Bleeding Kansas by Sara Paretsky Page B

sense for why she had gone up to the main bedroom. No matter what she said, it was snooping, exactly as Autumn Minsky from Between Two Worlds had said. Lara was as bad as Eddie Burton, or almost. The thought made her squirm, but also suggested a diversion.
    â€œDad, those women, they said Eddie Burton had climbed that old evergreen on the south side of the house and was peeping in at the bathroom window.”
    â€œLara!” Susan exclaimed. “We don’t know it was Eddie.”
    â€œBut, Mom, who else could it have been?” Lara was aggrieved.
    â€œMaybe Myra Schapen,” Chip suggested. “Getting ready to add a little paragraph to ‘News and Notes.’”
    It was the first night Chip had joined them for supper since his blowup with Jim over the marijuana at Fremantles’. The rest of the family was so relieved to see him that they laughed loudly, especially Lara, who was happy to have the spotlight turn away from her.
    â€œYes, Myra has a periscope into every house around here; it’s the only way I can figure how she knows everybody’s private lives.” Jim said. “She and Gram had some real fights about it when your uncle Doug and I were boys.”
    â€œMaybe Arnie was her spy when you were boys together,” Lara said, “and now she has Junior and Robbie doing it for her. It could have been Junior up that tree, because the lady from the witch store, she said whoever it was grinned like he was the cleverest guy on the planet, and whenever Junior gets away with something slimy he does grin like that.”
    â€œJunior would break the tree,” Chip objected. “Maybe it was Robbie.”
    â€œOh, yeah, like Robbie would do anything for Junior. You know Junior bullied Robbie even more’n me when we were at Kaw Valley.”
    â€œSo he bullied Robbie into spying for him,” Chip said.
    â€œYou see,” Susan exclaimed, “you two just started a new rumor. Two new ones. In five minutes, you’ve gone from claiming it was Eddie Burton up the tree to saying maybe it was Junior Schapen, or even his brother. Do you understand now how wrong it is to put out your opinion and claim it was fact?”
    â€œAnd please remember that you two aren’t to call Arnie and his mother by their first names. They don’t like it, and we don’t need to go out of our way to stir them up,” Jim added.
    â€œI bet Lulu’s right, though,” Chip said, “that it was Eddie Burton peeping in through the bathroom window.”
    â€œBut why?” Susan demanded.
    â€œBecause he’s a creep,” Chip said. “Also, because he’s been Junior’s gofer since we were eight. People have been wild to know what Autumn Minsky is doing with Gina Haring ever since her car first showed up last week, so it figures that Myra—Nanny Schapen—would want to be the first to know. Curly will find out all about it and tell me.”
    â€œChip, don’t. I don’t like the way Curly spreads news all over the place—he’s like a wind blowing stalk rot to every farm in the valley. Don’t encourage him to blow up Ms. Haring’s troubles bigger than they already are. Leave Ms. Haring alone.”
    â€œOh, Dad! Anyway, we don’t need Curly to tell us what Autumn Minsky is doing out at Fremantles’—everyone knows.”
    â€œThey do?” Susan said sweetly. “And exactly what is that, Etienne? And exactly how do they know it?”
    Chip reddened and didn’t answer, but Lara said, “You mean, because she was in Ms. Haring’s bed, Chip? But I thought you said women can’t be sodo—”
    â€œLara, you’re displaying your ignorance, not how cool you are, so put a lid on it.”
    Lara subsided into a glower. She found relief in kicking Chip under the table for raising the subject to begin with. Chip kicked back and hit her chair leg.
    â€œI’m worried about the