Oh, my! Can it possibly be nearly 2 months since the last Run, Jane, Run! mystery novel update? According to this blog’s archives, the answer is yes…and it’s about time you do something about it, sluggard. To be clear, I’m the sluggard, not you, dear reader. Even so, would you please accept the picture of the school above, in a town much like the fictional town of Little Missouri, as consolation?

First, a confession.

As you may remember, Jane and I have a standing date to work on the manuscript every Friday afternoon. But, because of travel to a special needs ministry conference and an Easter visit to see relatives, I stood up Jane twice in April. Thankfully, she was most understanding and forgiving.

Because I wrote her that way.

And, she’s such an interesting character, it was impossible to stay away from her more than that. Which means Run, Jane, Run! is trotting along at a fine pace. The rough draft sits at 54,000 and is about 3/4 complete. The reason for the bachelor rancher’s disappearance is unfolding with startling fury.

The plot thickens…like water and cornstarch coming to a boil.

Jane has been sticking her nose in places a school teacher’s nose has no right to be. She learned to milk a cow, process it in a cream separator, feed chickens, and gather eggs. She flirted with one rancher on to lead him on, argued with another to put him in his place, stole from the neighbors, won a footrace with a bull, and aided and abbetted a transporting a criminal across state lines and over the border.

How’s she gonna get out of a mess like that?

I’m not quite sure, but she’s a resourceful woman and will make it happen in a most spectacular way. Even though the leg she skewered on a barbed wire fence and the arm she held steady for the tetanus shot is killing her. Even though she has no idea how to slip the stolen goods to their rightful owners. Even though parent-teacher conferences are a week away, and she hasn’t averaged grades or completed a single report card. She’ll make it happen because she’s a school teacher, and you know what they say: the life of a school teacher is a succession of spectacular moments.

Ain’t that the truth!