Secret Sisters - an LDS cozy mystery

Chapter Three

Chapter 3 

Jeannie Bailey accepted the napkin Ida Mae offered and wiped her plumtinted lips. "Marvelous cookie, Ida Mae. I really shouldn't have, but I'm glad I did." 

Ida Mae waved her hand. "It's nothing. Now, you were saying . . . ?" 

"Oh, that's right. About visiting teaching." She pulled out her notebook. "We had sixty percent visiting teaching last month, which is up from November by eight percent. But we're still far from one hundred, and that's a fact." 

Ida Mae nodded. She'd spoken at length to the sisters in Relief Society about the importance of keeping in touch with their assigned sisters, but out here not everyone had a phone, and there had been a lot of sickness over the winter. It was a shame so many sisters went unvisited every month. 

"I do have one concern to mention, Ida Mae," Jeannie said. She leaned forward a little, the couch beneath her making the sound of doom. "Martha Anderson told me that when she went to visit the Dunn family this morning, she stepped into the kitchen to get a glass of water and noticed there wasn't any food in the cupboards. You know those glass cupboards they have? She could see the salt and pepper shakers, but nothing else." 

Ida Mae frowned. True, they might have had food in the refrigerator, but experience had taught her that if there wasn't food in the cupboard, there often wasn't food anywhere in the house. 

"Brother Dunn has been out of work for how long, now?" she asked. 

"Four months," Hannah said, making one of her rare verbal contributions to the meeting. 

"That's a long time. And they've never asked for help," Ida Mae mused. "I think it's time we did some investigating. I'll go over this afternoon." 

"Wonderful." Jeannie beamed. "I knew you'd know what to do." 

"We could take her over some fresh bread and jam," Tansy offered. "I did some baking this morning, and I have lots of strawberry jam from this summer." 

"That would be nice," Ida Mae told her. "So, you'd like to go over with me?" 

"I'd love to." 

"I would, but I have a doctor's appointment," Arlette announced, flipping her knitting to start a new row. The socks from last week were a distant memory-this week's pair was cream. Something wasn't right. It wasn't like Arlette to use such a sedate color. 

"That's all right, Arlette," Ida Mae told her. "Tansy and I will cover it." 

After finalizing details on the visiting teaching assignments and talking about the upcoming blood drive, the sisters went home, and Ida Mae rubbed her temples. Mary Dunn was a sweet girl who probably couldn't be more than twentyfive and already had four children. Her husband, Nick, was a goodnatured fellow who seemed to appreciate his gem of a wife and always spoke highly of her. She wished she had some sort of magic wand to wave and create a job for Nick, but in Omni, there just weren't a lot of businesses. Most of the families were supported by the turkey industry or they commuted into a larger town. It wasn't easy to live clear out here and still make a living.  

That afternoon, bundled up to their chins, Tansy and Ida Mae picked their way up the icy walk to the Dunns' front door. Mary opened it, holding a baby on her hip. Ida Mae started to speak, but Tansy beat her to it. 

"Mary? I made an extra loaf of bread this morning, and if you don't take it, I'll have to freeze it, and my Earl hates eating bread that's been frozen and then thawed. Would you please take it off my hands?" 

Mary blinked, shifting the child to her other hip. "I suppose so . . ." 

"Wonderful! We'll just bring it in for you. Your hands are full."