May Cooler Heads Prevail (7 page)

With a shrug of his shoulders, Freedom said, “Okay, I’ll look,” and walked into the cooler. When he came out with the scarecrow in his arms, Peggy scuttled around the other end of the worktable in the center of the room.

“That’s it! That’s what I saw.” Peggy squeaked and pointed.

Grinning, Freedom loosened the wrapping around the head and said, “See, Peggy, it’s just a scarecrow.”

“A scarecrow! But…” Out of instinct Peggy turned her head toward the unlit showroom window then back to us. “But the scarecrow was in the window. How did it get in the cooler?”

“I must’ve put it in there,” Aunt Connie admitted.

“Why?” she asked.

Aunt Connie shrugged her shoulders. “Why do I do anything lately?”

“Oh,” was all Peggy said, but I knew by the look on her
face that she now assumed Aunt Connie was more confused than ever.

“Well, now that that’s settled,” Aunt Connie said, “I’ll help Peggy finish up, while you go on upstairs and change clothes, Dixie.”

“Change clothes? Why?”

“Mercy child, have you already forgotten? Mr. Crane here offered to take you to get some ice cream for that apple pie Nissa sent home with us. And you certainly can’t go in your flannel pajamas, now can you?”

She beamed at me with such innocence I wanted to spit. Nonetheless, I was shooed out of the workroom and found my little self standing outside in the alley with Mr. Freedom Crane, along with the body of Aaron Scott wrapped in pink cellophane, stretched out in the bed of a truck.

Grinning at me, Freedom said, “I guess since we’ll be spending some time together, you ought to know that even though we haven’t been introduced, I’m a friend of the family. Rudd called me awhile ago to fill me in on things and asked if I would keep an eye on you and Connie. In fact, I was on my way over to Connie’s place to meet you when I heard the scream.” He stuck his hand out. “My name’s Freedom Crane and I…”

“I already know your name,” I interrupted, ignoring his outstretched hand. “I also know that you must be quite daft to get involved in this mess. And the only reason we will be spending time together is because Aunt Connie obviously
thinks you need some help carting Mr. Scott around. So, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go and change and we can get this over with.”

Although I didn’t think I was a bit funny, I was halfway up the stairs before he quit laughing. Holding it down to a mere chuckle, he called out, “Rudd told me that you’re a psychologist. I was wondering if ‘daft’ is a professional term?”

I turned. “No,” I growled. “The professional term for daft is the Latin,
non compos mentis”
Then I managed to flounce the rest of the way up the stairs and into Aunt Connie’s apartment, slamming the door behind me.

I threw on jeans, sweatshirt, and hiking boots. As I went back downstairs, I decided that I was not at all amused by Mr. Freedom Crane.

“Where are we taking the body?” I asked as we took off down the alley in his beat-up old truck.

“I was out by Calley’s Spring hunting for wood not long ago. Seems like that would be a good place.”

“That’s about five miles past Uncle Rudd and Aunt Nissa’s farm. I used to go swimming at Calley’s Spring in the summertime when I was a kid. Why there? Why not just run around the block a few times until Peggy leaves?”

“Because we don’t know how long it will be before Peggy leaves, and we can’t take the chance that she’ll see us with Scott’s body in the truck. Pink cellophane is pretty hard to miss. We don’t want anyone else to see us, either. It would be safer just
to take him out to the cave near the spring and leave him there all night. I figured we’d stop by Bender’s Service Station and get some ice. Between the ice and the temperature in the cave, Scott’s body will be okay until we can bring him back tomorrow. Then we can go back home and get some sleep.”

“I know what cave you’re talking about. In fact, everyone in the county knows about that cave! Not only is that spring a great swimming hole in the summer, it’s the year-round make-out place for every teenager in a fifty-mile radius. Don’t you think some teenager would either see us putting the body in the cave or find the body later on?”

Freedom shrugged. “It’s Sunday, it’s late, I think there is less chance of someone seeing us at the cave than driving around with a dead body in the back of the truck. Unless you’ve got a better idea, it’s a chance we’ll have to take.”

The only better idea I could think of would be to drive right up to Sheriff Otis Beecher’s house, knock on the door, and come clean. But it didn’t look like that was going to happen anytime soon.

Up ahead I saw the large, well-lit sign advertising Bender’s All Night Service Station and thought of a few other problems. “Aren’t we going to have to get a lot of ice, and won’t that look suspicious? And have you even thought about how we are going to find the cave, haul all that ice, and get Aaron’s body in there?”

