“Untie me and you'll see what kind of warning I give you,” Michelle snapped at Jasmine.
Jasmine raised her left hand and slapped Michelle across her face. Momma Peach winced. “You're just making a hornet mad,” she warned Jasmine. Jasmine turned her hand to Momma Peach and slapped the poor woman across her face for good measure.
“I hope you have good medical insurance!” Michelle yelled and without warning threw a front kick into the air. The kick caught Jasmine in her stomach and threw the woman backwards.
Jasmine, taken off guard, lost her balance and crashed into one of the guards. Both women crashed down onto the ground. “Kill her!” Jasmine screamed in fury. Michelle threw her body in front of Momma Peach and waited for the guard that was still standing to end her life.
“No!” a voice yelled—a voice with far more authority and power than Jasmine. It was the same voice that had ordered the two women guarding Patrick's house to return to town. Michelle spun around and saw a dazzling red-headed woman step out of the shadows. “No more killing!”
Jasmine snarled, climbed to her feet, and pointed at her prisoners. “Andrea, they must die!”
Andrea Coddere glared at Jasmine with hard eyes. “We have killed enough,” she said and waved her hands at the two guards. “Go back to the village and wait,” she ordered. The two guards bowed their heads to their leader and obeyed. They vanished into the darkness on silent legs.
“I've spent years teaching these women how to read, write, speak different languages,” she snapped at Jasmine. “I've brought them clothes, medicine, food...civilization…I cannot...pollute them any further with...murder.”
Momma Peach stared at Andrea. The woman looked to be in her early forties—still dazzling beautiful, but obviously aging. “My name is Momma Peach, Ms. Andrea,” she said. “This here is Michelle Chan. We're from America.”
Andrea looked at Momma Peach. “Yes, I know who you are,” she said in an unfriendly voice. “I know why Patrick asked you to come here, too.”
“Oh?” Momma Peach asked. “Do tell.”
Andrea lowered her eyes to smooth out an invisible wrinkle in her brown dress. “Patrick was going to ask you to become the Mother. He failed.”
“The Mother?” Momma Peach asked, even though she immediately intuited what Andrea might mean by this strange way of speaking.
Andrea shook her head. “You were ordered to leave.”
“Kill them,” Jasmine growled. “Andrea, we can't allow them to live now that they’ve seen—”
Andrew slowly raised her head and looked at Momma Peach with sad eyes. “Step into the store with me,” she said.
“Okay,” Momma Peach agreed.
“You three go into the other room of the garage and stay,” Andrea ordered Michelle, Grace and Evan. “Jasmine, do not harm them. If you do, you'll be the one who will not leave this land alive.”
Jasmine narrowed her eyes and glared at Andrea. “If you weren't my sister...”
Andrea pointed a hard finger at Jasmine. “I brought you to this land to help me protect my girls. Instead, you betrayed me. I should kill you where you stand!” she yelled.
“But you won't!” Jasmine yelled back. “You don’t have the guts! I'm the one who has what it takes. I’m going to make us rich! Besides, you need the money.”
Andrea's finger began to shake with rage. “Get...them inside,” she said through gritted teeth. “Do not test my anger any more than you already have.”
Jasmine stared at her sister for a few seconds and then ordered Michelle, Grace and Evan into the garage. She walked them to the sleeping room, shove them inside, and then posted herself as guard. “Nice sister you have,” Momma Peach told Andrea.
“The store,” Andrea ordered Momma Peach.
“Sure,” Momma Peach said and got her legs moving. She walked to the store, which was brightly lit on the inside, and waited for Andrea to open the door. “Thank you, ma’am.” Momma Peach stepped into the store and deliberately moved in front of the fan sitting on the front counter. “Ah...air.”
Andrea closed the front door, walked to the cooler, and pulled out a soda, and then after a moment, a second one for Momma Peach. “I'm not a monster,” she said in a low voice.
“I didn't say you were.”
Andrea walked up to the front counter and set down the two sodas. “Turn around,” she ordered. Momma Peach placed her back to Andrea. “If you try to escape, my girls will kill you. Are we clear?”
