Will O Wisp (18 page)

“
It doesn't look like the
Graves family feels the same responsibility to a youngun as you do,
Melinda. There are so many younguns in that family, they figure on
all of them taking care of themselves.”

“
What should we do? I'm
really worried,” Melinda said.

“
We're going to walk over
to the Graves, and see what is going on. That's what we're going to
do,” Gracie said.

“
Hopefully, Shana is having
so much fun she just lost track of time or forgot which day she was
supposed to come home,” Melinda said. “It is almost dark outside.
Maybe we should wait until morning to go get Shana.”

“
Oh, no. We ain't going to
do that. You would keep me awake all night worrying about that
girl,” Gracie groused.

“
I suppose I would,”
Melinda said softly.

“
I know you would. Besides,
Shana might be in some sort of trouble, and we don't want to wait
all night to help her. I'll get the lantern so we have light to see
to walk home. You put some matches in your pocket,” Gracie
said.

Birds fluttered over head in the trees
along the lane, roosting for the night. The white moon was just
peaking over the hayfield. The cemetery was quiet and spooky that
time of night with the stones shrouded in shadows. Gracie and
Melinda walked faster to get past it.

Gracie had to really balance to hobble
along at a quicker pace with the walking stick she made. They were
just about past the trees near the Graves house when they heard the
explosion. Both women froze.

“
What was that?” Melinda
said in a hushed voice.

“
A shotgun blast if I'm not
mistaken,” Gracie whispered.

“
It sounded like it came
from the Graves place,” Melinda said. “Oh dear, who would be having
a shootout with Neff in the dark with all those children
there.”

“
Now don't go worrying
about what you don't know until we get there,” Gracie
scolded.

The two women edged on
until they stood at the edge of the stand of trees. The Graves
house was lit up. The last of the sun was setting in the west,
throwing a red glare on the windows that made the house look like
it was on fire.

Neff Graves staggered back and forth
in front of the porch with a shotgun wavering around in his hands.
“You little heathens, get yer butts out ta here now. I mean to have
ya line up in front of me so I can look at the whole bunch of ya.
I'm gonna shoot every one right here tonight and get rid of
ya.”

The children filed out the door one at
a time with Lettie behind them. Their heads were down as they
slowly came off the porch steps. It was the sight of Shana in the
midst of Graves children that filled Gracie and Melinda with
fear.

“
Oh, Gracie, what are we
going to do?” Melinda hissed.

“
I don't know yet. That
good for nothing is drunk as a skunk and capable of doing what he
says,” Gracie predicted.

“
This is all Venus's
fault,” Melinda whispered hoarsely.

“
What are you talking
about?” Gracie asked.

“
Venus is too close to
earth right now. It makes crazy things happen,” Melinda
said.

“
Where did you get that bit
of information to mull over?” Gracie asked.

“
Madeline predicted this
when she read tea leaves for me, before we came with you to the
farm. I should have listened to her. We should have stayed in
Locked Rock,” Melinda said with a groan.

“
There's no way Madeline
could have foreseen this problem. She doesn't even know the Graves
family or what happens out here. As far as that goes, we didn't
imagine this kind of happening, either,” Gracie said. “You know
that, Melinda.”

“
Not all of this Madeline
didn't see. She didn't see Neff being violent when she looked in
the tea leaves. Just that something crazy would happen during this
month because of Venus being too close to earth. That's when bad
things always happen Madeline says,” Melinda explained, keeping her
eyes glued to Neff. “But for your information, she did see the will
o wisps roaming in the timber. Just the way you and Shana described
them. That's how I knew what they looked like. So
there.”

“
Sounds like a lucky guess
on Madeline's part. Tea leaves are just that, tea leaves,” Gracie
groused.

“
Madeline doesn't know what
a will o wisp is anymore than we did until Shana told us. Yet she
described them to a tee. So there,” Melinda defended.

At the bellow of Neff's loud voice,
both of them turned their attention back on the front yard. “Bout
time you all showed up. Now get those tails in gear and line up in
front of me, so I can figure out which one of you I want to shoot
first,” Neff said. He slurred his words as he staggered closer to
the children, unsteady on his feet.

He paced up and down in front of his
children, waving the shotgun at each of them. Mattie, about three
years old, started to wail when Neff stopped in front of her. “You
shut up if you don't want to be first you snot nose
midget.”

Lettie rushed off the porch and
grabbed up the little girl. She placed the little girl's head on
her shoulder and said, “Hush now, baby. Don't cry. That makes Papa
mad.”

“
Oh, Gracie, this is
terrible. Someone has to stop him. He's scaring all of those
children to death and look at poor Shana right in the middle of
them,” Melinda whispered.

“
I know it. He's scaring
me, too, but how are we going to do anything? We're too far away.
If we rush him, Neff will shoot one of us,” Gracie said. “If that
Sheriff Logan was here, I'd give him a piece of my mind. He could
have prevented this if he'd come out here when I told Earl to call
him. Maybe it's Earl's neck I ought to wring. He may have forgotten
to call the sheriff.”

“
Mercy Sakes, Gracie, it
doesn't matter either way right now. Those men aren't here to help
us. Poor Shana. She's scared to death just like the rest of them.
She shouldn't have been put in this dangerous situation,” Melinda
said, glaring at Gracie.

“
Don't blame me for her
being here. You were right there when she asked to stay with May
Jean for two days. You could have said no,” Gracie said. “She
should have come home earlier today like she was supposed to, and
she wouldn't be in this fix now.”

“
Don't put the blame on
that sweet girl. Look what she's holding in her arms. That's the
dress May Jean borrowed for church. No telling how long Shana has
been trapped in that house with the others, wanting to come home,”
Melinda defended.

