Secrets and Revelations (Bellingwood #4) (27 page)

He was wearing his new boots, and had a nice dress shirt tucked into his jeans.

"You look great!" she said.

Jason tapped the heel of his right foot against the toe of his left. "I love these boots. They look so cool!"

"I'm glad," she said. Polly placed her hand on his back as they walked through the kitchen to the garage.

"Don't ever tell the runt I said this," Jason said, "but this is pretty cool. Do you think he'll ever be a famous author?"

"Haven't you read his story?" Polly asked.

"He wouldn't let me. He said I had to wait until after today."

"I can't believe he didn't want you to read it. You're a big part of that story," she laughed. "I talked to Annabelle at the newspaper downtown. She's going to give the kids exposure in upcoming issues."

"That will be so cool.
Even if Andrew doesn't win this, maybe someone will see his story and want to publish it!"

"We'll see. If he wants to write, there's no reason he shouldn't start now."

"Kind of like me learning how to ride horses."

"Exactly like that."

She pulled into the parking lot of the church and they went in the front door. Polly didn't have any responsibilities today so she found a seat toward the front where she and Jason would be able to see the podium clearly. They saved a place for Sylvie and she texted Henry to find out if he planned to make it. When he told her that he wasn't going to, she relaxed and sat back.

Each of the fifteen students was given five minutes to present their piece to the audience and the judges. Andrew had chosen the section of his story where slave-catchers looking for runaways confronted two young boys determined to be men. When he expressed the fear of the young protagonist of the story, his face told the story as much as his words did and when he expressed pride in the older brother's courage, his eyes flashed. Jason poked Polly in the side when Andrew told of the female characters coming down to deal with these two awful men brandishing a cast iron skillet and rolling pin. She smirked at him. Andrew had taken those characters directly from his mother and Polly. When the hired hand and Sheriff showed up to help the family, thereby protecting the hidden slaves, the entire room broke into applause.

"He's a hit," Jason said.

"Yes he is," Polly replied. "He knows how to tell a story as well as write it. That was great."

Andrew took a deep bow and stepped down, then rushed toward the pew where Sylvie and Jason were seated with Polly. As soon as he relaxed, his face flushed. He bent over to wave at Polly and she winked at him. Four more presenters followed him and then Joss Mikkels stood up and announced a fifteen minute break so the judges could discuss their selection.

Polly stood and looked around the crowd. Jeff Lyndsay was seated in the back and gave a little wave. She smiled at Eliseo who was standing by the back door. She bent back over to Sylvie who was seated with her arm around Andrew. "Did you see that Jeff and Eliseo were here?" she asked.

"I have no idea who is here," Sylvie said. "I can't even think. I just want this to be over. I don't think I've ever been this nervous."

"He's done an excellent job," Polly remarked.

"But so has everyone else," Sylvie said. She was right. The kids who made it this far were well prepared and presented excellent pieces of literature. Polly was glad that she'd done her part and didn't have to make the final decision. She watched Joss, who hovered near the judges. Soon they handed her a sheet of paper and she walked back to the podium.

"If you would please be seated," Joss said into the microphone, "I have the results of this year's Literary Competition."

It took some time for everyone to find their way back to their seats. Polly sat back down beside Jason and in her nerves, took his hand. He squeezed hers and smiled up at her. "It's going to be fine whatever way it goes," he said. "Even if he doesn't win this year, he's only nine. Remember that."

"Where did you get so much wisdom?" she asked, chuckling.

"I've had to listen to him worry about this every single night for a month. He doesn't want to disappoint you and mom. I had to come up with something to shut him up."

Polly took her hand out of his and wrapped it around his shoulder and squeezed him close to her. "You are such a great
big brother."

Joss went through the list of all the students who had participated and congratulated them on their fine performances. Polly watched Sylvie's face, a mixture of anticipation and fear for her son. She wondered if Sylvie knew how
very practical her boys were, a trait she had taught them over the years. Andrew would be able to handle any decision the judges made.

