The Possum Hollow Hullabaloo (The Penelope Pembroke Cozy Mystery Series) by Judy Nickles Read Free Book Online

exhumation order.”
    “Does that social worker know about it?” Penelope asked.
    “Lord, I hope not.”
    “Look, Bert and Betty Hadden are some kin. Maybe the girls could go there for a while,” Penelope said. “Don’t courts usually favor family over foster care?”
    “Don’t forget, they have two children of their own. Their house is barely big enough for the four of them,” Mary Lynn said. “I’ve been there to take a covered dish when Betty’s mother died. It’s a nice little place, clean and all that, but they don’t have room for two more children.”
    The social worker stalked back in. “I’ve spoken with my supervisor,” she said, “and it’s too bad you couldn’t have been more cooperative.” Then she left again, but this time she didn’t slam the door.
    The desk phone rang while the occupants of the office were still staring at each other. “Possum Hollow School, George Harris. Right, I’m the principal. Uh-huh. Okay, let me write down your name.” He scribbled something down on the back of an attendance slip and gestured to Penelope and Mary Lynn to sit. “Okay, well, here’s the story.” He recapped Ellie’s history and the day’s events. One of the women who helps out here is the wife of the mayor, and she volunteered to take the girls home for the night.”
    “Harry and I were certified as foster parents once,” Mary Lynn stage-whispered, leaning across the desk.
    George nodded and relayed the information. “Hargrove. Harry and Mary Lynn. Lived here all their lives—well, Mary Lynn came in high school, but Harry’s a hometown boy. Problem is, the girls are gone, and it would take a pack of bloodhounds to find them in those trees…wait a minute. Just hang on.” He put down the phone and pointed to the glass door.
    When Penelope and Mary Lynn turned around, they saw Ellie’s nose pressed against the window under the word Principal. “Oh, thank God!” Mary Lynn threw open the door and enfolded the girls in her arms. They offered no resistance.
    Penelope crossed herself. “Thank You, God,” she murmured.
    “They’re back,” George said, his voice unsteady. “Just came in. Right. Right, here she is.” George held out the phone.
    Still holding onto the girls, Mary Lynn took the phone. “My husband and I took all the classes years ago to be certified as foster parents. Maybe fifteen-eighteen years ago.” She listened, then gave her address and phone number. “Thank you! Oh, thank you so much!”
    She hung up and hugged both girls again. “You’re coming home with me. Everything is going to be all right.”
    “Her name is Tonya Cisneros,” Mary Lynn told Penelope as they drove the winding road in the dusk that was quickly turning to night. “Older woman from the sound of her voice. A slight Hispanic accent. Really nice. Common sense nice. She said she’d come out herself tomorrow.”
    “What did she say about the other one?”
    “That she was young and inexperienced.”
    “And stupid.”
    From the backseat, Ellie giggled, and Evie followed suit. When Mary Lynn launched into a slightly off-key rendition of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” both girls joined in. By the time Penelope turned into the driveway of the Hargrove home, the day’s negative turn seemed to be forgotten.
    Then, before her passengers could exit, Penelope saw a familiar car turn in behind her, blocking her escape.

 
    CHAPTER TEN
     
    “I’ll take the girls with me.” Alana Mueller emerged looking, as Jake would say, happy as a pig in a peach orchard.
    “Your supervisor gave me permission to bring them here for the night,” Mary Lynn retorted. She glanced back at the children. “Do not take off, understand me?”
    Ellie nodded, and Evie began to wail.
    Penelope hit the lock button as Alana reached for the door. “Call Tonya Cisneros,” she said through the window.
    “I’m in charge of this case!”
    “They’re children, not a case,” Mary Lynn said.
    “I’m taking