Not Peachy, Mate Read online

  “What are you talking about?” Grace asked.

  Momma Peach continued to rub her chin. “Poor Patrick, that sweet, gullible man, got tangled up with a black widow that swallowed him whole.” She looked at Michelle. “Right?”

  Michelle nodded. “Kill Patrick and claim back the land through political avenues,” she said. “By doing so, Heath Marshall protects himself while still keeping Alistair Berman under his control.” Michelle finished off her soda. “Momma Peach, my guess is, and I could be wrong, it seems that all the players in this game have their own agenda. Maybe that's why Mitch Taylor was killed?”

  “I agree,” Momma Peach nodded. “Mitch Taylor was killed because he either knew something he shouldn't have, or his boss found out that his employee was scheming up something in the shadows.” She bit down on her lip. “Or maybe, Heath Marshall sent Mitch Taylor to kill Alistair the snake...or at least was planning to...and Alistair acted first? There's a whole slew of questions we have to find answers to.”

  Grace was impressed. Momma Peach, although simple and innocent in appearance, possessed the mind of a true detective. “We could use people like you two around here,” she told Momma Peach and Michelle and then shook her head in disgust. “The law around here is controlled by politicians and money. In any case, it's not going to do any good to bring your case public.”

  “Maybe not,” Evan said, “but as long as I have Patty's words written down and the deed to this land...” Evan looked down at his hands. “I swore I would never run away like a coward. I stayed…” he whispered to his wife. “But if I stay any longer, I'll be shot down and the land will be stolen from us. I...this is the only way.”

  Momma Peach walked up to Evan and patted his hand. “You get you to New Zealand, and stay there. You hire the best legal counsel you can and fight for this here land. In the meantime, me and Michelle are going to contact the U.S. Embassy right here in Australia and report the murders. Maybe that Mr. Marshall has some pull out here with the snakes and the scorpions, but the political arm of justice stretches around the world...” Momma Peach shook her head and chuckled to herself. “Let's just say I’m going to make such a fuss that those politicians at the embassy will have no choice but to launch an investigation with your government,” she said and chuckled again. “The long arm of justice...I must be going out of my mind to try something so dumb...oh, give me strength, give me strength, this here heat is melting the brain. Yes sir and yes ma’am.”

  “The U.S. Embassy,” Grace said in a shocked voice. “Now why didn't I think of that?” she asked and then said in an excited voice: “You two are American...your lives were threatened...you've been shot at...two men are dead...of course, you must go to the U.S. Embassy and bypass our local police. That's the only way justice will be served. The only way Heath Marshall and Alistair Berman will face some real heat.”

  Momma Peach nodded. “And the only way Mr. Evan is going to keep his land.” Momma Peach looked into Evan's eyes. “You get yourself to New Zealand and do what I said to do. We'll join you as soon as I quit screaming at the folks at the U.S. Embassy.”

  Evan considered Momma Peach's suggestion. “Well,” he said, actually sounding hopeful, “I didn't consider the embassy, either. I think...why yes, there could be a chance that we might win this fight after all.”

  “Not unless we get out of this here town,” Momma Peach said in a quick voice. “If we're here when Alistair Berman returns, why, we'll be sitting ducks. And since Grace has shown up with some wheels we don't have to worry about walking out of here or hiding at the water spot. So let's scoot while the scooting is good.”

  “I second that,” Michelle said. She hurried to Momma Peach, grabbed her hand, rushed outside, and walked to Grace's cop car. As she did, her eyes spotted something horrible. “What?” she asked, let go of Momma Peach's hand, and ran to the car. She dropped down to her knees and examined the front right tire. “The tire...it's been slashed.”

  Momma Peach quickly checked the back tire. “This here tire has been slashed, too,” she called out.

  Grace and Evan ran to the car and began checking the tires. “All the tires have been slashed,” Grace yelled out.

  Evan quickly popped the hood and shoved his head into the engine area. “Battery is missing,” he said in a worried voice, slammed the hood, and looked around. “Whoever did this walked in on foot...”

