Dorothy Garlock (8 page)

“I know the way. You don’t have to come with me.”

“I’ll go with you to see Mrs. Poole, then take you to the library, where you’ll stay until I come back for you.”

Joy began to panic. How was she going to keep Joe from knowing that wanting to see Mrs. Poole was just an excuse to get to town? Oh, Lord, what if he stayed to hear her suggestions for the harvest party?

Think. I have to think of something.

She had a moment of relief when they entered the store and Fred said his sister was at home.

“Business is slow. Not many people coming to town because of the muddy roads.”

“Is the river still rising?”

“It’s leveled off, they say. Let’s hope they don’t have a lot of rain north of us. It wouldn’t take much to bring her up and over the banks.”

“Come on, Sis. We’ll walk over to the house. See ya, Fred.” “You don’t have to come.”

“Are you trying to get rid of me?” Joe asked as they left the store.

“You make me feel like a baby.”

“You are a baby. My baby sister. If I see a boy eyeing you, I’m going to knock his teeth out.”

“You wouldn’t!” Joy raised fearful eyes to her brother’s face and saw his teasing grin. “You . . . polecat. You make me so mad!”

They walked the rest of the way in silence.

When Mrs. Poole came to the door, she looked first at Joy, then at Joe, who stood behind her. An expression of near fright came over her face.

“Hello, Mrs. Poole.” Joy’s voice trembled.

“Howdy, ma’am.”

When the woman said nothing, Joy said, “I thought of a few things we could do at the harvest party and wanted to tell you about them if you’re not busy.”

“Oh . . .” Mrs. Poole opened the screen door. “Come in.” Joe said, to Joy’s relief, “I’ll wait here on the porch.” “You’re welcome to come in,” Mrs. Poole said.

“That porch swing looks inviting. Take your time, honey. I’ll be here.”

“My brothers think that I’m such a baby,” Joy explained when she and Mrs. Poole were alone.

“My brother thought the same about me when we were growing up. But we know better, don’t we? I can tell that you are a very levelheaded young lady, and your brothers will have to realize that you can make some decisions for yourself. Come into the parlor, Joy. This is a rare treat for me to have a young lady call on me.”

“My suggestions may not be worth much.”

“I’m sure they will be a help. I’ve never planned a party for young people. I need all the help I can get. Sit down, my dear.”

“What do you think about having the girls bring box lunches and the boys throwing apples? The one who throws the farthest gets to choose first and so on.”

“I don’t know, dear. There are more girls than boys.” “Golly. I hadn’t thought of that.”

“We’ll be going on a hayrack ride. Afterward we’ll have a bonfire and roast marshmallows. Mr. Oakley, at the store, has already promised to furnish them.”

Shirley’s eyes searched every feature of the girl’s face and carefully noticed the way she tilted her head of blond curls.
She could have been mine. It’s not fair!

“We need to plan games, Joy. Can you stop in after school one day?”

“It’s hard for me to stop after school. Either Julie or Evan comes for me, or I ride with Sylvia’s folks. I could come on Saturday.”

“That will be fine. Plan to spend the afternoon. We’ll put our heads together to make this the best harvest party the church has ever had. Maybe you and I could make cookies for the party.”

“That would be fun, Mrs. Poole.” When Joy stood, Shirley moved close and put her arm across her shoulders.

“It’s been a treat for me to have you visit. Come anytime you’re in town.”

“Is the doctor’s new nurse staying here?”

“Yes, but she’s busy and I don’t see much of her.” They had reached the door, and before Joy could push it open, Shirley said, “I’m so glad you came, Joy. I’d like for us to be friends.”

“I’d like that, too, Mrs. Poole. Good-bye.”

Joe was waiting, and they walked down the steps to the street before he spoke.

“Well, how did it go?”

“She’s nice. She invited me to come back anytime.” “Did she, now?”

“What do you mean by that? She said that I’ve got a level head and should be able to make some decisions for myself.”

“Did she, now?”

“Stop saying that, Joe. I like her. She talks to me like I’m an adult. I’m going back there next Saturday so we can plan the games.”

