Matanto (eBook)

Peter Brodowski (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2017 | 1. Auflage
100 Seiten
First Edition Design Publishing (Verlag)
978-1-5069-0425-2 (ISBN)

Infos

It's as old as time itself waking periodically to check on its domain, this time some of it is missing, and a price must be paid.
The Hamilton County Consortium purchased a small portion of Hamilton Woods to meet the needs of a growing community and a local developer. An elementary school, a multi-use athletic field and three homes were constructed on the purchased site.
Two of the families, the Munches and Andreas', have children attending the elementary school. The third family, the Snodgras', is a retired couple, a professor of American History and his research assistant wife. A Native American couple serves as caretakers for the nature preserve that serves as a buffer between Hamilton Woods and the purchased land.
When a high school age girl is found comatose standing on the street fronting the nature preserve a local police officer has suspicions and discovers that low profile visitors to the woods have also gone missing but are overlooked. The Munch and Andreas children begin having nightmares and a Teacher's Aide is not what she appears to be.
The professor discovers some disturbing information about the woods and approaches the caretakers. The caretakers confide in the academics and reveal that they are there for a reason. Together the three families, the caretakers and the policeman slowly put the pieces together and confront the threat.

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It's as old as time itself waking periodically to check on its domain, this time some of it is missing, and a price must be paid. The Hamilton County Consortium purchased a small portion of Hamilton Woods to meet the needs of a growing community and a local developer. An elementary school, a multi-use athletic field and three homes were constructed on the purchased site. Two of the families, the Munches and Andreas', have children attending the elementary school. The third family, the Snodgrass', is a retired couple, a professor of American History and his research assistant wife. A Native American couple serves as caretakers for the nature preserve that serves as a buffer between Hamilton Woods and the purchased land. When a high school age girl is found comatose standing on the street fronting the nature preserve a local police officer has suspicions and discovers that low profile visitors to the woods have also gone missing but are overlooked. The Munch and Andreas children begin having nightmares and a Teacher's Aide is not what she appears to be. The professor discovers some disturbing information about the woods and approaches the caretakers. The caretakers confide in the academics and reveal that they are there for a reason. Together the three families, the caretakers and the policeman slowly put the pieces together and confront the threat.

Textauszug

April

 

Spring, a fickle female, arrived predictably on a casual and changeable note, advancing one day with warmth and golden sunshine withdrawing the next into rain and gray clouds. The white blanket of winter has melted away, evergreens and spruces scent the air with new growth; little streams grow into big streams as the snow melts, birds sing and busy themselves with building nests everywhere. On some days the purple and yellow hues of pansies and daffodils are bathed in tepid air that gently encouraged them before they retreat from the coming summer heat. The once naked tree branches offer their tight green buds to the brilliant rays of sunshine. In the forest sometimes the rain falls gently and other-times the wind drives the rain harshly, but in either case its iciness is absent. Looking up into the trees, one can see rays of the morning sun glistening off raindrops clinging to branches in the upper reaches.

*****

Matthew and Cindy have no business being where they are. They are supposed to be studying. And in a way they are. Both are seniors at Carmel high school. Both are tall, blonde and fit. Matt plays baseball and Cindy is a swimmer. Both are on scholarship to Indiana University. Matt has his sights set on the pros. Cindy, a champion swimmer on the nationally recognized Carmel Swim Club, has her sights set on the 2018 Summer Olympics. Final exams are next week but that’s just a formality at this point. At IU they will both be majoring in Biological Science as a fall back should anything derail their primary aspirations.

On this late April evening they have elected to study human physiology, specifically the reproductive systems. It has come to pass that among the high school population Hamilton Woods has become a breeding ground as it were for enterprising young biologists.

“It’s supposed to rain again tonight Matt, we’d better get going,” Cindy said draining the last of her Michelob and reaching for her underwear. “And it’s getting dark too.”

“Put the empty back in the cooler, I don’t want to leave a mess out here,” said Matt pulling on his jeans.

“Too late for that,” she said kissing his cheek.

“You know what I mean. I don’t want the state rangers finding beer bottles out here. They’ll close the woods or at the very least start monitoring who’s coming in.”

“I doubt that they would do that. Besides I don’t think they ever come in here.” Nevertheless Cindy put the empty in the cooler and helped Matt fold up their blanket. “This is a nice place; I think I’m going to miss it.”

“We can always come back during summer vacations for old times’ sake,” Matt said with a grin.

“We’ll see,” said Cindy with a grin of her own.

“I don’t want to lug this cooler out tonight,” said Matt. “I’ll come back some day before we head to IU and pick it up.”

Hand in hand they headed back the way they had come towards Cherry Tree Road where Matt’s Mini Cooper was parked. The trail the students used was well worn but impossible to see if you weren’t on top of it. They walked single file for an hour, “Hurry, it’s dark now,” said Cindy turning on the flashlight she was carrying. “I’m gonna have some explaining to do when I get home.”

“I’ll put a good word in for you.”

“Just drop me off, I’ll tell them you had car trouble.”

