Hortons Bend

She sat down with him and talked about what each other had done during the day. He felt the guilt creep upon him again but forced himself to keep his mood pleasant and without suspicion. Lacy had cooked up a vegetable dinner which included black eyed peas, cream potatoes, macaroni and cheese and turnip greens. The buttered biscuits that came with this meal were light as a feather. After dinner she and Brody watched the evening news and lounged on their sofa until it was time to go to bed. As she was putting on her pajamas Brody decided to mention to her that he would be late tomorrow night. “Lacy I’m going to look at a collection tomorrow evening. The family lives near Calhoun and are thinking about donating it to the museum.” She nodded and said, “I’ve got to go over to Linda’s tomorrow and help her do some decorating anyways. Will you be late?” He didn’t want to compromise his plan so he simply said “It’ll be after dark before I can get in but I promise to not stay any longer than I have to.” She seemed satisfied with his answer and Brody silently breathed a sigh of relief. Lacy reached over and kissed him. “Night Paul….I love you” she said. “I love you too baby. Night night” he said before he cut out the lamp on the night stand.
    The next morning Brody waited for Lacy to drive to the library before he left for the museum. He stopped by to visit his retired neighbor, Jimmy Tabor, to see if he could borrow his john boat this evening. “I’m sorry it’s such short notice but we want to go up river this afternoon to see if there’s some erosion on any of the banks of the river. The state archaeological society asked all members to take the time to do a survey of some local streams” he lied to yet another friend. “No problem” Jimmy said, “I’m going to work on some food plots to hunt near this fall so I didn’t have any plans for it.” He thanked his friend and promised to return it this evening. Jimmy told him he needn’t worry about returning it in the dark but Brody told another lie in that he probably had to leave early the next morning. He was stacking lies on top of lies and it made him disgusted and ashamed of himself to think of what he had become.
    Brody noticed that Mrs. Peabody’s car was already in the museum parking lot when he arrived. “How unusual” he thought to himself since she often didn’t make an appearance until 10am most mornings. He walked up to his offic e and to his surprise found Barbara Peabody waiting for him outside of his office. “Good morning” he said cheerfully. “I would like to speak with you” she said in a cold tone. They walked into his office but she did not take a seat. Brody sat down at his desk and waited to hear her out. “Mr. Brody I think you know that the museum encourages your research as an asset for potential future exhibits but there are limits. I know that you have an interest in the area along the river known as Horton’s Bend. I have been notified that you were nosing around there recently and the Horton family has no interest in archaeological investigations. I want to make it plain to you that you should no longer make yourself a nuisance to this particular local community.” Mrs. Peabody stopped not to allow Brody to speak but to make sure her emphasis was clear. Brody had started to counter her argument but thought it better to let the matter lie for the moment. He simply nodded as she continued. “I hope we are clear on this matter for I do not wish for you to jeopardize your position here at the museum. The board members have spoken to me about this and wanted me to convey it to you. Simply put….leave Horton’s Bend out of your research interests or you will force the museum to take actions that will be consequential.” Barbara emphasized this last point by raising her eyebrows and tilting her head. Brody got the message loud and clear and simply clasped his hands together and nodded. Mrs. Peabody turned to leave and left him once again without a goodbye but simply said instead “I’ll leave you to your inventory.” She walked out of the office leaving Brody feeling as though he had just been scolded by his former high school principal.
    Chapter Seven
    Brody was busying himself with the inventory when he heard Darwin arrive in the laboratory. “Yo shovel bum!…What’s up with Mrs. Busybody being here so early?” she said when she saw him alone. Brody knew it wouldn’t take much to scare