Dorothy Garlock - [Route 66] (9 page)

Margie didn’t know what to say. She was afraid of what Elmer’s reaction would be if she invited the child to ride with them. Anna Marie wouldn’t understand his refusal to talk to her.

The Lukers came in and parked close behind Elmer’s truck, and Brady’s car moved around to close the space between Elmer’s truck and the Putmans’. Brady was taking a bundle off the top carrier on his Model A Ford when Anna Marie broke loose and ran to him.

“Uncle Brady! Want to hear me sing the ABC song?”

“Sure! Punkie, let her rip.”

“A B C D E F G, H I J—that’s all I know. Aunt Grace said I learned fast. Mr. Putman sang with me.”

“He did, huh?”

“He knows lots of songs. He knows one about old MacDonald. And he knows how to go hee-haw, hee-haw. Maybe he’ll show you.”

“I’ve always wanted to know how to go hee-haw.” Brady smiled down at the child. At times she reminded him so much of his lighthearted brother that his heart would stumble and almost stop.

“I’m goin’ to play with Blackie.”

“Stay close, Punkie.”

“I will.” Anna Marie ran toward the Putman camp, and Brady wondered how he had ever thought he could make the trip alone with a five-year-old girl. He thanked God for the kindness of Mrs. Putman and for Margie. He wanted to talk to her and waited until he saw Elmer walk off toward the woods.

Brady went to the back of Elmer’s truck. Margie was inside kneeling beside the cupboard. “Margie—” It startled her when he spoke her name. She rose to step from the truck. Brady reached in and grasped her around the waist. Before she could protest, he had lifted her down as easily as if she were no heavier than Anna Marie.

“Oh, my! I’m too big for that!”

“Big? I doubt you weigh much over a hundred pounds dripping wet.”

“I do. About ten or fifteen pounds over.”

“That still isn’t very big.” He stood there looking down at her with his remarkable green eyes squinted. “I’m leery of that group parked over there.” He jerked his head toward the parked car and the men lounging on the grass beside it.

“Is that why you’re wearing a gun?”

“It’s best to be prepared,” he said by way of an answer.

“Mr. Putman said as much.”

“If they’re going to pull something, they’ll wait until dark.”

“What could we do if they did? There’s three of them.”

“There are five of us counting Jody.”

“Six counting me.”

He grinned. “Does Elmer have a gun?”

“I don’t know, but I do. It’s just a little one, but I know how to shoot it.”

“But would you?”

“Doggone right,” she said staunchly. “A friend gave it to me before I left home. He took me out into the woods and showed me how to use it.” She smiled into his eyes. “I confess that I can’t shoot the eye out of a running jackrabbit, but I did hit a barn door a few feet away.”

The twinkle in his eyes caused a blush to redden her face. “Will it fit in your pocket?”

“In my apron pocket.” She glanced toward the Lukers’ trailer, which Jody and Mona were unloading. “Do you think there’ll be trouble?”

“I don’t know. But it’s best to look for it and be pleasantly surprised when you don’t find it.”

“Are you and Anna Marie eating with the Putmans?”

“We’ve struck a deal. I’ll help furnish the grub, and Mrs. Putman will cook it.” Brady looked past Margie to see Elmer at the front of the truck watching them. He spoke to him. “I was just telling your daughter that we’d better keep an eye on that bunch over there by the other car. Do you have a gun?”

“My squirrel rifle.”

“Sometimes just a show of strength will cause a bunch bent on robbery to back off.”

“What makes ya think they’re goin’ to rob us? They don’t look dangerous to me.”

“They may be just good old boys out boozin’ it up. But I don’t plan to be caught with my pants down if they’ve got something else in mind.” Brady turned, then said, “See you, Margie.”

Unable to understand Elmer’s reasoning, Margie climbed back into the truck again and began to lay out the supplies for supper.

While Foley was putting up the pup tent, Jody built a cook fire. Sugar complained to Foley that the tent was too close to the trailer and car where Jody and Mona slept.

“They’ll hear everything we say and … do,” she whispered seductively. “They’re with us all day. I want you all to myself at night.”

“Just for tonight. Those fellows over there may spend the night here, and we shouldn’t be too far away from the others.”

“Whose idea is that? Alvin Putman’s? He’s an old fuddyduddy, and his wife doesn’t give me the time of day.” Sugar knew how to use her voice. She had let it drop into a sorrowful tone.

