Read Online 3 - Buffalo Mountain: Ike Schwartz Mystery 3 by Frederick Ramsay - Free Book Online Page A

all left for work or were warm and safe indoors. Had they been outside and nearby, they would have heard some United States Army Cavalry language that would have made a sailor blush.
    He stood with his back to the street and told his battered Buick what he thought of snow, snowplows, and the weather in general. He did not notice the car that stopped a few yards from him. Rose Garroway called out, “Colonel, can we give you a lift anywhere?”
    He spun and squinted in the direction of the voice.
    “Who’s that?” he barked.
    “It’s Rose Garroway from church,” she replied. “Do you need any help?”
    “My car’s stuck in this dad-burned snowbank. I can’t get her loose and I need to get to the store.”
    “Come with us and when we get back, T.J. will help dig you out.”
    “Who’s T.J.?”
    “My nephew. Hop in.”
    The colonel hesitated. He did not like being helped and he especially did not like being helped by women. But he had no choice. He made his way to the car and climbed in next to a woman he took to be Minnie.
    “Buckle up,” T.J. directed. “Can’t move until everyone’s buckled up.”
    Colonel Bob struggled with the rear seat belt. Grunting and mumbling under his breath, he finally got himself secure and the car moved on. T.J. sounded like an old master sergeant he had in Korea. He could only see the back of his head and that only dimly. He rubbed his eyes to clear them. It did not help. He was having a particularly bad eye day.
    They stopped at a grocery store just off the Covington Road, not the one he usually patronized. He preferred the market a bit closer to the highway. He knew his way around that one, and the clerks knew him and what he liked. If he wanted an inch-thick filet mignon—filly mig-nons he called them—they would cut it for him specially.
    In this store, he did not know where to find anything. He bumped into a cart and made his way tentatively down a side aisle, nearly knocking several cans of pumpkin pie filling on the floor before he got himself centered. He knew he needed a plan. This new store would not give up its secrets easily. Coffee, steak and potatoes, and a few cans of vegetables would hold him, he figured. His eyes should be better tomorrow and then he’d unstick the car and get the rest.
    He picked up a can and peered at the label. He held it close to his face. He knew it was green, but peas, beans, or spinach? He moved uncertainly down the aisle searching for familiar labels and boxes, dropping likely candidates into the cart. When his nose told him he had reached coffee, he grabbed a bag and peered intently at it. He covered one eye with his left hand. The brand name swam into view. It was not one he recognized.
    Rose Garroway wheeled her cart up beside him.
    “Colonel, are you all right?” the concern in her voice evident.
    “It’s these glasses of mine,” he grumbled. “I must need a new prescription. Can’t see a thing today.” He held the bag of coffee near his nose and studied the label.
    “T.J.,” Rose called, “see if you can give the Colonel a hand here. His glasses aren’t working.”
    “I can help,” T.J. said and took the handle of the cart. “What do you need, Mister Colonel Bob?”
    “Just tell me what this label says.”
    “Fol…ger’s High Mountain de…caffeine…ated coffee, thirteen oh zee…”
    Bob turned to look more closely at the boy. Blurred as his vision was, he saw the broad forehead and wide-set eyes.
    “You can read okay, T.J.?”
    “Oh, yes, I am the best reader in my class.”
    “You are, are you? Well, if this don’t beat the witches. The Halt and the Blind. All we need now is the Lame and we’ll have a complete set.”
    “A complete set of what?”
    “It’s from the Bible, boy. Never mind.”
    “Okay. What else do we need there, Mister Colonel Bob?”
    “Well, son, you can take us to the bananas. Do you like bananas?”
    “Yes, sir, I do.”
    They finished shopping. Colonel Bob explained to T.J.