“I understand the problems. It probably won’t be easy getting Scott’s body and all the ice we’re going to need into
the cave. But as for getting the ice in the first place, that won’t be a problem. The ice machine is on the side of the station, no reason for anyone to see us, and it’s pay by the honor system. I’ll just get what we need and stick the money in the jar.”

I knew about the jar and Mr. Bender’s honor system, but had forgotten about it. I asked Freedom how he knew about Bender’s honor system policy with the ice.

“Rudd and I went fishing the other night and stopped here to get some ice for the coolers. Your uncle has been real good to show me around and make me feel welcome here in town.”

Of course he has—we need new blood. Everyone else knows us and is afraid to get tangled up with the Tanner clan.

“You know, we’ll be going right by Rudd and Nissa’s place anyway, it might be a good idea to stop and get Rudd to help us out,” Freedom said.

“Bad idea. They’re asleep by now and have had enough turmoil.” I certainly didn’t want to encourage stopping by my aunt and uncle’s. I had enough to deal with at the moment, and the last person I wanted to face was Uncle Rudd. Surely we could wait until morning to tell them. Besides, I was more worried about Aunt Connie and her state of mind. I wanted to get back to her apartment as soon as possible.

As we pulled into the station, I noticed that the youngest of the Bender sons was behind the counter. So much for Freedom and me looking suspicious. He never even looked
up from the magazine he was reading as we drove by the plate glass window.

Freedom pulled up next to the ice machine and hopped out of the truck. I asked if he needed any help. He said no.

I stayed in the truck and took a good look at Freedom Crane as he crossed over to the ice machine. Not a bad-looking guy, actually. Dressed in a faded flannel shirt, jeans, and boots, along with that thatch of unruly salt-and-pepper hair and short beard, he looked more like a lumberjack than my conception of a big-time artist.

A few minutes later, he jumped back in the truck and started the engine. “Next stop, Calley’s Spring.”

I couldn’t help myself. I had to ask how many sacks of ice he loaded in the back of the truck. I nearly cried when he said twenty. We were going to haul twenty sacks of ice and one dead body through a narrow pathway to a cave. It was going to be a long, long night. Just as we pulled into the dirt road entrance to the spring, my curiosity got the better of me. I had to ask. “Why are you doing this?”

He looked quite startled at the question. “I already told you, we couldn’t let Peggy find out that we hid Scott’s body in the flower cooler.”

“No, I meant why did you get involved in this mess to begin with?”

“Oh, I see. It’s not complicated.” He shrugged. “I like your family. I was there. I wanted to help.”

“Did it ever occur to you that if you really wanted to help
you would’ve talked my wayward relatives into going to the sheriff?”

“Nope,” he said as he parked the truck and shut the engine off. Leaning forward he grabbed a flashlight out of the glove compartment then turned to me. “I’ll go on up to the cave and look around, make sure no one is there.” He flashed the light at his watch. “It’s a little past ten. Let’s hope no one is around this late. I’ve got a duffle bag in the bed of the truck. I think after I empty it out I can put several bags of ice in it, and I’ll take that with me. You stay here until I get back.”

Using the same words Aunt Connie used earlier, I snorted, “Fat chance.”

We managed eight bags of ice in the duffle bag, and I carried three and the flashlight. We were relieved to see only one car off in the distance on our way to the cave. Freedom was right—it was downright chilly in the cave. We deposited the ice and went back for the body and the rest of the ice.

Back at the truck, we quickly refilled the duffle bag. Freedom hefted the body over his shoulder, and I grabbed the bag and led the way back to the cave. It was a good thing no one was around as we made our way toward the cave, because there was no hushing that infernal crackling sound of the pink cellophane.

By the time we had the body settled and packed in ice, my hands were numb and my whole body was shaking. We stood back and looked at our handiwork. Surely the man
deserved better, even if he did leave my aunt at the altar. I hoped this nightmare would end soon and we could give Aaron Scott a decent burial. We took one last look, gathered up all the empty plastic bags, and made our way back to the truck.

Pulling out of Calley’s Spring, Freedom again mentioned stopping at my aunt and uncle’s house. I wanted to argue the point with him, but I couldn’t dredge up enough emotional energy to say anything more than a whiney, “Can’t we tell them in the morning?”

