The Girl from Felony Bay by J. E. Thompson

Jenkins to finally be able to say what she meant and for Daddy to miraculously wake up and be able to prove his innocence . . . it was a fairy tale.
    Bee didn’t say anything else, just put her arm around my shoulder. She seemed to be telling me that she believed in me, and in my father, no matter what. Maybe I didn’t believe in fairy tales anymore, but it sure was nice to be able to believe in my friend and have her believe in me.
    Twenty minutes later Bee and I were on Broad Street in downtown Charleston, heading toward Daddy’s law office. Broad is one of the main streets in the city, and the corner of Meeting Street and Broad is called the Four Corners of Law. That’s where the old post office, the county and federal courthouses, and City Hall are located. Like most of Charleston, nearly all of the buildings date back to the late seventeen hundreds or early eighteen hundreds, and they are almost all perfectly restored with polished brass and fresh paint.
    Bee and I got to the four-story stucco building with the brass sign that said Force and Barrett, Attorneys at Law. Those names, of course, stood for my dad and Mr. Barrett. The building looked the way it always had, with its tall windows and mahogany door. I led Bee into the waiting room expecting to see Ms. Leland, the white-haired lady who had been the receptionist ever since Daddy had opened the office. To my surprise another lady sat behind the desk. She had red hair and bright red lipstick and a smile that wasn’t anywhere near as friendly as Ms. Leland’s.
    â€œCan I help you?” she asked, looking at me as if a kid my age could not possibly have any reason to be there.
    â€œI’d like to see Mr. Custis Pettigrew, please.”
    She raised her eyebrows. “Does he know you?”
    â€œYes,” I said. “I’m Abbey Force.”
    The woman’s eyebrows shot up. “The daughter of Rutledge Covington Force?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œI see,” she said, sounding slightly more polite but no happier than she had at the beginning.
    â€œAnd this other young lady is with you?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œAnd her name, please?”
    Bee took a step forward. “Bee Force.”
    The woman looked back and forth between us, clearly curious, but I wasn’t about to explain. I just looked at her and waited.
    Several long seconds of silence went by while the woman stared and tried to wear me down. Finally I raised my eyebrows as if to say, Let’s get this show on the road .
    The woman’s nostrils widened. She cleared her throat. “Let me see if he is in,” she said. There was enough ice in her voice to cool a drink on a hot day.
    She picked up the phone and dialed an office extension. When someone answered, she said, “Two young ladies named Abbey Force and Bee Force are here to see Mr. Pettigrew. Is he available?”
    She listened for a second, then put down the phone. “Someone will be right out.”
    I recognized the next person who came into the room. Her name was Martha, and she had been Daddy’s legal secretary for years. She was thickly built, with dark hair that was starting to go gray, soft brown eyes, and a face that seemed to fold naturally into a smile.
    â€œAbbey!” she said, hurrying across to enfold me in a big hug.
    After we hugged and said hello, I introduced Bee. Martha shook hands with Bee, then asked, “You need to see Custis? Is it urgent? He’s got a pretty busy day.”
    I nodded. “I promise we won’t be long, but we’re not just here to say hello. We need to ask him about something.” I nodded toward Bee. “Bee’s father bought Reward Plantation, but part of the plantation got sold to somebody else. We need to ask Custis about it.”
    Martha raised her eyebrows. “I see. Well, come on back.”
    We followed Martha through the mahogany door on one side of the waiting room and down the hallway to the