Will O Wisp (25 page)

“
I tend to agree with both
of you. I haven't had much time to be around Shana for almost a
month now. I wanted to get your take on this,” Molly said. “How's
she doing out here away from town?”

“
Wonderful,” Melinda
said.

“
She's turned into quite
the little farmer,” Gracie added. “You should ask her to make sure,
but I think she'd come back again if I asked her.”

“
That isn't going to happen
right away I hope,” Molly said. “I don't think I could stand
knowing the three of you were out here again any time
soon.”

Gracie cleared her throat. “About what
has happened with Neff Graves, I really am sorry about that. If I
had dreamed that this month would be so bad, I'd turned Sawyer
down.”

“
Good thing we can't know
what's going to happen,” Melinda said. She winked at Madeline. “Any
further than Madeline's tea leaf reading could tell us, of
course.”

After supper that evening, Shana sat
down on the porch and turned to face Gracie and Melinda. “I have
been wonderin' something. Are you goin' to tell me who the father
of Frieda's baby is?”

“
Nope, cause we don't know.
I figured you knew. You mean May Jean didn't tell you?” Gracie
asked.

“
No, she said she didn't
know. Frieda wouldn't tell anyone,” Shana said.

“
That's what Joanne and
Frieda said in the parlor to the sheriff. At the time, I didn't
know if they were being straight with him,” Gracie said.

The rest of their stay at the farm was
quiet. Millard came over for lunch one day near the end. Gracie
asked, “You want to do me a favor?”

Millard smiled. “Been waiting for you
to come up with something you would let me help you with
willingly.”

Gracie gave him a sharp look. “All I
wanted was for you to look Black Eagle up and tell him it's safe to
come back into my timber if the game is getting thinned out where
they're camped.”

“
All right, I can take care
of that,” Millard said.

One afternoon, Gracie said to Melinda
and Shana, “Want to go for one last walk in the timber. Thad and
his family will be back soon. We'll have to go home.”

Melinda and Shana were all for that.
The walk in the timber was fun as Melinda and Shana asked Gracie
questions about everything in nature around them. That is until
Black Eagle stepped out from behind a tree.

Melinda cried, “Mercy.”

Shana giggled. “For sure, a real
Indian.”

“
That's right,” Gracie
said. “Hello, Black Eagle. I want you to meet a couple friends of
mine. This is Melinda and that little one is Shana.”

“
How do, Gracie's friends,”
Black Eagle said.

They were standing close to where the
babies had been buried. Orie and Millard had filled in the holes.
Shana shook Gracie's long sleeve. “You should look over yonder,
Aunt Gracie.”

A young Indian brave was down on his
hands and knees, planting wild flowers back in the bare spots where
the babies graves had been.

“
Black Eagle, who is that
over there?” Gracie asked.

“
That my nephew. His name
is Brown Bear.”

“
Why is he putting flowers
there?” Melinda asked.

“
He has a baby son buried
in that spot,” Black Eagle said.

“
The baby happened to be
buried in a woven stick basket?” Gracie asked.

“
That so,” Black Eagle
said.

“
We didn't know that the
baby was kin to you Black Eagle. There was a white baby buried by
Brown Bear's baby son. When we found that out, we dug both babies
up. I had them buried in my family cemetery. You know the one at
the end of the timber by my lane?”

“
I know the
one.”

“
Tell Brown Eagle the
cemetery is mine. He is welcome to put flowers on the grave any
time. Right now, his son's stone is blank. You wouldn't happen to
know what he named the baby, would you?”

“
Tiny Deer,” Brown Eagle
said.

“
I'll have that engraved on
the stone,” Gracie said.

“
I tell Black Bear of this.
See if he wants to bring flowers to that spot or continue to put
them on the spot here that he has come to mourn,” Brown Eagle
said.

As they walked back out of the timber,
Melinda said, “Does this mean that young Indian boy was the father
of Frieda's baby?”

“
Sure seems like it,”
Gracie said.

“
Oh dear,” Melinda said.
“No wonder she wouldn't tell anyone the father's name or the baby's
name.”

“
Why wouldn't Frieda want
anyone to know?” Shana asked.

Gracie stopped. “Shana, you can't tell
anyone that you know this. Not even May Jean. We promised Frieda
not to talk about it.”

“
Why?”

“
Indians aren't always
welcomed in this neighborhood. Some people don't give them a
chance. Frieda knows her lot in life would be even harder if it got
out she had an Indian boyfriend, and they had a baby together. That
family has suffered enough. We don't want to do anything to make
matters worse for them,” Gracie said.

“
Will it make someone mad
if you put Tiny Deer on the gravestone? People are going to know
that sounds like an Indian name,” Melinda wondered.

Gracie thought about that. “We have
always said we didn't know who the mystery baby in the basket was.
With the name Tiny Deer engraved on the stone, that sounds like an
Indian name. I didn't see it that way when I knew the baby's first
grave was in the timber. I always thought an Indian baby would be
buried at the settlement. This would have for sure if he wasn't
half white.

If anyone complains, I'll tell them
those two babies have been dug up and planted twice. They both
deserved a name of some kind so I came up with Tiny
Deer.”

“
Sounds good to me. Don't
that sound good to you, Shana?” Melinda said.

