I promised Emma Sue that I would do what I could to deter Pastor Ledbetter from answering a call he hadn’t yet received, but frankly I was of two minds about it. There had been times when I would’ve rejoiced to see the last of him. Here lately, though, he had seemed somewhat resigned to doing things our way. Although he did change the order of worship, as well as the starting time of the Sunday service, just to prove he still had some authority.
So I had also become resigned to keeping him on, especially since his retirement wasn’t that far off. And, I reminded myself, getting a new preacher in his place would surely create a new set of problems, which I didn’t want to deal with. A new preacher would undoubtedly be young and untried. He’d be full of modern ideas he’d want to try out on us, like coming up with new names for every activity and adding new committees when we had a Lord’s plenty already. It would take years to calm him down and get him settled into the routine we were accustomed to.
So as much as I would’ve willingly contributed to a going-away present for Pastor Larry Ledbetter, I came down on the side of sticking with what we knew, rather than risking what could be outrageous fortune.
“I’ll talk to Sam,” I told Emma Sue, when she finally seemed to have cried herself out. “He’s much better at dealing with the pastor than I am. He’s so sensible, you know, and people listen to him.”
“But you need to talk to him, too, Julia. I know you and Larry have had your ups and downs, but he respects you. Really, he does.”
So I promised, though not believing for a minute that I could have any influence over the pastor, since I’d never had any in the past.
“I’ll see you over at Mildred’s,” I said, as she prepared to leave. “Lillian’s carrot cake should be done by now, and I’m hoping there’ll be news about Horace.”
“Oh, me, too,” Emma Sue said. “It’s just so awful, not knowing what’s happened to him. But listen, Julia, have you heard from Helen? I couldn’t believe what was in the paper and I’ve tried and tried to get her on the phone, but nobody answers. But can you believe Richard, of all people, being accused of fraud?” She stopped for a minute as her face took on an awed expression. “And they can’t find him, either! You reckon there’s a connection?”
“Between Richard and Horace? Oh, I wouldn’t think so. They’ve never been particularly close, as far as I know. Besides, Horace is not what you’d call financially experienced, since he’s never had any finances of his own. Still,” I mused aloud, “it is strange that they’re both missing at the same time.”
“Mark my words, Julia, something weird is going on, but,” she said, heaving a great sigh, “I have enough to worry about. I don’t need to take on anything more.” She stepped out onto the porch, then turned back to me. “I guess I’ll see you at Mildred’s. Just because Larry’s ready to abandon his flock doesn’t mean I have to.”
After seeing Emma Sue off, I went back into the kitchen where Lillian had her carrot cake ready for delivery.
“Lloyd call and say to tell his mama he keep on playin’ tennis till suppertime,” Lillian said. “Then he be home. An’ tell Miz Allen I be prayin’ for her.”
“I will, and I know she’ll appreciate it.” I walked over to the counter to pick up the cake. “You haven’t heard from Sam?”
“No’m.”
“Well, James said he went downtown, so maybe he ate lunch there. But if he comes in, tell him to call me at Mildred’s. I need to talk to him, and I can’t understand why he’s always gone every time I need him.”
“He pretty much around when you do,” Lillian said, always quick to defend Sam, or anybody for whom I had the least tinge of criticism. “An’ you be careful with that cake, and don’t squash down on that tinfoil. I put yo’ name on the bottom of the plate, so we get it back.”
“Good, there’s so much food coming in over there that it’ll be a wonder if any plate makes it home again.”
I hurried out to Hazel Marie’s car and set the cake plate down carefully on the floorboard of the back seat. Just as I straightened up and prepared to get behind the wheel, Lillian stuck her head out and called to me.
“Miss Julia! You got a telephone call, an’ I think it’s that sweet Miz Stroud.”
“Oh, my goodness.” I hurried back into the house, hoping Lillian had gotten it right this time. Picking up the phone, I said, “Helen? Is that you? I’ve been trying to get you all day.”
