MISS MAZIE
BY: PATTY L. FLETCHER
COPYRIGHT DECEMBER 2019
ABOUT THE BOOK…
Blending Adventure, mystery, supernatural, Romance, and Suspense, author Patty L. Fletcher weaves a tale of fiction, all readers are sure to enjoy.
James Landing Tennessee was a peaceful small town just trying to keep up with its neighbors, which seemed to always be growing by leaps and bounds around it. Then one day Roy Dingus took over Friedman chemicals, a lady of unknown origin known only as
Miss Mazie bought the old house on the outskirts of town and as the heat of August blazed with no end in sight, what was once a city with no promise came to life.
Follow the adventures of three small-town boys, Joe, Ronnie, and Jake, and their newfound friend Billy Ray as they try to unravel the mystery that surrounds the newcomers and all the strange goings on before James Landing is no more.
***AUTHOR’S NOTE***
This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to people, places, and things are simply that Similarities.
*Please Note, this has not yet been professionally edited.
PART TWO MONSTERS AND MAGIK: A MYSTERIOUS HALLOWEEN TALE
When last we left the folks of James Landing Miss Mazie’s Old Bubba Dog had been attacked by some hideous wolf looking monster in the woods behind her property, the sheriff had been called, and the town put on alert.
Now, summer has waned, fall has come, and Halloween appears to be at risk for the town’s children.
Join us as we continue with our mysterious Halloween tale.
CHAPTER SEVEN: WHAT? NO HALLOWEEN?
Over the next few weeks, Billy Ray would learn just what Mazie had meant when she’d said that gossip could be dangerous if allowed to fester and spread. Rumors were running wild throughout town about what the animal which had attacked Bubba could have been and several people had claimed to have seen something creeping through the woods late at night. Parents were demanding a curfew be set now fall had come and the time was soon to change and as the days became shorter and tensions grew, he worried that the frensy Mazie had predicted would soon be upon them with a force which might not be stopped before considerable damage was done.
As September gave way to October, and Halloween drew ever near, the children were dismayed to learn that a special townhall meeting had been called to decide what to do about trick-or-treating.
“But dad.” Joe demanded; his boyish face with a young man lurking just underneath filled with dismay. This is my last year for Trick-Or-Treating in full costume with mask and all. You have to make the town’s folk see reason! If we kids stick together, we should be able to go trick-or-treating safely enough. Besides, that wolf, monster, whatever it is, it ain’t gonna come into town. I mean those who claim to have seen it only say they’ve seen it at the edges of the woods. Some say it’s terrified of light, so what harm can there be?” “Yeah, Dad, Come On!” Ronnie and Jake chimed in.
“Look boys. I agree that we ought to be able to do something for you kids for Halloween, but what that will be remains to be seen. Uncle Roy has talked about putting up a big, haunted house and having a town Halloween party. Doesn’t that sound like something you kids would enjoy? I mean we could let you Trick-Or-Treat downtown from shop to shop and have the haunted house in the park. We could have a weeny roast and all. Don’t you think that might be fun?”
“Maybe.” Joe said, “But it’s somehow not the same.”
“Dad.” Jake said, “Do you really think Miss Mazie is a witch? I mean some of the kids at school…”
“Hush!” Cindy demanded sharply speaking for the first time. “You hush that and don’t let me hear you or any of the rest of you boys say that else none of you will do anything on Halloween but sit home and watch rented DVDS. Mazie is a kind lady who has done absolutely nothing to a single soul in this damned town and people need to keep their mouths shut about her.”
The boys and Eddy Joe all stared open mouthed at her. Cindy hardly ever raised her voice and even more rarely cursed. Finally, Joe broke the uncomfortable silence saying, “Mom, he’s just repeating what other kids say at school. We like Miss Mazie, and we don’t believe any of that. It’s just some folks say she ought to go on back to wherever she came from.”
“Listen.” Eddy Joe snapped. “I agree with your mother on this. I’ll admit when Mazie first came to town I didn’t know quite what to make of her. But since she came to the ice cream supper and has started joining in on other things about town, I’ve gotten to know her and she’s a sweet lady who means not one of us any harm. Don’t forget, it was Old Bubba who was attacked. If she had something to do with that creature, whatever it is do you think she’d have let it try to kill that old dog of hers? She loves that dog much as me and your momma love you boys.”
Cindy smiled. “He used to be her sister Penny’s guide dog you know. She took him after Penny died, and she’d kill anyone or anything that even so much as had a thought about harming him.”