“Plan games, huh?”

“And make cookies.”

“Uh-huh. Where to now?”

“Library, but I’d rather go to the show.” They were passing the theater, and Joy stopped to look at the billboards. “Oh, look, Joe.
Tarzan, the Ape Man
is playing.” She stared in awe at the near-naked Johnny Weissmuller perched on the limb of a tree.

“You can’t go to the show and leave Sylvia waiting at the library.”

Joy looked up at her brother, her lower lip clenched between her teeth.

“She may not be there. It’s so . . . muddy.”

“She
won’t
be there.” Joe spoke even as the thought came to him. “You lied to Julie.”

“No! Sylvia didn’t say for sure. She was going to try to come in with her father when he came in to see Mr. Oakley. If she did, she was going to wait for me at the library.”

“Come on. We’ll see if she’s there.”

“And if she isn’t, you’ll take me to the show?”

“I’ve got more important things to do than to watch a near-naked man swing through the trees.”

“I bet if it was a near-naked girl, you’d find the time to watch,” Joy grumbled and hurried to catch up with her brother.

Chapter 6

J
ACK STRAINED TO HELP
C
ORBIN
A
PPLEBY
transfer the heavy roll of newsprint to the press and set it in place. In the back room of the
Fertile Sentinel
the air was heavy with the odor of melting lead, ink and cigarette smoke from the man at the linotype machine setting copy for the Tuesday edition.

“That son of a gun is heavy.” Jack raised his voice in order to be heard over the sound of the machine.

“That’s the God’s truth.” Corbin wiped his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt. “Thanks. Come on up front where we can talk without having to shout.” He paused beside the man at the linotype and waited for him to complete a line of lead and drop it in place before he spoke. “That’s the last to be set today. When you finish, you can start tearing down pages.” The man nodded, and Corbin led Jack to the office.

“I’m obliged for the help.” Corbin sat in a rolling chair behind a cluttered desk.

Jack shrugged. “I’m getting damn tired of this rain. Not much to do at the farm until it dries up a bit.”

“I was down looking at the river this morning. I’ve not seen it this high. It won’t take much more for it to go over the banks.”

“It flooded once back during the war. It took out a lot of shacks and came up past Main Street. There’s a high-water mark on the corner of the bank building.”

“I’ve seen it.” Corbin leaned back in his chair. “Just west of here they’re having droughts. Figure that out.”

“Too much rain is about as bad as not enough.”

Both men knew they were making small talk leading up to the real reason why Corbin stopped his work and brought Jack to the office.

“Did Evan talk to you about the police job?”

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking I’d like to have a go at it if you think I can do the job.”

“Jobs are few and far between nowadays. As soon as word gets out, there’ll be fifty men here applying for it.”

“Do I have a chance?”

“Better than most. You’ve got me and Evan rooting for you, and I think Doc will put in a good word, but your carousing the last few months may go against you.” Corbin’s level gaze held Jack’s.

“I’ve been at loose ends lately.” Jack’s voice was neither apologetic nor defensive. It was a mere statement.

“A man is usually judged by the way he handles the rough hands he’s dealt.”

“And I’ve failed the test?”

“Not yet.”

Jack’s pride was pricked. “If you think I can’t cut the mustard, don’t recommend me. I sure as hell would hate to put you, Evan and Doc in a bad light.”

“I wouldn’t put my neck out if I didn’t think you’d make a good officer. I’m willing to put my reputation and my years of law enforcement experience on the line and help train you. The mayor asked me to help them find a good man because I was an officer here at one time.”

Jack grew still. His eyes held those of his friend as he remembered the day Corbin had told him a minor-league baseball team was coming to town to play the locals and that he was good enough to play on the Fertile team.

The man looking so steadily back at him had played an important role in his life. There was not another man outside his family whom he respected more.

“I’ll not let you down.” His voice was hoarse.

“I never thought for a minute that you would, once you decided that this was something you wanted to do. Now we’ve got to work at getting you the job.”