"The judges have told me they had a very difficult time choosing this year's winner. There were three top contenders for the prize and had they been able to give out that many first place finishes, they would have done so," Joss announced.

"The third place winner this year is fifteen-year-old Maddy Horvath for her full-length novel 'Bearing Straight.' She is awarded a one hundred dollar cash award.

The audience applauded and waited nervously.

"Second place this year goes to nine-year-old Andrew Donovan for his short story
Hidden in the Trees
. He will receive a five hundred dollar cash award. Andrew grinned like a fool at his mother and Jason. He flashed his hand open splaying his fingers out and said, "Five hundred dollars!"

Sylvie sat back with relief written across her face. Polly knew that all she felt was thankfulness that the wait was over and that he'd done a terrific job. She hugged her son and gave Polly a large smile.

"The first place prize goes to Tammy Sunamen, age sixteen, for her poem, 'A Winter's Moon.' The five thousand dollar scholarship as well as a five hundred dollar cash award is our way of congratulating her for a job well done. Tammy, could you come up here?"

A pretty young girl
shyly made her way through the crowd while her family stood and applauded for her. She accepted the proffered envelopes and then waved at the people she loved.

"Thank you all for coming today and I look forward to seeing you at next year's competition. Kids, it's time to start writing again. Good luck!" Joss said and stepped away from the microphone, signaling an end to the day's event.

"Mom, I won five hundred dollars!" Andrew exclaimed. "That will buy a lot of books!"

"Yes it would," Sylvie smiled. "Don't you have someone to thank before you start spending all your money?"

He scooted in front of her and Jason to get to Polly. His eyes were huge and he said, "Thank you, Polly. I couldn't have done this without you. I can't believe you listened to me when I told you about my dream."

She hugged him tightly. "I'm proud of you, Andrew Donovan. You have a million more stories inside that little head of yours and I hope they come flowing out as fast as possible."

Joss Mikkels made her way to them and handed Andrew an envelope. "Congratulations, Andrew. I hope you plan to write another story for next year's competition. They had a really difficult time choosing between you and Tammy for first place."

He took the envelope from her and didn't seem to know what to say.

"Start with 'thank you,'" his mother prodded.

"Thank you, Mrs. Mikkels. I am ready to write another story as soon as I have another dream!"

Joss looked at Sylvie in confusion and Polly interrupted. "This story was based on a dream he had while reading a book about the Underground Railroad."

"Oh!" she said. "Well, maybe you ought to tell your mind that it can
also have daydreams. Your daydreams might be just as creative as your sleeping dreams."

Jason smirked, "Doubt it. He always has the weirdest stories in the mornings after he wakes up. I thought he made them up for attention. Maybe he is just that weird." He wrestled his brother into a strange type of hug and Sylvie put her hands on his shoulders to stop him.

"Are you going up to the car show?" Joss asked Polly.

"I sure am! I want to see what those boys find so fascinating about pieces of metal and rubber and chrome."

Joss laughed. "Maybe I'll see you up there once I get everything taken care of here. Thanks for your help this year."

Polly took her hand. "The best part was meeting you. I've loved that."

"Me too!" Joss said, though she looked a little surprised at Polly's overt gesture. She moved away and Sylvie said, "I want to get Andrew home and changed into something a little more appropriate for the day. Are you going back to the carnival today?"

"Probably. And then Henry and I are going
downtown to the street dance tonight. I haven't been to one of those since I was in high school."

"Can we go, mom?" Andrew asked.

"We'll go up for a while and then you and Jason can go on some of the rides at the carnival."

"Have fun today, boys," Polly said.

"Thanks for everything, Polly," Sylvie hugged her across the boys. "If I don't see you again today, I'll be at Sycamore House early tomorrow morning to get ready for the ice cream social and pie contest. I'm going to be ready for Bellingwood Days to be over this year. I have never been this busy with it. I used to work a few shifts at the grocery store and go home. I don't feel like I've been home at all this year except to sleep."

