very serious discussion. And she saw Dwayne, sitting gloomily, a bottle at his feet and his eyes on the ground.
Things were happening, Caroline mused. Even as the sun was lowering, the carnival rides whirling, the shadows lengthening, things were happening. Beneath the whistles and the laughter, nerves were jangling as fast as Koons's banjo strings.
And she was just another player, after all. Just one more player in the odd, uneasy game. Fate had dropped her down into this messy stew of heat and murder and madness. She was surviving. More, she was doing. The summer was half over and she was whole. She was even beginning to believe she was healed.
If she left Innocence with only that, it would be enough. Her gaze shifted back to Tucker. It would be enough, she thought again with a slow smile. But it didn't hurt to hope for more.
'Well, kick me in the head and call me addled.' With a wheezy laugh, Koons laid his banjo over his lap. 'You sure can make that fiddle dance, little girl. You ain't no la-di-da neither.'
'Why, thank you, Mr. Koons.'
'It's time we went and had ourselves a beer.' He got creakily to his feet. 'You sure you're a Yankee?'
She smiled, taking it for the compliment it was meant as. 'No, sir, I'm not. I'm not sure at all.'
He slapped his knee at that, then hobbled off, shouting for his daughter to get him a beer.
'That sure was some pretty playing, Miss Caroline.' Jim hurried over to get a peek at the violin before she closed it in the case.
'Then I'll have to thank my teacher.'
He stared, then dropped his gaze to the ground. But even with his head down, Caroline could see his grin spread from ear to ear. 'Shoot, I didn't do nothing.'
'It's us want to thank you,' Toby said, cupping an arm around his wife's shoulders. He held himself stiffly, favoring his bandaged side. 'You stood up for us the other night. I know you were a comfort to Winnie.'
'I'm ashamed I haven't thanked you properly, Caroline,' Winnie added. 'I might've gone crazy if I hadn't known you and Miss Delia were looking after my kids while Toby was being patched up at the hospital. I'm obliged to you.'
'Don't be. I'm told that's what neighbors are for.'
'Miss Caroline.' Lucy tugged on Caroline's skirt. 'My daddy's going to sing the National Anthem before the fireworks. Mr. Tucker asked him special.'
'That's wonderful. I'll look forward to it.'
'Come on now.' Toby hitched his daughter onto his hip. 'If I know Tuck, he's going to be looking for this lady here, and we'd better get ourselves situated for those fireworks. It's getting on toward dark.'
'How much longer?' Lucy wanted to know.
'Oh, no more'n a half hour.'
'But I've waited all day…'
Caroline chuckled over the universal complaint as Toby and Winnie toted Lucy away.
'She's such a baby,' Jim said with a superior smirk.
Caroline sighed at the derision in his voice. She knew he'd defended his sister at the risk of his own life, but that was forgotten now. 'You know what occurs to me, Jim?'
'No, ma'am.'
'That I'm an only child.' She laughed at his puzzled look, then picked up her case. 'Go along with your family. If you see Tucker, tell him I'll be right back.'
'I might could take that inside for you, Miss Caroline. It wouldn't be no trouble.'
'That's all right. I have to make a quick phone call before it gets dark.'
And wouldn't her mother be surprised? Caroline thought as she started across the green lawn, through the green shadows toward the white columns of the house. She would wish her mother a happy Independence Day. For both of them.
Caroline turned around to take a last sweep of the fields of Sweetwater. Though it was barely dusk, the lights on the midway and on the rides were winking in the distance. They didn't look tawdry now, but hopeful. If she listened carefully, she could just hear the piping music and laughter as the Crack the Whip whirled its latest passengers.
Before long, night would fall, then the sky would explode with light, and the air would shake from the cracking booms. Turning back to Sweetwater, she quickened her pace. She didn't want to miss a moment of it.
Her mind was so full of what was to come, she paid little attention to the voices. It wasn't until she heard the fury in them that she stopped, wondering how she could avoid walking in on an argument.
When she saw Josie and Dwayne standing in the front drive beside Josie's car, Caroline automatically stepped back, thinking she could hurry around the side terrace. She hesitated just long enough to see the knife Dwayne held.
She froze where she was, beside the end column on the graceful front porch, watching, stunned, as brother and sister faced each other over the blade. Across the lawn, beyond the cotton field, revelers waited impatiently for full dark and celebration. Here, where the crickets were just beginning their chorus in the grass and a whippoorwill perched in a magnolia and called for a mate, the two were unaware of being observed.
'You just can't do it. You just can't,' Josie said furiously. 'You have to see that, Dwayne.'
'I see the knife. Jesus, Josie.' He turned it in his hand, staring at the dull glint as if hypnotized.
'Give it to me.' She struggled to keep her voice calm and even. 'Just give it to me, and I'll take care of everything.'
'I can't. Name of God, Josie, you have to see that I can't. It's gone too far now. Sweet Jesus, Arnette… Francie. I can see them. I can see them, Josie. It's like some sort of awful dream. But it isn't a dream.'
'Stop it.' Leaning her face close to his, she closed her fingers around the wrist of his knife hand. 'You stop it right now. What you're talking about doing is crazy, just crazy. I'm not going to allow it.'
'I have to-'
'You have to listen to me. And that's goddamn all you have to do. Look at me, Dwayne. I want you to look at me.' When his gaze locked on hers, she spoke quietly again. 'We're family, Dwayne. That means we stick together.'
His sweaty fingers loosened on the hasp of the knife. 'I'd do anything for you, Josie. You know that. But this is-'
'That's good.' Smiling a little, she eased the knife away. From her stance by the column, Caroline nearly groaned with relief. 'Here's what you're going to do for me now. You're going to trust me to take care of things.'
Shaking his head, Dwayne covered his face. 'How can you?'
'Just leave it to me. You trust Josie, Dwayne. You go on back down to the field and watch those fireworks. Put this all right out of your mind. That's important. You just put it aside, and I'll take care of the knife.'
He let his hands drop. Uncovered, his face was gray and stricken. 'I'd never hurt you, Josie. You know I wouldn't. But I'm scared. If it happens again-'
'It won't.' After dropping the knife into her voluminous purse she looked back at him. 'It's not going to happen again.' Gently, she laid her hands on his shoulders. 'We're going to put it all behind us.'
'I want to believe that. Maybe we should tell Tucker, and he-'
'No.' Impatient, Josie gave him a quick shake. 'I don't want him to know, and telling him isn't going to clean your conscience, Dwayne, so leave it be. Just leave it be,' she repeated. 'Go on back down, and I'll do what needs to be done.'
He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes, as if trying to block out the horror. 'I can't think. I just can't think straight.'
'Then don't think. Just do what I say. Go on. I'll be along soon as I can.'
He took two steps away before turning, then stopped, his head down, his shoulders bowed. 'Josie, why did it happen?'
She reached out, but her fingers stopped short of touching him. 'We'll talk about it, Dwayne. Don't worry anymore.'