“We could,” Freedom answered, “but I’ll bet you anything Connie has already called Rudd and told him we had to move Scott’s body. If we don’t stop by, he’ll be calling or coming over to Connie’s anyway.”

I hadn’t thought of that. “Okay, but let’s make it short and sweet. I don’t want to leave Aunt Connie by herself for too long. And besides,” I yawned, “I’m beat.”

As we drove up I could see that the lights were burning brightly through the windows of the kitchen and the living room of the farmhouse. They also had the front porch light on, and both Uncle Rudd and Aunt Nissa were sitting together on the porch swing, wrapped in blankets.

We hadn’t taken more than two steps away from the truck when both of them stood up and started talking at the same time. Aunt Nissa telling us she would bring out some coffee and Uncle Rudd wanting to know where we put Scott’s body. Aunt Nissa shushed Uncle Rudd and told him to wait
until she got some hot coffee down us. Good for Aunt Nissa. That’s just what we needed.

By the time we settled on the porch, Aunt Nissa was back with cups and a pot of coffee on a tray.

I took a sip of my coffee and savored the warmth as I swallowed. I leaned my head back on the porch rocker and felt the tight muscles in my neck relax. I could’ve stayed in that moment forever. Uncle Rudd had other ideas. “Well, come on, out with it—where’d you put the body?”

I looked over at Freedom. “You tell him.”

He did. Then I stared hard at my uncle. “He needs a proper burial, Uncle Rudd. We can’t just wrap him up in pink cellophane and keep carting him all over the countryside, or leave him in the flower cooler much longer, either.” I was quite definite on that point.

“I know, I know, I don’t like doing this any better than you do.” Uncle Rudd heaved a sigh. “But we’re doing the best we can under the circumstances. We need us a clue awful bad, Dixie-gal. Did you find that blue note at Connie’s place yet?”

Uncle Rudd was not a happy amateur detective when I told him no. For my part, I was not a happy put-upon niece when he lectured me on the importance of finding that note.

“Now, everyone is doing the best they can,” Aunt Nissa interjected. “I’m sure Dixie will get ahold of that note as soon as she can.” She stood up and started collecting our cups
and stacking them on the tray. Looking at Uncle Rudd she said, “I think we’ve all had enough for tonight. Let them go on home, Rudd. Besides, we don’t want Connie there alone much longer, now do we?”

Uncle Rudd dutifully stood up. “Guess you’re right, Nissa. You kids need to get on back. We’ll see you tomorrow.” Aunt Nissa gave me a hug, Uncle Rudd shook Freedom’s hand, and we left.

It was close to midnight when we got back to Aunt Connie’s place. I was relieved to see the lights on in her apartment. She had waited up for us. After that lecture from Uncle Rudd, I was determined to find out about that blue note as soon as possible. And asking Aunt Connie about it was the quickest way I could think of to do it.

Freedom and I were both yawning as we got out of the truck and made our way to the stairway. At the foot of the stairs he stopped me. “Uh, Dixie, wait a minute. I just want to say that I know this wasn’t the best way for us to meet. I’m sorry about that. Maybe after we both get some sleep, we can sort of start over tomorrow.”

Our little foray into the wilds of Calley’s Spring tonight did not bring any warm fuzzy feelings into my heart for Aunt Connie’s new renter. I didn’t want to start over. I had half a mind to just give him a curt nod good night, flounce upstairs, and slam the door on him, but the other half of me, the half that was trying to make some sort of sense of all this, said, “Look, I’m just curious, so don’t give me some
inane answer to a very simple question. Why did you and Uncle Rudd wrap that man up in pink cellophane?”

For a moment he stood there looking at me, the corners of his mouth twitching, then he said, “Well, Nissa thought he should have some sort of shroud, and she thought the pink stuff looked better than the green stuff.”

“Oh, for crying out loud, you’re all daft!” I huffed, and stomped up the stairs.

Just as I reached the porch I heard him say, “It’s the truth, Dixie, honest, it’s the truth!”

Thankfully, my aunt hadn’t locked the door, so I was able to do a little flouncing and slamming after all.

Evidently Aunt Connie had dozed off while she was sitting on the couch. When I slammed the door, she woke up with a start and started flailing at the air with the long blue thing she was knitting. When she recognized me, she stopped. “Oh, Dixie, I’m glad you’re back. Are you all right, child?”