Harmless as Doves by P. L. Gaus

Author:P. L. Gaus [Gaus, P. L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781101588802
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2012-06-25T22:00:00+00:00

20

Thursday, October 8

2:20 P.M.

WHEN CAL pulled up at Darba Winters’s place, Bishop Leon Shetler was sitting in his plain black buggy, parked on the lane in front. Cal swung his gray truck into Darba’s drive and walked back to stand beside the bishop’s rig. On the high seat of the buggy, the bishop looked down at Cal and said, “My Katie is inside,” shaking his head.

“Visiting?” Cal asked.

“You don’t know?” Shetler asked, surprised.

“Know what?”

“Darba tore her place apart about an hour ago,” the bishop said, pointing out scratches on his arms and a bruise under his eye. “I had to help the doctor settle her down.”

“What do you mean, she ‘tore her place apart’?” Cal said, as he turned to walk across the lawn toward the house.

Shetler climbed out of his buggy and followed, saying, “Katie and I were already here when the doctor arrived. We were visiting, and Darba was still pretty worried about Billy.”

Cal stopped. “Evie was supposed to tell her that they found Billy’s truck.”

“Dr. Carson told Darba that his truck hadn’t been moved since last night, and the police found blood. Then Darba got nuts. Throwing chairs, tipping over tables, breaking plates, smashing china, punching holes in the walls. Swinging fists, too,” Shetler added, rubbing the bruise on his cheek.

The men climbed the two short steps up onto the front stoop. When Cal started to pull the screened door open, Evelyn Carson met them at the door and said, “I can’t let you in.”

“You need help?” Cal asked.

“Don’t think so,” Carson said, “but Darba should be sleeping. I gave her a sedative, but she’s still up on her feet, crying about Billy. She says we’ve got to call him, and tell him not to ever come back here.”

From the back hallway, they heard Darba screaming, “You run, Billy! You run, boy!”

“What does that mean?” Cal asked.

“She acts like someone’s after him,” Carson said. “She’s been screaming like that since I told her that Billy is missing.”

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