“Yes, and so has everybody else,” Helen said, her voice low and subdued. “I’m not answering the door or the phone, Julia, and I hope all my friends will understand. I just can’t face the questions, especially since I don’t have any answers. I just heard about Horace on the radio and wanted to know how Mildred is doing.”
“She’s doing as well as can be expected, under the circumstances. When I left about thirty minutes ago, there’d still been no news. They’ve not been able to find him, and I tell you, Helen, she doesn’t know which way to turn.”
“I know how she feels. Tell her I’m thinking of her, and would love to be there, but, well, I just can’t right now.”
“I will, but, Helen, you need support, too. Let me come over just as soon as I drop a cake off at Mildred’s. In fact, I’ll ask Lillian to start another one for you.”
“No,” she said with some firmness. “Thank you anyway, but I can’t see anybody right now. I have to go. Tell Mildred she’s in my prayers.”
“But…” But she’d hung up. “Lillian,” I said, turning to her, “I didn’t get to ask her where Richard is. My goodness, I didn’t even ask her where she is. I’ll tell you, I’ve never seen so many strange things happening in one day.”
“It be that way sometimes,” Lillian said, nodding her head as if she’d predicted it all. “I don’t know I b’lieve this, but my granny used to say when the stars line up just right an’ you hear hoot owls at midnight an’ dogs crawl under the house an’ stay there, why, you jus’ better look out for trouble, an’ they’s a owl been flyin in an’ outta that ole barn down next to Mr. Willet Bennett’s house.”
I started to laugh off her dire predictions, but I didn’t have time for it. “You may be right,” I said and headed out to the car again.
Cars filled Mildred’s driveway and more were parked up and down the street. Since I couldn’t get near, I went around the block and parked in my own driveway. Then carefully bearing the cake, I walked in the lengthening shadows to Mildred’s house, which was what I should’ve done in the first place.
I went around the house and in the back door, hoping to avoid the crowd I knew would be in the front rooms. The first person I saw was Hazel Marie, who was slicing a pie before putting it out in the dining room.
“Oh, Miss Julia,” she said, looking up with a smile on her face. “Just put that down wherever you can. Would you believe all this food? We could feed two armies with it. Ida Lee’s going to freeze everything that’ll freeze, so they’ll have it for a while.”
I made room on a counter, shoving two casseroles closer together, and put down the cake. “Where is she, anyway?”
“Upstairs, straightening Mildred’s room,” Hazel Marie said, pointing the pie server at the ceiling. “She is really upset over all this, and I tried to get her to lie down for a while. But she won’t do it.”
“Well, Ida Lee’s very close to the family. She’s been with them for so long. What about Tonya? Any word on when she’ll get in? And I guess I should ask if there’s been any word on Horace, though I expect you would’ve told me if you’d heard anything.”
“No, to both questions,” Hazel Marie said, as she ran her hands under water from the faucet. “As far as I know, Tonya’s still in the air somewhere, and Mildred’s heard nothing about or from Horace.” Hazel Marie turned off the water and began drying her hands. “Miss Julia, do you think I ought to suggest that she hire J.D. to look for Horace? I don’t want her to think I’m drumming up business for him, but you know how good he is at finding people.”
“That might not be a bad idea, Hazel Marie,” I said, mulling over her suggestion of putting Mr. Pickens on the case. “And she won’t think you’re drumming up business for him. She probably just hasn’t thought of engaging a private investigator. But, I tell you, if the sheriff hasn’t found Horace by tonight, I would certainly be looking elsewhere. If it were me.”
“Me, too. Okay, as soon as some of these people clear out, I’ll ask her to think about calling J.D.” She picked up a plate and handed it to me. “Here, fill this up. You haven’t had a bite all day, have you?”
“I haven’t had time to think about it. Hazel Marie, you wouldn’t believe all that’s happened today. Every time I’ve turned around, somebody else is telling me their problems.”
“Really? Let’s both fix a plate and go out to the gazebo. Nobody’s out there, and you can tell me everything.”