Alafair Tucker 01 - The Old Buzzard Had It Coming

maybe.”
    “I don’t like to think of her being alone. She ain’t never been alone, to my knowledge.”
    Scott finally allowed the smile to emerge. “Well, then, you don’t know, son. She might enjoy it for a change.”
    “Can I bring her some things tonight?”
    “You can come visit if you want, but my wife will provide her with everything she needs, otherwise.”
    Alafair watched John Lee ponder this for a moment. It was likely that whatever Hattie Tucker provided would be much nicer than anything Mrs. Day owned, Alafair thought.
    “Can I see her in Muskogee?” John Lee persisted.
    “Yes, you can,” Scott said patiently.
    “It’ll be hard for me to be getting back and forth. Can’t you hold her here until the trial?”
    “That isn’t up to me, son. We can ask the judge, but I expect not, especially on a charge of capital murder.”
    “What is capital murder?”
    Scott shot Alafair a chagrined look. “Serious murder,” he said. “Planned and thought of beforehand.”
    Alafair, who had stood silent through this exchange, jumped in hurriedly. “Scott, if it’s all right with them, the Day kids can come home and eat with us tonight, then Shaw can bring John Lee back here for a visit with his ma and I can take the kids home.” Her gaze switched to John Lee. “Or, you all can stay the night with us, if you don’t mind pallets.”
    “Thank you, Miz Tucker. It’s up to Naomi if we should take supper with you, though I think she’ll be grateful. As for spending the night, I think the kids might feel better at home in their own beds. We won’t be afraid.”
    Nothing to be afraid of, now, Alafair thought. “I’ll ask Naomi, then,” she said. John Lee and Naomi were just kids, but after what they had been through, Alafair was very careful of their feelings.
    “You go on along, then,” Scott ordered. “I’ll see you this evening. I’ll tell your mother what’s happening with you, so don’t worry about her.”
    ***
    John Lee and Alafair didn’t speak to one another as they left the livery stable, or as they climbed up into the buggy after hitching John Lee’s mule behind. She picked up the reins and they rode out of town together in silence. They had turned south onto the road that led to their farms before John Lee finally had something to say.
    “How’s Phoebe, Miz Tucker?” he asked.
    Alafair smiled without looking at him. “She’s fine. She’s at home. She’s put out with you for turning yourself in.”
    “Well, I had to do that,” he said, matter-of-factly. “You see that, don’t you?”
    “Yes, I see it,” Alafair admitted.
    “Don’t look like it was necessary,” John Lee commented. He looked over at Alafair. “Miz Tucker, it don’t seem possible that my ma plugged my pa. She just ain’t got it in her. He beat out every bit of spirit she ever had.”
    “Maybe she just had enough, John Lee,” Alafair said gently.
    He shook his head. “I don’t believe it. She never once lifted her hand to defend herself, nor us, either.”
    “Did he abuse you kids, John Lee?” Alafair asked.
    John Lee shrugged. “Not like he did her. He mostly never paid us any mind at all, just to kick us out of the way. He’s whacked me some in the last couple of years, since I got old enough to bother him. Only one of us he ever seemed know was alive was Maggie Ellen, and that’s because she was the only one brave enough to sass him.”
    “Your sister that married?”
    He glanced at Alafair out of the corner of his eye. His ears reddened. “Ma tell you that? Well, she would. We don’t really know where Maggie Ellen went. She run off a couple of years ago, when she was sixteen. It was cotton time. Lots of itinerant pickers around, don’t you know.” He blushed furiously. “I blame Daddy. She was walking out with a fine boy, Dan Lang from Dasher’s machine shop, but Daddy was such a misery that he run Dan off for good. Maggie Ellen was heartbroke.”
    “Yes, I heard that story. I heard your dad beat him with a hoe handle.”
    John Lee glanced at her. “Well, then, you can see why Dan thought courting my sister wasn’t such a good idea. Can’t blame him. But Maggie Ellen had these big plans to marry and set up a home, and rescue the kids from Daddy. Losing Dan was a disappointment to her. She hated Daddy for it, I’m thinking. Took the first chance she had to get away for good.”
    “Don’t worry, son,” Alafair soothed. “I don’t judge her at all.”
    Alafair heard him