Valley of the Scarecrow Read Online Free PDF Page A

struggled to decide what he should or shouldn’t say. “Can you get me a new mug of java, angel? Got a feeling this story might take a while.”
    Kelly ran to get him his coffee, thrilled to be finally hearing about the mysterious little backwoods community his family had been forced to move away from so long ago. Her own father had never talked about it and until today, she’d seriously wondered if a place called Miller’s Grove had ever actually existed.
    Apparently it had.
    And something really bad had happened there.
    When she’d given him a new cup of coffee, Kelly sat down at the table and waited. Malcolm took a sip and looked deep into her eyes.
    “You sure you wanna tell me?” Kelly asked.
    “Nope…but I’m gonna anyway. You’re old enough to know the truth. I just hope you’re ready for it…”

Oak Valley, Iowa
September 1936
    M ILLER’S G ROVE

Chapter Five
    Killing was something new for Angus Tucker. He’d never even considered it before, never dreamed he was capable of such a heinous act, but if the truth be told a dark anger had crept into his heart lately and whether he liked to admit it or not, murder was on his mind. For the big Scottish man, the golden rule of “do unto others as you’d have them do unto you” was much more than just a friendly verse from the Good Book; they were words of wisdom to live by, solid advice from the highest authority. Up until tonight, Angus could confidently say he’d done just that, lived his entire forty-one years of life as a Godfearing Christian who tried his best to keep the peace and always help his fellow man.
    That was going to change tonight.
    Cold-blooded murder, he thought, tasting the sound of it in his mind and finding it bitter. You’ll be damned, Angus. Damned for what you’re about to do.
    Probably true, but it was a chance he was prepared to take and at least he wouldn’t go to hell alone. Angus gazed around the clearing at the other fourteen men gathered in the woods bordering the cornfields, brooding silently while they waited for the others to arrive. They were all hardworking men, strong, hearty immigrants from Scotland and Ireland for the most part, with a few first-generation Americans tossed into the mix who werealready in the valley when they’d settled Miller’s Grove a decade ago. Angus had a long mane of ginger-colored hair and was bigger than most of the other village elders, tall and broad shouldered from years of hard physical labor in the fields so naturally they looked up to him for guidance. His physical stature as well as his calm, intelligent personality made him a perfect leader in times of turmoil and stress. Times like tonight, when the future of their community was at stake.
    Not to mention their souls.
    “Should we get goin’, Angus?” Charlie Magee asked, another Scot whose brogue was as thick as the day he’d arrived in America. “Looks like we’re a’ here.”
    The small crowd of men moved closer, anxious to hear Angus speak, but he waited for the last few stragglers to circle around him so he wouldn’t have to shout. “Best wait another few minutes, lads, just to be sure. We dinnae want to move until he’s started his sermon. Are they in the church a’ready?”
    “Aye,” Davey Leask answered from the back, short of breath from having just arrived in the clearing from where he’d been scouting the church. “Only Joshua and three others. If we’re gonna do this, tonight’s the perfect night.”
    “If we’re gonna do this?” Angus asked, curious. “Are you and the others having second thoughts? I cannae do this alone, ya ken?”
    Most of the elders nodded their heads in agreement, but there were still murmurs in the back and too many people whispering among themselves for Angus’s liking. Singling out Jim Hancock, the oldest and most respected elder present, Angus asked, “What is it, Jimmy? Out with it. We need to stand together or not at all.”
    “Agreed,” the diminutive Irishman said,