Our story so far: Paulie Starr is dead and no one knows exactly how he died or why. But this much is certain: The $13-million in Florida Lottery winnings can now be split among five people instead of six.

Chapter Two

Birthdays, graduating, geting married and having babies. Each occasion called for a magnificent gift from Uncle Johnny.

He had never regretted not getting married or having children of his own. The life of a long-haul trucker just didn't lend itself to that kind of life. Loving and caring for all those nieces and nephews satisfied any paternal yearnings he might have had. But it was expensive, so when he retired, he had to figure out a way to supplement his income.

Thanks to an old friend (who died in prison, God rest his soul), Johnny acquired a set of engraved $20 bill plates, and a source for paper and ink. For the last four years he had printed 30 bills each month. He could have printed more, but why be greedy? This amount enabled him to take his lady friends out to lunch and to the little theater in Crystal River and concerts at Rock Crusher Canyon.

It had been a little tiresome coming up with ways to cash the bills. His favorite way was to buy a pack of gum and get about $19 in change. He had done that in every store in Citrus County and as far away as Brooksville.

He couldn't bear to throw those beautiful bills away, but wouldn't it be ironic if he got caught passing one just when he didn't need the money anymore?

He had to get rid of the plates, too. Oh, well, he'd think of something.

It was hard to imagine how much money $13-million was. Even after they paid Jimbo Hobbs $2-million for the Windy Oaks campground and spent another $1-million on the repairs that Jimbo had neglected for years, that still left $10-million to split six ways.

With Jimbo dropping hints almost every day that he was going to sell the property soon to developers for waterfront condos, the only chance the six winter residents had to preserve their relaxing -- and affordable -- way of life was to buy the campground themselves. And their only chance of raising that kind of money in a hurry was to hit the Florida Lottery.

Windy Oaks was a small campground with only 60 sites, a communal kitchen and dining room, the bar that Jimbo Hobbs seemed to live in and a small marina with dock space for 26 boats.

Most of the people who spent the winters there were married. The six who were single -- Gus Wedley, Paulie Starr, Johnny Bartolli, Jake McNabb and Ada and Edith Wellington -- gravitated to each other. Soon, they began meeting at one of the neighbors' RVs for cards and conversation.

Johnny's thoughts were interrupted when his neighbor, Jake McNabb, a former shrimp boat deckhand, banged on the door.

"Johnny, Johnny! Are you in there, Johnny?" Jake hollered.

Johnny stuffed the money under a couch cushion. "Yeah, come on in, Jake. You don't have to beat the door down. What's got you so hyped up?" he asked.

"It's Paulie! Someone killed him! Shot him right in the head! Gus just found him floatin' in the water," Jake said, all but out of breath.

"Oh, my God!" Johnny said.

"You got that right," Jake said, settling onto the worn couch. "That's rough, getting knocked off like that."

After a pause, Jake added, "Of course, instead of a six-way split, now it's five pieces. That's a lot more moolah."

"Yeah, I guess so, but still . . . poor Paulie," Johnny replied quietly.

Jake stood to leave. "Look, I gotta go, the cops are down there and I want to hear what they have to say. Are you coming?"

"Nah, I don't think so," Johnny replied.

"Cheer up, pal. Just think of those extra dollars," Jake said over his shoulder as the screen door banged behind him.

Johnny watched Jake as he strode down the path. He shook his head.

"I haven't seen Jake move that fast in years," he thought.

* * *

On Windy Oaks camp site No. 16, Edith and Ada Wellington were discussing the wedding they would attend later that day.

"She looks like such a sweet girl, doesn't she?" Ada asked.

"Which one was she, dear? I don't remember," asked her twin sister, Edith.

"The one with the long dark hair and the sweet smile in the St. Pete Times on Sunday," she said.

Edith was getting so forgetful. She had always been a little flighty.

Ada had been a beautician for nearly 30 years and had managed by frugal living to set aside some money for retirement, but not enough. Especially considering she was taking care of her twin sister, Edith, too.

After their mother died, Ada and Edith had traveled around a bit, hauling the old Airstream they called home from state to state. But age and the price of gas caught up with them. There were fewer excursions these days and money was always a concern.

Neither sister had ever married, but Edith, ever the romantic, made a point each Sunday morning of reading the wedding and engagement announcements aloud from the newspaper. One morning, as Ada daydreamed about what her wedding would have been like, her mind drifted to the menu. The sign of a good wedding is that there is always way too much good food.

It clicked in her mind: She and Edith could drop by these sumptuous feasts and help themselves to the goodies. Everyone would figure they were from the other side of the family and would welcome the strangers. And even if anyone noticed them putting food in their purses, they would assume they were just a couple of addled old women.

Well, Ada thought, looking at Edith happily chatting with the bride's picture in the newspaper, they would be half right.

"What are you going to wear?" Edith asked.

"Well, since it's an 11 o'clock ceremony, they will probably serve a substantial lunch, so I'm going to wear my peach chiffon, and carry the large cream colored purse. I can get several baggies and five plastic containers in it.

"I'll carry my gray bag. It will hold five of my little pie slice Tupperware containers," Edith said.

"If we do well at the wedding, let's not go to the Smithfield funeral tomorrow," Ada sighed. "Funerals are so depressing. Just think, when we get our lottery money we won't ever have to go to weddings and funerals for food again."

"I know how you feel, dear, but just think how our presence comforts the bereaved," Edith replied.

"Comforts the bereaved? Edith, they don't even know us. If they knew we were absolute strangers who only came for the food, I don't think they would be comforted. And remember the time you were comforting the widow on the loss of her dear departed husband when it was her son who had died?"

* * *

Johnny took his last batch of the funny money to a little park just outside of town. There was no one in the park, so he sat on the bench closest to the road.

When he was sure no one was watching, he placed the money on the bench and quickly walked back to his car. He watched with satisfaction as the breeze lifted the $20 bills one by one and they fluttered across the park. Hopefully, they would each be found by a different person. Wouldn't it be great to find $20 at Christmas time?

He felt like Santa Claus.

Johnny drove back to the campground and glanced at the big sign with faded blue letters: WINDY OAKS RV PARK. A wooden palm tree was nailed to one side of the sign, a wooden pelican hung limply from the other side.

Johnny had seen a roll of rusty wire behind the park's tool shed. It was just what he needed to bind the plates together. He'd take his boat out, find a deep place in the lake and toss them overboard. And that would be the end of it.

The sun had set when Johnny went to get the wire. He looked around, but no one was in sight. There were only the deep shadows of the tool shed. He bent over to pick up the wire and something crashed down on his head.

Then there was only darkness.

About the author

Veleta R. Todd is a retired kindergarten teacher. She has three children, six grandchildren and one great-grandson. Veleta grew up in Miami and lived there until 1964, when her family moved to Atlanta. When her husband retired in 1992, the couple moved to the mountains of western North Carolina, where they live from April to November. The couple come to Homosassa on the first of November each year and spend the winter here in a campground.

Chapter One: Ticket

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