Polly followed them out of the church and watched the three walk toward home. She calculated the distance in her head from the church to the car show and decided she could just as easily walk as try to find a parking place any closer. She smiled and nodded hello to people as she walked past them on the sidewalks in front of the church, then crossed to the other side of the street. A shortcut through an alley and she found herself in front of the elementary school. Small towns were crazy. It just didn't take long to get anywhere on foot. After all those years of driving in Boston, this represented freedom to her.

She had no idea where Henry and Nate might have parked their vehicles, so she meandered through the cars, admiring the beauty of the classics.

"Polly!" She heard Henry's voice and looked for him. When she saw him waving at her, she waved back and made her way to him. He and Nate had lawn chairs on the grass behind the cars.

"You two look as if you are being complete slugs," she accused.

"It's a beautiful day to be out with the cars," Nate laughed. "How did the competition go? Am I in trouble?"

"It was great. Andrew came in second place. He did really well."

"I'm sorry I missed it," Henry said.

"Oh no you're not, don't give me that. I know you both would have much rather have been here. So, is there a winner or something at this thing?"

The two men looked at each other and laughed.

"What?"

"There are some awards given out, but there isn't a big winner."

"Oh. Fun," she said.

"It is fun!" Nate laughed.

"I'm going to show her around. Hold down the fort, buddy," Henry said. He wrapped his arm around her waist and began walking her toward the cars.

"I just wanted to get you away for a minute. How are things at Sycamore House this morning? I haven't heard anything from Roy."

She shrugged. "I was up and out of there pretty early. I didn't see him or the boys so I'm assuming they're fine. Surely he'd let you know if there was anything going on."

"Probably," he nodded. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. The competition was great. Sylvie's boys are such good kids. She was worried about Andrew, but he was a star up there."

Henry kissed her cheek. "So, do you care about these cars?"

"Not really. What are you going to do about lunch? Can you get away?"

"No, I should stay. We're going to close up shop around two o'clock. Can you wait until then?"

"Can I hang out with you?"

"Of course, let's look at the competition and then I'll kick Nate out of his chair. He can find his own place to sit."

She grinned at him and listened patiently as he explained why he loved the cars they were looking at. He introduced her to people he knew and pointed out his favorite cars. Nate was gone when they returned to the lawn chairs, so he pulled them together and they sat down to enjoy the afternoon.

Urging him to hurry under her breath,
Polly followed Henry home from the car show and waited while he parked his Thunderbird in the garage. He promised her another ride on the Ferris wheel and as much fair food as she wanted. She knew they needed to be careful because two of the local service organizations had teamed up and were holding a barbecue cook-off before the dance that evening.

He jumped in her truck. "I think Roy and the boys are going a little stir-crazy back at Sycamore House."

"I can't imagine. At least it's a big place for them to be." She turned to look at him quizzically. "They aren't spending the day in that one little room, are they?"

"I don't know. I guess I assumed so."

"They should be using my apartment. There are video games or they can watch television. They can use the kitchen. Please! Tell him."

Henry dialed his phone. "Hey buddy, Polly wanted me to tell you that you should be spending the day in her apartment."

He listened for a moment. "No, she's not kidding. Turn on the television, there are video games, you can read any of her books. Open her refrigerator and eat anything you want. For that matter, you can open the refrigerators down in the main kitchen if she doesn't have enough food for you."

Henry handed the phone to her, "Tell him."

She stopped at the stop sign and took the phone from him, "Roy?"

"Hi Polly, we don't want to eat your food. We can find things to do here in the room."

"Stop it. Those boys don't need to be stuck in one place all day. I have kids in and out of my apartment all the time. The cats would love the company and Obiwan is a big ole goof. I've already taken him outside and he's going to be fine until I get home later on, so you can settle in over there and enjoy the rest of the day. There are board games in the cabinet beside the television. Please just use my place."

"That would be great for the boys. Thank you. There's only so much entertainment two young boys can find on my tablet."

"Don't mention it. Keep them safe and happy. I'm sure they'll figure out the television and video game system. There are movies, but they're all kind of geeky, so I apologize for that."

"Thank you, Polly. We appreciated the use of the shower, but we're grateful for this."

"No problem. Take care of them!"