“Clear.”
Andrea nodded and untied Momma Peach's hands. “Here,” she said and handed her the cold soda.
“Mighty thankful,” Momma Peach smiled and took the soda, examining Andrea's eyes during the process. Andrea didn't possess the eyes of a monster. Yes, her sister held the eyes of a black widow, but Andrea's eyes were connected to an inner conscience that kept the woman from becoming soulless. “You're in a right mess, sister.”
Andrea nodded. “Yes.”
“Because of your sister?” Momma Peach asked, opened her soda, and took a sip.
“It’s because…I needed financial help,” Andrea explained. She popped open her soda. “My finances were growing weak. I needed money for food, clothes, medicine, books...and for a dream.” Andrea took a slow drink of soda. “There is much that you don't understand.”
“I’m all ears. We’ve got nothing but time.”
“Yes, I suppose that’s true,” Andrea agreed. She looked toward the front door. “My family came to this land in 1939. They were refugees who had escaped from Hitler’s Germany.”
“You're Jewish?”
“No...my grandfather was French, and my grandmother was German. My grandparents opposed Hitler on moral and political grounds. They were forced to flee or become political prisoners,” Andrea explained, keeping her eyes on the door. “When my family arrived, they were granted land. Not very good land—terrible, begrudging, arid land that took as many lives as it could. Land where a person would sooner starve than make a living.”
Momma Peach took a sip of her soda. “Ah...the land Greenglow sits on now, right?” she asked, hoping her gentle voice would soothe an angry tiger.
“You're a very smart woman,” Andrea told Momma Peach. She put her soda down and continued. “My grandmother and grandfather were given this land, yes,” she explained. “I was told that it was my grandmother who located the glowing water, while my grandfather slaved to dig a well. I was told the springs saved their lives.”
“Mighty good water.”
Andrea kept her eyes locked on the door. Her eyes grew sad. “One day, my grandmother vanished. They suspected she got lost in the open land. She left her husband and seven-year-old daughter—my mother—desperate to locate her. My grandmother was never located. My grandfather finally accepted that my grandmother was dead and returned to France, sick with grief. Eventually he remarried and moved on with his life.”
“That's human nature. No one wants to remain trapped in a painful shadow.”
“Yes, you are right,” Andrea agreed. “And my mother married a decent man, a baker. They had me and my sister. She loved me beyond all reason. But her second daughter, for whatever reason, she gave away when she was only six years old. My own sister, gone. Sent to live far, far away in another land. I was heartbroken. My mother never told me her reasons for doing such a thing.” Andrea finally looked at Momma Peach. “Now I understand why,” she said. “My mother saw a darkness in Jasmine that frightened her…a darkness she warned me to avoid. But I did not listen. I grew furious with my mother’s lifelong silence and vowed to locate my sister even if it took my entire lifetime.”
“How did you end up in Australia leading a tribe of pretty women and living on the land?” Momma Peach asked.
Andrea walked her eyes back to the front door. “That is the secret,” she said in a low voice. “Before I left France on my search, an old woman approached me outside of my parents’ bakery...she was my grandmother,” Andrea confessed. “She asked to spea
k with me alone. I agreed. Once we were alone, she provided me with much evidence that she was indeed my grandmother.”
“What did your grandmother want?” Momma Peach asked, even though she knew.
“My grandmother was very ill and close to death. She came to bring me to this land and teach me to be the Mother of the tribal women. The old Mother, who was dark skinned like yourself, had died, and the other women were too young and naïve to take over in her place.” Andrea looked back at Momma Peach. “I was training to be a nurse when my grandmother approached me. I love helping others. I had trained in rescue medicine, in relief work, knowing my quest for my sister might take me to many different lands. When my grandmother told me her secret I could not resist. I traveled to this land and the tribal women accepted me as their leader, but not as Mother. I was twenty years old and I knew they needed someone else...they are still waiting for a new Mother.”
“Ah, I see,” Momma Peach said. “Patrick was hoping to make me into a Mother in order to calm the hornets’ nest so your gals would let him run the water plant.”
