Read Online The Blue Coyote (The Frannie Shoemaker Campground Mysteries Book 2) by Karen Musser Nortman - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Karen Musser Nortman
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shortcut and that we could see it plainly from here and then
she asked about you using it. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Don’t worry about it. She
would have asked anyway as soon as she saw how close that trail is to us.”
“I still think those road
workers have been acting kind of spooky,” Frannie said. “I’ll be back. I’m
going to put tonight’s dessert together.”
In the camper, she broke up
raisin bagels into the slow cooker, added raisins, dried cranberries, cinnamon,
milk, and eggs. While she worked, she considered the situation. Why would
someone choose a campground in broad daylight to make an
abduction ? It didn’t seem like it could be planned, so a crime of
opportunity? And if that was the case, maybe it had happened before.
******************
Happy Camper Tip #5
Bread pudding in the slow
cooker is the perfect fall dessert. Spray a 3-quart slow-cooker with cooking spray. Tear four cinnamon-raisin bagels into pieces and place in
cooker. Add a chopped tart apple and 1/2 cup each of dried cranberries and
golden raisins. Whisk together 2 cups of skim milk, 1 cup of egg substitute, 1 /2 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons of melted butter, and 1 teaspoon
each of cinnamon and vanilla. Pour over bagels and mix gently. Cook on low for
3-4 hours until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Excellent with a little ice cream on top. Or non-dairy topping . Or whole cream. Or...
Chapter Six
Late Saturday Afternoon
Frannie got out her laptop,
set it on the dinette and booted it up. A search for child abductions in Iowa
brought up numerous articles but all referring to one of two incidents in the
last three years, both unsolved. One article pointed out that stranger
abductions are actually quite rare; most kidnappings involved a non-custodial
parent. One of the two unsolved cases had occurred the previous March in the
town of Sharm Crossing in western Iowa. An eleven-year-old girl, Courtney
Jamison, was riding her bike to her grandparents’ house six blocks away from her
home and disappeared. Her bike was found in a ditch at the beginning of a
detour around a road construction site. Bingo! She then checked for old
articles and maps documenting the planned road construction sites for the past
summer. Sure enough, a section was marked near Sharm Crossing.
Frannie sat back in the
dinette booth. This had to be too great a coincidence, didn’t it? Surely the
sheriff could crosscheck records of who had worked on that site with the names
of the men in the campground. She felt a little better because she was doing
something to help direct the investigation toward productive action. Maybe they
would quit spinning their wheels looking at Larry. She wrote down the URLs for
the articles since she didn’t have a printer in the camper, and lugged the full
slow cooker outside to the utility table and plugged it in.
She told Larry and the others
what she had found. Larry usually scoffed at her amateur investigating, but now
he looked impressed. Probably because she had done it in
cyberspace rather than real space.
“We’ll give this information
to the sheriff— you don’t need
to do anything more with it,” he said.
“I don’t intend to,” she
said, hoping that was true. “I was going to suggest giving it to the police.”
Sabet came up to her. “Gran,
Joe and I are going to go over to the playground that’s by the shower house.”
“Not alone!” Frannie said
sharply, and seeing her granddaughter’s face, added, “I’ll go with you, okay?”
Sabet nodded. She didn’t know
what had changed but it wasn’t often that her grandmother used that tone with her. “Should we take the
short cut, Gran?” she asked.
Frannie had just noticed
people, with a couple of leashed dogs, moving through the woods starting the
search. “I think we’ll just stay on the road. There are people out there
searching for the missing little girl and we shouldn’t get in their way.”
When they arrived at
she asked about you using it. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Don’t worry about it. She
would have asked anyway as soon as she saw how close that trail is to us.”
“I still think those road
workers have been acting kind of spooky,” Frannie said. “I’ll be back. I’m
going to put tonight’s dessert together.”
In the camper, she broke up
raisin bagels into the slow cooker, added raisins, dried cranberries, cinnamon,
milk, and eggs. While she worked, she considered the situation. Why would
someone choose a campground in broad daylight to make an
abduction ? It didn’t seem like it could be planned, so a crime of
opportunity? And if that was the case, maybe it had happened before.
******************
Happy Camper Tip #5
Bread pudding in the slow
cooker is the perfect fall dessert. Spray a 3-quart slow-cooker with cooking spray. Tear four cinnamon-raisin bagels into pieces and place in
cooker. Add a chopped tart apple and 1/2 cup each of dried cranberries and
golden raisins. Whisk together 2 cups of skim milk, 1 cup of egg substitute, 1 /2 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons of melted butter, and 1 teaspoon
each of cinnamon and vanilla. Pour over bagels and mix gently. Cook on low for
3-4 hours until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Excellent with a little ice cream on top. Or non-dairy topping . Or whole cream. Or...
Chapter Six
Late Saturday Afternoon
Frannie got out her laptop,
set it on the dinette and booted it up. A search for child abductions in Iowa
brought up numerous articles but all referring to one of two incidents in the
last three years, both unsolved. One article pointed out that stranger
abductions are actually quite rare; most kidnappings involved a non-custodial
parent. One of the two unsolved cases had occurred the previous March in the
town of Sharm Crossing in western Iowa. An eleven-year-old girl, Courtney
Jamison, was riding her bike to her grandparents’ house six blocks away from her
home and disappeared. Her bike was found in a ditch at the beginning of a
detour around a road construction site. Bingo! She then checked for old
articles and maps documenting the planned road construction sites for the past
summer. Sure enough, a section was marked near Sharm Crossing.
Frannie sat back in the
dinette booth. This had to be too great a coincidence, didn’t it? Surely the
sheriff could crosscheck records of who had worked on that site with the names
of the men in the campground. She felt a little better because she was doing
something to help direct the investigation toward productive action. Maybe they
would quit spinning their wheels looking at Larry. She wrote down the URLs for
the articles since she didn’t have a printer in the camper, and lugged the full
slow cooker outside to the utility table and plugged it in.
She told Larry and the others
what she had found. Larry usually scoffed at her amateur investigating, but now
he looked impressed. Probably because she had done it in
cyberspace rather than real space.
“We’ll give this information
to the sheriff— you don’t need
to do anything more with it,” he said.
“I don’t intend to,” she
said, hoping that was true. “I was going to suggest giving it to the police.”
Sabet came up to her. “Gran,
Joe and I are going to go over to the playground that’s by the shower house.”
“Not alone!” Frannie said
sharply, and seeing her granddaughter’s face, added, “I’ll go with you, okay?”
Sabet nodded. She didn’t know
what had changed but it wasn’t often that her grandmother used that tone with her. “Should we take the
short cut, Gran?” she asked.
Frannie had just noticed
people, with a couple of leashed dogs, moving through the woods starting the
search. “I think we’ll just stay on the road. There are people out there
searching for the missing little girl and we shouldn’t get in their way.”
When they arrived at
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