Tru & Nelle by G. Neri

Author:G. Neri
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

22

Driving Lesson

Nelle hated that Big Boy’s house didn’t have a phone. If she ever wanted to see him and school wasn’t in session, she had to ride her bike or get A.C. to give her a lift out to Drewry Road.

But A.C. was busy today and the bike was no good on the sloppy winter roads with their ankle-deep tire ruts, so she had to hoof it to Big Boy’s. But if she was going to apologize to Boss today, she needed backup. Wrapped in Bear’s old coat, Nelle was steadily getting hotter and hotter as she walked. When she heard a car coming her way and saw Truman’s tiny head barely peeking over its steering wheel, Nelle thought she was hallucinating.

She could see Sook holding on for dear life. The car was swerving all over the road. Nelle started to edge over to the side. She waved at Truman, but since she couldn’t see his eyes, he couldn’t see her either. Had Sook not yelled “Stop!” Truman might have run her over.

Nelle ended up diving into a bramble of barren huckleberry bushes. Truman skidded to a stop and popped his head over the steering wheel. “Nelle! What are you doing there?”

“What in tarnation!” said Nelle. She wrestled her way out of the bramble. “You coulda kilt me!” she shouted, pulling twigs from her collar. “Who said you could drive that thing?”

“Um, Sook did.”

Sook smiled. “Morning, Nelle. You coming to see us?”

Nelle nodded. “Morning, Miss Sook. As a matter of fact, yes.” She climbed into the back seat of the car. “Truman, you won’t believe what happened. There’s been a murder!”

Truman and Sook twisted around, eyes wide. “Who?” they both said.

Nelle grew serious. “Mr. Northrup, at the riverfront store.”

Sook crossed herself. “Good Lord. A Christmas murder? That’s downright terrible.”

But Truman was excited. “Do they know who did it?”

Nelle shook her head. “No. But there was two of ’em. Robbed him of a couple dollars and a loaf of bread. And this.” She reached into her pocket and produced the plastic Santa figurine. “I found it at the crime scene.”

“That’s just terrible,” said Sook. “Who would do such a thing during the holidays?”

“I don’t think they meant to,” said Nelle. “A.C. said a fight broke out and things got out of hand. Maybe they just wanted some food and Mr. Northrup tried to scare ’em off.”

Truman looked at Nelle. She had that gleam in her eye, but it was tempered by the fact that this wasn’t just a common robbery. A man had lost his life.

“Before you even go thinking about writing a story about this,” Nelle said, “A.C. says this ain’t a case for children. The sheriff is on it and said we should butt out like everybody else.”

“The sheriff,” scoffed Truman. “We all know he’s lacking in detective skills.”

“Truman,” said Sook, “don’t dilly-dally—​we need to get going if we want to be back before everyone wakes up. Nelle, you’re welcome to come with us.”

“Where you going?”

“Mudtown. To pay a visit.

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