Will O Wisp (2 page)

“
Go on with ye. It is
honest, if you make up a good story about what you're tradin' for,
and it works,” Shana declared.

“
Who gave you that bit of
mistaken wisdom?” Gracie asked as she returned a wave to Mrs.
Boswick, sitting on her front porch. She wasn't about to act like
this walk was any different than any other. Mrs. Boswick was nosy
enough to follow them down the street to see if she could hear what
was going on.

“
Mikie Brown,” Shana
said.

“
We should have guessed
that,” Gracie groused.

“
He says that is the way a
deal works. He's traded that way plenty of times,” Shana
shared.

“
Un huh! Take it from me.
That kind of trading ain't honest,” Gracie said. “You can't bend
principles like honesty. There ain't no such thing as being a
little dishonest. You hear me, girl?”

Shana ducked her head contritely.
“Yes, ma'am.”

“
Besides that, you have a
jack and ball set. Why did you want that little boy's toy?” Melinda
asked.

“
Ah well, I figured to
trade it for somethin' even better,” Shana said, hoping they would
see the ingenuity in her trading scheme.

Gracie put her hand on Shana's
shoulder to stop her. “First off, you take that pepper back to
Agnes. Tell her what you did. See if she can put it back in the
shakers. Explain your licorice idea to her and see what she thinks
of it,” Gracie ordered

“
She might get in a tizzy
at me,” Shana worried.

“
No doubt, but that's your
problem. You should have thought of that before you stole the
pepper. Since you're the one that took the pepper without asking
her, you have to take the consequences,” Gracie
declared.

Another afternoon on Main Street,
Marshal Earl Bullock puffed on his pipe as he stood looking out his
office window. In an alley between the Mercantile and the dress
shop, a group of children were throwing spit wads at elderly people
walking by. Their aim was pretty good. One of the children hit Mrs.
Longstretch on the side of her head. She keeping walking, very
surprised as she rubbed the stinging spot.

Absent minded Mr. Cecil Jacks looked
above him like he thought a bird tried to light on his head. High
strung spinster, Miss Crossgrove squealed. She thought a yellow
jacket wasp had stung her. Cranky Lincoln Highbook growled when he
removed his fedora and saw a wad of gum stuck to the
crown.

Marshal Bullock put his pipe on his
desk and stepped outside. He yelled at the children to stop
throwing things at people. They made faces at him and laughed. He
marched across the street. That wiped the smiles off their faces as
the children scattered.

Marshal Bullock was able to catch two
of them, Mikie Brown and Shana Lang, by the back of their shirts.
As he pushed them in front of him over to his office, they cried
that they had just been having fun.

Earl Bullock locked the office door so
they couldn't escape and sat behind his desk. He stared at the two
children in front of him until they bowed their heads to stare at
the floor. “By gum, the whole bunch of you are in trouble. I reckon
you know that. I know every one of those younguns that took off.
Believe me, they didn't get away for long.

I'm not sure who did what the last
while. I've had my fill of complaints from angry people the last
few weeks and names to go along with them. I'm hear to tell you,
just because the rest of the gang ran away doesn't mean they got
away clean. I'm going to their homes and talk to their folks as
soon as I get done with you two.

Is there one among you that is the
ring leader of this bunch of roughnecks?”

Shana Lang and Mikie Brown
looked at each other. The boy said, “That would be me.”

“
So what's your name?” The
marshal asked.

“
Mikie Brown,” the boy
mumbled.

“
I'm getting as tired of
these pranks as everyone else is in Locked Rock. I want them to
stop right now, Mikie Brown,” Earl said.

“
I didn't do everything
you're thinking about,” Mikie complained.

“
Maybe not, but you have
appointed yourself as the ringleader of this bunch. So next
mischief I get told about, I'm hunting you up, Brown. I'm arresting
you whether you had anything to do with what happened or not. You
got that?”

