Marja McGraw - Bogey Man 04 - Awkward Moments by Marja McGraw Read Free Book Online Page A

sympathy and pushed my uncle off the front porch.
    “Unfortunately, the house was on an incline and the porch was high. Henry landed on something – I don’t know what – and broke his leg. It was such a bad break that they almost had amputate his leg. It took a long time to heal, and my uncle ended up with one leg shorter than the other.”
    Mikey cringed at the thought.
    I patted his knee.
    “Melvyn disappeared that winter. He came back the next spring and told old Henry he’d seen the error of his ways and he wanted to be friends again. He’d hardly even look at Frannie. She must have been a remind er of how close he’d come to killing my uncle.”
    “But it still doesn’t sound like there was all that much gold,” Mikey said.
    “And it doesn’t explain how they ended up here with old Henry in that grave,” I added.
    “There’s more to the story. After the men made up, my uncle told Melvyn about the gold he’d found after they split up. They decided to go back that spring and make themselves rich , which they did.
    “Uncle Henry had put the original gold he’d found in the bank, and while the two men were off on their adventure, the bank was robbed.”
    “So that’s why your uncle didn’t trust banks,” Chris said, finishing the last bite of his dinner.
    “That and the fact that the bank had no sympathy. Frannie was left with nothing while my uncle was gone, and she only scraped through by cleaning houses, taking in laundry and sewing.”
    “But, obviously, the two men came home with more gold,” I said. “Otherwise there wouldn’t have been anything in the grave with your uncle. So how did they end up here in Serenity?”

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Nine
     
    “I want to know how they ended up here, too. What happened next?” Mikey looked at me. “Can I have dessert?” His plate was clean and I nodded.
    Stu waved at Essie, who was cleaning the table next to ours. Thinking about it, I realized she’d been cleaning the table for quite some time. I realized she’d been listening and probably wanted to hear the rest of the story.
    “Stu, what did happen next?” she asked, proving me right.
    Before he could answer, Essie waved Charlie over to finish cleaning the table she’d been working on. The only thing left for him to do was pick up a couple of coffee cups and cart them to the kitchen. He was back in no time, listening as intently as Essie.
    “Pamela, look around you. Have you noticed how quiet it got in here?” Chris was nonchalantly glancing around the room, more with his eyes than by turning his head. “It seems everyone wants to hear this story.”
    I smiled when I noticed that even Essie’s husband had come out from the kitchen to listen to our conversation, standing next to Charlie. But what could it hurt? It was an interesting story.
    Stu looked down at the table and placed his hands on his knees. Lifting his head, he also glanced around the room. He didn’t look happy.
    “You folks may have some problems out at the farmhouse,” he said quietly.
    “What do you mean?” Chris asked, just as quietly.
    “Gold fever. Now that my uncle has been found, everyone’s going to be looking for the rest of the gold again.”
    “The rest of the gold?” Mikey asked, a bit too loudly.
    Stu tried to ignore the eavesdroppers and spoke softly. All that did was cause them to step closer to our table so they could hear better. “Well, when old Henry and Melvyn returned and found Frannie working her fingers to the bone, they were furious. My uncle went to the bank and punched the bank manager, or whatever he was, on the mouth and walked out the door. He never went inside another bank as long as he lived, or so the story goes.
    “He gave away their meager belongings and they headed for Sacramento. They spent a week there in the fanciest hotel they could find, and Frannie had a chance to catch up on her rest. They shopped at the best stores and bought furniture. Then my uncle took