  Grace felt a cold chill run down her back. “Evan?” she asked in a voice that caused goosebumps to capture Momma Peach's skin. “Was it...them?”

  “Uh...who is them?” Momma Peach asked, eased over to Michelle, and grabbed her arm.

  “Who are you talking about?” Michelle asked Grace, suddenly feeling cold inside.

  “The...unseen,” Grace whispered.

  “The unseen?” Momma Peach whispered. “Oh, give me strength...I done got myself trapped in a horror movie! Yes sir and yes ma’am!” She began fanning her face with her left hand.

  “Now calm down,” Evan pleaded. He licked his lips and looked around. “Grace...there's no proof those people even exist...or existed.”

  “Who?” Momma Peach begged, feeling like she was going to pass out.

  Grace slowly turned around and looked at Momma Peach. Her face was pale. Her eyes were wide with terror. “The unseen people,” she whispered.

  “Oh...don't say that!” Momma Peach cried out. “You're going to make me poop my pants and I sure know there ain't no decent toilet paper in this place.”

  Grace continued to stare at Momma Peach. “I've always heard the legends…”

  Michelle felt an icy hand grab her spine. She wasn't one for spooky campfire stories...but the look in Grace's eyes...the sheer panic and terror said it all. “I...Evan, you know the legends...and if those legends are true...it was only a matter of time.”

  Evan licked his lips and without saying a word ran into his garage and returned holding a rifle. “I didn't hear anything,” he said in a panicked voice. “And there's no prints in the dirt. It...if...I mean...I never considered...”

  Momma Peach leaned against the back door of the car, lowered her eyes, and looked into the backseat. Then she screamed. “What?” Michelle cried out. Momma Peach raised a shaky hand and pointed at the back seat, backing away. Hideous, angry scorpions were crawling all over the back seat. Michelle's eyes grew wide with fear and shock. “How?” she whispered.

  Grace saw the scorpions and quickly backed away from her car. “It has to be them...Evan, it has to be. We have to get out of here...now,” she begged in a trembling voice.

  Evan stared at the scorpions. There was nothing he could say. Momma Peach, on the other hand, had something to say. She grabbed Michelle's hand. “Okay, back to Patrick's house. Yes sir and yes ma’am. This here town is far too spooky.”

  “I...yes, let's go,” Michelle nodded and shivered all over. “Let's get out of here.”

  “It has to be them,” Grace whispered. Then she turned and ran into the garage and hid behind the Volkswagen, leaving Momma Peach and Michelle feeling like they had truly entered a lost horror movie.

  In the far distance, a pair of unseen eyes watched Momma Peach and then vanished into the heat.

  5

  After arriving back at the brick house and moving Patrick's body to the back bedroom, Michelle and Grace returned to the living room. “Well...that's that,” Grace said in a sad voice. “Poor Patty.”

  Momma Peach turned away from the front door with sorrowful eyes. “Patty is with the Lord now,” she said and let out a heavy sigh. “Murder is a vicious spider that I sure wish I could stomp out of existence.”

  Evan walked a glass of water over to Momma Peach. “Here, drink this.”

  “Thank you.” She took the glass and sipped at the water. “My, this water is special,” she admitted and then looked toward the bedroom. “Mr. Evan?”

  “Yes?”

  “These...unseen people...who are they?” Momma Peach asked, forcing her mind to walk away from poor Patric
k and focus on the situation at hand.

  Evan rubbed the back of his neck. “Well,” he said and tossed his eyes outside, studied the silent, scorched land, and continued, “maybe Grace should tell you?”

  Grace sat down on the couch, checked her gun, and slowly folded her arms. “No, Evan, not me,” she said, still feeling spooked. “Just the thought of the unseen people...scares me into the ground.”

  Evan understood Grace's worry. “Okay, then,” he said, turned away from the door, walked to the couch and sat down next to Grace. Michelle took Evan's spot at the door. “There is a legend...a myth...whatever you want to call it...that long ago a strange people migrated to this land from a faraway land. Who are these people? What faraway land did they come from? No one knows.” Evan leaned his head back on the couch and closed his eyes. “These people are like whispers in the wind...very few eyes have seen them. They live unseen and unheard.”

