She’s sharp,” I said. “Did y’all have a good time?”

I spoke to Ivy, but Dolly answered. “Oh, baby, we’ve shared the grandest time. Let’s see . . . we picked blueberries and made pancakes with them. We gathered eggs.”

Ivy jumped up. “They’ve got baby chickens, Momma. Teeny ones,” she said squealing as she cupped her hands. “And I can put a chicken to sleep.”

Better time than I had.

“I think I learned something about Beau,” I said.

Ivy shook her head and threw me a wary look. Dolly’s face brightened, then she caught herself. “How’s that?”

I relayed the story about the Gullah man, the spirit world, medicinal plants, and hexes, holding back the discussion with Kamba about Beau after seeing Ivy’s reaction.

“Can he put jinxes on people you don’t like?” Ivy leaned her elbows on the kitchen table, her foot swinging. She’d perked up at my story, as if seeing me in a cooler light.

“You ready to come home, Ivy?”

“Aww, Momma,” she whined as only a preteen girl could. “My bed here has huge fluffy quilts to sink into. It’s like being a princess. Can I stay, please? We planned on going to Sunday School in the morning if you didn’t get back in time.”

Buddy walked over to me. “It’s no trouble, Slade. It’s a Presbyterian church in Chapin. We thought she’d meet some kids her age.”

Watch what you wish for. I’d asked for a local babysitter and found the perfect one in the Amicks. Problem was, and I’d be selfish to consider it a problem, the Amicks appealed to her more than I did. “Of course I approve.” A pang shot through my heart.

Buddy studied me. “We’re just being neighborly, sugar. You’re welcome to come.”

I smiled. “Spent a fitful night in a bad motel after a long hard day at work. I’ll take a rain check.”

“You sure?” he asked.

I waved aside his concern. “Positive. I’m lucky to have you two around.”

After ordering my daughter to behave, out of pure habit, since she appeared to be a perfect angel, I drove around the corner to home. With tea water on the stove, I ran to the bedroom to slip into gym shorts and a tie-dyed T-shirt. The water was boiling by the time I returned to the kitchen. I steeped the life everlasting weed into a tan tea, strained the liquid into a mug, and added a tablespoon of lemon and a healthy jolt of sour mash.

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