Miss Julia Delivers the Goods (39 page)

“I never heard anything like that. Did you?”

“Nope, not a word. All I ever heard was lawyers moaning about what a tyrant he was.” Sam turned off the living room lights and we started up the stairs to bed.

Reaching the second floor, I turned toward Lloyd’s room. His door was open and the lights and television were on. I looked in and saw him sitting propped up on the bed, still in his shorts and polo shirt.

“Hey, honey,” I said, “you about ready for bed?”

“No’m, not yet. I’m going to stay up till Mama gets home.”

“I wouldn’t wait up if I were you, she could be late getting in. Can’t you just imagine what all they have to talk about? They have weeks to catch up with. Why, I figure Mr. Pickens is over there pleading for his life, while your mother is holding his feet to the fire.”

He smiled at the thought, which was better than him thinking about what, in all likelihood, they were really doing. But I quickly put that out of my mind, too.

“Anyway,” I went on, “you know Mr. Pickens will look after her.”

“Yessum, I know. But I’ll probably worry till she gets home.”

After giving him a few more assurances, which probably didn’t help, I left to prepare for bed. Thinking I would just catnap until I heard Hazel Marie come in, I fell fast asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. The day had worn me out, as it had Sam because he was asleep before I crawled in beside him.

My eyes flew open sometime later, but not too much later for I saw by the clock on the nightstand that only a couple of hours had passed. Something had awakened me, a soft thump somewhere in the house. Sam was still breathing steadily in deep sleep beside me, while I lay there picturing Hazel Marie tiptoeing in downstairs. I started to get up, anxious to hear what had passed between her and Mr. Pickens. Then I decided I shouldn’t appear too eager, so I settled back down.

It didn’t take long to get enough of that. I slipped out of bed, found my robe and did a little tiptoeing myself. I eased down the staircase, trying not to wake Sam or Lloyd, but not wanting to scare Hazel Marie either. With the few lights we’d left on, I had no trouble seeing where I was going, but the hall was filled with shadows and silences. I heard no more thumps, no more footsteps, and by the time I reached the front hall and crept back toward Hazel Marie’s room, I was beginning to think that my mind had played a trick on me and nobody was there at all.

And sure enough, when I peeked into her room where a small lamp was on, the bed was still made and there was no sign of her. Well, except for the cardboard patch over the broken window pane, but of course that concerned her exit, not her return.

I padded softly into the back hall, thinking I’d check the kitchen. She might be looking for a midnight snack after her marathon session with Mr. Pickens.

Just as I walked into the kitchen where only the light over the stove was on, I walked right into Lloyd. We both screeched and jumped back. My heart pounded until I realized who he was, while he gasped, “Miss Julia! I thought you were a ghost!”

“You about scared me to death, too.” I patted my chest, trying to get my breathing back to normal. “I thought I heard your mother. Has she come in?”

“No’m, and I’m really worried. I tried to call her, but all I got was a busy signal. I asked the operator to break in for me, but she said Mr. Sam’s phone is out of order. She wanted me to call an eight hundred number and report it, but that’d take forever, the way they put you on hold. So then I tried J.D.’s cell phone, but it just goes to voice mail.” He squared his shoulders and looked me straight in the eye. “Miss Julia, there’s only one thing to do. I’m going over there.”

Lord, he was growing up. I looked right back at him. “Wait till I get some clothes on. I’m going with you.”

I raced upstairs, hurriedly put on a housedress, grabbed some low-heeled shoes, and pulled the door closed behind me. For a second, I considered waking Sam to tell him where we’d be, then thought better of it. Why disturb his sleep when he’d do nothing but worry about us? Or get up and go with us? Neither of which he needed to do.

“Be real quiet,” I whispered to Lloyd as I joined him at the back door. “Wait. Let me slip on these shoes. Okay, let’s go. You want to walk or take the car?”

“Well, I was gonna run, but let’s just walk. If the lights’re on and they’re just sitting around talking, they won’t have to know we’re checking on them. But if a car pulls up, they’ll know what we’re doing.” He took my arm as we went down the back steps in the dark. “Watch your step, Miss Julia. Let’s go through the back garden. It’s nearer that way.”

