Pecan Pies and Homicides by Ellery Adams Read Free Book Online Page B

with my aunts tonight. I know it’s late, but I’m calling an emergency meeting tomorrow. I’m done letting grief rule my life. It’s time I stepped up and fulfilled my role as the Lady’s voice. We’ll visit my mother and then present the Elders with a course of action. Until then, here’s my plan. I’m going to bring new life to the pie shop, free my mother, and take care of our people—both the new and the old.”
    Reba gave a joyful holler that reverberated through Ella Mae’s phone speaker. “Praise the Lord! My girl is back! I knew you’d rally. You always do.”
    â€œThanks for believing in me,” Ella Mae said and wished Reba good night.
    It didn’t take long for her to become engrossed in
Lake Lore of the Americas
. Rupert Gaynor wasn’t a skilled wordsmith, but his subject matter was fascinating. She read about water spirits and sprites, devils and demons, and elementals. According to the tales, many of the water spirits were playful, fun-loving creatures. They were primarily nocturnal and avoided contact with humans, but there were instances in which they’d saved a drowning child by turning into a large turtle and carrying the child to shore.
    Gaynor didn’t waste much ink on these innocuous spirits, instead choosing to focus on demons and monsters. Ella Mae’s eyes grew round as she read about horned water serpents. These mammoth snakes, which had thick scales and daggerlike teeth, lurked in lakes and rivers. According to legend, the horned serpents possessed powerful magic and could control the weather. Other monsters, like the water panther, were even more dangerous. A cross between a dragon and a cougar, the water panther lured men and women to the deep water and then proceeded to drown them.
    â€œOkay, but what does this have to do with Lake Havenwood?” Ella Mae rubbed her eyes and sighed. It was getting late. The wind was whistling outside and Chewy was sound asleep at the foot of her bed, encouraging Ella Mae to snuggle under her comforter. She felt warm and drowsy and it was tempting to turn off the lamp and surrender to sleep, but she couldn’t give in to the feeling.
    Throwing aside the blankets, she moved to the window and stood there, uncomfortable in her thin cotton nightgown, and stared out into the dark garden. Even in the dead of night, it was easy to picture her mother moving among the plants, a pair of pruning shears in one hand and a basket in the other. Ella Mae could see her dressed in her favorite straw hat and waterproof clogs, murmuring to the flowers as bees and butterflies hovered above the magnificent blooms.
    On impulse, Ella Mae threw open her window. Chewy raised his head and growled in alarm, but she whispered softly, telling him to go back to sleep. The cold air rushed into the room but Ella Mae ignored the discomfort it caused. Hugging herself, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. All she could smell was wet grass and wood smoke. And then, she caught the faintest hint of roses. It was subtle, but the perfumed air served to drive the drowsiness away. Shutting the window, Ella Mae climbed back into bed and continued reading.
    â€œHere it is!” she declared thirty minutes later and tried to slow her pace as she read Gaynor’s introduction to Lake Havenwood. He didn’t identify the lake by name, but Ella Mae knew it by the way he described its size, shape, and the island in its center. She knew it was the lake she’d dipped her feet into, swam in, and rowed boats on for most of her life.
    â€œListen to this, Chewy,” Ella Mae said to her snoring terrier. “Gaynor writes that this beautiful lake surrounded by blue green hills is quite unique. He says that it is a place of great power and greater peril. I don’t like that second bit. He claims that a magical object resides at the bottom of the deepest part of the lake. This object is guarded by a