Punked by the Pumpkin: A Cozy Mystery (Sweet Home Mystery Series Book 4) by Constance Barker Read Free Book Online Page B

tobacco from his pants pocket and opened it, putting a pinch in his cheek. “Snuff, anyone?”
    We girls tried not to gag, and Toe saw the question in my eyes.
    “Don’t worry, Lily.” He held up his empty disposable coffee cup. “I got a spittoon right here.”
    Lovely.
    Carmen leaned away from Toe and towards Jules just a little. “Well, I guess they’re every girl’s weakness. I always try to keep a small bag of them in my purse, and this just seemed like the right moment for a small guilty pleasure.”
    “I love these too.” Jules popped the last bite into her mouth, and, I still had half of mine left. Some of us find pride in small things.
    “I thought all you ate was rice cakes and cottage cheese.”
    “You’ve seen me eat, Lily. I do my fair share.”
    “That’s right. You do have that one meal a month.”
    Jules rolled her eyes, and Carmen looked over her shoulder at her daughter and Trevor inside.
    “So…should I be worried?”
    “About Trevor?” I looked at the two kids, Moira laughing and Trevor smiling and blushing. “If I had a daughter and could choose one guy for her to date, it would be Trevor.”
    “Yeah, he does seem like a good kid, responsible and decent.”
    I had to agree. “He is. And he’s going to do something with his life…”
    “But…”
    “…But, I know he’s a Junior and she’s a Freshman, too young to really date. It reminds me of when I was a Freshman and Eli was a Senior. I liked him, but I knew he thought of me as a kid. He liked me then too, but we knew our boundaries.”
    “Those two will be fine.” Jules put her hand on Carmen’s arm. “Just make sure you tell her about her superpowers as a girl. If she touches his arm and smiles, she can own him. She doesn’t have to try hard or be in a hurry. He’ll wait for her.”
    I think Jules’ superpowers were a little greater than my own, but this was probably good advice for a stunner like Moira. Carmen and I leaned in to hear more of her wisdom.
    “She’s beautiful and one of the smartest girls I’ve ever met, and she’s a sweetheart and a lot of fun. Tell her she can have this guy or any other one when she’s ready, and there will be even more great guys to choose from when she’s in college. Just be sure she knows that those little tingly feelings of discovery she gets sometimes are not love, they’re just…”
    “Help me, please! Bloody murder! Bloody murder!”
    I had never actually heard anyone scream “bloody murder” before. It was coming from behind the crowd, which opened up a lane for the distressed person. We saw the figure of an old man hobbling to the center of the street in front of the stage. People cautiously came nearer to him, and we stood up and walked slowly towards him too.
    He fell to his knees and had his arms clutched tightly to his chest. He seemed to be holding something.
    “That’s Elmer Branson.” Toe spit his tobacco onto the street and we went a few steps closer. At least it wasn’t my sidewalk. “I see him at Bingo every week.”
    The breathless, sobbing man lifted his head for a moment. “I was bringing Selma here to the coop behind the Methodist church. She was going to be my donation to the Harvest Dinner.” He opened his arms, and a ball of white feathers fell to the street in front of him. Feathers flew, and the dead chicken lay there, covered in blood. A few people gasped.  “And then, just a couple blocks over there, we were attacked by a vicious fiend of a creature, all green and black with a big round head that rattled like a marimba. He was the size of a car and clawed at my chest. If I didn’t have Selma under my shirt he’d have torn my heart out for sure.”
    Another gasp came from the crowd, and Jules was snapping pictures while the four of us looked at each other. Don’t say ii Toe!
    “It was the chupacabra.”

Chapter Five
     
     
    Well, thanks to Elmer Branson I got a chance to see Eli for a while last night, and I didn’t even have to