Read Online If Fried Chicken Could Fly by Paige Shelton - Free Book Online
Authors: Paige Shelton
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away from the theater, something flashed outside its big double doors. I turned my head to look again. The milky light from the old-fashioned streetlights didn’t illuminate anything clearly, but instead gave a borderless-like glow to just about everything.
But the flash I’d seen suddenly transformed into a complete figure. I blinked to clear my eyes.
Who was dressed in the cowboy getup outside the theater? Seeing people dressed as he was dressed wasn’t a rare occurrence in Broken Rope, but in the middle of the night before the tourist season officially started? Maybe someone was just trying to get into character—rehearse.
“Hey!” I said. “Who’s there?”
The cowboy started to turn to look my direction, but his head never made it all the way around before he disappeared. The area where I thought I was seeing him went dark, as though someone had flipped a button on a television or a projector.
I blinked again and looked hard. The theater doors were painted a bright red, but in the darkness they just looked…dark. Perhaps the light from the streetlights had briefly played off the red doors? I was tired and the evening had been full of unwelcome and unexpected surprises. Perhaps my body and my mind needed to go to bed.
I hurried into the car.
“Thanks for taking care of me this evening, Betts,” Gram said as I pulled on my seat belt.
“You okay?” I asked.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Sad about Everett, but I’m okay.”
I hesitated as I looked back toward the theater. There was nothing there, I was sure of it. The car windows were rolled down and I noticed that the wood smoke smell had dissipated, but I didn’t think that had anything to do with what I’d seen, or thought I’d seen.
“Did you know he was married, Gram?” I asked as I pulled my attention back to her and started the car.
She sighed. “I don’t want to talk about that right now, Betts.”
I tried to hide my irritation. Technically, she didn’t owe me any explanation, but she was my gram and we’d been close from the second I was born.
“I can’t testify against you,” I said.
She laughed and patted my arm. “You sound so professional, Betts. I know you can’t testify against me, but you might be able to testify against whoever did this to Everett. I don’t want to be secretive, but Verna made it very clear that the only person I was supposed to talk to about any of this mess was her. I listen to my lawyer.”
“That’s smart,” I said.
“I know.” Gram turned to look out her window as we drove home.
I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw nothing by the theater, but for a brief instant, I thought I saw an old cowboy hat blow across the street like stray tumbleweed.
I was looking forward to at least a few hours of good sleep.
CHAPTER 5
I did sleep, but not for as many hours as I would have liked. I got Gram to her house and into her bed before I went to my parents’ house and roused them out of their sleep. With heavy eyelids and wild hair, my mom listened to me tell her about the evening’s events. She sat at the kitchen table and took notes as I asked her to call all the daytime students in a few hours to let them know that classes had been canceled for the day but we’d resume the normal schedule the following day. I hoped Jim would give us the go-ahead. If he didn’t, I’d come up with another plan.
Mom wasn’t a morning person, particularly at that hour of the morning, but the panic of a murder and of Gram’s predicament kept her alert and at the ready.
No one knew where my brother was, but that wasn’t unusual. I left him a message.
Dad jumped out of bed, threw on some jeans, and hurried over to Gram’s. He’d make sure she got some rest and would be there when she woke up. He was the principal for Broken Rope’s elementary, middle, and high schools, but he could take the day to be with his mom. My mom was the auto shop teacher at the high school, but the school year was coming to
But the flash I’d seen suddenly transformed into a complete figure. I blinked to clear my eyes.
Who was dressed in the cowboy getup outside the theater? Seeing people dressed as he was dressed wasn’t a rare occurrence in Broken Rope, but in the middle of the night before the tourist season officially started? Maybe someone was just trying to get into character—rehearse.
“Hey!” I said. “Who’s there?”
The cowboy started to turn to look my direction, but his head never made it all the way around before he disappeared. The area where I thought I was seeing him went dark, as though someone had flipped a button on a television or a projector.
I blinked again and looked hard. The theater doors were painted a bright red, but in the darkness they just looked…dark. Perhaps the light from the streetlights had briefly played off the red doors? I was tired and the evening had been full of unwelcome and unexpected surprises. Perhaps my body and my mind needed to go to bed.
I hurried into the car.
“Thanks for taking care of me this evening, Betts,” Gram said as I pulled on my seat belt.
“You okay?” I asked.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Sad about Everett, but I’m okay.”
I hesitated as I looked back toward the theater. There was nothing there, I was sure of it. The car windows were rolled down and I noticed that the wood smoke smell had dissipated, but I didn’t think that had anything to do with what I’d seen, or thought I’d seen.
“Did you know he was married, Gram?” I asked as I pulled my attention back to her and started the car.
She sighed. “I don’t want to talk about that right now, Betts.”
I tried to hide my irritation. Technically, she didn’t owe me any explanation, but she was my gram and we’d been close from the second I was born.
“I can’t testify against you,” I said.
She laughed and patted my arm. “You sound so professional, Betts. I know you can’t testify against me, but you might be able to testify against whoever did this to Everett. I don’t want to be secretive, but Verna made it very clear that the only person I was supposed to talk to about any of this mess was her. I listen to my lawyer.”
“That’s smart,” I said.
“I know.” Gram turned to look out her window as we drove home.
I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw nothing by the theater, but for a brief instant, I thought I saw an old cowboy hat blow across the street like stray tumbleweed.
I was looking forward to at least a few hours of good sleep.
CHAPTER 5
I did sleep, but not for as many hours as I would have liked. I got Gram to her house and into her bed before I went to my parents’ house and roused them out of their sleep. With heavy eyelids and wild hair, my mom listened to me tell her about the evening’s events. She sat at the kitchen table and took notes as I asked her to call all the daytime students in a few hours to let them know that classes had been canceled for the day but we’d resume the normal schedule the following day. I hoped Jim would give us the go-ahead. If he didn’t, I’d come up with another plan.
Mom wasn’t a morning person, particularly at that hour of the morning, but the panic of a murder and of Gram’s predicament kept her alert and at the ready.
No one knew where my brother was, but that wasn’t unusual. I left him a message.
Dad jumped out of bed, threw on some jeans, and hurried over to Gram’s. He’d make sure she got some rest and would be there when she woke up. He was the principal for Broken Rope’s elementary, middle, and high schools, but he could take the day to be with his mom. My mom was the auto shop teacher at the high school, but the school year was coming to
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