Read Online Vi Agra Falls by Mary Daheim - Free Book Online Page A

if she needed help getting dressed.
    â€œI can still do that myself, you nitwit,” Gertrude rasped. “It might take me an hour or so, but I can manage just fine. You look like you better spend a while getting yourself together.Where’d you find that ugly sundress? It looks like it fell off the back of a garbage truck.”
    Judith had bought the simple red-and-white cotton sheath at Nordquist’s on sale, a relative bargain at ninety dollars. Ignoring her mother’s barb, she told her to be ready by six-thirty, smiled thinly, and left the toolshed.
    The schoolhouse clock’s hands stood at five-thirty. The appetizers were ready for the B&B’s social hour, but one party of guests had yet to arrive. Ironically, it was the Oklahoma Busses. Judith wondered if they’d stopped first at Herself’s house.
    Forty-five minutes later, she was checking on the three-bean salad she’d made for the Block Watch potluck when the doorbell rang. A tall, lean, gray-haired man and a short, plump dumpling of a woman with six pieces of luggage awaited her welcome.
    â€œWe’re the Busses,” the woman announced in a soft, slightly southern voice somewhere between a drawl and a twang.
    Judith introduced herself and ushered the couple inside. “Welcome to Hillside Manor. You’re in Room Five. You share a bathroom with Room Six, though there is another bathroom you can use off the hallway between your room and Room Four. The social hour has already begun, but I’m sure you want to get settled. Here’s the registration….” She paused, realizing that the Busses had left their luggage on the porch. “Uh…wouldn’t you like to bring your suitcases inside?”
    Marva Lou Buss frowned. “Is there a lot of crime around here?”
    â€œNo,” Judith replied, unwilling to admit to the occasional corpse she found in or around the premises. “This neighborhood is very quiet.” A sharp noise not unlike a gunshot suddenly rang out. “Usually,” she added, going to the open front door. Billy Buss was standing on the curb in front of his house, holding aloft what looked like a six-shooter.
    â€œYa- ha !” he shouted. “It’s party time!”
    â€œSounds like Billy,” Frankie Buss murmured to Marva Lou. “We’d best hightail it over there to howdy-do him.” He loped out of the house.
    â€œFrankie’s all het up to have a sit-down with Billy,” Marva Lou said to Judith. “I’ll leave the bags on the porch till he gets back.”
    Judith was still looking outside. The sawhorses were in place at the entrance to the cul-de-sac, the Rankers had set up their trestle table and folding chairs, Jeanne Ericson was unloading paper plates and plastic tableware from a big carton, Naomi Stein carefully placed slices of corned beef and pastrami on a platter, Rochelle Porter was putting the final touches to a lazy Susan loaded with fresh fruits and vegetables that her husband, Gabe, had brought from his produce company, and Hamish Stein was helping Ted Ericson set up the beverages. Just a few yards away, on the other side of the open area, Judith saw Vivian in a slithery silver gown with a slit skirt. She was supervising two white-coated waiters and three nubile young women in abbreviated maids’ costumes. Billy and Frankie Buss stood off to one side, where a small bandstand had been set up. Judith felt as if she were watching a war zone with the enemies preparing for battle.
    â€œWhat the hell was that?” Joe shouted, coming through the dining room into the entry hall. He saw Marva Lou and stopped short. “Oh! Sorry.” He gave an imitation of his most engaging grin to the newly arrived guest. “That sounded like a shot, but of course it must have been…?” He transferred his questioning gaze to Judith.
    â€œBilly Buss,” Judith said, speaking rapidly lest Joe interrupt with a tactless