They wasted no time leaving the municipal building after Chief Logan finished yelling at them.
Kate put her head on Ryan’s shoulder. “Was prison awful, sweetie?”
Ryan smoothed his hair back and let out a huff. “Yes, but I’m all right, Kathryn.”
“Yeah,” John said. “It was pretty awful. Ryan didn’t have a mirror, and all the donuts with sprinkles were gone by the time we got ours.”
“Well, I’m glad you guys were having a fun time, John,” Kate said. “I was worried sick. I kept remembering this movie I saw where a small-town sheriff arrested strangers passing through. He hacked them to death with a machete and then buried them in back of the police station.”
“You saw that, too?” Abby said with a shudder.
John laughed. “Chief Logan was pretty mad. No telling what would have happened if Patty Ann hadn’t talked Miss Granger into dropping the charges.”
“And speaking of our hero.” Abby waved at Patty Ann who was just coming out of the post office across the street.
She smiled and hurried over to them. “I had to mail a letter for Miss Granger.” She nodded at the paper bag she held. “And pick up a few things from Anderson’s.”
“Thanks to you,” Abby said, “the guys are out of the slammer.”
Patty Ann let out a huff. “Yeah. Well, I’m not so sure I did the right thing. Miss Granger was already as nervous as a cat in a room full of rockin’ chairs when I got there this morning on account of the coyotes keeping her awake last night.”
Abby darted a look at John. He looked as guilty as she felt.
“Then you guys really set her off. Of course, I never should have vacuumed upstairs when she was having one of her spells. I thought I’d never get her settled down.”
“I’m sorry we upset her,” Abby said. “We just didn’t realize.”
“Well, if y’all are so all-fired anxious to talk to Miss Granger, I’ll take you.”
“We wouldn’t want to worry her,” Abby said the same time Kate said, “Would you?”
They stood out of sight on the porch while Patty Ann knocked on the door. She put her face to the window and tried to see past the curtains. “I hear her coming,” she said softly. “Remember though, I’m not going to let you in unless she’s feeling all right.”
“Of course not,” Abby said.
“Just try, okay?” Kate said.
The door opened and Patty Ann smiled. “Miss Granger, I brought some of my friends for a visit.”
“You’re not dressed, child.” Miss Granger’s voice sounded serene. “Come on in and I’ll find you something pretty to wear. But we’ll have to hurry. The dancin’ is about to start.”
Patty Ann stepped through the door, extending her hand back so they could see the wagging movement she made to indicate it was iffy whether Miss Granger was up to their visit or not. Then she turned and mouthed the words, “Wait here.”
“Well, at least she’s not shrieking,” Ryan said, checking his watch. “Obviously, we’ll need to keep track of the time, or we’ll be stuck in the armpit of the nation for another night.”
“Obviously,” John said.
Abby took her phone out of her purse and saw there were thirteen missed calls. Merri picked up on the first ring and shouted in her ear. “What’s going on, Abby? Are you guys all right?”
“We’re fine, fine. As I thought, it was no big deal. I’ll tell you all about it when we get home.”
“You said you found Ned Greenfield, but he’s the wrong one?”
Abby chuckled. “Definitely. This Ned Greenfield is black. But we did find Hickory Hill. We’re standing on the front porch right now. I’ll take a picture to show you when we get back. Speaking of which, it might be late. Hopefully, the old lady who lives here will let us time-surf, and we’ll get our answers sooner rather than later.”
The front door opened, and Patty Ann waved them in. “Come on. I think it’s goin’ to be all right.”
“Sorry. I’ve got to go now, Merri,” Abby said into her phone. “I’ll call you when we’re on the road.” She clicked her phone off and followed the others into the house.
Patty Ann led them down the dim walnut-clad hall, past the dark staircase, and into a living room straight out of Dickens. Miss Granger sat primly on a gold brocade loveseat, smiling pleasantly in a way that said she didn’t remember them. “Welcome to Hickory Hill. I’m delighted you could make it.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” John said. “I hope we’re not disturbing you.”
“Certainly not. Please be seated.”
The room, a cross between a funeral home and a museum, was crowded with a hodgepodge of overly ornamented tables and oversized stuffed chairs. A huge mahogany piano with massive carved legs took up one end of the room. A shiver went down Abby’s spine; it was the same piano they had seen John Granger’s wife Martha playing.
Everyone sat down and looked around the room. Whoever had designed the wallpaper had managed to make pink roses and magnolia blossoms look ugly. But it didn’t matter because most of it was hidden by portraits of Miss Granger’s grim, unblinking ancestors hanging on the four walls around them as if they were supervising their visit.
Straight across from where Abby sat was the man they had seen last night on the porch. She stood and went to look at his portrait. John Granger and his wife made a handsome couple. In fitting with his status as a successful businessman, landowner, and upstanding member of the church, he wore a fine suit with a velvet-trimmed vest. Martha wore a dark dress with lace collar and hair covering. He looked satisfied with life. She looked resigned.
Kate came and studied the portrait and then whispered, “Yep. That’s John Granger.” They went back and sat down.
“We heard that another family also lived in this house,” Kate said. “The Greenfields.”
“They’re related by marriage to General Lawler,” Miss Granger said.
“Really?” Kate said.
“You might have seen his statue in the town square.”
“Yes, we did,” Abby said. “He was quite famous, wasn’t he?”
“Indeed, not to brag, my family is more so. My great, great grandfather owned the salt mine and was quite wealthy. Patty Ann can tell you all about how important salt was, can’t you, dear?”
Patty Ann blushed. “I already told them more than they want to know about salt, ma’am.”
“Do you recall the name of the Greenfield who married into the family, Miss Granger?” John asked.
She frowned and fidgeted with the buttons on the front of her dress. “You’re mistaken. It was the Lawlers that married into the family.” Then she smiled vaguely and rose from the loveseat. “Well, Patty Ann, let’s go make tea.” She turned back in concern. “You are staying for tea, aren’t you?”
“We’d love to,” Abby said, glancing at the others. “If it’s no bother.”
Patty Ann took Miss Granger’s arm and led her to a door at the end of the room. “We’ll have a tea party, won’t we?”
John had already slipped his laptop out by the time the door closed behind them. He pushed aside a leather-bound book on the coffee table to make room for it and launched Beautiful Houses.
The book appeared water-damaged, the cover stained and wavy, preventing it from lying flat. Abby picked it up and opened it. The pages were densely covered with spidery words in faded brown ink. It was a diary, a very old diary. It was surely too old to be Miss Granger’s, but all the same, she felt embarrassed to be handling it. She shut it quickly and set it at the end of the table.
“Okay,” John said. “We’re in.”
“And here we are,” Kate said. “This same room.”
“Yeah, some of the same portraits on the walls,” Ryan said. “Same piano.”
Abby glanced at the kitchen door. “You’d better turn the volume down.”