“I know mom.” Joe allowed. It is just things are so awful now. We don’t have nighttime ball anymore in the park unless at least three men can be there with us and what with all the overtime going on at Friedman these days well…”
“Listen boys.” Eddy Joe said. “This weekend if all goes as planned, we’ll have all the equipment online and up to code at the plant and things can go back to normal for our shift schedule. Soon as that’s done, I promise things are going to get back to something at least partly like normal round here. OK?”
“Alright.” Joe said, “I just hope Halloween doesn’t have to be ruined by all this crazy talk of monsters in the woods, and Miss Mazie being some kind of evil witch.”
Later, as Cindy and Eddy Joe enjoyed a quiet drink on the porch Cindy said, “Gees, I don’t think I’ve seen the kids that upset in a while. Things are a lot harder for them than I knew. I mean I knew things were tense in town, but I had no idea the kids were so bothered by it all.”
Eddy sighed, put his beer on the table by the porch swing and taking her in his arms he observed, “Halloween is as sacred now as it was when we were kids. Remember how much fun we used to have playing pranks on the older folks living on the outskirts of town? I’d lay odds those older boys at school have dared the younger ones to go out to Miss Mazie’s house to soap her windows or some such nonsense.”
Cindy sat up in alarm. “That wouldn’t be a good idea. Mazie says Billy Ray’s taken to keeping his pistol with him and he’s liable to accidentally shoot someone with it if he saw a shadow or something he thought was that thing. He’s gotten quite protective of Miss Mazie and from what I understand he and Old Bubba called a truce after he helped take care of him after he was attacked. I’d recommend parents have a good talk with their kids before someone gets themselves seriously hurt.”
CHAPTER EIGHT: TOWNHALL MEETING
) TOWN MEETING
The hall was standing room only by the time the meeting was called to order. Everyone had different ideas about what should be done about Halloween celebrations.
“In light of the continued strange animal sightings, I really do believe we should have some sort of organized celebration.” Roy Dingus said as he walked up to the front of the room and turned to face the crowd. “I know some of you think we ought to scrap it all and not allow anything, but that to my mind is overkill. We don’t want to become known as one of those fanatical towns who won’t let our town folk believe like they wish.”
Suddenly everyone was talking at once, “Ya wanta get someone killed? We’re not talking about making some kind of law against things, just think we ought to keep folks at home until this thing’s caught. “Yeah! That’s crazy. I’m not living in a town where we run and hide in fear first time some oversized bear or wolf pokes its head up out of the woods. “Yeah! Yeah!”
“Alright! All right! Now, let’s all settle down.” The mayor called in an attempt to be heard. Just then a sharp whistle sounded, and the room fell still. As everyone turned to see who had made the offensive noise, Billy Ray stood and walked deliberately to the front of the room to stand next to Roy. “Look.” He said in a commanding voice no one knew he possessed. “I grew up with the kind of father who believed in solving problems not running from them. Yes, that animal, whatever it is, is quite real. Yes, I believe it’s dangerous. I saw what it did to Miss Mazie’s dog. What I don’t believe is that our children ought to be punished because we cannot catch the thing. I think Roy here has a great idea with his plans for a town celebration and I don’t think we ought to allow Preacher Carrol and his Angel Network to turn our town into something it was never intended to be.”
“I don’t appreciate your tone son.”
“Be quiet you old Walrus.” Mazie snapped, turning to give Duff Sims a withering look. Billy Ray’s got the floor.”
“Anyway.” Billy Ray continued smoothly “You men who have been working all this overtime out at Friedman, do you know why you’ve been doing that? Not just to bring your factory up to code and bring online the latest and greatest equipment in chemical manufacturing. You’ve been doing that to help grow your town. In the last month I’ve heard more happy chatter from business owners in the area concerning growth then I’ve heard in any town I’ve lived in for many a moon. Do you want to destroy that by allowing Halloween to be totally canceled? Think about it folks. If we do what Roy here wants to do not only do we make our kids happy, but we bring even more business to our little town here. If we advertise it people will come from surrounding areas to join in the celebration. More people are looking for safe ways to celebrate this holiday, let’s give it to them. The local news stations and newspapers are full of great reports concerning James Landing. Don’t ruin that.” And with that, Billy Ray turned and walked back to his seat beside Miss Mazie on the back row.
) BOY’S MEETING
Meanwhile, the Blaire boys were having a meeting of their own.
“Look.” Joe said, as he leaned on the doorframe of his room looking at his brothers. “Dad and Billy Ray aren’t going to let Preacher Carrol and his band of angels ruin Halloween. That’s for sure. And I don’t reckon that having a big, haunted house and town trick-or-treating is the worst thing that can happen. But the real problem that no one is doing anything about is that darn monster. It’s killing dogs, cats, and other animals. Eventually it’s gonna hurt somebody. We have got to get the kids together and we’ve got to do something about the thing.”
