Read The Blue Coyote (The Frannie Shoemaker Campground Mysteries Book 2) for Free Online Page A

gorgeous morning?” Nancy sported green and brown flannel pajama
pants with camping paraphernalia printed all over and a hooded brown
sweatshirt—much more coordinated than Mickey’s outfit.
    Mickey said, “Larry’s already
been bashing the little girl with the training wheels.” He leaned over to stir
the fire.
    “C’mon, Mick,” Larry said.
“She hasn’t been back, has she? It was a service to society.”
    Nancy considered Larry. “What
did you do?”
    “I just offered to take the
stupid things off for her.”
    Nancy just shook her head.
“Well, she woke Ben up, too. He should be over in a minute. I would be glad to
go talk to the parents—“
    Larry waved her suggestion
aside. “Thanks, but if anyone goes, it should be me.”
    Nancy turned to Frannie.
“Frannie, you’re doing an omelet this morning, right? Do you have a time in
mind?”
    “Sabet’s still asleep but it
won’t take long to throw it together. Say eating about 8:00?” Frannie knew from
experience that Nancy wouldn’t rest until she got a time pinned down.
    “Sounds great. I brought some
pumpkin muffins to contribute.”
    “And I have juice and fruit
to throw into the mix,” Jane Ann added.
    “Can we just have them
separate?” Mickey asked. Jane Ann just looked at him.
    “I mean instead of a
mix—you know, I mean, it sounded like...”
    “Go back to bed, Mickey.”
Larry said. “The bike trail goes both directions from here, right? Which way
are we going?”
    Mickey pulled map out of the
pocket on the arm of his chair and opened it up. “To the west looks pretty
hilly. Maybe for us old folks, east would be best.”
    “And if we go east, I think
there’s a flea market today in Limestone City. So take your cash, girls,” Nancy
said.
    “Excellent!” said Frannie.
    Sabet emerged from the
trailer, also wrapped in her blanket but with at least a pair of flip-flops on
her feet. She plodded out and sunk into an available lawn chair. Her long
blonde hair snarled around her face and hung in her eyes.
    “Nice hair,” Larry said.
    Peering out from under her
hair, she gave him a little ‘whatever’ smile and sat swinging her feet,
scuffing the dirt and gravel.
    Frannie nudged Joe, who had
been apparently held in a trance by the fire. “You’re going to have to move,
Bud, so I can start our breakfast.”
    He nodded and stood up
gingerly. As soon as Frannie vacated the chair, he plopped into it.
    Inside, Frannie mixed up eggs
and seasonings. She gave Larry the electric skillet and frozen hash browns to
take outside to the utility table. Carrying the bowl of eggs, a package of
bacon, and a spatula, she negotiated the trailer steps and set it all on the
table. After moving the coffee pot and getting the bacon going, she looked down
at her side to see Joe eyeing the proceedings. “My mom says I’m really good at
cooking bacon, Gran,” he said.
    “Well, you are just the guy
I’m looking for then. You can cook the bacon while I get other stuff ready.
You’ll have to lose the blanket, though.”
    “Okay. I think maybe I’ll go
get my shoes first.” Like no one else had ever thought of it. He tiptoed over
to the steps and soon reemerged with tennies untied and no blanket. Frannie
went in and got him a plate with a paper towel to drain the bacon on as it
finished and brought out enough plates and silverware for the group. Ben had
appeared and Nancy and Jane Ann had added their contributions to the table.
    Frannie added the hash browns
to the bacon grease, flipped them when they were brown and poured the egg
mixture over them. Sabet, who didn’t want to be left out, crumbled the bacon
and added some cheese on top. Frannie put the lid on the skillet and refilled
her coffee while she waited for the omelet.
    They were all sitting around
the fire quizzing Joe on his soccer season when a couple walked by accompanied
by the training wheels girl without her bike. The woman was stout, a round grim face framed by long, very mousey brown hair