All the townspeople were talking, no one could believe it. Miss. Bloomfield was dead! How she died was a mystery. She was found down by the river with flowers around her. She always loved flowers. Had a beautiful flower garden, and you often saw her with flowers in her long, chestnut brown hair. She had been especially proud of the Sunflowers that she had grown this year. In fact she had been planning on entering some of them in the contest at the fair, for they had grown so very tall.
There was no one around her when her body had been found. No one , besides her little dog Clarabelle, running around barking her head off. There had been a couple of hikers walking through the woods to the river and they were the ones who had found her. Poor Clarabelle had been running around Miss. Bloomfield, barking her little head off.
The detectives had not found any clues leading to a suspicion of foul play, it looked like she had just gone out for a walk by the river and died of natural causes. It seemed perplexing though, for she was so young. There was a book lying by her and a picnic basket that had some pieces of Miss. Emily’s prize winning peach pie inside it. She had bought it at the fair, Miss. Emily was well known for her pies.
Had Miss. Bloomfield seen something that had frightened her so badly causing a heart attack? Rumors flew around the town of what she may have run into when going for a walk in the woods. Some had said it was a snake, and Mr. Dallydiddle had said a lion, causing everyone to laugh and shake their heads. It was no secret, that he was known as the crazy man in town.
Miss. Bloomfield didn’t have a very good reputation. It seemed that she was pretty standoffish and kept to herself most of the time. Always wore a frown with her head held high as she walked through town carrying her little Clarabelle with her wherever she would go. The dog was really sweet, but sadly no one said the same about her owner.
Still, no one thought that anyone in the small town would ever think of harming someone. Sure people had their squabbles with each other, but overall it was a really friendly town. Giving out traffic tickets was about the only job the police had to do.
Mr, Snodapple was very popular with the police. He held the record for the most speeding tickets. The police usually would catch him speeding going down Mulberry Hill. He would keep a box of cream filled donuts in the car and would offer the cop one each time, hoping to bribe them. Most times they would take the donut and he would still get the ticket, but sometimes they would be in a generous mood and let him off the hook. Everyone liked Mr.Snodapple, he was an older gentleman that usually had a sparkle in his eye, and a dance in his step. He might be old, but he still could dance a little jig pretty well.
The town was quiet and peaceful for the most part. In fact when that strange cow appeared with sunflowers around her neck, in the dog parade that other night, that was one of the most exciting things that had happened in awhile. No one had seen the cow around town since then.
So what had happened to Miss. Bloomfield by the river? Would anyone ever know? Rumors would keep circulating for a bit, but in time they would probably die down. For now people were enjoying seeing Mr. Snodapple with Clarabelle! He lived alone and the town agreed that sweet Clarabelle would be perfect for him. They were right, his smile was even brighter now while walking around town, with little Clarabelle prancing along beside him.
Nuggets of Gold 