Gracie took another look
and conceded, “
Reckon you're
right.”

“
Miss Molly is going to be
mad at both of us when she finds out about this,” Melinda said
softly.

“
Not to mention what Mr.
Orie will say,” Gracie added.

Neff swaggered backward
and waved the shotgun in the direction of his lined up children. He
looked as if he was trying to figure out how many of the children
he could shoot at once.

Suddenly, Neff stopped moving. He went
very still. The shotgun in his hands wavered along the line of
children. They shivered with fear, and their faces were covered
with horror. How could their father do this to them? Just as Neff
pulled the trigger, his hand on the shotgun stock jerked down. The
shotgun exploded above the children's heads.

“
Oh please, Lord, let Shana
and those dear little children be all right,” Melinda cried in
prayer with her eyes squeezed tightly shut.

The explosion was ear deafening. Next
was a loud clattering from the lead pellets that struck the curled
up tin on the house roof.

“
Melinda, your prayer must
have worked. Open your eyes and look. Everyone is all right so far.
Neff missed them,” Gracie said.

The explosive gun noises were enough
to bring Neff to whatever little bit of sense he had left. He
looked at his gun as if he didn't recognize it. “Wha'
happened?”

A couple of the older boys rushed over
to him. “Let me have the gun, Papa,” Bobby said. That boy took the
gun from Neff's hands, and he gave it up willingly. “Boys, that
shotgun isn't safe to have around anymore. It just went off on its
own. I might have hurt myself.”

The boys got on each side of him and
took him by an arm. They led him up the porch steps and sit him in
a rocking chair. Neff's head immediately lowered, and he passed
out.

The children hugged each other and
quietly filed past their father to go in the house.

“
Now's our chance. Let's
get Shana out of here,” Gracie said.

She hobbled out of the trees with
Melinda right behind her. Lettie was starting up the steps still
holding the littlest Graves girl when they got to the
yard.

“
Hold up, Lettie,” Gracie
called. “We came to take Shana home.”

“
That would be a good
idea,” Lettie said softly, glancing over at her snoring husband to
make sure their voices hadn't woken him. She looked worriedly at
the women. “Did you hear the ruckus just now?”

“
We not only heard the
shotgun go off we saw what happened,” Gracie said. “You best get
away from that man of yours before he kills all of you.”

“
Just get Shana out here so
we can go home before he wakes up,” Melinda demanded.

“
I'll call her for you.”
Lettie stuck her head in the door and called, “Shana, your aunts
are here. You can go home now.”

A white faced Shana appeared in the
door. With relief on her face, she ran down the steps to put an arm
around both aunts. “For certain and all time, am I glad to see both
of you. I've never been so scared in me whole life. Wait until you
hear what just happened here.”

“
We know, dear. We were
standing in the trees watching the whole thing and praying you
would be safe,” Melinda told her.

“
If we could have figured a
way passed Neff's shotgun to get you out of here sooner we would
have,” Gracie said.

“
You saw what happened?”
Lettie asked.

“
We're just glad everything
turned out the way it did,” Melinda said. “Lettie, why do you stay
with that man? You can see how dangerous he is.”

“
I don't think he'd let me
leave if I tried.” Lettie's voice trembled. “He's never done
anything like this before.”

“
I d
on't expect this will be the last time. Neff was so drunk out
of his mind he didn't know what he was doing. Get away from him
with your younguns before he does some real harm. He ain't going to
change if that's your next excuse,” Gracie warned.

“
I know that, Miss Gracie,”
Lettie whined.

“
What are you going to do
if he wakes up soon and wants his gun back?” Melinda said in a
whisper.

“
I don't expect he will
wake up soon, but I'm locking the door. He most likely will sit
back down in the char and go back to sleep if he cain't get in the
house. At least, I know we'll have some warning if he tries to come
in the door with it locked. If he knocks, rattles the door or yells
he'll wake me up. Maybe for once, we will all get a little sleep
tonight unless that happens,” Lettie said in a dispirited
voice.

“
Come on, Shana. Let's go
home,” Melinda said.

“
What about May Jean? I
hate to leave her here in danger,” Shana whispered.

“
May Jean's lot was picked
for her when she was born into this family. We cain't save any of
them by ourselves. That crazy, drunken man might just come after us
next if we tried,” Gracie said bluntly.

“
I don't want to find out
my friend is dead in the morning,” Shana said, tears running down
her face.

“
Gracie, could we take May
Jean home with us?” Melinda asked.

Gracie gave her a doubtful look. “What
will Neff say when he wakes up and finds out one of his younguns is
gone? He might just load that shotgun and come after her and
us.”

“
Don't worry about that,”
Lettie said. “Neff doesn't even know how many children we have. He
won't miss one. With the hangover he's going to have, he won't be
himself for the next couple days.”

“
Shana is going to worry
about May Jean until we leave the farm to go back to Locked Rock if
we don't let the little girl come home with us, Gracie,” Melinda
said.

“
All right. Shana, it's
against my better judgment,” Gracie gave in. “We're for sure not
going to let you come back to this house ever again so if you want
to play with May Jean it will have to be at the farm. Go get, May
Jean.”

Shana wheeled around to run
inside.

Gracie grabbed her by the shoulder.
“Wait. Don't tell her to come with you in front of the others. We
don't want all the younguns camping out at our house. Neff would
notice for sure if all the younguns were gone. His aim with that
shotgun might be better the next time he shoots it.”

Chapter Fourteen

Gracie got up the next morning, angry
about what happened to the Graves children. She was upset about the
danger Shana had been put in because of that drunken no good man.
At breakfast, she told Melinda, “I'm going into town to get the law
out here. You and the girls can ride along if you want.”