  “Sounds like some lost tribe that doesn't want to be bothered,” Michelle pointed out. “What's so scary about that?”

  Momma Peach waited for Evan to answer. As she waited, her eyes examined Grace's worried face. Grace, Momma Peach felt, wasn't the type of woman that spooked easily. If these unseen people were spooking the poor woman, then that was enough to cause alarm. “Legend has it that if anyone ever sees the unseen people, they must die. Legend also has it that if the unseen people mark you, you will die.”

  “They have a trademark. They’ve always been known by it. You know them by...scorpions,” Grace spoke up in a shaky voice. “Maybe it wasn't Alistair who was using the scorpions.”

  Momma Peach sipped at her water and then handed the rest to Michelle. She didn't want Michelle to become dehydrated. “Drink,” she said as her mind struggled to juggle different thoughts around. “Mr. Evan, you've lived in Greenglow a mighty long time. You ain't never had a problem with these people before, have you?”

  “No,” Evan confessed. “But something has stirred the hornets’ nest, and I'm afraid I know what.”

  “The watering spot, right?” Momma Peach asked.

  Evan nodded. “My wife always swore that every time we visited the watering spot someone was watching us. I felt the same way but never gave in to what I believed at the time was simple nonsense. When a man is out on the land alone, he can allow his mind to create silliness. The vast silence that creeps up from the ground and falls down from the sun can make you believe thoughts that aren't true.” Evan rubbed his forehead. “My wife and I were never bothered...not once.”

  “That's because you weren't really disturbing the springs, right?” Momma Peach asked Evan. “No sir, you and your wife...and the folks Mitch Taylor ran off...you respected the watering spot. You took what you needed and left the rest alone.”

  “Why would we do otherwise?” Evan asked. “The water is a life source.” Evan stood up and began pacing around the small living room. “That land out there,” he said and pointed toward the front door, “can swallow a man alive. There's something very strange covering the land—”

  “In this area, at least,” Grace cut in.

  Evan nodded. “The open side that Alistair ordered us to leave through,” he said in a troubled voice, “is not...normal. The land...changes before your very eyes...hiding the true owners.”

  “True owners?” Michelle asked.

  “Snakes...scorpions...spiders...lizards...the heat and the dirt and the rocks where they all hide...” Evan walked to the front door and studied the land. “When my wife and I were drawn to this part of the land,” Evan said, “the land quickly taught us what it was and what we weren't.”

  “What do you mean?” Michelle asked, following Evan's eyes. Evan was clearly seeing the land in a way she couldn't and never would be able to.

  “I walked the open side,” Evan confessed in a low whisper. “I only walked a mile out, but it took me four days to return. I nearly died.” Evan shook his head. “No man I know has ever walked out onto the open land and returned alive. The land...swallows you whole, like a shark swallowing a small fish.”

  “Legend has it,” Grace spoke up, “that the unseen people walk the land. They are its true owners. I...never believed those tales, of course. I was born not very far away from this trail. I've never seen or heard nothing out here other than what the Lord above intended for me to see with my eyes. But,” Grace continued, “when I was a small girl, I remember my daddy coming in off the trail after dark. He was...terrified. His face was whiter than anything I had ever seen. His eyes...so wide with fear. My mum tried to calm him down, but daddy wouldn't hear of it. He wasn't much for the bottle but that night he finished off the rum she kept for sickness, the entire bottle, and went to sleep, finally soothed.”

  “He saw someone?” Momma Peach asked.

  “Daddy never confessed to mum what he saw...but mum knew,” Grace explained. “I was too young to really understand. But now...maybe I do understand.” Grace looked down at her hands. “Daddy married mum after he left London and came back to Australia. He was married to a woman in London but divorced her before he left London. He never told Mum until I grew into an adult.”

  “Is that when you tracked down Patrick?”

  Grace shook her head. “Not at first,” she admitted. “I was furious with daddy for lying to mum all these years. I didn't want anything to do with the woman he was married to in London. But...” Grace sighed. “When daddy was dying, he told me he fathered a son with his ex-wife. I...well, it was my mum who made me promise to find Patrick. So I did. And to my shock, Patty was living right here in Australia, working as a geologist. He left London when he was a young man and never went back.”

