The Angel Whispered Danger by Mignon F. Ballard Read Free Book Online Page B

full.
    “So, who else is coming?” Grady asked, popping a couple of blackberries into his mouth.
    I was sure he must have guessed there was a problem between Ned and me, and was waiting for me to explain, but I wasn’t ready. Not yet, anyway.
    “Ma Maggie, of course, then Marge and Burdette and their bunch. Josie’s with them at the pool . . . Deedee and Cynthia . . . and I guess Parker will be here, too.” Deedee was married to a perfectly nice man who seemed to think she was normal, or if he didn’t, he accepted her the way she was. Lucky Deedee!
    “And Cousin Violet,” I added, smiling. It was hard not to smile at the mention of our eccentric relative.
    Grady untangled himself from a briar. “She still painting everything that doesn’t move?”
    “As far as I know. Mama says she’s painted her porch furniture three times this year.” It had always been a family joke that if you stood still long enough, Violet would have a go at you with her paintbrush.
    “Let’s go home the other way,” I suggested after the pail was full. “Maybe we’ll find some early apples in the old orchard.” The pathway looped from the ruins of the earlier house, past Remeth churchyard, then meandered above the river for a while before circling what once had been an apple orchard within sight of our uncle’s place. It was farther that way, but the trees would give more shade, and my shirt was already sticking to me.
    “Have you met the new girlfriend?” I asked as we started back.
    “Whose new girlfriend?”
    “Uncle Ernest’s. Belinda somebody. Marge says they seem to have a thing going.”
    “First a horse, and now a romance! What’s up with Uncle Ernest lately?”
    “What horse?” I asked.
    “Why, Shortcake! Haven’t you seen her? Strawberry roan and wild as a mountain lion. Won’t let anybody near her.
    “Now, tell me about this Belinda,” Grady said. “Do you think she’ll show up for the reunion?”
    But I didn’t have a chance to answer because we heard somebody moaning just then, and it seemed to be coming from a nearby ravine.

C HAPTER F IVE
    The sounds were coming from a wooded area to our left. Dense with hardwoods and strewn with boulders, the terrain dropped in giant stair steps to the twisting stream below. Ferns and rhododendrons created a dark curtain of green. I couldn’t see a thing.
    The noises were almost animal-like in their timbre. A wildcat could be waiting to pounce, or a protective mother bear. I could hear myself breathing, and whatever was out there probably could, too. “What
is
it?” I set the pail of berries beside the path and grabbed Grady’s arm.
Bears like berries, so you’re welcome to them
, I thought. Just leave us alone!
    I felt him stiffen as the groaning came again, this time ending in a thin wail.
    “Sounds like somebody’s hurt!” Grady said. “Must be down there somewhere. Wait here.”
    “Oh, no you don’t! You’re not leaving me here for bear bait! I’m coming, too.” After a fleeting moment’s consideration, I decided to let my cousin take the lead, and padded along behind him while he battled the almost-impenetrable underbrush. Branches whacked me in the face, and vines grabbed at my ankles. Crouching sideways, I slid down a mossy bank, feeling stones roll under my feet. And since the tail of Grady’s shirt was handy, I snatched it for support.
    With an arm out to signal silence, Grady stopped to listen. I glimpsed the river far below, but we were too high above it to hear the rush of water.
    “Are you sure it’s a person?” I whispered, and he pointed to something I couldn’t see.
    “Down there,” he said. “Thought I saw something move.”
    Was he thinking, as I was, of that awful day almost twenty years before when he and Beverly and I had discovered the body of a murdered vagrant not far from where we now stood? It was all I could do to keep from turning and clawing my way back up the hill.
    All I could see below was a network of vines in