For the next hour Corbin talked about his own training to be a military policeman while he was in the army, his service in France, coming to Fertile and the problems he’d had with one of the council members.

“Most of it boils down, Jack, to using good old common horse sense. You’ll run into situations where there are no set guidelines, and you’ll have to do what you think is best. Personal likes and dislikes must be put aside. A hothead has no business in law enforcement. There will be times when you will be so angry you’ll want to bash in a head, but you must hold your temper and do what the law requires. Other times a good friend of yours might be breaking the law, and it would be easy for you to look the other way. You must do your duty as a police officer regardless of who is doing the wrong thing.”

“I have a lot to learn.”

Corbin placed two books on the desk. “Study these books. If Evan and I are successful in getting you an interview with the city council, you’ll be halfway prepared for some of the questions they’ll ask you.

“Now you’d better get over and see Annabel and Murphy. She’s been complaining that you’ve not been around much lately.”

A smile lightened Jack’s face. “When’s the baby due?” “Pretty soon now. In a day or two I’m going to tie Doc’s leg to the post on my porch.”

Jack laughed. “He said that you were a pain in the butt when Murphy was born. I think he called you an
id-idiot
.”

“Wait until his wife has a baby and we’ll see how he acts.” Corbin stood. “I’ll keep in touch and let you know how things are going. There’s one man on the council that’s against anything I’m for, but he’s on good terms with Evan. I’ll let Evan handle him.”

In spite of the cloudy day, the world seemed brighter when Jack left Corbin’s office. He wondered what Ruby May would think about his being a policeman. He had always thought that someday he and Ruby would be married. They had known each other since before they started school. But, hell, he didn’t have anything to offer her now; they’d have to live in the house with his pa and Eudora. He couldn’t ask her to give up her teaching job for that.

She’d gone out twice, that he knew of, with that smart aleck who worked for the electric company. The man’s wife hadn’t been cold in the ground before he was out looking around. Ruby was smart. But was she smart enough to see that what he wanted was a woman to take care of his kids? She’d not fall for that smooth-talking lineman even if he did have a house and a good job.

But oh, God. What if she did?

“Well, for goodness’ sake!” April sat at the desk with Doc’s ledger open in front of her and struggled to read some of the scribbling he’d made during the weeks before she arrived. She figured that HC stood for house call and OC was for office call.

April ran her finger down the list. There were very few charges for more than a dollar and very few notations identifying the treatment. Only occasionally was there a date beside the entry and no indication that any of the patients had paid for his services.

A half hour later, still trying to figure out Doc’s strange bookkeeping, she looked up as the door opened and Joe Jones stepped inside.

“You’re still here.” His words surprised her.

“Didn’t you expect me to be?”

“Wasn’t sure. I thought Doc’s ladies might have scared you off.”

“Laws,” she snorted. “It would take more than a few jealous cats to run me off. He’s in the house if you want to see him.”

“I don’t. I’d rather talk to you.”

She put her pencil down and folded her arms. “Go ahead. Talk.”

“How do you keep that cap perched on top of your head?” “Bobby pins.”

“How do you keep that uniform looking as crisp and new as a two-dollar bill?”

“Wash, starch and iron. In that order.”

“You look damn fetching in it.”

“Thanks. Anything else?” She tried not to smile at him and failed miserably.

“Can’t you say something nice about me?”

“Give me a day or two and I’ll think of something.”

His eyes were warm and friendly, and with that devilish grin on his face he was sinfully handsome. He stood with his booted feet spread, his hands in his back pockets.

“How’s Daisy?”

Her mouth opened, then closed before she said seriously, “The last time I saw her she was still sitting beside Mrs. Poole’s house trying to shake the wet leaves off her hat.”

“She’s a tough old bird.”

“That she is.”

“Will you go to the picture show with me tonight?” “Well, I don’t know. Are you trustworthy?”

“A pillar of the community.”

“Seems like I’ve heard that somewhere before.”

“It’s true. I’ll swear on a stack of Bibles.”

The screen door opened and Jack stepped into the office. April hadn’t even heard him cross the porch.