“You lead on. I’m right behind you.”

We crossed the lawn, pushed aside some overgrown azalea and forsythia branches until we reached the gate that opened on to the sidewalk. Then we picked up speed as we headed toward Sam’s house. The streets were empty of cars, except for a few parked along the sides. Streetlights made the going easy, although I wondered what people would think if they saw us power walking at this time of night. Most of the houses along the way were dark, so hopefully nobody was looking out a window.

When we turned the corner at Sam’s street, we both stopped. There were lights on in the house, but not many. One lamp burned in the living room window, and the kitchen was dimly lit. But the carriage lamps on either side of the front door were not on, so the porch was in deep shadow.

“What do you think?” Lloyd said.

“Um, I don’t know. I thought there’d be more lights on.” Actually, I didn’t. In fact, I was sort of surprised that any were on at all. I thought they’d prefer to carry on their negotiations in the dark. “Mr. Pickens’s car’s there, so they haven’t gone anywhere. Maybe we ought to go home, Lloyd. They may be in the kitchen, fixing something to eat. Neither one of them had any supper.”

“Yessum, maybe so. I sure don’t want to just bust in on ’em, but looks like Mama would’ve let us know something.”

“It surely does, but you know she’s had a lot on her mind here lately, being sick and all. And worrying over the situation with Mr. Pickens hasn’t helped matters.”

But even as we discussed returning home, we’d both eased our way a little closer to the house. For some reason, even with a few lights on, the house felt empty. No one moved in front of the windows. No shades, curtains, or blinds were drawn. No music or television was playing.

Two things came to mind: They’d decided to take a walk or they were in Sam’s back bedroom on the far side of the house, the windows of which we couldn’t see. If it were the latter, they wouldn’t be caring if the lights were on or not. For that reason, I didn’t suggest that we go to that side of the house. There were some things that Lloyd didn’t need to see or know.

We stopped on the sidewalk at the edge of Sam’s front yard, watching closely for any signs of life inside the house. Instinctively we both slid into the shadow of the huge hemlock at the end of the driveway.

“Think we ought to knock on the door?” Lloyd asked.

“Let’s wait a few minutes. They wouldn’t appreciate us interrupting when they might be at a critical juncture. In their conversation, I mean.” Unsure of whether to go or to stay, I bit my lip as we continued to watch the house. “Lloyd,” I finally said, “I think they’re all right. For a lot of people, this time of night isn’t late at all. And, for all we know, they’re out for a moonlight stroll. They could even be on their way home, while we’re standing here under this tree.”

“Well,” Lloyd said, “I’d feel a lot better if the phone wasn’t out. I just don’t like the sound of that. There’s not even been a thunder-storm.”

The boy was right. Even though I was beginning to feel just slightly ashamed of myself for essentially spying on Hazel Marie and Mr. Pickens, Sam’s out-of-order telephone was worrisome.

Still, we couldn’t hang around under a tree all night, so just as I opened my mouth to suggest we go, Lloyd clamped a hand on my arm. “
Miss Julia!
” he hissed. “Somebody’s at the window.”

“Where?” I whispered, scanning the lit windows. “Nobody’s looking out.”

“No,” he croaked hoarsely, “somebody’s looking
in
.”

 

 

 

Just as he said it, I saw the outline of a head rise up between one of Sam’s ancient boxwoods and the dimly lit side window of the living room. “Oh,” I gasped, “I see him!”

I felt the boy tense beside me, preparing himself to dash toward the house. I grabbed his shoulder and held on. “Stay here. Don’t let him see you.”

“I’m gonna yell for J.D. That’ll scare him off.”

“
No,
sh-h-h,” I said, holding him close. “It may be a peeping Tom, and I don’t want you near him. Let’s wait and see if we can tell who it is.”

“I think we ought to warn Mama and J.D.,” Lloyd whispered hoarsely.

“We don’t even know if they’re in there. Let’s see what he’s going to do.”

We were both trembling by this time, but actually the more I watched that head, the more I wondered if we were just seeing things. It didn’t seem to move, just stayed motionless as if staring intently through the window. What if it were only a shadow from
inside
the room? I blinked several times, trying to clear my vision.

