A Wicked Whack: Mad River Series (Prequel)

by Constance Barker

  "What made you give up so easily on it? Your freak out was kind of left field…even for you."

  "There was a man in the office," I began.

  Harriet interrupted me by nodding sharply, which cued me not to take it further. She understood where I was going.

  "It all makes sense now," she replied.

  Harriet went quickly back to tying up her unlaced boot. As she did, I heard a soft meow. I turned my attention down to her feet. Her eyes followed my head tilt. She could already figure out what I was looking at. It of course was our apparently new housecat, the ghostly grey tabby. It had been around on and off many days in the last couple of weeks. It was rare I would see the same animal twice in a similar area. I just assumed it really liked hanging around. How funny to have a pet that didn’t actually require being taken care of.

  "The cat?"

  "She's rubbing her head against your foot. So bizarre. She seems to really like it here."

  "Well, I better get going. Good luck with whatever you're intending...to do...this morning," Harriet said. She picked up her bag and opened the door. "Try not to get into too much ...of anything...today."

  Harriet underestimated me in this case, though I got her concern. Jenny's murderer was still out there and most people tend to keep to themselves under such circumstances.

  We said our goodbyes and after I ate a fast breakfast, I headed to the local library, which was not far from Edgewater Hardware. The building was small, but it was loaded with articles and journals on the town itself. If the library was good for anything, it was being a vault for town history. Much of the information there was donated by locals who had it passed on to them through family members. The library housed everything from newspaper articles, a few artifacts, and even photographs. Mad River had a whole section on its history in the library. A lot of what was there couldn’t be found on the internet, even in this day and age. If there was anything this town was good at, it was preserving itself.

  I headed for the cozy microfiche booth in the back corner of the adult section. It was dusty, as if no one had touched it in eons. I could’nt even remember the last time I looked at one of these things. It might have been on an old field trip as a grade-schooler. The technology obviously hadn’t changed much and certainly didn’t run like a modern computer. I could work all the old 1800's mill equipment trouble free, but this set-up intimidated me slightly.

  I turned on the monitor. It took a bit of trial an error, but I eventually figured out how the machine worked. I searched through the catalogue of cards, making heed to look for those during the wartime. There were not many though to my surprise. There were sparse records from about 1862, about the time I needed, but I guessed record keeping was not a major priority at the time or most just ended up being lost along the way during such violent times.

  Filing through the cards was tedious. I could understand why this technology was not widespread, though it was useful. It was somewhat amusing to think the most dramatic thing back in the day was one singular war. I’ve become far to used to all news seeming important. Not a whole lot else happened locally that was considered to be worthy of a report. A few local businesses had closed down. News of bad hurricane rain and winds destroying a few trees and blocking some roads. I decided to search through obituaries, as they would be more specific to what I needed. I came across Jessamine's and Phineas's, both still looking as youthful as I saw them every day. I imagined dying young. Even Jenny had passed relatively young. Seeing their liveliness recorded was not something I was used to. I tended to forget that ghosts were once living people with all the real problems that I have endured as an ordinary human. Giving up those problems means you are no longer alive, and to be alive is truly a wonderful thing.

  Not many pictures were used for the obituaries. I just knew I needed to find an older man. I placed another microform card down into the machine, my fifth to be exact. I scanned the text over the screen as quickly as I could. With my luck, I finally had it. There staring back at me was the photo of the man who I believed matched the one I’d seen in the office of Edgewater Hardware. Even in death, he still looked exactly as he did upon his last breath on Earth; a gangly Santa Claus. Josiah Ratchett was his name. I laughed at what he could have possibly looked like when he was Phineas' age. Josiah at twenty years old did not even seem possible. Some people are just born looking old I suppose.

  There wasn’t much information on him though. He never married nor had any children according to his obituary. It read that he owned one of the few local farms, where he employed many men drafted to join the Confederates as the war spanned on. Not much else really gave way to how he died or where. I wondered if one of the barns on the Mad River Old Town sight belonged to him. I printed a copy of the obituary before stuffing the paper into my back pocket. I guess now the only thing left to do was confront the man and figure out what he's been trying to do.

  I had about twenty minutes to spare and thought I’d go grab a coffee from Dineen's. As I exited the front of the library, I could see across the street what looked to be a man leaning over a garbage can. He was dressed in a large black coat and glasses. From afar, he didn’t seem to appear that suspicious. Nobody who passed by seemed to give him any mind. He was putting tons of paper into the can and seemed to be arranging it accordingly. I couldn’t figure out why, but this whole incident threw me for a loop. It just read like something was off.

  "Something's fishy and it’s definitely not the tuna salad being served at Fresh for Life across the street. I never liked their tuna salad anyway."

  I turned to the left of me to see Jenny. The spirit world continued to surprise me, given how new Jenny had been to it.