“You might like her if you got to know her,” Foley said. “Don’t you think it’s worth trying?”

“No, I don’t. I only want you.” Sugar hugged his arm and pressed her taut breasts against him.

“We have a long trip ahead of us. It will be more pleasant for all of us if we could be sociable.”

“She don’t like me.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I wasn’t going to tell you, darlin’, but Mr. Hoyt keeps looking at me. He was stealing glances all the time he was fixing the radiator.”

“I can’t blame him for that, Sugar. I like to look at you too.”

“But, darlin’, he looks at me like … like he wants to see me without my clothes on.”

“If he bothers you, I’ll put a stop to it.”

“But … but he scares me.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll watch him.”

“I’m glad, so glad, I’ve got you to take care of me.” Sugar knew when to back off after she had planted her little seed of distrust, and changed the subject. “I’m trying so hard to make Mona into a young woman you’ll be proud of, but every time I open my mouth she cuts me off.” Sugar pouted and snuggled against Foley.

“She’ll come around. By the end of this trip the two of you will be the best of friends. I’m counting on it.”

“I hope so, darlin’. I really do. Jody takes her side. He spoils her. I like Jody. I really do. He’s such a sweet boy.”

Mona stirred the burning embers of the campfire before she placed the kettle of beans her brother had cooked the night before on the grate. She glanced with resentment at the tent where she could hear the low voice of her father and the giggles of her stepmother.

Embarrassed that her father would be such a fool over a woman so shallow and conniving, Mona sought to busy herself to keep from thinking about what was going on in the tent. She had begun to ladle the corn bread batter into the skillet when she looked up to see two men approaching. She glanced quickly over her shoulder. Jody wasn’t in sight.

“Somethin’ smells mighty good.” The man who spoke had a pleasant, clean-shaven face. He was younger than his companion and wore a billed cap.

Mona stood with the pancake turner in her hand. Jody came from around the trailer and placed the bowls he carried on a box near the fire.

“What do you want?” he demanded.

“We were wonderin’ if ya could spare a meal? We ain’t et all day, and what you got there looks and smells larrupin.’ ” The man eyed Mona in such a way that his words had a double meaning.

Jody’s eyes went from one man to the other and didn’t like what he saw. Somehow the smile on the younger man’s face struck him as being as false as a three-dollar bill.

“Pa,” he called. When there was no answer, he called again, urgently. “Pa, come out here.”

A full minute went by before his father came out of the tent, followed closely by Sugar. On seeing the men she tossed her hair back over her shoulders, pulled her shirt tightly down over her breasts and tucked it into the waist-band of her skirt.

“Howdy, folks.” The young man spoke to both, but his bold eyes were on Sugar.

“Where did you come from?” she asked, as if she hadn’t already spotted the three men in the car at the end of the campground.

“We’re from over there.” The man gestured toward the car.

Sugar flounced over and took the turner from Mona’s hand. “Haven’t you ever seen a man before?” she whispered irritably. “You’re burning the corn bread!”

Jody gave Sugar an angry glance, then spoke to his father. “They want a meal, Pa.”

“Give it to them. Mona, dish them up a plate of beans. We have plenty.”

“That’s mighty good of ya, mister.”

“Doesn’t your friend want to eat?” Sugar asked, nodding her head toward the car where the other man sat on the running board.

“No, ma’am. He’s kind of under the weather.”

Mona ladled beans into two bowls and stuck in spoons. It was Jody who handed them to the men. The young one hadn’t taken his eyes off Sugar, and she was well aware of it.

“Here’s a nice, hot corn bread pancake.” Sugar scooped up the bread and took it to the younger man, who had squatted on his heels to eat. When she leaned over to put it on his bowl, he looked down at her cleavage and boldly winked at her.

“Where you folks goin’?” The older man’s eyes moved constantly.

“California,” Sugar answered while giving him the corn bread. “We’re in the ice business. We’re going to build an icehouse in California.”

“That right? I’ve not known anyone in the ice business.”

Sugar laughed. “You should have come up to Joplin. We had a big icehouse up there.”

“I suppose you sold it.”

“Of course. How do you think we got the money to build another one.”

“Sugar—,”Foley admonished, and shook his head.

Jody’s anxious eyes went to his father.
The stupid woman would get them killed.

“Where’s the corn bread batter, Mona?” Sugar was enjoying the stranger’s attention. “And get a bowl for your father.”

