Jubilee's Journey (The Wyattsville Series) by Bette Lee Crosby Page B

Olivia decided not to call the authorities. If worse came to worst and she became desperate, there was one person she could trust. She hadn’t spoken with Jack Mahoney in almost six months, but she knew he’d be there and he’d answer the call.
     

     
    Olivia removed Jubilee’s shoes, carried her into the bedroom, and tucked her into Charlie’s side of the bed. She placed the sleepy little head on a fluffy pillow that hadn’t been used for two years.
    When Olivia returned to the living room, her eyes were watery. “That poor child…” she murmured.
    Ethan Allen, who’d been focused on watching a television show, looked up. “You ain’t even heard the worst yet.”
    “The worst?”
    “Yeah. You know that robbed place I was at? Well, that’s where Jubie said her brother was supposed to be working.”
    “Klaussner’s Grocery Store?” Olivia gasped.
    Ethan Allen nodded.
    “Dear God,” Olivia said. “You don’t suppose her brother was involved in that.”
    “I ain’t supposing nothin’—I figured you was gonna take charge of that.”
    Olivia shooed Ethan Allen off to bed and changed the channel on the television. Maybe there’d be something on the news.
    There was.
     

 
    Ethan Allen
     
    I didn’t want to tell Grandma this on account of she’s a worrier. Mama never worried about nothin’, but Grandma, she worries about everything. The sorry truth is I didn’t see no live people come out of that grocery store. Far as I could tell, they was all dead.
    With him needing money, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Paul was the one robbing Mister Klaussner. Jubie said he was gonna do a job, and that’s what crooks call it when they’re gonna rob a place. Maybe her brother ain’t really a crook, but when you got no place to go and nothin’ to eat you gotta do something—even if it’s something you ain’t none too proud of doing.
    Whatever he did, I can say for sure Jubie’s got nothin’ to do with it. I know what feeling scared looks like, and Jubie was honest-to-God scared. Not the kind of guilty-scared you get from doing something you ain’t supposed to do, but the kind of scared that’s ‘cause you’re all alone and you got nobody to turn to.
    I ain’t no do-gooder like Grandma, but I sure felt bad for Jubie. I think it’s ‘cause she’s so little. She said she was seven, but I’m thinking more like five. If she’s really seven, then for sure she’s the runt of the litter.

 
    Late News
     
    O livia sat glued to the television as she listened to reports of the robbery. According to Martha Tillinger who was being interviewed on the ten o’clock news, two men had walked into Klaussner’s grocery store in broad daylight, brandished a gun, and started shooting. At that point Martha, who had been on the far side of the store selecting a box of crackers to go with her homemade onion dip, ducked behind a large display of cereal boxes and rolled herself into a ball.
    “I couldn’t see what was happening, but I know the sound of gunfire when I hear it,” she told the reporter. Martha then went on to render the opinion that it would have been far wiser for Sid to just hand over the money instead of trying to shoot it out with two armed bandits.
    The reporter nodded solemnly, then turned back to the camera for a close up. “Sidney Klaussner was shot twice in the chest, and his condition is listed as critical. One of the alleged assailants suffered a head wound and is now in surgery.”
    “Thanks for that update, Ken,” the blond anchorwoman at the KWNB news desk said. Then she said they had very few details at this time, and although detectives acknowledged that one of the alleged assailants had escaped, the name of the second young man had not yet been released. “Join us at seven o’clock tomorrow morning when we’ll have more details on this event that has rocked our peaceful little community.”
     

     
    Olivia continued to watch as the weatherman came on and explained