The Possum Hollow Hullabaloo (The Penelope Pembroke Cozy Mystery Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

school. There’s a sister, too, about three or four.”
    “I’ll keep you posted.”
    “We don’t require notes from the parents, mainly because we know we’re not going to get them. Folks out here don’t explain anything to anybody.” He lowered his voice. “We fudge a bit, you know—mark most absences excused with enough unexcused so the state doesn’t get suspicious.”
    “I understand.”
    He glanced at his watch. “Gotta run. Paul Hollis and I have to deal with two of his sixth-graders caught duking it out before school. Taking their lunch time rather than their class time seems to make more of an impression than anything else.”
    Penelope watched him disappear down the hall before she stepped into the library. Huddled among the cheerful pillows in one corner, a thin child bent over an open book in her lap, her stringy hair almost hiding her face. It took a few minutes for Penelope to realize the little girl was crying rather than reading.
    “Honey…”
    The child startled, clutching the open book against her like a shield. “I’m sorry, Miss.”
    Penelope hunkered down beside her. “Miss Penelope. Remember, I’m helping out in here since Miss Tammy left.”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    “Still reading Jane Eyre ? How do you like it?”
    Her eyes darted around the room. “Mr. Rochester scares me a little.”
    “He scared me, too, but he wasn’t a bad man.” Penelope’s eyes drifted to the girl’s sock-clad feet. “Ellie, right? I’m supposed to measure your foot for some new shoes.”
    The girl’s eyes brightened for a second, then dulled again. “You don’t have to.”
    “I want to .” Penelope fetched the slider bought from a shoe store in Little Rock when it closed. “Stand up and put your foot on this for me.”
    The child obeyed, keeping her eyes fixed on the procedure.
    “Okay, now the other one. Good, that’s fine.” Penelope jotted the numbers in a small notebook she carried in the pocket of her skirt. “What about your little sister?”
    The girl froze, then bolted past Penelope and out the door. “Ellie, wait a minute! I just wanted to find out…” She got to her feet. That’s not a good sign. I’ll tell George. He said he was going out to talk to her mother anyway—though how he manages to survive those home visits, I’ll never know. She crossed herself quickly and mouthed a silent prayer for his safety.

 
    CHAPTER SEVEN
     
    “Ellie’s still insisting her mother has gone to visit a sister who’s ill,” George Harris told Penelope when he stopped into the library a week later. “I don’t buy it.”
    “What about the little sister?”
    “Evie. She’s four. I think Ellie’s staying home to take care of her when her father’s gone.”
    “Where does he go?”
    George shrugged. “I don’t even want to know. Both times I went out there, she wouldn’t let me in the house—said her father was sleeping.” He shook his head. “I don’t buy it,” he said again. “And this morning Paul said he noticed some bruises on Ellie’s neck.”
    “Did he ask her about them?”
    “Oh, sure, but the girl didn’t give him any answers that made sense. Paul will have to report them.”
    “To child welfare?”
    “Unfortunately. They’re the last folks I want nosing around out here. The state education department looks the other way—gives us credit for what we’re doing to keep these kids in school, but child welfare is another matter.”
    “I take it you’ve dealt with them before.”
    “Once, briefly, and that was enough. But Paul has to report this. He could lose his license if he doesn’t.”
    “I’m not arguing that.”
    “I told him to come to my office after school and make the call with me as a witness.”
    “Well, if somebody’s abusing Ellie, it’s got to stop.”
    “If her father had to smack her, I wish he’d done it where nobody would know.” George rubbed the perpetual frown lines between his eyes. “No, I don’t mean that. We all realize a