“
That ain't fair,” Mikie
mumbled.

“
Oh, it seems fair to me.
The rest of that bunch of younguns listens to you. They will do
what you tell them. So if you're in charge, I'll just save myself
some time and arrest you. If you don't like that idea, then you
keep the rest of the younguns in town from doing any more pranks.
You got that?”

“
Yeah, I got it,” Mikie
said, staring at his shoes.

“
You spread the word I'm
coming after the rest of the gang. It might go a little easier on
them if they confess to their parents before I get there. Tell
those younguns, I'm going to put them in jail from now
on.

Brown, you can leave now. I'd advise
you to go home, before I change my mind and lock you up. I'll be
around to see your mother with a list of pranks you're in trouble
for.” As Mikie and Shana started for the door, Earl got up and
stood in front of the door to unlocked it. He said, “You stay here,
Shana. I want to talk to you some more. What I said to this boy
goes for you, too.”

Earl opened the door and let Mikie
out.

Shana asked, “What be ye wantin', Mr.
Earl?”

“
I'm walking home with you.
We're going to talk to your folks right off. I know for sure they
wouldn't like me keeping what you've been doing a secret from
them,” Earl said.

“
It's like that, eh?” Shana
had tears in her eyes.

“
It like that,” Earl
assured her. “Just so you know, I hate doing this in the worst way,
but it's for your own good.”

Marshal Bullock marched Shana down the
street to Moser Mansion fully aware that others in the gang were
watching from behind curtains. He hoped to make an example of Shana
to stop the nonsense. School was about to be dismissed for the
summer. That would leave the younguns with more time on their hands
to get in trouble.

Marshal Bullock took Shana into the
parlor and waited for Melinda to round up Molly and Orie Lang, so
he could explain to them what had been going on. He told them, “I'm
going to tell you folks straight out what's happened. I threatened
to arrest every youngun in town if I saw any more shenanigans out
of them.” He winked at Orie. “This once since Shana was involved,
I'd be willing to leave her punishment up to you folks.”

“
We appreciate that,
Marshal,” Orie said solemnly. “We will see this girl gets an
appropriate punishment.”

After the marshal left, Shana said,
“What's it that you mean for me to do?”

“
You will do the dishes for
Agnes on Sundays for a month so she can go home to her family
quicker. As soon as school is out, you will dry dishes through the
week for all three meals,” Orie said.

“
Sure and you don't mean
this,” Shana cried.

“
Papa Orie means it, and
I'll be here to see that his orders get carried out,” Molly assured
her.

Sundays, after the weather warmed up,
the Moser Mansion occupants saw no need for two buggies to
transport them to church. They walked there and back as a group on
the path through Maudie Brown's yard.

The last of her large brood of
ragamuffin children, in worn handy me downs, hadn't grown up enough
yet to leave home. They dangled their legs off the porch. As the
neighbors filed past, the younguns stared at the procession of
women, one man, one girl and two toddlers in their Sunday go to
meeting clothes.

There wasn't anything new about
Maudie's children watching church let out. They did it every Sunday
as though it was some sort of show put on for their benefit. Though
Gracie Evans didn't know the younger children by name, she
recognized their faces as the neighborhood makers of mischief. She
directed a glaring frown in their direction. Their faces scrunched
up as they stuck pink tongues out at her.

The Moser group crossed the bridge
over the small creek and walked through the opening gap in the bush
hedge. Moser Mansion's back yard contained the carriage house,
garden, gazebo and flower beds. The angel statue's pan was now
filled with water. Malachi took the grain out he used for bird feed
in the winter.

Light brown haired Molly and Orie
Lang, dark haired with a farmer's tan, led the way to the back
porch door. Molly carried Jenny Nora and Orie had Jessie Ned. When
Molly entered the kitchen, she said to Agnes Barnes, the cook and
housekeeper, “Something sure smells good.”