“He’s moving!”
Lloyd hissed.

My heart started pounding in my ears as, sure enough, the head disappeared from the window and a shadowy figure slipped past the boxwoods toward the porch.

I leaned down to the boy and whispered in his ear. “Run, get Sam. Hurry! Tell him to call the sheriff.”

“Let’s both go.”

“No, I’ll stay here and see where he goes. Run, now,” I said, giving him a little push. “We don’t want him to get away.”

Lloyd dashed off, his tennis shoes hardly making a sound as he ran back the way we’d come. I eased closer to the tree trunk, hiding as much as I could in the shadow of its long-needled branches, but keeping my eyes peeled on the house. I had told Lloyd it might be a peeping Tom who was creeping along the foundation plantings, but, given all that had happened, that wasn’t likely. It had to be the same breaking-and-entering sorry soul who’d done so much damage before and who’d been stirred up by my phone calls. One of the five, no, four since I hadn’t called Rafe Feldman, was even now bent on another criminal invasion of Sam’s house.

Except now,
Hazel Marie and Mr. Pickens were in it!
Lord, I had to lean against the tree to keep myself upright. Maybe Lloyd had been right the first time. Maybe we should’ve both gone screaming bloody murder for Mr. Pickens. Maybe I should do it now.

But what if Hazel Marie and Mr. Pickens weren’t in the house? What if they had gone for a walk or gone back home? What if I were here by myself? Alone with that dark figure which—
Lord,
it suddenly sprang up over the banister and blended without even an outline into the deep gloom of the porch. I clutched at the tree until my fingers dug into the bark, trying to stay hidden while peering as hard as I could at the front porch.

The one thing I didn’t want to do was lose sight of that figure. He, whoever he was and I had a good idea of who, was up to no good, and the longer I stood there, trying to make him out, the madder I got. William Wooten, in spite of his wife’s defense, was going to get his comeuppance, if I had anything to do with it. And I didn’t care if his name got splashed all over the
Abbotsville Times
so that everybody in Abbot County would know he was a thief and a vandal and, because of it, his spiritual testimony got ruined forever. I say,
Christian
. William Wooten, I thought, I’m going to see that this little episode stays a blot on your name forever.

If, I reminded myself, that’s who it was. But who else could it be? No one else had gotten so exercised at the thought of having the sins of the past published for all to see. No one else had been so belligerent. He was the only one with the nerve and the intensity of purpose, and the agility to leap over banisters, to come after Sam’s computer again.

For one frightening second I thought I heard something behind me. I pressed myself against the tree and held my breath. Where was Sam? Where was Lloyd? Anybody? After a minute or so, I peeked out around the tree again. Everything at Sam’s house was quiet. Nothing moved. No shadows changed shape on the porch, and with a lurch of my heart I realized I’d lost sight of the creeping figure.

Then, against the ambient light of a street lamp at the end of the block, I saw a dark shape crawl over the far banister and disappear behind the other side of the house. That’s where Sam’s study was and, behind that, his back bedroom, temporarily occupied by Mr. Pickens and, likely enough, currently occupied by Hazel Marie as well. And that was also the side of the house with the thickest bushes, where somebody could break a pane and open a window with the least fear of being seen.

But Sam had put in a burglar alarm! That gave me an immediate sense of relief. I wouldn’t have to do a thing but stand here and wait for help to arrive. Yes, I thought, that would certainly be true if Mr. Pickens had had his mind on anything besides monkey business long enough to turn the thing on.

I glanced over my shoulder to see if Sam and Lloyd were coming, but the sidewalk stretched out behind me empty. Nobody was coming from either direction, so I stood there, trying to decide what to do. Maybe I could slip up onto the porch and squat down in the shadows. I could reach up and keep my finger on the doorbell until Mr. Pickens came thundering to answer it.

If he was there
.

Well, one thing was certain. Standing around under a tree while a crime was in progress wouldn’t solve anything.

I moved away from the tree and, bending over, scooted as fast as I could to Mr. Pickens’s car. Crouching there, wishing he drove a bigger one, I waited to see if my movement had been noticed. Nothing stirred, no shadow flitted from one place to the next and no untoward sounds came from the house.