Alafair Tucker 01 - The Old Buzzard Had It Coming

it if she got her a beau.”
    “True enough,” Alice said with a laugh. “And you know what? Now that I think on it, Phoebe sure has taken a liking to strolling up and down the road lately.”
    Alafair shot Alice a stern look. “You just go inside, now, and help your sisters with supper, or find something else useful to do. It’s too cold to be sitting around doing nothing, anyway.”
    Alice looked as though she might say something else annoying, but apparently thought better of it and stood up. “Want me to make the cornbread tonight?”
    “Ask Martha. She’s in charge of supper this evening. Now hurry up. Your daddy and the boys will be in directly.”
    The screen creaked and the door clumped closed behind her when Alice went inside. Alafair walked down the porch steps to meet Phoebe and John Lee as they came in the gate.
    A white fence defined the front yard where in summer Alafair grew herbs in small plots along the stone walk, and sometimes flowers, when she had the inclination. Native elms dotted the yard, and a large hackberry tree shaded the side of the house. A square stone well graced one corner of the yard, though it was covered and seldom used, now that a pump had been installed next to the back door. There was no back yard, only a fire break of twenty feet or so between the back of the house and a patch of woods which served as playground, dog run, pig buffet, and home to a small flock of wild turkeys.
    Alafair acknowledged Phoebe with a smile before she looked beyond the girl toward John Lee, who had stood aside to let Phoebe pass. He snatched the wool cap from his head when Alafair looked at him, releasing an untidy shag of black hair that fell across his forehead.
    Alafair leaned against the support beam and placed the fist clutching the dishtowel on her hip. “John Lee Day,” she greeted. “I haven’t seen you since before there was dirt. What brings you around?”
    John Lee drew himself up and looked her in the eye, shy but straightforward, and pressed his cap against the breast of his threadbare coat. Alafair caught her breath when the boy looked up at her. She hadn’t realized what a looker he had become. For just an instant, she was bemused. The fist on her hip dropped to her side, and the dishtowel unfurled like a flag.
    “Good evening, Miz Tucker,” John Lee was saying, when Alafair came to. “I met Phoebe on the road yonder, and figured I’d walk her home and say hello to y’all, being as I ain’t been by here in so long.”
    Phoebe came up to Alafair’s side, quiet as a shadow. She slipped her hand into her mother’s, but kept her gaze on John Lee.
    Alafair said, “You’ve grown up since I saw you last, son.”
    “I don’t get away from the farm, much,” John Lee admitted.
    “How is your mother?”
    He hesitated. “Well enough, ma’am,” he conceded. The words “given her husband” were unspoken but understood.
    “And all them young’uns?”
    “Growing right along, ma’am.”
    “What happened to your eye?” Alafair asked, in the same polite tone of inquiry, though more gently.
    John Lee’s hand flew to the gash next to his right eye before he could stop himself. It was a rather ugly gash of about three inches, not very old, since it was just beginning to swell and redden. It had been carefully cleaned, but still oozed a little. John Lee sighed a barely perceptible sigh and smiled a rueful smile. “Reckon I run into a door, Miz Tucker,” he said.
    Alafair nodded. She didn’t look at Phoebe, but the girl’s hand tightened around hers. Harley Day’s reputation was well known in Muskogee county. It had long been rumored that he struck Mrs. Day, and Alafair expected that John Lee was plenty old enough to object. Her heart tightened. He probably ran into a lot of doors.
    “Why don’t you come in and let me doctor that?” Alafair offered. “It don’t look too bad. Shouldn’t take but a minute.”
    John Lee shook his head. “Thank you, ma’am. I expect my ma can put something on it.”
    “We’re just about to sit down and eat a bite of supper. You’re more than welcome to stay if you’ve a mind,” Alafair urged.
    The invitation seemed to alarm the boy. “No, no, thank you, Miz Tucker. Ma’s expecting me. I got to get back or she’ll be wondering what happened to me.” He looked at Phoebe, and a transformation came over his face that gave Alafair pause. “I just seen Phoebe strolling down the road past our gate and I wanted to keep her