Page 77 of Maple Mountain
Without waiting for a reply, I quietly trekked back inside, Mildred dogging my heels.But it wasn’t my room she wanted to go to.She stood at Lenni’s bedroom door and pawed at it.A moment later, I opened the door a crack and Mildred slithered her way inside before I shut the door.
I went into my bedroom and took off my black dress and hung it on its hanger.I removed the heels, the earrings, and washed my face.
And became myself again.
ChapterSeventeen
The Ranch
“So, Lenni got suspended for fighting?”Muddy asked the moment Poet and I entered the kitchen of the main house.
I blinked.“Which grape on the vine told you?”
“Multiple grapes.Poet for one.And then Lucy.Here take the scrambled eggs.”She handed me a serving bowl stamped with blue and red geometric designs.
“How did Lucy know?”I asked.
“She’s the contemporary version of a trading post,” Muddy said.“People come into General Merc and tell her all sorts of things.You want to know something?You talk to Lucy.”
“I thought people talked toyou,” I said.
“They do.”She grinned.“But I don’t gossip.”
“Ha!” came Salem’s voice from the direction of the dining room table.
“Hanothing,” Muddy huffed.“Come on, give us the details over breakfast.”
Salem and Hadley were folding cloth napkins and setting them at their place settings.A bottle of orange juice was in the center, along with a platter of bacon and slices of sourdough toast.
“I feel like I’m at a hotel breakfast buffet,” I stated as I set the scrambled eggs down.
Poet came into the dining room with salt and pepper shakers and hot sauce bottles.“I-HOM.International House of Muddy.”
Salem sniggered.
“Sit, sit,” Muddy said.“Eat before it gets cold.”
She didn’t have to tell me twice.I took a chair and reached for the bacon.
“So, what happened with Lenni?”Muddy asked.
“I thought you already knew,” I quipped.
Poet poured the orange juice.
“I want it from the source,” Muddy said.
“A kid in her class was teasing her about Brooks.”I sighed and glanced at Poet, who’d finally taken her seat.“About him being an ex-con.”
Poet frowned.“Really?”
I nodded.“Yeah.Lenni thought the kid was lying so she decked him.Got suspended yesterday.She can go back after the long Thanksgiving weekend break.”
“But Brooksisan ex-con,” Salem said.
“Yeah.”I nodded.
“So how did that conversation with her go?”Hadley pressed.“Do you know?”