“Yes,” Andrea nodded. “The tribal women will obey the Mother.” Andrea looked around the store. “The glowing water spring is very precious to them and they protect it with their lives. They allow people they see as no threat to drink from the canyon, but will kill anyone they see as a threat. They will not even listen to my orders in regard to the springs.”
“Only the Mother can tell them what to do about the water, right?”
Andrea nodded. “Yes.”
“Then...how is your sister planning to make you rich if your gals won't listen to anyone but a new Mother?”
“My girls cannot stop machines...bulldozers...diggers...dump trucks...” Andrea let out a miserable groan. “I have betrayed them by agreeing to Jasmine's words. I believed the time had arrived to announce them to the world and build them a community. They need something more than shadows. Something more than hiding on the edges of the land. Something to help them survive for many years to come.”
“And that means money, right?”
Andrea nodded. “Yes,” she said and looked at Momma Peach. “The only obstacle is you and your friends,” she told Momma Peach in a regretful voice. “You all must die.”
Momma Peach took a sip of her soda. “Dying ain't what I had in mind,” she said in a worried voice and looked at the cooler on the back wall. She thought of the scorpion that had been hiding under the cooler. “Dying ain't what I had in mind at all. No sir and no ma’am.”
7
Andrea studied Momma Peach with brilliant, bright eyes that clearly possessed the ability to discern a person’s character within seconds. It was clear in her mind that Momma Peach was a very special woman with a heart of sweet gold. It pained Andrea to have to be so cruel to such a woman. But what could she do? Her entire life was at risk—and the lives of all the women she had trained to finally come out of hiding and enter the world. “I've taught my girls how to read...write...build everything they need to survive and to thrive...hunt...” Andrea told Momma Peach in a low voice. “I've trained...prepared them to enter the world as responsible, educated, strong women filled with moral values. But now...all that I've taught them through the years...” Andrea dropped her head.
“What is it?” Momma Peach asked.
“My sister,” Andrea said in a sick voice. “Jasmine has become a monster in their eyes. The moral code I taught them...was all for nothing. I murdered...and thus destroyed the ethical walls of truth that I built by surrendering to my sister.” Andrea raised her head and looked into Momma Peach's eyes. “My desire was to build a community for my girls and slowly and carefully introduce them to the world...in a place they understand. It's not fair for them to have to remain hidden and starved for contact from mankind...wondering what it might feel like to fall in love...have a family...sit down at a dinner table and share a meal with sweet children...”
“You love your girls, don't you?”
“More than my own life,” Andrea confessed. “That is why I'm so miserable.”
Momma Peach moved away from the fan and allowed the air to hit Andrea. “I mean you no harm. You don't have to kill me. Instead, let me help you.”
“You cannot help me,” Andrea told Momma Peach in a sharp tone. “My girls have already killed four men...at my orders.” Andrea's eyes flashed with fury. “I should have killed Jasmine from the beginning...she caused this chaos.”
“How will that help?”
“How?” Andrea asked and glared at Momma Peach as if the woman were a snake that needed to be killed. Then she captured her anger, threw a rope around it, and forced her eyes to see Momma Peach for the woman she truly was. “A trickle of water can become a river,” she said and calmed her voice. “This disaster began with Patrick Walker and his thirst for a silly story of gold, a gold that does not exist.” Andrea allowed the fan to cool her face. “Patrick did not have the funds to purchase the land my girls call home. He went to a snake...Alistair Berman. Alistair Berman, realizing that my name is on the land deed, went to Heath Marshall. Heath Marshall made a pact with Alistair to help him steal my land.” Andrea narrowed her eyes. “Mitch Taylor was hired to bully everyone in Greenglow and force them to leave. Only Patrick and Evan remained. Patrick, of course, was not supposed to leave.”
“What about Evan?”
“Evan was not seen as a threat and was allowed to stay,” Andrea explained. “At least that is what Jasmine told me. Alistair Berman, for whatever reason, convinced Heath Marshall to leave Evan unharmed. Heath agreed to leave Evan in Alistair's care.” Andrea turned to the door. “Mitch Taylor was not an honest employee. He believed that Patrick and Alistair had found gold but was lying. He was urging Heath Marshall to kill him and force Alistair to reveal where the gold was. He also believed Evan knew the truth. That's why Mitch never harmed Evan.”
