Darcy, Flora, Ned, and Me

We’ve been together for a good while–Darcy Campbell and Flora Tucker and me. Ned McNeil I’ve known not as long but she has become a good friend too. All three women exist only in my imagination and in the pages of books but, in a way, they are real. Maybe they are real to you too. I hope so.

I first met Darcy and Flora at a graveyard! For some, this may not be considered a desirable place to get acquainted, but for Darcy, Flora, and me it has worked out well. You see, right away these two women, a mother and her daughter, met with trouble, both man-made and heavenly. It was shocking, finding the body of Ben Ventris on top of a brush pile and when the tornado formed above them, I feared our acquaintance might be a short one. Such was not the case. Darcy and her mom survived the storm and, after some episodes when I thought for sure they were goners, they solved a centuries-old mystery and brought some really mean men to justice.

Well! These two had courage! They were resourceful and spirited and, when faced with what seemed to be overwhelming problems, somehow they came through. I liked their spunk. Earthquakes, a shocking family revelation, a crazed killer with an unusual weapon, they have survived them all so far and I have hopes they may continue.

Ned McNeil and I got acquainted as she drove back to her hometown of Ednalee, Oklahoma, after being away forty years. Yes, forty years! A long time to stay away, but her family had a reason for leaving town when they did and then life happened and Ned (born Nettie Elizabeth Duncan) hadn’t found time to return until her uncle wrote to her. He was in danger. He needed her. So, of course, Ned came back.

Nothing is ever simple, is it? Instead of becoming reacquainted with her dear uncle, Ned found him dying from a gunshot wound. Determined to find his killer, Ned lived on in her uncle’s home with only a small gray cat named Penny for company. Now, on the surface, Ednalee looked like a quiet, peaceful town where everybody knew everybody else and sort of loved their neighbor, more or less. That was not the case! Without even trying, Ned became the target of somebody who was determined to keep a deadly secret.

Ned told me (yes, she did) that she wanted to find out more about that wonderful Victorian house Uncle Javin bequeathed her. I agreed it was a good idea but little did I know it would lead her into yet more trouble. Ned didn’t know who she could trust, even her friends came under suspicion and a long ago outlaw, although he had been dead and buried for years, became involved.

Through it all, we four, Darcy, Flora,Ned, and I have remained friends. I feel as if I know them as well as I know myself. They are amazing women and are sort of like their hometowns–quiet on the outside but there’s more to them than meets the eye. I think we’re all like that, don’t you? These gals have taught me a thing or two about courage and about never giving up or losing faith. When I need them, they are always there and that’s what friends are for.

Manos Meadows Mysteries