  "If you're talking about the man stuffing the garbage can, yes," I replied softly. "But who is he? And why does neither of us trust him?"

  "Remember what Matthias said about having these knowing feelings? He's hiding something. I just know he is. It's rather neat having these kinds of tuned in sensations. I feel like as humans we’re capable of it too, but as a spirit, I can tap into it no problem.”

  It was nice to know that Jenny was adjusting well despite the circumstances that brought her to the other side. I still wanted to speak with her a bit so I ducked somewhat out of sight behind a nearby tree. Jenny kept an open eye from where she stood.

  "What do you see?" I muttered.

  "They seem to be exchanging something? I can't quite make it out."

  “Who are they?”

  I peaked around the edge of the trunk to see none other than Jimmy Gordon had stopped the man. They talked for a brief moment before Jimmy handed him a bag and walked off. What did I just see? I looked down at my watch to check the time. I needed to head over to work now or I was going to be late. I didn’t need to add more problems to my already floundering reputation at Old Town.

  "I feel like we might have just witnessed something relevant.”

  "Jenny, I've got to go or I'll be late. Maybe we can investigate this little issue later?"

  Jenny nodded. Both of us headed towards my blue Volvo parked on the side of the road. I hated having the nagging feeling that I knew something was off, but I needed to be sure about what I was doing. I would go back to the spot to check once the day was done.

  Chapter Ten

  I pulled into the parking lot of Mad River Old Town with the Juniper Rock hunting knife next to me on the front passenger seat. I had to further confirm what I needed to know. I wanted to deny the real evidence given to me, but perhaps following through on what Josiah, at least I thought that was his name, told me, was probably the most viable option when I had nothing else to go off of.

  As I left my car, I spotted Matthew and Calinda heading for the main building. I didn’t see if Jenny had followed me out, despite sitting in my backseat for the ride there. Which was weird. Maybe she wasn’t use to popping in and out of places yet. I wonder who she hitched a ride with into town.

  I sprinted up the front stone steps to catch up with the
m. Taking them both aside out of any nearby ear shot I confronted them before we went knee deep into what would be our most intense day yet. Neither of them took too kindly to me interrupting the purposeful path they were taking. Today was the large-scale battle after all. It was expected to be the most highly attended day of the weekend. I had to get them now and settle what I knew given the events of the other night.

  "Does this knife belong to the Old Town?"

  Matthew eyed the knife in my hand with curiosity, its blade still covered in the crusted-over dry blood.

  "I thought we had tossed that weeks ago," Calinda said to him.

  "I think it’s ours. It looks like the one we used for the boar skinning demonstration. Why do you ask?" Matthew added.

  He didn’t seem caught off guard by the question like I thought. He and Calinda both reacted calmly. Nothing was suspicious regarding their dispositions. Josiah so far appeared right regarding what he knew. I had to think of something quickly to deflect any further questioning and to keep them neutral.

  "Told you!" My body tensed as I tried so hard to refrain from reacting to the call. Don't look anywhere. I had a serious bone to pick with this Josiah. Dead or alive.

  I sighed deeply. There was some relief in knowing what was not working in this case as disappointing as it was. However, I knew what was needed to move forward.

  "Oh, it was found in the back woods under some leaves. Someone could have hurt themselves."

  "Would you dispose of it again, Shelby? The knife is older and ended up rusting after being left outside. We shouldn’t use it anymore," Calinda said. "You were right to pick it up though, someone could have hurt themselves. Perhaps it bounced off a nearby dumpster when it was tossed, I’m not too sure. It's good you picked it up when you did."

  I nodded. I let Matthew and Calinda leave and watched them enter the building. I walked off to the side path, pacing in frustration. I stopped before I raised my arm and threw the knife at the garden, watching it land deep in a pile of leaves and letting out a grunt of frustration.

  "Whoa there, Katniss! You'll hurt an innocent squirrel if you’re not careful."

  Nick was not far behind me, striding up the stairs. He’d seen me throw the knife into the garden. I looked around to see if Jenny was still present, but there was no sign of her or Josiah.

  "Sorry, I'm just..."

  I stumbled along my words. He rummaged through the leafy hedge and retrieved the knife. All I managed to tell Nick was he used an incorrect literary hero reference, because Katniss had a bow and arrow.

  "Why don't we properly dispose of this?" he said holding it out for me to look at one last time.

  I nodded half-heartedly, "I'm just frustrated that nothing seems to be working."

  "It's not your job to play the hero, Shelby. You could be tampering with real evidence if you aren't careful."

  "But what if I could be the one to solve this horrible murder, Nick? What if I had it in me to do that?" I asked.

  He raised an eyebrow at me, looking curious as if not to believe a word I said. Nick, being the practical one that he was, might have been even less inclined to consider my special abilities than my own sister did. I felt like I could trust him, but his face told me he didn’t really get what I was saying.

