The Secrets of Tree Taylor by Dandi Daley Mackall

Author:Dandi Daley Mackall [Mackall, Dandi Daley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-375-89982-9
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2014-05-13T04:00:00+00:00

I wasn’t sure I understood it, but I turned to a clean page in my notebook and started over. This time, I discovered that the hardest part was not making things up. Like I’d talked to two women who volunteered in the church nursery with Sarah and me, and they told me stuff about Lois Dodge before she got married. Only I couldn’t remember their exact words, and I didn’t want to make anything up. And when I tried to record my DeShon interview, I could have guessed which DeShon boy said what. But the truth was, I couldn’t tell those boys apart. I wondered if real newspaper people had the same problem.

The rain kept coming off and on, and the pool stayed closed. D.J. and Sarah both called and told me to knock off the rain dances. Sarah reported that her mother hadn’t started sewing her costume for the steam engine show yet—she was too busy with the yard sale. While emptying junk from the attic, Sarah had found a bonnet in an old trunk. She sounded as stir-crazy as I felt.

I got so desperate, I phoned Penny. Her sister answered and hollered for Penny to come to the phone. I heard two clicks and figured they were on a party line, which meant that several houses shared the line and any of them could listen in.

“Hello?” Penny sounded scared, even on the phone.

“Hi, Penny. This is Tree.”

“I know.”

This wasn’t going to be easy. Sarah and I could talk forever without thinking about it. “So, what are you up to on this rainy day?”

“Reading.”

“Yeah? Cool. What are you reading?”

“Fahrenheit 451. I know we read it in school, but I’m rereading it.”

“Great book.”

The line went silent, except for a cough that didn’t come from either of us.

“Okay, then.” I couldn’t think of a single thing to say. “So, see you later?”

“Okay. Bye.”

That afternoon I visited Mrs. Kinney again. We had a little routine going. She grinned, and I grinned back as she opened the door. We took our appointed seats, and I checked out how her baskets were coming along.

“Your mama called to ask if I wanted to visit Alfred in the hospital,” she said, getting up from her chair. “As you see, I declined.”

“How come?”

“Don’t reckon I’ll be seeing Alfred again.” There was not a note of regret in her voice. I thought of Jack’s word, “relieved.” She sounded relieved.

This was the perfect opening for me to hit her with the hard questions Randy would have wanted answered. Did Alfred say he’d never see her again? Or was she the one who said it? And what about that gun in her arms on the porch that morning?

She came out with my hot chocolate. I took a sip and set it on the rickety table. She’d sprinkled nutmeg on the whipped cream. “Thanks. I love nutmeg on top.”

She sipped her chocolate. “Nutmeg is poisonous if you give it in a shot. But it’s just right on whipped cream on a rainy day.

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