Roving Reporter: Thank you, Darcy and Flora, for taking time out of your busy day to talk to me about your first venture into a rather desperate situation. May I add, by the way, that I’m happy you came through unscathed.
Flora: We weren’t exactly unscathed as you put it, young lady. You should have seen Darcy and me too, for that matter. We were a ragged, muddy, bloody pair!
Darcy: (shuddering) It was pretty frightening, I admit. I saw parts of Ventris County that I didn’t know existed.
Flora: Same here! And I’ve lived here all my life. There’s one good thing about it: nobody will ever see all the things we saw. Nobody! Ever again!
RR: So, Darcy, I understand you were an investigative reporter in Dallas and you decided to come back home to Levi to sort of replenish your spirit? Did you find the peace that you were looking for?
Darcy, laughing: I sure didn’t find the peace, but maybe my spirit is beginning to feel refreshed. As you drove through Ventris County and Levi, what was your impression of the area?
RR: I love it! Gentle, wooded hills, the Ventris River, springs popping up all over the place. It looks like a peaceful, somewhat sleepy little place. It’s beautiful.
Darcy: I agree that it’s beautiful. But, peaceful? Uh-uh. Sleepy? I don’t think so. It is a surprising place. It is not at all what it seems on the surface of things. Back inside those pretty hills, it’s like another country. The landscape changes.
Flora: Well, now, Darcy, it is all those things. It’s sort of like people. When you meet someone, you just see a friendly face, maybe a smile. You don’t know all that’s going on in that person’s life. Personally, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. I like it here!
Darcy: So do I, Mom. Levi couldn’t do without you. And what about Pat and everybody else in The Cemetery Club? Goshen Cemetery would probably go to seed, if you didn’t keep an eye on it.
RR: I understand that the excitement started with your trip to Goshen. On Decoration Day, wasn’t it?
Darcy: Yes, it was in May, on Decoration Day. We never expected anything out of the ordinary but what we found shocked us both to the core!
Flora: And the storm, Darcy! Why, I thought the roof would come off the chapel.
RR: I’m happy that you are both safe and the next time I drive through Levi, I’ll look more closely. Maybe I’ll see furtive glances from the windows. Maybe there’ll be a ghostly shape in one of the old, two-storied houses; maybe…
(The reporter is interrupted by a loud clap of thunder. All three women jump.)
Flora: Whew! That was close! I believe lightning struck a tree over in our neighbor’s pasture. Young lady, I brewed a pot of coffee and there’s some of that lemon pie left. You might as well just come on in to the kitchen and have a bite to eat. Looks like you’re going to be here for a while. That’s a pretty good storm!
RR: Thanks, I’d like that.
Darcy: While you eat, I’ll fill you in on a few more details. You see, everything started because of what I thought was a wild tale about some hidden gold…
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