The Traveling Corpse Read Free Page A

movement, Barb swung the
steering wheel to the left and said, “Change of plans. We’ll go to
Verna and Von’s instead.”
    â€œWhy there?”
    â€œVon has a cell phone.”
    Strange as it seemed, few of them in their
‘gang’ of four couples who were all close friends had not made the
leap to cell phones as of yet, with the exception of Von who had
one for emergencies only. They were content with their
‘land-lines’. Why would anyone actually want to be reachable
twenty-four hours a day? was the general consensus when they
discussed it amongst themselves. They laughed at the notion of
answering a call while on the golf course or at the pool. Wasn’t
that part of the point of getting out of the house and enjoying
recreation? That you were ‘off duty’ and good news or bad, it would
have to wait? These youngsters nowadays, they concluded, are wound way too tight. Everything has to be now, now, now!
Even a phone call couldn’t wait.
    â€œI do wish that Art were here or at least
that I could talk to him now. And your Brad, too.” Annie said.
“Both of our husbands have such level heads; they’d know what was
best to do in this situation.”
    â€œHey, girl, I think you’re doing just fine
with all the stress you’re under. And the fellows should be back
from that shuffleboard tournament soon.”
    Annie asked, “Did Mr. B go with them?”
    Mr. B was Brad’s father, Barb’s
father-in-law. He was the original ‘Brad’ in BradLee Park, and Lee
was a nick-name for Leah, Barb’s mother-in-law. When their only son
enrolled at Florida State University and decided he wanted to be an
electrical engineer and not a truck farmer, the B’s sold their farm
in southern Michigan and moved to central Florida. At first they
ran cattle on their newly purchased land northeast of Tampa.
Friends and family visited and enjoyed spending winters in this
friendly, economical part of the state. So, the Bradkowskis bought
a small travel trailer to use as a guest house. More came. From
that innocent beginning, Brad and Lee Bradkowski slowly turned
their cattle ranch into a beautiful retirement park filled with
manufactured homes set on spacious lots.
    Answering Annie’s question about Mr. B, Barb
said, “Yes, he felt up to going. He wasn’t playing, though; this
tournament wasn’t for pros, and Mr. B’s a pro, you know,” Barb
added proudly. “Only amateurs competed today. He likes to go
whenever Brad is playing, hoping his son will be able to turn pro,
too.”
    â€œMr. B always has a good joke or two to tell
so Brad should have a good story to share with us when he gets
home,” Annie commented.
    â€œWe can all use some cheering up after what
happened to you tonight.”
    Annie agreed and then added, “I think they
were going to eat after the tournament at that famous restaurant,
the one that’s named for some Florida tree. You always have to wait
to get a table there.”
    â€œTrue, but they’d be getting to the
restaurant early, before the big rush; so I don’t expect them to be
late getting back.”
    â€œI hope you’re right,” Annie murmured. “I’d
sure like Art’s support right now.”
    â€œYou don’t want to wait for them to get here
before you call the police, do you?”
    â€œNo, I think I’ll explode if we have to keep
this secret much longer!”
    The howling wind grew louder, making it hard
to hear one another. They fell silent and sat forward, straining to
see their way through the storm. The wind made Annie nervous; she
had never liked wind ever since she lived through a deadly tornado
in the Mid-West when she was a ten year old child. Now, she had the
same sick feeling in the pit of her stomach as she had then, but
this time it wasn’t caused by the storm.
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    Tuesday Evening, 6:30
P.M