The
men find a letter in the bank which shows that someone had found coal
on the Henry land, and they assume that's what had Earl upset the
night he confronted them.
When
they got outside, Luke pulled him close. "What was all that with
Mr. Kelly?"
"You
want him to think we got the papers or not? I don't think he's in on
it, but we got to figure that anyone we know might be guilty."
"I
don't like thinkin' our friends might've kilt our daddy," Luke
said. "But you're right. We can't rule out any man we know."
"Or
woman," Will countered.
"You
think a woman shoved our daddy in the creek?"
"Not
really, but we can't rule anyone out but us and the girls. They was
with us when Daddy died."
"Besides,
it wouldn't even occur to them to do such a thing."
"That's
the God's truth. Let's go find that phone."
The
two men made a show of driving out of town as if they were headed
back to the school. Instead, they took the first available road to
Cumberland. The whole way, they talked about what had happened and
lined up their suspects. The sheriff was at the top of the list. The
people who ran the school stacked up right under him.
"I
don't like to think Bert would kill our daddy," Luke said. "But
he was powerful angry with him at the party."
"He
had a right to be," Will countered. "I was powerful angry
with him myself. And you were pretty mad as well."
"Yeah,
I was. Not enough to kill him."
"Well,
no. But you'd have punched him given half a chance."
Luke
had to agree, he would have. His father knew just how to get under
his skin to make him furious.
They
arrived in Cumberland and drove around a few minutes looking for a
payphone. They found one near the courthouse. Parking down the
street, they walked over to the phone, digging around in their
pockets for change.
Will
took up the phone and gave the number to the operator. A few clicks
and buzzes later, he heard the phone ringing on the other end.
"Geological
Society of Kentucky, 1939, " a man answered.
"Hello,"
Will said, doing his best to lose the country hick accent that came
so naturally to him. "I'm calling regarding a letter you sent to
Mr. Earl Henry about a survey you did of his land."
There
was a pause.
"Who
are you and why are you calling?"
"I'm
Mr. Henry's heir."
"Earl's
dead?" There was a tone of shock and horror in the other man's
voice. "Is this Willem or Lucius?"
"I'm
Willem," he said, a slight question in his voice.
"Where
you calling from, son?"
"Payphone
in Cumberland. Who's this?"
"Timothy
McCleary. I need to talk to you boys. How can I reach you? Will you
be in Cumberland long?"
"No,
sir. We come up here to make our call. We have to head home soon."
"Dammit."
McCleary cursed softly. "Can you meet me somewhere? Tonight.
Preferably not in Harlan."
"Mr.
McCleary, you're scarin' me a bit."
There
was a short silence. "Phones aren't private," he said.
"Anyone with a mind to can listen in. If you can't make it to
me, I'll come to you. You do what you need to do and I'll meet up
with you. Your daddy had a special spot he went to think. You ask
your mama. I'll meet you there after supper."
"You
sure, Mr. McCleary? That's a powerful long drive."
"Y'all
ain't safe, Willem. Soon as I hang up, I'm on my way."
"We'll
see you then, sir."
Willem
hung up, sighing. It took a few minutes to tell Lucius everything
because he kept interrupting. Finally, he had the entire story.
"So,
what now?" Lucius asked.
"Now,
we find out from Mama what the hell Timothy McCleary was talking
about."
"Reckon
so. I'm powerful worried about the girls. We need to get on back
now."
Willem
agreed. They hopped in the truck and drove back to the school as fast
as they were able. It seemed that every possible delay met them.
First, there'd been a wreck. A truck ran away on the narrow mountain
road. Fortunately, the driver had been able to direct it into a soft
bank. He was hurt, but alive. They saw him standing on the side of
the road talking to a deputy.
Next,
they got behind an overloaded bus. It was almost too long for the
steep mountain road. More than once, the end of it hung over the edge
of the road, its wheels barely on the pavement. Fortunately, they
stopped at an overlook to check out the scenery and the men were able
to get around.
©
2019 Dellani Oakes
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