“Jill Jones! Hush that talk right now.”

“I take that back. He’d not be sorry, he’d be glad to be rid of the know-it-all he hates so much. I’m almost fifteen. I’ll go someplace and get a job.”

“Jill, honey, I know you’re hurt. I was mad at Papa, too, for the way he talked to you. I bet he’s sorry this morning. We all do and say things we don’t mean.”

“He meant it. He hates …me—” Sobs clogged Jill’s throat.

Julie put her arms around her. “He doesn’t hate you. The boys left the table when you did last night. You know that when Joe and Jack leave food, they’re riled up. They’ll not say so, but they love you. You’re their little sister.” Julie lifted the end of her apron and dried Jill’s face. “Don’t you dare go off and leave me here. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Julie wrinkled her nose at her sister and hugged her one last time. “There’s one good thing came out of what happened last night. We’ve got leftover food for dinner today.”

“There’s a watermelon out in the patch that’s about ready,” Jill said, wiping her eyes on the tail of her dress. “Let’s put it in the tank to cool and cut it for supper.”

Late in the morning a car came down the lane. Joy was first to see it and ran to Julie with the news.

“Julie, Julie, car comin’.”

“All right, honey. Calm down.”

Julie looked out the window to see a man in a white shirt and tan felt hat get out of an enclosed car that had stopped in the lane beside the front porch. She had never seen him or the car before. When he stepped up onto the porch, she opened the screen door and stepped outside.

“Hello.”

“Ma’am.” He immediately took off his hat, and she recognized him as the runner they had met on their way to church. He looked different with a hat on. Her eyes were drawn to the big silver star pinned to his shirt. This was the new lawman. Oh, my goodness, what was he doing here?

“Mrs. Jones?”

“Miss Jones. Our mother passed away several years ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear it. I’m Chief Appleby.”

“How do you do?” Julie extended her hand. His grip was firm as he shook her hand briefly. “We heard that Fertile had its own police. We saw you last Sunday … on the road.”

“I remember.” His smile crinkled the corners of his eyes. “You were on your way to town and I was having my weekly run.”

“You do that every week?”

“Sometimes twice a week, if I can work it in. Strange, huh?” Julie laughed. “Will you be insulted if I say … yeah, I think so?”

“Not at all.” For a long moment he looked at her. Then he remembered why he had come here. “Is Joe Jones or Jack Jones here?”

“They’re out with Papa clearing timber. They’ll be here in a little while for the noon meal.”

“Are they working very far from here? Could I walk out there?”

“It would be a rough walk through a nettle patch. You’re welcome to come in and wait—that is, if you’ll be able to endure Joy’s curiosity.” Julie put her hand on the child’s head.

The man smiled down at the little girl, who grinned at him. Joy had never met a stranger.

“I can wait in the car, ma’am.”

“No need of that. Come around to the back porch. It’s shady there and I’ll bring you a cool drink.”

Joy took the man’s hand. “I’ll show you. What you got that pin on your shirt for? I like to run. Can I run with you sometime? We’re goin’ to have a watermelon for dinner. You can stay and have some.”

He looked at Julie as if to ask,
What do I do now?

Julie smiled. “You’re on your own.”

As soon as she turned back into the house, the smile faded from her face. What would a lawman want with Joe and Jack? She knew for a fact that neither one of them had been to town since a week ago Friday. Thank goodness Jill was upstairs or she would ask him a hundred questions.

Julie came out of the back of the house as Joy and the police chief came around the corner. The child was looking up at him and talking a mile a minute.

“Our dog’s name’s Sidney. Julie don’t let him in the house when he’s rolled in cow-do. He’s nasty and he stinks. Do you have a little girl?”

Corbin saw Julie and reached for the cedar water bucket she carried.

“I’ll get it, ma’am.”

“Did Joy talk your arm off?”

“I picked up quite a bit of information about the family on the way around the house. Sylvia comes to the ball games, your dog’s name is Sidney. He sometimes gets nasty, and Papa isn’t mad at Jill.”

“Oh, dear. I’m afraid to ask what else she told you.”

“I like him, Julie.” Joy’s forefinger went up her nose and Julie hastily pulled it down.

Corbin went to the pump and Joy followed. Julie waited on the porch and opened the door when he returned with a full bucket of water.

“Put it here on the table and help yourself.” She handed him the dipper.

“Good well water,” he said after plunging the dipper into the cool water and drinking thirstily. He could smell and taste the sweet flavor that cedar wood gave to the water.

“We’re partial to it.”

“Whose car’s out there?” Jill’s voice reached the kitchen before she did. She came into the room and stopped.

“This is my sister, Jill. Mr. Appleby, the policeman from town.”

“Her name’s Justine,” Joy said loudly. “But she don’t like it.”

“I can’t say that I blame her. Jill is a much prettier name.” Corbin smiled at the young girl. “I’ll wait out on the porch, Miss Jones.”

“Papa and the boys should be here anytime now. I can usually count on them not being late for a meal. Will you stay and eat with us, Mr. Appleby?”

“Oh, no, ma’am. I’d not put you out. I’m sorry I came at mealtime.”

