Town Haunts Read Online Free Page B

counter, and appliances crowding the walls. Henry had
Frank pinned against the counter and was shoving the flyer into his
face. Henry was slim compared to Frank, but there was something
desperate about his eyes that made Anna fear for her friend.
    “What’s this
all about, you backstabber?” Henry was yelling. “A cleansing
ceremony! Does that mean that I’m so foul that the new owner has to
cleanse the store of my presence before she can take over?”
    Frank
straightened and pushed the flier out of his face. “Just calm down.
I’m sure the new owner didn’t mean it that way,” he said.
    Henry scowled.
“Don’t think that I don’t realize how you’ve all been laughing at
me. I paid my fine and I went to prison for two months. Two months
– that was no picnic!” his voice climbing until he was
shrieking.
    Frank held up
his hands in a placatory gesture. “I know, Henry. It’s been rough
on you.”
    “Well, I’ve got
nowhere else to go until I can sell my house and get out of Crane.
But how can I do that when you’re encouraging people to laugh at
me? You deliberately put one of these flyers in your window where
everyone going down Main Street could see it. Damn it, Frank,
you’re trying to destroy me!” His eyes rolled around the room as
Frank said, “That’s just not true.”
    “You calling me
a liar?” Henry grabbed a boning knife from the cutting board and
jabbed it at Frank. Judy screamed.
    “Hang on now,”
Clive yelled, pushing into the kitchen.
    “Get back,
Clive,” Henry shouted, swinging the knife at him. Clive jumped out
of the way and collided with Anna. Turning back to Frank, Henry was
grasping the knife handle so hard that his knuckles turned
white.
    Frank slid over
to put the island between them. “No one’s laughing at you, Henry,”
he said, his eyes wary. “They’re feeling real sorry about the
predicament you’re in.”
    Henry wiped his
damp face. “It was a good idea. That drive-through window would
have been a goldmine. I put every nickel I had into that
restaurant.”
    “I know. It was
a real shame that things didn’t work out,” Frank said in a soothing
tone.
    “It’s just been
so hard,” Henry said, his voice cracking. “Clearances. Zoning laws.
The town office prevented me from installing it. What harm would a
drive-through window have done? When I think of how hard I’ve
worked for the town council, I could kill myself.” He stared at
Frank through teary eyes.
    “No one’s
worked harder than you.”
    Henry nodded.
“That’s right. But no matter how hard I worked, no one listened to
me. Everyone listens to you, though. ‘Good old Frank and The Diner.
He brings all the tourists into town. That Frank, he sure knows
what he’s doing. Not Henry, though. Henry’s a joke.’ You said that
about me, didn’t you, Frank? You made me into a laughing stock!” He
waved his knife at Frank while Judy sobbed in a corner. “But I’m
not a joke now, am I? Am I!” He slashed at Frank, and Frank jumped
back.
    “Henry Ernest
Fellows, you put down that knife this instant!” a stern voice
commanded from the doorway.
    Henry cringed.
“Miss Dombrosky?” he muttered. He turned to look at Erna, who stood
just past Anna and Clive in the kitchen entrance. She was a tiny
bird of a woman, but drawn to her full height of five feet, two
inches, with a purse clenched beneath her left arm, she was every
inch the high school history teacher she had once been.
    “How dare you
threaten Franklin with that knife. Shame on you, Henry. Your mother
didn’t raise you to behave like a hoodlum. Give me that knife this
very instant.” She held out her hand, but Henry was immobilised
with dread and just stared at her. “This instant, young man!” she
demanded. Henry cringed and slowly gave her the knife, handle
first. She snatched it from him and said, “I’m very disappointed in
you.”
    “I know. I’m
sorry,” he said, his head hanging.
    “I really think
that you ought to