  “Did Patrick know about you?” Momma Peach asked.

  “No,” Grace said in an amazed voice. “The woman my daddy was married to in London never mentioned a word to Patty about her marriage to daddy. Patty said he came to Australia to study on a scholarship and decided to make Australia his home. Said it just felt right here. Maybe his soul knew it was home for him. He earned a teaching position and settled into his own place.”

  Momma Peach believed Grace. “Well, life is full of wonders,” she said. “Now, tell me, before we get back to talking about those unseen folks, what did Patrick do when you contacted him?”

  Grace winced. “Patty called me a liar,” she said in a wounded voice. “It took me three months, a blood test and some legal documents to prove to Patty that he was my half-brother.” Grace gave Momma Peach a tired look. “Patty was so sweet and funny...caring. But for whatever reason, he wouldn't accept the truth until I forced it down his throat.”

  “What did Patrick do then?”

  “What could he do?” Grace asked. “We were already becoming close...but only as friends, as Patty always reminded me. When Patty was forced to accept the truth, he simply gave me a hug and told me that I was now his family. Our relationship didn't really change after that. Patty walked his trail and I walked mine. We didn't see each other very much but we did talk on the phone once in a while when he could get to a neighbors’ who had a working phone line.” Grace looked around the living room. “When mum died, Patty came to visit me and stayed in my home for two weeks. Later...oh, almost three years, I would say, Patty left his teaching position and moved to Greenglow. I came to visit him and during the visit he confessed the reason he moved to Greenglow, along with other matters.”

  “Such as Alistair Berman?” Michelle asked.

  Grace nodded. “Patty told me a lot of ugly secrets. But...you have to understand, Patty's days weren't like they used to be in his youth. Patty was growing older.” Grace stood up. “Patty always had a cheerful smile on his face, but underneath, inside of his heart, he was tired and wanted to...well, from what he confessed...Patty felt the gold he was after was his reward for years of hard work, dedication and study. He seemed...bitter near the end, as much as it pains me to say that.”

  “Patty was bitter,” Evan agreed. “When Patty struck dirt instead of gold, time after time, his
heart became bitter and sour.” Evan turned to Momma Peach. “Deep down, Momma Peach, I sometimes wondered if it wasn't Patty's idea to harm the springs.”

  “Evan,” Grace scolded, “that's an awful thing to say about Patty and you know it.”

  Evan shrugged his shoulders. “Patty was hurting for money...that's all I'm pointing out.”

  Grace sighed. “Yes, he was,” she admitted and then focused heavily on Momma Peach and Michelle. “I can't understand why Patty would call you to Australia, Momma Peach.”

  Momma Peach had an idea but didn't speak her thought. “Friends call on friends,” she said, generalizing her statement. “Now, let’s go back to the unseen folks, okay?”

  Grace didn't want to think about the people in the wind. The image of her daddy's terrified face was enough to make her cringe all over. But what choice did she have? Grace Clark was a cop, and cops didn't back down from a mystery. “There’s no good explanation. You don’t want to see them. Maybe they protect the land. Maybe they know more about it than any of us do. But no one, except my daddy, has ever seen them and survived. Not that I know of. All I know is what I've told you, Momma Peach.”

  Momma Peach rubbed her chin. “Mr. Evan, Alistair Berman can't harm this land because Patrick left you his claim, right?”

  Evan nodded. “Yes.”

  “And Mr. Snake in the desert wants you dead...but he insisted he liked you,” Momma Peach shook her head. “That scorpion could have shot you down at any time, but he didn't. And why would he risk letting you live knowing you had Patrick's will?” She shook her head again. “Mighty confusing.”

  Evan had been wondering why Alistair dared to let him live, too. “Why I wasn't shot down...I don't know.”

  Michelle pondered on Evans' words and began chewing on a few thoughts. “Evan, Alistair said he was fond of you, right?”

  Evan shrugged his shoulders. “Alistair was never sour toward me. He always acted friendly enough toward me.”