Agony of the Leaves: Tea Shop Mystery #13 (23 page)

“Hi there,” said Theodosia. She detected a note of stress in Majel’s voice. Or was it excitement? “Is everything all right?” She’d e-mailed all her photos to the City Charities website late last night. So Tuesday’s Child should be officially entered in the scavenger hunt.

“Are you kidding?” came Majel’s reply. “I’m completely over the moon! Thanks to all your hard work, Tuesday’s Child made it into round two! Or rather I should say,
you
got us in!”

“That’s wonderful,” said Theodosia.

“And I have to tell you, your photos are absolutely gorgeous.”

“Thank you.”

“If you want to see them, they’re already posted. Just go to the City Charities website and click on Scavenger Hunt.”

“I’ll do that,” said Theodosia. She glanced at her watch and saw it was time to take off. Aunt Libby would be waiting. So would Harry Dubose and his melon honey.

“It’s so kind of you to do this, Theodosia,” said Majel. “I was talking with Delaine earlier today and she mentioned that you have an awful lot on your plate right now.”

“Okay.”

“I hope I’m not betraying any confidences here, but Delaine told me you were doing sort of an amateur sleuth thing concerning the murder of your former boyfriend.” Majel’s voice grew more intense. “I apologize. When we were first introduced, I
never
put two and two together. I’d heard about the death at the aquarium, but had no idea the two of you were connected. Anyway, I wanted to tell you how very sorry I am. And I hope I haven’t put any additional stress on you.”

“Majel,” said Theodosia, “you didn’t. Don’t worry about it.
I’m just happy Drayton and I were able to help your organization.”

“Well, so am I. Delaine said you were a smart lady, and now I’ve pretty much seen that firsthand. So thank you. And now we’re on to the finals. To round two.”

“I’ll do my best,” Theodosia promised.

“I know you will,” said Majel.

“This is so
kind of you,” Aunt Libby said to Theodosia as they bumped along in her Jeep. “And for you to go out of your way…”

“Seeing you,” said Theodosia, “is never out of my way.”

Aunt Libby smiled contentedly. She was dressed in anavy-and-white spring suit with a pair of spectator shoes to match. Very snappy. “And I noticed you brought along a basket of tea and scones,” she said, glancing over her shoulder at the enormous wicker basket Haley had packed.

“Honey tea and honey scones,” said Theodosia. “For Harry and the folks at Dubose Bees. Although you’re certainly welcome to grab a scone if you’d like.”

“I think I’m still sated from two days ago.” Aunt Libby tilted her head back, as if savoring the memory. “What a glorious tea party that was. Amazing food, lovely guests…”

“And such a good cause,” said Theodosia.

“I can’t tell you how thrilled the volunteers at the animal shelter were to receive our check. This economy has been
particularly hard on pets. Lots of people just can’t afford to keep them anymore. So…” Her voice cracked. “They’re forced to give them up.” She reached up and wiped a tear from her eye. “Hopefully, the little darlings who’ve been rendered homeless will eventually be adopted by someone else.”

“A sad situation,” Theodosia murmured. She didn’t know what she’d do if she couldn’t scrape together enough money to buy food for Earl Grey. Split her own rations with him, probably. Or go without. Her dog was that dear to her.

Theodosia slowed down as she made a hard left from Rutledge Road onto Hummingbird Lane. It was a blind intersection and every signpost seemed covered in kudzu, a crazy Southern varmint plant that just loved to tangle its leafy tendrils around fences, road signs, and even the occasional small building.

“This is so much fun to drive the back roads,” said Libby, gazing out the window as they whooshed past thick stands ofblue-black slash pines. “So lovely to breath sweet country air and catch a glimpse of tanagers or orioles.”

“You can just feel yourself relaxing out here,” said Theodosia. And she really could. The bayous and deep, dark forests were therapy for the mind and soul. Living in Charleston was wonderful, of course, filled as it was with great architecture, fascinating history, fabulous food, and quirky people. But the low country, with its flowering dogwood, blue bayous, and stands of cabbage and sabal palmettos, was a veritable dreamscape.

