Scarecrow

Chapter 4

Wednesday night comes quickly enough, and the events that occur in the interim are, for the most part, nothing out of the ordinary. Donnelly starts work on reaping his fields with Eddie's help. From the attic, Penny watches their truck pull into the driveway with a hand at her belly, watching Donnelly in particular with distant nostalgia for the times in high school, the times when her love for him was young and fiery before the bonds of marriage had worn it down. But then Eddie is there, his hands fitting her waist, Eddie is always there, it seems, both a reminder of her erroding marriage and a harbinger of things to come. He has finished unpacking in the attic by mid-morning on Tuesday, choosing to stay in the house full-time. Donnelly remains oblivious to the affair, the harvest taking up all of his time, body, and mind, leaving no room for a thing like suspicion. Contrary to his promise, it is Penny who ends up making dinner for the Hendricks.

There are happenings, however, occurring beyond the farm. In her little house at the edge of town, Miss Linda Sue munches on a stolen carrot and plots one of the largest crop heists of her sinful career. Spread out before her is a crude map of the Donnelly farm, open silos and weak spots in the picket fence marked in red ink. A rat's smile is spreading slowly across her withered lips as she sets the date.

On the other side of town, alone for once in his office, Lewis schemes and plots while at the same time deciding what to wear for the Donnelly's infernal dinner party. He does not fear discovery: one way or another, Lewis Meyer will be forever free of Sheriff Walt Hendricks by Thursday at the latest. Thinking back over his plan, he remembers the security camera in Walt's office. Lewis almost decides to take it down, gambling that the sheriff won't notice its absence, then thinks better of it. After all, any intruder entering the office would only be seen from the back, eliminating the chance of his being discovered. Believing he has won even before starting, Lewis begins to check around to make sure everything is in order for when Jim Donnelly murders his best friend.

Wednesday night brings Walt, Greta, and Lewis to the Donnelly's doorstep bearing bottles of champagne and brightly wrapped gifts for the baby. The Hendricks wear fine evening clothes, while Lewis steps over the threshold in a more modest dress of gray slacks and his deputy jacket. He does not bring a gift, but if Penny or Jim notice, they say nothing. The party files into the parlor, laughing and talking and catching up on missed news as Eddie flits about them, quietly refilling drinks and trying to avoid eye contact with Penny.

Hours before, Donnelly took the farmhand aside and told him, as politely as he could, that the evening was a social occasion for old friends to catch up, and asked if he could help out for a while, but at the same time, make himself scarce? Convinced that this was a sure sign that Donnelly was onto him, Eddie had panicked and run to Penny with the news. After gauging the "threat" to be nothing but Donnelly's inherent anxiety at the evening ahead, Penny calmed her lover with a kiss before sending him to mix the drinks.

"So, what's been happening with y'all? Aside from the baby, I mean," says Greta, speaking more to Penny than Jim.

"Things are good, good. I've fallen out of the loop, though," says Penny as she and Donnelly sit opposite the Hendricks, drinks in hand.

"How do you mean?"

"I mean, I haven't been into town in ages. What's been going on?"

"Nothing really, but– oh, Walt! Tell her about that case you had!"

"Oh, hell yeah." The sheriff proceeds to regale them all with the tale of his latest case, a story Lewis has heard so many times already that it is driving him mad.

"So we nail this guy, peg him running by the saloon with blood on his face, I mean covering his face– sorry ladies– and I shoot him here. Right here," he taps the back of his calf to demonstrate, "and he's down like a rock. Hard-core killer, murdered three people in the next town over, and it all ends with a single shot."