Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin

Author:Lynn Austin
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Tags: Romance, Inspirational, Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9780764204982
Publisher: Bethany House
Published: 2011-09-30T22:00:00+00:00

I’ve decided to stay in Acorn a while longer and help out,” I told the other librarians the next morning. I expected smiles and maybe even thanks. I got neither. The women didn’t seem to believe me—or else they thought I was a fool who couldn’t make up her mind. I packed some books and rode my route, stopping to see June Ann, the Sawyers, and Cora’s brother and sister-in-law. Lillie had said I should poke around. Mack implied that if we solved the mystery of who had tried to kill him, maybe he could come out of hiding. I would begin today.

Cora’s brother was finally out of bed, limping around the cabin in his long johns. As I piled books on his table and handed Granny a new Ladies’ Home Journal to read, he squinted at me suspiciously. “I don’t believe Cora ever told us why you come down here to our town in the first place.”

I explained how I had collected the donated books and brought them to Kentucky. “In fact, the book I brought you today is one of the new ones.” I finished with a smile, proud of my achievement. Clint’s eyes narrowed even more until they formed slits.

“Where’d you say you was from again?”

“I live in a small town in Illinois, not too far from Chicago.”

“Chicago? Ain’t that where all them gangsters come from? That John Dillinger fella—‘Public Enemy Number One’?”

My perky smile began to waver. “Chicago does have that reputation. And it’s true that Dillinger was killed in Chicago.”

“Well, if you brought the books already, why ain’t you going home?”

“I decided to stay and help out in the library after Mack’s . . . accident.”

“You a good friend of that MacDougal fellow?”

Before I could reply, Gladys chimed in. “He’s a Larkin, you know.”

I stifled a sigh. “I never met Mack until the day I arrived to deliver the books.”

Clint picked up a poker and jabbed the fire. “Sounds mighty suspicious to me. Don’t get too many flatlanders around here unless they’re up to something.”

Great. Was he going to accuse me of being a revenuer, too? My smile vanished completely as I searched for a graceful way to exit this conversation—and this cabin. I had liked Clint a lot better when he was flat on his back, not brandishing a poker and squinting his eyes at me. I was supposed to be asking the questions, not answering them.

“Cora says you’ve been getting real friendly with Miss Lillie,” Gladys said. “That true?”

“I’m not sure what you mean. We are friends, I suppose. We live together. Miss Lillie is all alone now that Mack is gone, and she needs someone to help her. Did you know that she’s one hundred years old?”

Gladys nodded, her expression pinched with distrust. “Miss Lillie’s been doctoring folks and birthing babies around here since before most of us was born. She knows everyone’s secrets, and you can bet she’ll use them to her advantage. I hear she took care of Great-Granddaddy Larkin before he died.

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