They wound around a turn and were suddenly cruising beneath a living archway. Old-growth live oaks had spread their leafy branches across the road to form a perfect bower.

Most of the land out this way consisted of forestedswamps—refuge for deer, alligators, raccoons, and even the occasional diamondback rattler.

“I’m told there’s a restored rice field on the old Huntington
Plantation,” said Aunt Libby. “Nice to think that Carolina gold is growing out here once again.”

Theodosia slowed as they drove past a small pond, all sparkling andsun-dappled. “Is that a heron?” she asked, pointing toward astalk-legged bird.

Libby turned her sharp eyes on the bird. “Wood stork,” she said.

“You really know your critters,” said Theodosia.

“It’s my passion,” Aunt Libby admitted. She smiled to herself, then said, “So tonight’s your tea ceremony?”

“That’s right,” said Theodosia. “At the Heritage Society. Though it’s really Drayton’s tea ceremony. He’s the one who honchoed it, and he’s the one who’s going to do a demonstration on the art of taking tea in Japan.”

“Sounds like a rather formal presentation,” said Aunt Libby.

“Tea ceremony can be formal,” said Theodosia. “Especially for the Japanese.” She chuckled. “I suppose for Drayton, too. He does revere ceremony.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” said Aunt Libby. “I imagine he’ll have his bonsai on display?”

“He’s bringing along a half dozen or so. He’s quite proud of those little trees.”

“As well he should be,” said Aunt Libby. “I remember when Drayton came out to Cane Ridge several years ago and dug up a number of small tamarack trees.”

“You should see them now,” said Theodosia. “He made them into a forest.” Drayton had planted thirteen small tamaracks in a shallow, blue-glazed ceramic tray. And, with his judicious pruning, trimming, and placement of small rocks, he had created a display that looked exactly like a miniature forest.

“A forest,” Aunt Libby marveled. “How very creative.”

“He even won an award for it in a local bonsai show,” said Theodosia. She gave a cursory glance in her rearview mirror
and noticed a truck approaching from behind. Coming up rather fast. Probably, she decided, the truck just wanted to pass her. They were on a narrow road, with little or no shoulder, so Theodosia, being a conscientious driver, eased over a bit to allow the truck to pass her.

But it didn’t. Rather, the truck nosed right up to her rear bumper and stayed there.

As the highway curved around, the road dipped slightly, revealing vast shimmering stretches of swamp on either side. Theodosia tapped her accelerator. Maybe her mistake had been to slow down. Better to just maintain a normal speed and not worry about another driver.

Except for one thing. The truck eased up ever closer, then tapped her bumper. Not enough to jar her, but enough to be noticed.

“What the… !” Theodosia exclaimed.

“What’s going on?” Aunt Libby asked. She’d seen Theodosia glance into the rearview mirror and picked up on her tension. Had she felt the tap? Maybe.

“I don’t know. That joker behind me keeps…”

Another tap, this time a little harder.

“Is he trying to force us off the road?” Aunt Libby asked in alarm.

“I don’t know,” Theodosia said again. Swamp and wetlands still stretched out on both sides of the road, so there was no convenient place to pull over and get out of the way of this rude driver. Even though there was probably no need for panic, Theodosia felt a rising tide of fear in her chest.

Glancing in her side mirror, Theodosia saw that the truck, a shiny black vehicle, was cruising along, about fifteen feet back from her now. Good. At least he’d settled down.

But it was not to last.

Suddenly, the truck accelerated like crazy! It roared toward her, jammed hard against the back of her Jeep, and then revved so hard it was practically propelling her down the road.

“Oh, dear Lord!” cried Libby. “What’s happening?”

“Hang on!” said Theodosia. She could only focus her energy on one thing right now. And that most important thing was trying to maintain a straight line down the road!

For a second time, the truck dropped back. But Theodosia didn’t let down her guard.

Good thing.

Because fifteen seconds later, the truck roared up from behind and punched her hard again!