“And you were getting all of this information from your sister?” Momma Peach asked.
Andrea nodded. “I completed my quest after all and located my sister,” she said, walking forward in a careful voice. “Jasmine was living in Sydney. It took me many years and many trips. I traveled to collect food, medicine, books and other materials for my girls. When I would arrive in a city, I always made time to search for my sister.”
“And in time you did just that.”
“I wish I had never located my sister,” Andrea said in a miserable voice. “I was so very foolish.”
“We all learn by our mistakes.”
“My mistake destroyed the lives of innocent women,” Andrea told Momma Peach in a tormented voice. “I believed my sister was like myself...I believed her heart was pure...even though I sensed darkness in her. I wanted to believe...I needed to believe...my heart was involved. I...took my sister from Sydney and brought her to meet my girls. Oh...how foolish!” Andrea looked as if she were going to explode in misery. “I did not own the land at the time...it was Jasmine who insisted I buy the land. I had a small amount of wealth when my sister suggested her idea. I agreed.” Andrea looked at Momma Peach. “That is how she met Heath Marshall.”
“Two black widows sharing the same web, right?”
“Yes,” Andrea moaned. “Heath Marshall became obsessed with my sister and she used his obsession to control him, insisting that it was for my benefit and the benefit of my girls. I...wanted her away from my girls and was very grateful when she married Heath Marshall and left the land. But...” Andrea shook her head, “my sister did not remain absent for very long. She returned to me with the news that her husband was attempting to steal my land through criminal actions disguised as political avenues. My sister informed me that Patrick Walker was wanting to buy my land and begin searching for gold and that there was nothing she could do about it. At the time I believed her...later I began to wonder if she helped her husband steal my land because she wanted whatever gold Patrick Walker and Alistair Berman might have found.”
“But the gold came up as dirt, right?”
“Yes,” Andrea confessed. “When Patrick Walker realized he was never going to locate his fools’ gold, he created the idea of a water bottling plant, or so my sister told me. Perhaps it was really Alistair who created the idea?” Andrea turned back toward the fan. “Alistair went to Heath Marshall and presented the idea. Heath Marshall agreed.”
“Your sister found out about the water plant and came to you?”
“Yes,” Andrea told Momma Peach and shook her head. “The water plant would destroy the glowing water...the canyon...the land. But what could I do? The purchase of the land had drained my wealth. I was powerless. So I went to my sister...and made a pact with her, not knowing that Patrick Walker was acting to betray Alistair Berman and Heath Marshall in order to have the water plant all to himself.”
“Betray?” Momma Peach asked. “How?”
“Patrick Walker had a sweet soul and respected the land. His idea of harvesting the water was very simple and modest...something my girls might have even agreed to. But Heath Marshall and Alistair Berman designed a plan to harm the land and drill up the basin of the springs so they could fill as many plastic bottles as possible while they drained the glowing water dry. I don't know what Patrick's exact plan was...I do know he called you to this land to act as a new Mother in order for you to make peace between himself and my girls.”
Momma Peach chewed on Andrea's words, made a few mental notes, and nodded. “What pact did you make with your sister?”
Andrea's face curled up into a tight knot. “I...my sister and I would operate a water bottling plant and share the profits. My share of the profits would build a community for my girls,” she said in a shamed voice. “I...did not see any other possible option. The water plant was going to be built regardless of the situation. It seemed...acceptable, that I should be the one to control it in order to ensure the profits benefited my girls.” Andrea looked at Momma Peach. “As you can clearly see...I'm growing older. I grow tired. The land is very harsh and very difficult. It's not an easy way for a woman to live.” Andrea lifted her hands. “I want a life filled with love...I want a husband and children...I want a home. But I cannot accomplish my dreams unless my girls are secure. It's time for them...for me...to enter the world.”
Not Peachy, Mate Page 10