Raisin the Dead Read Online Free PDF Page B

frogs one step above insects? Can’t they move them somewhere else?”
    â€œWe suggested that, but they’re being stubborn. Apparently, the grass and pond on the site on which we want to build is their only home in Destiny, and there aren’t any other Yellow Spikey Tree Frogs in the entire state of New York. The nearest ones are in New Jersey.”
    â€œI find that hard to believe, but if you say so. Maybe they can ship them to New Jersey; reunite them with relatives. Who owns the property, the library?”
    â€œNo, the Destiny Community Center.”
    â€œAre they doing anything about the frogs?”
    â€œI don’t know what they can do. They can’t exterminate them, they’re protected. They’re rather cute for frogs. Tiny and bright yellow. The females have red toes, so it looks like someone put nail polish on them. The Oleandra County Preservation Society mailed all the advisory board members brochures trying to shame us into feeling guilty. It didn’t work.”
    â€œIck. I don’t want to see them, thank you. Why don’t they corral them into a small section of the land, build an escape-proof wall, and let you have the rest of the property?”
    â€œThat idea has been voiced. We’ll have to wait and see.”
    â€œIs there a specific person at the Oleandra County Preservation Society that you’ve spoken to?”
    â€œA woman named Abigail Smith-Blanton.”
    â€œSo it’s possible she called Philip if she thought he was going to fund the expansion.”
    â€œI suppose, but I can’t picture her doing that. She’s rather prim and proper.”
    â€œWhat about the Westley House?” I continued. “Why are they giving the expansion a hard time? I thought everything was set for it.”
    â€œYes, well, we thought so, too. You know what they say, stuff happens. Lots of it. The Destiny Community Center owned the Westley House, too, until we bought it with part of our expansion money. Most of it, unfortunately. That’s why Philip’s money meant so much to the expansion. We were running low.
    â€œWe had plans to demolish the house. That was before the Destiny Trust for Historic Preservation stepped in and had the Morrison Superior Court issue a temporary injunction barring us from doing so. I’m sure Daniel had something to do with that.”
    â€œWhy did they do that?” I asked.
    â€œThey don’t want it destroyed. It belonged to Samuel Westley, former Civil War hero and former New York state lieutenant governor. He was a prominent citizen in Destiny. Daniel is a descendent of his. Westley also wrote a novel called
Honor and Truth Above All Else
in that house. The Destiny Trust for Historic Preservation found a trunk full of his papers in the attic. The library has agreed to do a presentation on them, along with a display.”
    â€œOkay, then. Can’t you leave the house standing?”
    She shook her head. “No. That would be ideal, but it’s in the middle of the property. In addition, it’s crumbling, dark, and dank. We were going to renovate it and see if we could incorporate it into our new building, maybe turn it into a museum, but that’s not going to work.
    â€œRenovations would be too expensive for us, even with Philip’s money, which now we don’t have, anyway. We were going to use the land it stands on to expand the parking lot, and link it to our current lot, which we’ve also outgrown.”
    â€œWho’s your go-to contact there?”
    â€œA gentleman named Peter Delaney.”
    I made a note of the two names. “Have you thought of abandoning the expansion?”
    â€œAbsolutely not. It’s something this town needs. Everyone is looking forward to it. The feedback and enthusiasm have been so gratifying. Our population is growing fast, and many other libraries copy our innovative programs, so the expansion will happen. How, I don’t