“
I think that's the right
thing to say,” Shana said.

Before they left Three Oaks, it was
close to Decoration day. Gracie told Shana and Melinda to help her
pick flowers to take to the cemetery.

The ones Gracie chose were the purple
irises growing next to the house. She held her bouquet down for
Shana to stick her nose in. “Mama always called these flags. She
loved their soft, sweet smell and the way they waved in the
breeze.”

Melinda cut some large, pink peonies
from the bush in the corner of the back yard. Shana kept an eye out
for wild flowers to pick on the edge of the lane. She picked
honeysuckle and white morning glories growing on the soddy rubble.
She added a few Dutchmen britches to her bouquet, and she had her
hands full by the time they got to the cemetery.

They were surprised when they found
wild flowers planted on both babies graves. Shana's lower lip
jutted out. “Sure and I was going to leave some of my flowers
here.”

“
Put yours on my baby
brother's grave. He'd appreciate the attention since it seems these
two boys are getting their fair share,” Gracie said. “Melinda,
remind me to tell Ivy to bring some water out here once in a while
and water the flowers until their roots take hold.”

“
Of course, I will. Suppose
it was the father who was so thoughtful?” Melinda asked.

“
I reckon so,” Gracie
said.

Melinda placed her peonies on Gracie's
mother's grave, and Gracie laid her flowers on her father's grave
just like her mother used to put her irises.

“
What you said at the
funeral about your little brother being company for the babies and
your kin here to look after them was nice,” Melinda
mused.

Gracie nodded. “I might a stretched
that a might if they had known much about Uncle Hiram, but it was
just something to say.”

Melinda chuckled then said quietly, “I
have to go to the cemetery when we get back to Locked Rock and put
some flowers on my husband's grave.”

“
I will go with you,”
Gracie said.

“
And so will I,” Shana
added.

Gracie and her charges arrived back at
Moser Mansion in time for supper on Saturday night. They were
almost too tired to eat and plenty ready for their comfortable
beds. All three of them went to bed early.

The next morning, the residents were
all up and headed for church. Molly told the ladies about how the
church women cleaned the parsonage for the new preacher. They
didn't have to work really hard at it, and the man didn't bring
much furniture with him. The church took up a collection and
donations of furniture to make the parsonage livable.

Gracie and Melinda were curious to
meet the new preacher, a sandy haired man. He was average built and
good looking. Gracie had to admit he was friendly and personable as
he greeted everyone at the front door and shook hand with each of
them when Miss Molly introduced them.

Preacher James Mayfield was a younger
than the preachers Gracie was used to being around. During the
sermon, he paced back and forth as if he had trouble standing
still. That was all right, but it kept Gracie busy trying to move
her head back and forth to keep up with the preacher.

When the service was over, the
preacher walked briskly down the aisle headed for the back double
doors. He stood off to one side and spoke everyone as they filed
out. He kept his visit with each short, trying to get to know his
parishioners.

The Moser Mansion residents were
farther back in the line. The Sawyer family was behind Gracie. Ivy
asked, “You rested up yet from sleeping on a strange bed, Miss
Gracie?”

“
Yip, but most nights at
your place, I slept like a log though,” Gracie said.

“
Miss Gracie, we been
wondering something. Do you have any idea why there was six eggs in
between the stack of blankets in Abigail's room?” Thad
asked.

Ivy said, “We didn't know about the
eggs until the closet got hot, and the eggs started
smelling.”

Gracie got Shana by the arm. “Shana,
do you know anything about eggs in Abigail's closet?”

Shana looked from one to the other,
figuring she was in trouble. She focused on Abigail. “Have you been
leaving the window open in your room?”

“
Of course I do,” Abigail
said. “It's too hot to sleep in there if I don't.”

“
That's it then, Aunt
Gracie. Two Feathers has been trying to start a family,” Shana
declared. “Come on, Abigail. Let's slip by the line and get
outside. I want to hear about the kittens.”

As the line shortened, Gracie had
plenty of time to observe the new preacher. He didn't take very
long to talk to most of the older married couples. When the young
women were next , he was very interested in every word the women
spoke. In fact, he reached to shake hands with them, and he didn't
give their hands back any too soon.

Gracie wondered if anyone
else noticed? Frankly, she saw the start of a problem with this new
preacher. He just might be a pervert trying to entice some of the
young women to do God knows what with him. Or, was he checking out
possible wife material? She'd have to keep her eye on Preacher
James Mayfield.

About The Author

The Will O Wisp seemed like a good
mystery for the Lang's Irish daughter Shana. I write this
historical Amazing Gracie mystery series set in Iowa for the
readers enjoyment. A romance such as
Christmas With Hover Hill
thrown
into the mixture of books is a good way to switch genres. I have
written westerns and Alzheimer's care books. When an idea comes to
me, I write the story.

Changing genres gives me flexibility as a
writer. All my books are designed to offer some humor along with
the serious moments. I write in 12 font to make my books reader
friendly, and all my stories are suitable for any age
group.

My husband and I live on an acreage with
chickens, rabbits and cats. We enjoy raising a large garden and
flowers. For fun, we go fishing in the summer and read a lot of
books in the winter.