Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33261 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33261 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
She got to her feet and made her way toward the coffeepot, and she poured herself a generous mugful. She appreciated the company as Daniel had to go and do something. She couldn’t quite remember what it was, but it sounded important to her, and she didn’t want to pull him away.
“Thank you for keeping me company today,” she said, moving back to sit opposite Martha.
“Don’t worry about it. I didn’t have to cancel anything to come and spend time with you.” She wagged her finger at the air. “But I’ve got a feeling something bad is afoot.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I’ve got my Lost Creek sense tingling.”
Amy frowned. “Lost Creek sense tingling?”
“Yep, I remember telling my Nigel all about it when he was alive, and he would listen. Whenever I got this tingle all over my body, bad stuff happened in Lost Creek.”
This was … a little much.
Amy sipped her coffee and then thought about Martha and all she had seen. For herself, she had only ever known Lost Creek to be a beautiful tourist resort—quaint and beautiful—but she knew it hadn’t always been the case.
“Martha?” she asked.
“Yes, honey.”
“Have you ever met a … Reaper?” Amy asked.
This made Martha pause. She’d reached for the paper after giving her words of wisdom about Penelope. She hadn’t turned the paper over, and Amy waited, watching the older woman.
Slowly, she lifted her head up. “Yes, I have met a Reaper.”
Amy opened her mouth and closed it. “But, I thought their identities were to remain a secret?”
“They are.”
Amy frowned because Martha was usually a very talkative woman, but right now she was quiet.
“Okay,” Amy said slowly. “Come on, Martha, you’ve got to give me something. Don’t get me wrong, I get that their presence has been some kind of urban myth, but the town has been fine for years. There is no way we are under any threat or anything.”
Martha once again closed her newspaper and focused on Amy. “Nigel was a Reaper.”
“How did you know?” Amy asked, unable to believe that Nigel, a man who didn’t seem capable of harming a fly, could protect the town.
Martha placed her hands on the table. “I was much younger when it wasn’t safe for a young woman to walk the streets. I’d been dating Nigel from time to time, since I was a girl. He was a little older than me, not too much older, but old enough. One Friday night, my sister, Betsy, God rest her soul, had gotten sick. My mom was panicking. My dad had left for the weekend. He always went to the city to try and earn a little extra. With the docks taken over, and the inflation the gangs were charging to use the waters, he couldn’t afford to fish. He was taking as many jobs as he could to support us. I know it was destroying everyone at the time.”
Amy reached out and put a hand over Martha’s, trying to offer some support, any support.
“Anyway, Mom needed medicine, and I was the only one able to go and get it for her as Dad had taken my brother on that trip. The streets, after hours, were not a pleasant place to be. I didn’t have any way of contacting Nigel, so I was out all alone. I got to the pharmacy, and I know Mr. Hilbert was terrified to let me leave, but Betsy needed the medicine, so I had no choice. It was on my way back home. One moment I was walking home, the next I was grabbed from behind. I was being pulled toward a car, almost dragged, and they got me to the back of the car and were attacking my dress. Trying to do the naughty with me, and that was when I heard the whistle. Right before my eyes, there was a group of six men. At first, I was afraid, but then, I saw one of them was Nigel. He was the leader of the group, and his sleeves were rolled up, and he had a metal baseball bat. The others had crowbars and various weapons. I don’t know who the others were. I only know Nigel saved me that night. He walked me home, and The Reapers were real.”
“Nigel was a Reaper?” Amy asked.
“Yes, and it’s a secret you must keep to yourself. No one can ever know the identity of a Reaper.”
“But, Nigel told you.”
Amy shook her head. “He never told me the words, but the busted knuckles, the blood, the rumors, and of course, he wouldn’t allow anyone to mess with the town. He was a Reaper, but he never had to say the words to me. When it got bad, he left, and when he came back, he was a mess, but the town was quiet.”
Amy couldn’t believe what she had just heard.