She handed the phone back to Henry. "Sometimes it is so hard to be nice to people," she laughed.

"I can't believe your apartment is clean enough that you let them be there."

"Hey! You were there last night. It's perfectly fine!"

"I know! I just can't believe it."

"I've been trying. You keep coming over and I have to madly clean things up, so I have tried to stay on top of it. That hasn't been easy this week, let me tell you."

He pointed to a parallel parking space on the side of the road. "How about there? It's only a block away and we're close enough to downtown that we can do both without moving it."

"I'm not that talented," she said. "This truck is bigger than anything I've ever parallel parked. I'll be working my way in there for at least an hour."

"You're kidding," he mocked.

"No, I'm not kidding. Do you want to put it in there?" Polly pulled the truck into park and slid herself over to sit on his lap.

"What are you doing?" he laughed.

"You park it. I'm not going to. If you want it in there, you make it happen."

"You couldn't get out of the truck and come around?"

"I wanted to sit on your lap and kiss you." She kissed
his lips.

"Someone might see us," he protested. "It's not like we're invisible here. In fact, you parked in the middle of the road!"

Polly pulled her shoulders up and said, "Well, you might want to fix that then. I'm perfectly happy where I am. If you don't want me making out with you in the middle of the street, you'd better do something." She kissed him again.

Henry moved to the left and pushed her into the passenger door. When he got his seat belt off, he scooted across the console into the driver's seat.

"I am never going to know what's coming next from you, am I?" he laughed. He pulled forward and then eased the truck into the spot, pulled forward again to straighten it out and said, "There. That wasn't so difficult, was it?"

"It would have been impossible for me. Thank you. Come on! Let's ride the Ferris wheel. And no paying off the guy to get me stuck in the air. I'll kiss you anyway."

She jumped out of the truck and waited for him, took his hand and pulled him into a trot as they ran to the carnival.

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

"It's a wonderful day. I don't have any more responsibilities. Bellingwood Days has been fun so far and tonight I get to go dancing with you. Can you think of any reason to go slowly?"

"I guess not," he said, shaking his head. "Did you take a happy pill?"

Polly stopped in front of the entrance. "Henry, I talked to my Uncle Clyde today and it was an awful conversation. He told me that he doesn't like me because I look too much like Ruth Ann and he thinks my Dad was a sucker for her and for me too. But then it hit me that I'm not defined by either of those people. My Dad was a wonderful man and he raised me to be like him and I love him so much and you know what? That's all that matters. Uncle Clyde is a miserable old man and Ruth Ann is an idiot. I have you and my friends and I have my animals and I'm happy about all of it!"

She took his hand and held it over her head and spun in place. "I feel freedom today.
I sat with Jason and Sylvie and we watched a nine year old boy begin to figure out what his life dream might be. If he spends a lifetime writing and performing, that's great. If he does something else, I think we’d still be proud of him. Jason and Rachel are finding freedom with my horses and it is opening new worlds for them."

Henry held her hand and smiled. "So, you've been processing on this all day?"

Polly winked. "That and how much I can't wait to have you hold me in the dark tonight at the dance. I've been looking forward to that all week long. Now come on. One more corndog before the carnival closes up tonight."

She pulled him in and headed straight for the corndog stand. "Do you want one?" she asked.

"Sure, I'm hungry."

They wandered through the games and rides and stopped at a ring toss game. "What if I win you a stuffed tiger?" he asked. “Will you consent to let it sit by Tigger the elephant on your bed?”

"These things are rigged," Polly responded. "You'll never win anything. Don't even bother."

"Are you sure?"

"Whatever. It's your money."

Henry gave the carny a dollar and took his three rings. "Is it rigged?" he asked the man, who simply shrugged and smiled.

Henry hit the first bottle and the second, then missed the third. "Well, I tried," he said.

"
Don’t you want to try again?" the carny pressed.

"Nah. She told me not to, I just couldn't resist. Had to try to get her a toy."

They moved on and Polly laughed. "You're a nut."

"I know. It was worth a shot. Should I prove my strength?"

