Read Online Julia 03 - Miss Julia Throws a Wedding by Ann B. Ross - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Ann B. Ross
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like, things’re missing from one trailer or the other. Oh, and my neighbor across the street there, her son’s bicycle is gone. And it had a flat tire. I mean, who would want it?”
“Well,” I said with some relief, “it doesn’t seem that anything of value has been stolen. In fact, a lot of what you mentioned could just be lost.”
“No, Mrs. Springer,” she said, shaking her head. “Weformed like a search party, and looked all over, in and around all the trailers. Those things aren’t just lost; they’re gone.” She closed her eyes for a second, as if she needed to gather strength. Then she looked at me straight on with her hard blue eyes, and said, “Those things may not sound like much to you, but they’re things that people spent money on and not many of us can afford to spend twice on something. But the worst thing is that we never know when or where whoever it is, is going to strike next. At first we thought the same as you did, that they’d just been lost. But would everybody start losing things at the same time? I think not. And I didn’t even tell you everything that’s been stolen. I have a list inside. I’ll get it for you.”
“No need, Miss Wiggins. I understand the problem, and I’m trying to figure out what to do about it. I’ll certainly see about replacing the lights, and I’ll dress down Mr. Carter for his negligence. In addition, I’ll speak to someone at the sheriff’s department about putting a regular patrol out here. But a fence around all of this is out of the question. I think a better solution would be to assign some of the residents here to set up a watch at night. You people need to take some responsibility for looking after yourselves.”
A flush spread across the young woman’s face, and I realized that you people might’ve been a poor choice of words.
She lifted her head and gave me another hard look. “I told the others we couldn’t expect you to do anything and I was right. So I guess we people are on our own. Thank you for coming out; I’m sorry I bothered you.” And she turned on her heel and went inside the trailer, closing the door firmly behind her.
“Well,” I said, pursing my mouth. “If that isn’t the rudest thing. Come on, Little Lloyd, no need to stand here any longer.”
We got back in the car, and I drove slowly through a cloudof dust until we were on a paved road. Somehow, the farther away we went, the more troubled I was about the exchange. I knew I was right. I mean, what could I do? Still, I felt that I hadn’t come off in the best light.
“Miss Julia?” Little Lloyd looked over at me. “We could hire somebody to stay out there for a while. I mean, like an off-duty deputy. Coleman told me that a lot of them take extra jobs like that.”
“You think we ought to?”
“Yessum, I do.” He was quiet for a minute, thinking over the problem as he usually did. “The worst thing, I think, is not knowing who’s sneaking around. If I lived there, I don’t think I’d ever get to sleep at night.”
It’d never entered my head that I would ever live in such a place, so it surprised me that the child could picture himself doing it. “What else would you want done if you lived there?” I asked.
“I’d want that street paved. And, let me see, I guess I’d want a fence around the park. Did you see down at the end of that street? Looked like a dump on the other side of that line of trees. I’ll bet there’re stray dogs and, maybe, some tramps or something that pick through the trash. They could just walk right into the trailer park anytime they wanted to. And I’d want Mr. Carter fired. He’s not taking care of things, Miss Julia. He should’ve been the one to notify you of the problems they’re having.”
“I declare, Little Lloyd,” I said, with an approving glance. “Here I was thinking you were too tenderhearted, but I see you have a businessman’s mind. All right, I think we’ve just had a board meeting. First
“Well,” I said with some relief, “it doesn’t seem that anything of value has been stolen. In fact, a lot of what you mentioned could just be lost.”
“No, Mrs. Springer,” she said, shaking her head. “Weformed like a search party, and looked all over, in and around all the trailers. Those things aren’t just lost; they’re gone.” She closed her eyes for a second, as if she needed to gather strength. Then she looked at me straight on with her hard blue eyes, and said, “Those things may not sound like much to you, but they’re things that people spent money on and not many of us can afford to spend twice on something. But the worst thing is that we never know when or where whoever it is, is going to strike next. At first we thought the same as you did, that they’d just been lost. But would everybody start losing things at the same time? I think not. And I didn’t even tell you everything that’s been stolen. I have a list inside. I’ll get it for you.”
“No need, Miss Wiggins. I understand the problem, and I’m trying to figure out what to do about it. I’ll certainly see about replacing the lights, and I’ll dress down Mr. Carter for his negligence. In addition, I’ll speak to someone at the sheriff’s department about putting a regular patrol out here. But a fence around all of this is out of the question. I think a better solution would be to assign some of the residents here to set up a watch at night. You people need to take some responsibility for looking after yourselves.”
A flush spread across the young woman’s face, and I realized that you people might’ve been a poor choice of words.
She lifted her head and gave me another hard look. “I told the others we couldn’t expect you to do anything and I was right. So I guess we people are on our own. Thank you for coming out; I’m sorry I bothered you.” And she turned on her heel and went inside the trailer, closing the door firmly behind her.
“Well,” I said, pursing my mouth. “If that isn’t the rudest thing. Come on, Little Lloyd, no need to stand here any longer.”
We got back in the car, and I drove slowly through a cloudof dust until we were on a paved road. Somehow, the farther away we went, the more troubled I was about the exchange. I knew I was right. I mean, what could I do? Still, I felt that I hadn’t come off in the best light.
“Miss Julia?” Little Lloyd looked over at me. “We could hire somebody to stay out there for a while. I mean, like an off-duty deputy. Coleman told me that a lot of them take extra jobs like that.”
“You think we ought to?”
“Yessum, I do.” He was quiet for a minute, thinking over the problem as he usually did. “The worst thing, I think, is not knowing who’s sneaking around. If I lived there, I don’t think I’d ever get to sleep at night.”
It’d never entered my head that I would ever live in such a place, so it surprised me that the child could picture himself doing it. “What else would you want done if you lived there?” I asked.
“I’d want that street paved. And, let me see, I guess I’d want a fence around the park. Did you see down at the end of that street? Looked like a dump on the other side of that line of trees. I’ll bet there’re stray dogs and, maybe, some tramps or something that pick through the trash. They could just walk right into the trailer park anytime they wanted to. And I’d want Mr. Carter fired. He’s not taking care of things, Miss Julia. He should’ve been the one to notify you of the problems they’re having.”
“I declare, Little Lloyd,” I said, with an approving glance. “Here I was thinking you were too tenderhearted, but I see you have a businessman’s mind. All right, I think we’ve just had a board meeting. First
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