“You wouldn’t be putting us out. We’ve having green beans, new potatoes and corn bread. Nothing fancy.”

“Pl-ease! Julie made green-tomato pie,” Joy coaxed with her head cocked to one side.

“I hate it,” Jill said scathingly. “If you stay she might open a jar of pickled peaches.”

The man’s eyes were going from one girl to the other. Julie felt the heat of embarrassment on her face. Then she heard the sound of the men coming into the farmyard.

“Papa and the boys are here.” She went out onto the back porch and Corbin followed.

As they watered the mules, the Jones men observed the stranger on the porch. They herded the animals into the fenced enclosure next to the barn, then came to the house.

Corbin stepped off the porch to meet them. He spoke to Jethro first.

“Mr. Jones, I’m Chief Appleby from Fertile.” He held out his hand and Jethro took it.

“Howdy. These are my boys, Joe and Jack.”

Corbin shook hands with each of them. “I stopped by to ask if you boys were at the Johnson farm Wednesday night.”

“We were there,” Joe spoke up quickly. “Something wrong over at Johnson’s?”

“No. Not that I know of.”

“We helped Evan pull down an old shed.”

“I was there, too.” Jason, with Sidney at his heels, came around the end of the porch.

“Yes, you were, you brat!” Joe picked him up and hung him in the crook of his arm like a gunnysack and rubbed his head with his knuckles.

“Put me down, you … you, pootknocker!”

“Watch what you say, brat, or I’ll dump you in the horse trough.”

“Stop horsin’ around, Joe.” Jethro had a worried look on his face. “Is Johnson in some sort of trouble?”

Corbin ignored the question and spoke to Joe. “Did you see Walter Johnson while you were there?”

“No, but he was there.”

“I saw him,” Jason said. “He was on the porch. Julie and Joe told me to stay away from him, so when he came out I ran to where Joe and Jack were working on the shed.”

“How long did you stay?”

“We came home about an hour after dark.”

“Was Walter still there?”

“The light was on in the kitchen. If he went anywhere he walked. His horse was in the barn.”

“That’s what his son said. I just wanted to verify that he was at home. Thank you—”

“Has there been trouble in town?” Jethro asked.

“The usual. Fights down at Well’s Point and a boat set on fire.”

“I’d be surprised if Walter wasn’t mixed up in it.”

“I guess he’s in the clear this time.”

“Why wouldn’t you take Evan’s word that he was home?” Joe asked. “He’d not lie about a thing like that.”

“Mr. Corbin,” Julie called before he could answer. “Jill has set another place at the table. You’re welcome to stay and eat.”

“Thank you, Miss Jones. That green-tomato pie is mighty tempting.”

“Tell her you like pickled peaches,” Jill called, then scooted into the house.

“Wash up there on the porch, Chief,” Jethro said. “You’re welcome to stay.”

“Gol-ly,” Jason exclaimed. “A real live lawman is goin’ to eat dinner with us.”

“All the lawmen who’ve eaten with us before were dead,” Jack explained in a loud whisper and grabbed his younger brother by the back of the neck.

Chapter 12

C
ORBIN ENJOYED HIS DINNER
more than any he’d had in a long time. He had not only been hungry for a home-cooked meal, but he found he genuinely liked every member of the Jones family. Jethro, the head of the family, was rather quiet. Jill, the younger daughter, was sulky, but the others made up for it with their constant friendly chatter.

“I tell you, that blasted mule dragged me and the plow all the way to the holler without breaking a sweat. The only thing that slowed the sucker down was the bog.”

“I remember that, Joe.” Jason reached across Joy for a piece of corn bread, only to have Julie lift the plate from under his hand and pass it to him.

“You ought to, you little pea brain. You started it all by coming out waving that blasted flag you got on the Fourth,” Joe replied, grinning.

“That’s not the worse thin’ he ever did,” Jack said gleefully. “Don’t you remember when he threw rocks at that hornet’s nest and knocked it to the ground? They took out after Pa and he had to dive in the horse tank.”

“Hey, wait a minute,” Julie spoke up. “Stop picking on Jason.”

“We’d better stop it right here.” Jethro passed the pickled peaches to their guest. “The boys are windy when they’ve got a new listener,” he said by way of apology.

“I’m enjoying it, and the meal.”

Corbin liked the way Julie treated her brothers and sisters. She didn’t prod or scold, but corrected the younger ones gently and without fuss. He tried not to stare at her, but she was just across the table and every time he looked up from his plate her face was within his view. She was pretty—not flashy pretty, but in a soft, natural way.

“We have baseball games on Sunday,” Jason said. “One time I hit a ball that got Jack on third.”

“That must have been some hit.”

“Jack runs faster than I do.”

“You’re welcome to come to the games,” Jethro said. “It would be a way of getting acquainted with some of the neighbors.”

“Do you have to work on Sunday?” Jill asked.

“I’m on duty all the time, being the only lawman in town, but I can take time off if I let the telephone operator know where I am.”

“We don’t have a phone,” Jill said and looked quickly at her father.

“They haven’t run the lines out this way.” Julie rose from the table. “If everyone is finished, I’ll get the pie.”