“They won’t buy that it’s a brand new Mini.”

“I’ll think of something. Come on, why are you slowing down?”

“Somethings on my leg, OW, OW,” Matt said reaching down. “It’s on my arms now, OWWWW! Help me Cin, it’s really hurting me,” he said falling to the ground.

“Stop fooling around Matt, I’m in enough trouble already.”

Matt stopped screaming but Cindy could hear him thrashing about in the dark. She backed off turning her flashlight towards Matt. She wasn’t sure what she was seeing. Matt seemed to have leaves wrapped around his arms and legs and something covering his mouth. As she watched the thing on his mouth withdrew pulling Matt’s tongue with it. That was enough for Cindy. She started screaming herself and began running blindly through the underbrush.

*****

Edvard Munch is sitting on his back porch. The fresh burst of April freshness is always a delight to his senses. The porch is screened in allowing him to breathe in the light crab apple blossom fragrance that wafts on the breeze and into the porch; he knows that once again, spring has come to the mid–west.

Sipping coffee listening to smooth jazz on Slacker radio, he keeps the volume low, after all it’s only 6:30 in the morning. Ed, nobody calls him Edvard except for Tuppence when she is angry, is a second generation Norwegian. His parents were born and still reside in Minneapolis; they named him after the famous Norwegian painter. He attended Ball State in Muncie and took a job in Indianapolis after graduation. He is 36, married to Tuppence 35 and they have two children, Luke 8 and Verity 7. Tuppence, born in Indiana and named by her English immigrant parents after a reoccurring character in the works of Agatha Christy, will be taking the children to school at 7:30. Until recently her parents lived in Muncie where they ran a tailor shop, specializing in custom men’s clothing and alterations. Earlier in the year they received an offer to purchase their shop that was too good to pass up so they sold the business and relocated to Arizona.

Tuppence is a teacher at nearby Cherry Tree Elementary where Luke is a second grader and Verity is in the first. The school is less than half a mile from their house making them one of the few families with school age children able to walk and not have to take the school bus.

Ed’s been up an hour and a half preparing for the day ahead. He is an English Trainor/virtual tutor for an international manufacturer headquartered in France. His day is generally spent in casual conversation with the company’s non–English speaking French employees via Skype. The French refer to themselves as English as a second language speakers. Ed thinks of them as lazy but keeps that opinion to himself.

The German and Dutch affiliates have little need for his service as they all speak English quite well. The Spanish subsidiaries come in second behind France for number of hours logged on Skype. China a surprising third, not because they don’t know English—they do, but because they are obsessed with being perfect.

His job is to converse with the employees in English affording them the opportunity to practice and learn from their mistakes. Practice makes perfect is spelled out in French on a place card prominently displayed behind him during his French Skype sessions.

A German colleague once told him that everybody in Germany and nearly all of Europe has learned English in school. And that if anybody under the age of 50 said they couldn’t speak it they were either lying or simply didn’t want to speak it—like the French.

Ed takes his coffee and strolls over towards the property line he shares with Archibald and Morven his neighbor. Archibald and Morven Snodgrass are an elderly couple having recently retired from teaching and administration posts at IUPUI in Indianapolis. He was a professor of American History and she was his secretary and research assistant.

He sees Morven standing in their patio garden waving him over, exactly what he was hoping for. Morven is a handsome woman of 68 with a fair complexion, rosy cheeks, and thin naturally red lips. She wears wire rim glasses and maintains a curly gray hair style. She generally favors Tartan skirts and Rugby shirts but this morning she is wearing gray slacks and a lightweight black sweater with a silver necklace dangling from her neck and a pendant resting on her ample bosom.

“Have you seen the news this morning Ed?” Morven asked in her Scottish accent.

“No, but I wanted to ask you about the police car I saw at your place last night.”

“That’s just it,” said Morven. “It was on the news.”

“What was?”

“Here let me my dear,” said Archibald coming through the house slider onto the rear deck. Archibald is 69 and today as nearly everyday he’s wearing wool slacks and a Donegal Tweed Blazer with his trademark multi–colored bow tie affixed to a short–sleeved white shirt. They say that opposites attract, Archibald is follicly challenged on top with copious amounts of stringy gray hair sticking out from the sides, picture Larry of the Three Stooges. His eyebrows mimic the hair around the side of his head—unruly—and sticking out at all angles. The difference being it is black in color providing quite a contrast to his head. He has a hawkish nose to match his pointy chin and the same fair rosy cheeked complexion as Morven. Reading glasses are perched atop his forehead. “I called the police last evening,” he said in an equally heavy accent, “Because while we were spraying the poison ivy back at the tree line we noticed a wee bit of a lass just standing over there on Cherry Tree for the longest time.”

“Aye, so I went over an asked her if I can give her a hand,” said Morven. “And she just stares straight ahead, not saying anything, just standing there. That’s when I noticed...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 15.10.2017
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Krimi / Thriller / Horror ► Horror
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• ISBN-10: 1-5069-0425-4 / 1506904254
• ISBN-13: 978-1-5069-0425-2 / 9781506904252