Calamity at the Carnival by London Lovett

Author:London Lovett [Lovett, London]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wild Fox Press

Chapter 19

My phone rang just as I reached the jeep. "I left two voicemails," Emily said with unusual irritation in her tone. "Why didn't you call me back?"

"I'm sorry, Em. I was on assignment, so I'd muted my phone. What's up? Are you guys having a romantically good time?" I opened the car door and climbed inside.

"How come you didn't tell me about Lana?" Emily was rarely this upset.

"Uh, because I didn't want to ruin your time away. I'm sorry." I heard chickens clucking in the background. "Where are you? I hear chickens."

"Yes. Those are my chickens. Hold on." There was some shuffling and more clucking. "Out, King Harold, right now, you scoundrel," Emily snapped. She got back on the phone. "Nick woke up with a sore throat, so we decided to head back early. That was on the voicemail I left you."

"Again, I apologize. I was just about to head to your house to feed the critters, but I guess I'll just go straight to Lana's to check on her."

Soft bleating sounds came through the phone.

"Are those my girls?" I asked. "Have they been saying good things about me?"

Emily's tone lightened. "Yes, they said Auntie Sunni took good care of them. I'm making an artichoke frittata and corn muffins to take to Lana's for dinner. Nick took his cup of tea and honey and crawled into bed, so I figured I'd spend some time with her. I'll see you when I get there. What assignment were you on that kept you from answering your phone?"

"It started as a dull story about the Spring Fair Carnival," I said.

"Oh, that shabby, run-down thing." It was rare for Emily to be negative, even about shabby, run-down carnivals. It was obvious she was upset that not only had her nice trip been cut short by Nick's sort throat but then she came home to discover that Lana had been hurt and we'd kept it secret from her. To add insult to injury, I'd ignored my phone for a good three hours.

"It definitely needs, as they say, 'a new coat of paint'," I said. "And now, it seems they'll be looking for a fortune teller."

Emily paused. "Did you say a fortune teller?"

I started the jeep. "Yes, their usual psychic, Madame Cherise, was murdered."

Emily's sigh fizzled through the phone. "Jeez, Sunni, why are you always stepping into the middle of a murder?"

"I don't know. Just lucky I guess," I quipped.

"And weird and kooky and a little ghoulish," she added. "I've got to check on my frittata and my patient. I'll see you at Lana's."

"All right. Tell Nick I hope he feels better soon. And bring extra butter for those corn muffins. Lana's fridge was looking kind of empty this morning."

"I better stop by the store on the way. See you soon."

I made a quick stop home to pick up the dogs. I'd been neglecting them for the past few days, and I was sure they'd like to see Lana and Emily. Henry and Ursula had already packed up for the evening.

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.