“But Joe” Ronnie said, “What can we do about it? I mean…”
“Listen, I know it’s just a story, but yawl remember that old Stephen King movie IT? You remember how that group of misfit kids banded together and got rid of the clown monster that was killing the kids in the town? We could do that. I know we could. I’ve been talking to Jonny and Mathew. They’ll help and so will Jack and Susi. We can take our town back if we all get together and try.”
“But when are we gonna be able to do this? Mom and dad won’t let us out of the house after dark, and the thing don’t come out during the day.” Ronnie wondered.
“Yeah,” Jake agreed. “Besides, what are we gonna kill it with?”
“Jack has an idea about that.” Joe said, “And, I’ve been thinking. We need to go out into the woods and find out where it is living. Then we could catch it while it’s sleeping during the day.”
“Maybe…?” Ronnie said.
“Well, whatever we do I ain’t staying home no matter what you two say.” Jake demanded. “Either I go or…” He let his words drop.
“We’re all going, but you cannot tell no one.” Jo said firmly. “Especially Little Mark Sims. He’s a known rat, he’d rat us out to that old Walrus grandpa of his and then we’d be so grounded wouldn’t matter what kind of celebration was happening, we’d be here and standing up doing it too.”
) TOWN MEETING
Back at the townhall the mayor said, “Dang son. You keep making speeches like that there, and I’ll have to start worrying come next election.” There was a smattering of laughter and then continuing he said, “Alright. We’ve heard all the arguments both for and against a town Halloween celebration. Let’s put it to a vote. All in favor, raise your hand and say I. All hands but 20 in the room shot up and a resounding I filled the room. The mayor’s aldermen took a moment to count them just to be sure.
“All opposed?” Preacher Carrol, and his men silently raised their hands. As they did it dawned on Billy Ray that not one of their wives had come to this meeting. “How sad that those women and their children had to live in such fear. What on earth makes men so?” He wondered to himself.
“Alright. The I’s have it. We go forward with our town celebration. We meet back here in two days to start plans. Roy, you make sure you have your needs list ready to share with the planning committee. Meeting adjourned.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
Updated – October 2021
Patty Fletcher is a single mother with a beautiful daughter, of whom she is enormously proud. She has a great son-in-law and six beautiful grandchildren. From April 2011 through September 2020, she owned and handled a black Labrador from The Seeing Eye® named King Campbell Lee Fletcher A.K.A. Bubba. Sadly, after a long battle with illness on September 24, 2020, King Campbell went to the Rainbow Bridge where all is peace and love. In July 2021, she returned to The Seeing Eye® and was paired with a Black Labrador Golden Retriever cross named Blue.
PATTY’S BLINDNESS…
Patty was born one and a half months premature. Her blindness was caused by her being given too much oxygen in the incubator. She was partially sighted until 1991, at which time she lost her sight due to an infection after cataract surgery and high eye pressure. She used a cane for 31 years before making the change to a guide dog.
WHERE SHE LIVES AND WORKS…
Currently, Patty lives and works in Kingsport, Tenn.
She’s the creator and owner of Tell-It-To-The-World Marketing (Author, Blogger, Business Assist), The Writer’s Grapevine Online Magazine and the creator and host of the Talk to Tell-It-To-The-World Marketing Podcast.
WRITING GOAL…
Patty writes with the goal of bridging the great chasm which separates the disabled from the non-disabled.
HOBBIES…
Patty’s hobbies include reading, music, and attending book clubs via Zoom.
FAVORITE TUNES…
Some of her favorite types of tunes are classic rock, rhythm and blues, and classic country.
FAVORITE READS…
Patty enjoys fantasy, science fiction, and books about the supernatural. She loves books by Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Norah Roberts, and many more. Some favorite books include Norah Roberts’ Hide Away, Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, and J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series.
SPIRITUAL FAITH…
Patty describes herself as a spiritual Walker. She says she knows both Mother Goddess and Father God and embraces all they have to offer.
CONTACT…
Email: patty.volunteer1@gmail.com
AUTHOR PAGES AND SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS…
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/PattyFletcher
https://www.facebook.com/tellittotheworld/
https://www.facebook.com/Bubba-Tails-196761360863975/
Campbells Rambles
https://www.facebook.com/0404Campbell/
Campbells Corner
https://www.facebook.com/groups/787037261329458/
Patty & Pals
https://www.facebook.com/groups/128710790840540/
Bob Cat & Friends
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1092566100770913/
TWITTER…
A most excellent interview
My Anthology Links
December Awethology Light https://www.books2read.com/u/3yPZvB
A Treasure Chest of Children’s Tales https://www.books2read.com/u/bzaAML
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