  "I got a call not too long ago from the station saying the axe they retrieved from the scene of the crime has disappeared from lock-up. So I'm exempt from the day's events and now I'm doing more evidence scans and testimony recording. With lack of people being in on a Saturday at the station, I guess it's up to me to pick up the slack."

  It felt like my heart dropped into my stomach. Had I just seen that axe stashed in a garbage can only a few minutes ago? Oh, this was huge. This could be massive! We could’ve been close if Jimmy Gordon seemed like a likely accomplice. If the culprit was Annabelle, God forbid, he could have been someone that would cover up a crime as deputy mayor to her mayor. I might have the answer. I Shelby Whitaker could be the one to solve this murder case.

  No. I needed to be sure. This was what got me into trouble with the knife. I needed to be sure that these two events were connected before I could do anything about it. I might have seen nothing. Although it might also have been everything.

  "Guess I really am going to be able to show them what I got. I'm just going to need your help though to just" He could not quite get the words out. I somewhat already figured what he was going to say. "Just...act like....not everything is potentially evidence. That means no going hunting through the blocked off cookery house or on wild goose chases. Okay?"

  I had really no idea what to say to Nick. It was the sternest I had seen him while at work. Normally he was easy to joke with. It was hard to picture him so focused on a job such as this. I was disappointed in the lack of evidence found in that knife. I was disappointed in the lack of evidence we had period. I had part of what I needed to hear, and more than enough reason to continue searching on my own. Telling Nick about Jimmy's suspicious encounter on the street right now probably wasn’t for the best.

  I willingly agreed not to pursue the issue further. We walked into the building together but I branched off quickly to make my way out of the office building. I walked so fast down the back paths I probably could have sprinted without even realizing it. It's amazing what you can make yourself do when you’re hot on the heels of a criminal.

  "Gosh that kid got serious real quick. What are you going to do now, Shelby?"

  Jenny reappeared alongside me, gliding along next to me.

  "Well I've got the dirt on the man who kept sneaking around on me. He obviously knows a bit about what's going on. I have to go and find him."

  "But do you know where to look?"

  "I might have an idea."

  "Let's hear it then girly!"

  A gruff voice cut into our conversation. I was on such a stride I’d forgotten what area of the Old Town I had traveled. George was sitting on the front porch of the smithy. I wondered if the man did any work period sometimes. No wonder Harriet had so many problems with him at Edgewater.

  Once again, he heard me talking to nobody. I could smell whisky wafting through the air. Of all days for George to be sneaking drinks, this was not the day. I stopped in my tracks to deflect his inquiry. I thought I could convince him that he was dreaming me up. That had to work. It was crazy, but I didn’t have time for this.

  "Uh, hear what? All I hear are the eventual sounds of soldiers marching along the battlefield!" I quipped jovially.

  "No, no, no. You're talking to yourself again."

  "George, do I look like the type of person who would do that? As far as you're concerned, I am not even here right now. I'm just a figment of your imagination."

  "You're crazy, Shelby. You've got spunk, but you're crazy," he said. "I like it. Why don’t you work for me?"

  George really was the crazy one if he thought I would come and work for him. I knew how much Harriet disliked working there although I couldn’t get her to leave.

  "Two Whitaker girls in Edgewater and you'd probably be out of a job," I said with a smile, hoping the joke came off as light as I intended.

  "You're right; you must be a figment of my imagination. That's almost too much spunk."

  "I have to go, George."

  I continued walking down the path again only to see Eliana with Jimmy Gordon in tow. The two of them were heading straight towards me. How Jimmy managed to get to Old Town so quickly was beyond me. It even bugged me seeing him again, mostly because I couldn’t casually pull him aside and question him regarding that supposedly missing axe.

  Then I saw Mark Nathan following right behind them. His face seemed oblivious to why he was there. Jimmy was pestering Eliana about something she didn’t want to address given the dagger eyes she kept shooting. I stopped my purposeful stride to meet with the group.

  "Hey Eliana, you should check on George. I think he's been drinking and doesn't seem in his right mind," I said. "Probably not a good look for the biggest day
of the weekend."

  I know I promised people I wouldn’t cause any trouble or interfere in matters that didn’t concern me. This quick idea I had however worked. Eliana immediately lightened up with the new mission I gave her and took off ahead of Jimmy and Mark. They on the other hand both followed her a bit more casually. That would clear away distractions and interruptions for a bit of time. If anything, Eliana should have thanked me for getting Jimmy Gordon off her back temporarily. His secret crush on her was not so secret and obviously not welcomed.

  I stopped myself for a second when the path deviated at a fork. One direction was the old barn and house where I suspected Josiah might be hanging out, the other led to the new cookery house where Annabelle would surely be prepping the day's food.

  "So what are you going to do, Shelby? What’s your plan?" Jenny asked me again. For the first time in a long while since her death, I had never been more unsure of what the plan was.