A Vineyard Killing by Philip R. Craig Read Free Book Online Page A

sick,” I said. “You can freeze to death, but that’s not being sick.”
    â€œCan we really do it?” asked Joshua.
    â€œPa said we could, so we can!” replied his little sister, swallowing the last of her cookie and climbing off her chair.
    A stormy cloud formed above Zee’s head.
    â€œYou have to wear just your bathing suits,” I said, “and you have to do it right now while there’s enough sunlight for us to find your bodies if you die of cold before you can get back inside on your own.”
    â€œCome on!” The kids ran to their rooms.
    â€œI don’t approve of this,” said frowning Zee.
    â€œThey won’t be out long. It’s chilly out there.”
    â€œIf they get sick I’ll never let you hear the end of it!”
    â€œCome on into the living room with me. We can snuggle in front of the fire while our children freeze to death outside.”
    â€œIt’s not funny, Magee.”
    â€œCome on.” I reached for her hand.
    We were in front of the living room stove when our offspring, wearing their bathing suits, came running from their rooms.
    â€œNow, you come in when we call you,” said their mother firmly.
    â€œOkay, Ma. Come on, Diana!”
    They went out.
    â€œI don’t like this,” said Zee.
    They were back in five minutes, shivering and going immediately to warm themselves at the stove.
    â€œIt’s freezing out there, Pa! We were like ice cubes!”
    â€œIt’s cool, all right. Now go get into your robes and slippers.”
    â€œPa?”
    â€œWhat, Diana?”
    â€œCan I have another cookie?”
    â€œJust one.”
    They went off.
    â€œYou’re a trial,” said Zee, putting her dark head against my shoulder.
    I moved my arm and put it around her, cupping a breast with my hand. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
    She put her hand over mine. “Guess who’s courting Dodie Donawa.”
    â€œGeorge W. Bush?”
    â€œNo! John Reilley. I got it today from Dodie herself. She says John seems to be serious, too. I think it’s wonderful. John is a good guy and a good worker and Dodie needs a man in her life.”
    â€œAll red-blooded women need manly men in their lives. You’re a classic example.”
    She got closer. “Yes, I am. And men need women. You’re a classic example.”
    â€œTwo classics in the same house.”
    â€œAnd maybe there’ll be one more in Dodie’s house before long.”
    â€œWhy not in John’s house?”
    â€œI’m not sure that John has a house. If he does, I don’t know where it is.”
    â€œWell, he lives somewhere.”
    â€œDo you know where?”
    â€œNo. Anyway, they can live in Dodie’s house if they want to. So you think John is a good guy, eh?”
    â€œSure. What’s more important is that Dodie thinks so, too.”
    I considered that confidence for a while, then reviewed everything I personally knew about John Reilley. It didn’t amount to much: he surveyed rooms before he entered them, he was soft-spoken on the rare occasions that he had something to say, he had the reputation of being a fine, dependable carpenter, and he rode a moped wherever he went, winter and summer. I doubted if Zee knew much more.
    If ignorance was bliss, Zee and I were a happy pair.

7
    The snow fell first in great soft flakes, then switched to sleet and then to rain driven hard by a cold east wind. The leak in the corner of the living room that always dripped when there was a wet northeaster and never at any other time was plinking into the bucket I had on the floor. That leak had outfoxed me for months. I’d climbed on the roof with tar several times and had plugged every place I could imagine the water coming through, but the very next time a strong sea wind blew in rain, the leak leaked again. Blast and drat!
    The kids had gone off to school bundled in wool and waterproof