"No! You don't need to prove anything to me and I don't need to carry around a stuffed animal." She rubbed his head, pushing up his ball cap. "You're fuzzy enough."

Henry grabbed her hand and brought it back down between them. "Last year's Bellingwood Days were boring," he said.

"Because I wasn't around?"

"Yes. That."

"I was in town ... kind of. It didn't occur to me that it would be this much fun."

"It wasn't. Trust me."

They rode the Ferris wheel again and each time they crested the top, he kissed her.

After a third ride and a great deal of walking around, they left and walked toward downtown. Others had the same idea. The stores were all open for the evening and one end of Main Street was set up with competing barbecue smokers
, while a band was setting up on a stage erected at the other end of the street. Tables were set up on the sidewalks and many of the shops had drinks, snacks, side dishes and desserts available. Polly saw the Merritts, Beryl, Andy Saner, and Len Specek seated at a picnic table halfway down the street and waved at them.

Beryl stood up and yelled, "We saved you a place!"

Polly laughed out loud and nodded. "She's a little embarrassing," she said to Henry.

"A little? I'm glad she's your friend and not mine."

"Stop it. You love her too."

"I'm not sure that's what you call it, but okay."

They got a plate filled with ribs from one side of the street and another plate with smoked meat from the other side, then wandered down toward the table, purchasing drinks and sides along the way. Polly ended up with some beans and a cup of cheesy potatoes while Henry stopped for some of Lisa Bradford's coleslaw. He ducked into Pizzazz and came back out with garlic bread and drinks.

"How was your day?" Lydia asked.

"It was fabulous. Have you talked to Sylvie?" Polly responded.

"She texted me that Andrew came in second place."

"I was so proud of him. Poor Sylvie was a wreck before it started, but he did a great job."

"When do we get to read it?" Andy said. "I asked him last month and he told me he wasn't sharing it with anyone until after today."

"I'll see what I can do to get a copy to you."

"Thank you," she said. Len had his arm around her back and his other hand kept finding its way into her hand on the table. She just smiled at him and rubbed his fingers.

Polly nudged Henry and tilted her head toward them. "Be good," he whispered.

"Do you have any leads, Sheriff?" he asked Aaron. "I think there are a couple of boys who have serious cabin fever at Sycamore House and are ready to be outside. I'm sorry they've missed out on the carnival."

"That is too bad. We're still investigating, though. Once we knew what to look for, we pulled some prints off the tire iron and the steering wheel. Of course those won't tell us who we are looking for until we have them. They weren't in any of the databases, but it's a good start."

"Have you talked to her husband?" Polly asked.

Aaron scowled at her. "Of course we did. He was the first person we talked to. It's one of those unwritten rules. Always talk to the husband first. But he had a good alibi for that morning, so unless he is a magician, it wasn't him."

"I keep thinking about that screaming fit she threw at the bank last week. She was absolutely furious with someone and threatened them."

"Poor Cindy Rothenfuss threatened everyone," Lydia said.

"It was her go-to attack," Beryl laughed. "If she couldn't get them to do what she wanted, she found a way to threaten them. I don't know how she managed to get away with it either. She always tried to use her husband's power at the bank and he never followed through on any of her threats. It was all just noise."

"That was last Thursday night, Polly?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah. O
biwan and I were out for a walk. I thought it was strange that there were people at the bank that late, but if it was her husband and he was trying to avoid being at home with her, I suppose that makes sense."

"But, he wasn't working on
Thursday night, so that doesn't make sense at all. He was with me at Davey's. We had dinner with some people from Boone who want to build an ethanol plant outside of town."

Lydia nodded. "I was in Dayton with Marilyn and her kiddos, but you got home after I did."

"So, who was she yelling at?" Polly asked.

Aaron mused and nodded, "That's a good question. Thanks for telling me again. I didn't think anything of it when you told me on Monday morning. I just assumed she'd made someone else angry and was threatening them when they wouldn't respond to her."

Then he asked her, "You said you ducked down behind a car. Do you remember what kind of car it was?"