Read That Night at the Palace for Free Online

ran to the corner and dropped down to the roof of the police station and then quickly shimmied down the drainpipe, this time with no hesitancy or fear of the high building. When he hit bottom he darted around the corner and almost ran directly into Jewel Stoker, who was standing solidly with her arms crossed in the middle of the alley north of the police station.
    “What are you two doing?” She asked in a tone that was not so much of a question as a demand for information.
    Jesse froze, having no idea if Jewel was trustworthy, “Ah, nothing.” He finally replied.
    Jewel stood her ground, glaring at him.
    Jesse needed to move. He didn’t have time to waste on this girl. Still he couldn’t help but want to stay a few minutes. He and Cliff spent many an hour fishing off the side of the bridge and debating who was prettiest, Jewel Stoker or Gemma or Jettie Crawford. Jesse had, until that particular moment, always argued in favor of Gemma, where Cliff held firmly in Jewel’s camp. Gemma was girlier, and though that sort of thing was often annoying, Jesse just couldn’t keep himself from looking at her whenever she was around. Jewel, on the other hand, was a bit of a tomboy. She was also a year older and often acted like it. However, at that moment as she stood in a t-shirt and a pair of jeans with her arms crossed like a parent, she sure looked pretty.
    “I won’t tell anyone, but I know you two are up to something,” she said with a devilish smile that stopped Jesse’s heart.
    Jesse’s eyes brightened. “Come on.”
    The two ran to the street, where Jesse stopped and peered around the corner. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
    Jesse looked at Jewel. “Go to the Palace and look in the door.”
    “What’s in there?”
    “Just go look and tell me what you see.”
    She hesitated and then started walking up the street past the police station. When she got to the movie theater she turned and looked back at Jesse, who stood at the corner watching. She then went past the ticket booth to the doors and out of his sight. A moment later she stepped back into sight and bent over laughing. Finally she stood upright and waved for Jesse to come.
    Jesse hesitated but walked cautiously to where she stood. Jewel started to speak but broke out laughing and pointed at the door. Jesse took a deep breath and walked to the door, carefully pulled it open, and looked in.
    Across the lobby and directly in front of the concession stand stood Able McCormack on an a-frame stepladder. Able was wrestling with Cliff’s legs, which were flinging wildly as they hung from an air vent. Alongside the ladder stood Doris Broussard the concession operator, a half-dozen onlookers, and Chief Hightower, who was also laughing.
    “Hold still, and I’ll pull you through,” Able shouted angrily at Cliff.
    “Let go of me.” Jesse heard from the vent pipe.
    “What were you doing on my roof?” Able demanded.
    “I lost my kite. Now, let go of me.”
    “You lost your kite in my vent?”
    Jesse watched as Cliff’s shoulders and finally his head appeared. He then turned wide-eyed with fear and looked at Jewel who was still laughing. He turned and cautiously began walking away with Jewel alongside. Two blocks down they turned the corner and sat down on the grass under a sweet-gum tree in front of the Methodist church,
    Jesse’s heart was pounding, knowing that he was probably in as much trouble as Cliff. Then he looked at Jewel, who was still giggling. Suddenly the image of Cliff’s legs swinging from the vent entered his mind, and he burst out laughing.
    #
    At exactly 7:00 a.m., Cliff Tidwell slung a homemade burlap shoulder bag of seed around his neck, picked a grubbing hoe from a pile of tools in a wheelbarrow, and began the start of what promised to be a very long week of hoeing and planting. The ground had been plowed a week earlier, but Cliff’s father had not yet gotten to the chore of seeding the four-acre patch. Unfortunately, as a result of