“
Thank you, Miss Molly.
That would be the beef pot roast baking in the oven. Hope you find
everything as tasty as it smells,” Agnes replied, stirring a
pot.

“
Well, ladies, before we
sit down to eat, go freshen up, and we will meet back in the dining
room,” Molly said. “Agnes, is Uncle Malachi back from church
yet?”

“
No, ma'am. He said he was
going to Widower Mallard's house for lunch today after church,”
Agnes told her. “He'll be home later this afternoon.”

It didn't take long for everyone to
use the water closet and get rid of their hats in their rooms.
Preacher Whitestone's sermon was lengthy. They had worked up an
appetite.

Gracie wasn't fond of eating in the
fancy dining room, but she'd gotten used to it. The way she saw it,
eating one meal out of the week wasn't so bad, sitting on the
spindly chairs. Since the rest of the time, they took their meals
in the kitchen.

As Gracie came downstairs, Jeffery and
Moxie Armstrong, came from the entry hall to the table. “Sure hope
there is room for two more at the table.” The young man pause to
kiss Molly and Melinda on their cheeks. “We could smell Agnes's
Sunday dinner from across the street.”

“
From the delicious odors
comin' from the kitchen, m
e thinks, Agnes
has outdone herself,” Jeffery's short structured wife, Moxie
complimented.

Molly and Orie fastened the twins in
their highchairs and waited at the table for Gracie, Melinda and
Madeline to gather around. As they sat down, Melinda said, “It's
nice to see you two today. I've been wondering what you've done
this week.”

“
Just the usual, Aunt
Melinda,” Jeffery said.

Molly asked, “Have you ladies seen
Shana since we got home from church?”

“
Last I saw her, she
stopped to talk to Maudie Brown's younguns on the porch,” Melinda
said.

Gracie added in her crackly voice, “I
sure hope she doesn't keep messing around over there. Maudie's
younguns have always been as wild as the cats and dogs in this
town. They run all over town. They wind up getting in trouble by
doing that.”

“
Now, Gracie, Shana knows
better than to get in trouble now since she's been doing dishes for
Agnes as punishment,” Melinda defended.

“
Maybe and maybe not. Look
at Maudie,” Gracie said.

Melinda looked slowly around the room.
“Where is Maudie? I don't see her.”

“
I didn't mean she was
right here. If you'd just let me finish, I wanted to say, she isn't
able to control her kids atall. Maudie's younguns sure set a bad
example for other younguns in the neighborhood.”

“
I've noticed lately Shana
is spending more time away from home, and she never wants to say
where she's been,” Molly worried.

“
Oh brother!” Madeline
ejected. “That girl could get herself in a peck of trouble if you
two don't lay the law down to her, Miss Molly.”

Molly frowned. “I know it well. I'm
afraid the child has trouble telling the difference between right
and wrong after having to defend for herself in New York slums. She
had to be tough to stay alive.”

Melinda offered a defense in her soft
voice, “Shana is a good girl. She needs guidance and lots of
reassurance when she's done the right things. If only she had
something constructive to keep her busy other than doing
dishes.”

“
I agree with Miss Melinda.
Earl said just about the same thing the other day when he brought
Shana home,” Orie said. “We just haven't figured out what that
constructive job would be yet.”

“
Golly Moses, the girl
knows we eat as soon as we get home from church. She shouldn't have
stopped to talk to the Brown children and lose track of time like
this,” Molly vented. “We will give her a few more minutes, then
we'll eat before our food gets cold. Besides, this isn't fair to
Agnes. She wants to get home to her family for lunch. Shana can eat
from the leftovers when she shows up and then do the
dishes.”

Orie pushed his plate back and crossed
his arms on the table. “After, she gets a good talking to from me,
Molly.”

Chapter Two

Just then the front screen door
slammed shut. A girlish voice yelled, “It's home I be.”

“
Come to the dining room
now. We've been waiting for you at the table,” Orie called
back.