Mona ladled the batter into the skillet, then retreated. Jody had filled a bowl with beans for his father. He tried and failed to catch his eye when he took it to him. He was sure the bulge beneath the shirt of the older of the two men was a gun.

“Where are you fellows headed?” Foley asked.

“Here and there. Lookin’ for work.”

“You’ll not find work sitting out here in a campground,” Jody said, and nudged his sister back toward the trailer.

“Jody,” Sugar scolded, “that wasn’t very nice.”

The younger man stood and placed his empty bowl on the box, then went back and sat down.

“That was a mighty good supper, ma’am. A good cup of coffee would top it off.”

“We’re short of coffee,” Jody said.

“Since when?” Sugar asked. “Fill the coffeepot, Jody. I’d like a cup myself.”

“If Pa don’t catch on to her now, he never will,” Mona whispered to Jody when they went to the back of the trailer where they stored the foodstuffs.

“The old one has a gun. Slip around to the other side and go tell Brady.”

Jody rummaged in the trailer for a while to give Mona time to get past the Kinnards. He filled the pot with water from their water barrel and set it on the rack over the fire. He poked more sticks into the blaze and decided that he could use one for a weapon if it came to that.

“Where’s Mona?” Sugar demanded. “This is her job.”

“She went to the woods.” Jody filled a bowl for himself and backed away from the fire so that he could watch both men.

“What do you know of the highway ahead?” Foley asked.

“Sixty-six is paved to Chandler.” The younger man leaned back on his elbow, leered at Sugar and spoke to Foley. “Is she your wife?”

“She is.”

“Thought maybe she was your daughter. She’s pretty and kind of … young, ain’t she? I’d give a pretty penny to get me a woman like that.”

“Watch your manners,” Foley snarled, and got to his feet.

“Can’t blame a feller for lookin’ and … hopin’.”

Jody lifted the lid on the coffeepot and poured in a scoop of coffee. When he stepped back from the fire, he was relieved to see Brady Hoyt approaching.

“Ma’am.” Brady tipped his hat toward Sugar. “Howdy, Foley.”

“Howdy, Brady. Coffee’ll be ready in a minute.”

“Thanks.” Brady stood with his thumbs hooked in his belt, his hand just inches away from the butt of his gun. “Where are you fellows headed?”

“That’s what ever’body wants to know these days.” The older man stood and backed up a couple of steps.

“Yeah.” The younger man was still leaning on his elbow, stretched out on his side on the ground. “What would ya say if we told ya we ain’t goin’ nowhere? We’re waitin’ here to rob a train. Haw, haw, haw.”

Brady’s cold eyes settled on the man’s face. “You’re going to get mighty hungry before one comes along. Move on. You’ll have better luck catching a train down by the railroad tracks.”

“Are ya tellin’ us to leave?”

“You heard me.”

The older man’s eyes flicked to Sugar, who was hanging on to Foley’s arm. “The pretty woman give us beans and corn bread and invited us to stay for coffee.”

“Is this a social visit, Mr. Hoyt?” Sugar asked frostily.

“I guess you could say that, Mrs. Luker.”

“Then I suggest that you tend to your own business. We don’t have to get your permission to invite folks to have supper with us. I don’t appreciate you coming into our camp and telling our guests to move on.”

“I’m sorry if I offended you.”

“I asked Mr. Hoyt to come down,” Mona said. “This is just as much my camp as yours. I’ve a right to invite him to come for coffee.”

Sugar, forgetting herself and the role she played, retorted angrily. “You think so? You’re just a snot-nosed kid. You weren’t getting any attention, so you switched your fat butt up there to get him.”

The young stranger chuckled. He was enjoying the situation. His eyes darted to Foley, who had gripped his wife’s arm and was frowning down at her. The older man continued to move back, one small step at a time. Jody scooped up an armload of sticks and dropped them on the fire. It blazed up, lighting the area and allowing them to see Alvin coming toward them, his shotgun in the back of the third man.

The older man made a move to grasp his own gun through his shirt.

“Don’t,” Brady said sharply, and drew his gun from the holster. “I’ve seen that trick before. Drop your hands. Get up and get over there beside him,” Brady said to the younger man. “I can shoot both of you before you can reach the gun strapped to your leg.”

Sugar shrieked and clung to Foley, making it impossible to depend on him for help.