This time her Jeep was smacked hard on the left rear bumper. Metal crunched loudly and her vehicle groaned in protest. Theodosia fought hard to keep her line down the middle of the road, but just when she thought she’d gained control, her rear wheels skidded and she went into a sort of controlled fishtail.

Theodosia tried to steer her way out of thefishtail—and almost made it. But then her right front tire caught the edge of the blacktop and that was all it took. She braked, tap-tap-tapping her foot against the brake pedal, and fought hard to recover and straighten out her wheels again. But they were suddenly catapulted down a slight ditch and into the swamp!

Oh crap, we’re going in the drink!

Brackish water splashed across the windshield, blotting everything out. Aunt Libby let loose a frightened scream.

Theodosia continued to fight for control, but a million worries flashed through her brain. Were they going to flip over? Would the air bag deploy and smash Aunt Libby in the face? Would they sink into the bog? Was there quicksand?

None of these things came to pass, of course. They were all crazy, worst-case-scenario thoughts.

Instead, they endured a rather soft, squishy landing in about two feet of watery muck. Theodosia glanced out her window in shock as the offending black truck swept past them, oblivious of their plight. Two seconds later, it had disappeared from sight.

“Are you okay?” Theodosia screamed at Aunt Libby. “Oh, my gosh, are you… ?”

“I’m fine,” Aunt Libby said in a small voice. “But you…it seemed like you bumped your head.”

“Did I?” Theodosia couldn’t remember. All she could recall were quick flashes, likestop-action scenes from aherky-jerky movie. Then they’d hit the water with a tremendous splash. Theodosia gazed through her windshield and saw bald cypress and tupelo standing like sentinels. Her brain flashed a final message that said,
Yup, we landed in the swamp
. Then she touched a hand to her forehead and rubbed. It
did
feel like she might have sustained a bump. “No, I’m okay,” she lied.

Aunt Libby squirmed about in the passenger seat, searching for something.

“What’s wrong?” Was water pouring in?

“My field glasses!”

Theodosia searched around and finally spotted a brown leather case wedged against the gas pedal. It must have flown around like a miniature missile during the crash. She reached down and grabbed the case that held Aunt Libby’s Zeiss field glasses. Gingerly, she opened thevelvet-lined case, peered in, then handed the whole thing to Aunt Libby.

Aunt Libby turned the field glasses over in her hand, studied them carefully, then let loose a deep sigh of relief. “They’re okay.”

“Good.”

Aunt Libby put a hand to her chest. “What was that all about?”

“I sincerely don’t know,” said Theodosia.

“Just a crazy driver?”

Theodosia wanted to ponder that question some more, since the whole incident had seemed so deliberate. But she said, to hopefully calm Aunt Libby’s nerves, “I think so.”

Aunt Libby frowned as she gazed out the passenger-side window. “Are we going to be able to get out of this swamp? Or are we going to need a tow truck?”

“Let’s find out,” said Theodosia. She turned the key in the ignition and her engine caught immediately. Of course, she had no idea if she’d shut the engine off earlier, or if it had just quit on itsown—just took a giant hiccup and shut itself off.

“At least it starts,” said Aunt Libby. “But I fear we might be stuck tight.”

Theodosia slid her gearshift intofour-wheel drive. “Hope not.” She goosed the engine, pretty much expecting they
would
be stuck tight. Instead, she felt her vehicle inch forward.

“Hallelujah!” cried Aunt Libby.

“God bless Chrysler Corporation,” said Theodosia. She spun and torqued and judiciously goosed her car some more, taking it easy, but not letting up on the pressure, either. Gradually, they crept out of the muck, up the bank, and onto the road.

“We did it!” Aunt Libby gave an excited clap. “
You
did it!”

Theodosia blew out a glut of air and thought for a few moments. “Would you like me to take you home?”

Aunt Libby looked startled. “Home? I thought we were going to visit the bee people.”

“You still want to do that?”

“I’m game if you are,” said Aunt Libby.

“But are you really okay?” asked Theodosia. She was worried that Aunt Libby might have gotten bruised or shaken up when they spun down the embankment. And even though they’d landed in a bog full of muck, they’d hit fairly hard.