The Hunt Chronicles: Volume 1 Read Free Page A

in the corners of her eyes.
    “Wouldn’t I? 
Just think about all the money I’d be saving without having to pay for your
wardrobe and your hair appointments and your visits to the nail salons and
spas.  I’m sure your brothers would be very happy to take your share of my
empire off your hands.  As the oldest, you’d undoubtedly get the biggest
piece of the pie.  Richard, or maybe one of the others, could put it to
good use, I’m sure.  Donald doesn’t have the sense for large numbers, but
I’m sure he’d enjoy it just the same.”  The shadow was tapping the temple
of its head. Cheryl’s hand dropped to her side.
    “Others?   What others?”
    “Well, Maddie , of course.  Or Nona, or
Thomas, or any one of my faithful staff.”
    “You’d give my share
to the help?  The help! ”   She looked
as though she was eating something slimy and repulsive.
    “Every penny,” he
replied flatly.  He rolled forward and into view again, his shadow
shrinking back down to that of a man’s.  “I believe our discussion is
over.”  Cheryl ran to the right and I heard a door slam.  Wilson
whizzed to the left, hollered out to Thomas, and another door slammed to mimic
the first.
    My heart was
racing.  It was like watching a play live on stage, except this play was
real and a hell of a lot juicier in terms of plot.  The highs, the lows; I
was feeling them all right along with the players.  I felt them in my
heart and my gut, and then I felt a large hand drop onto my shoulder.
     
    “Good God!” 
Thomas stood in front of me, looming in the mixture of light and shadows. 
I craned my neck upwards to stare into his eyes.  “What the hell are you
doing, Lurch?”  Thomas lifted a silver tray into the light.  On it
rested a glass of water and a single pill.  It was tiny and brown, with OXIZALE engraved on it.
    “And you sir?” 
He asked.  He bent forward and whispered “Eavesdropping runs in your
family, I see.”
    “I’ll have you know
I was just coming to thank Mr. McCune for his hospitality when that little tiff
started,” I thumbed towards the door.  “And I’ll thank you very much to loose that condescending tone with me, Jeeves.”
    “Meant nothing by
it,” he said with a monotone and a smirk.  He brushed past me and pushed
open the door.  Light flooded the hallway, forcing me to shield my
unadjusted eyes.  He suddenly turned to me.  “A
warning though, Mr. Hunt.   In this house, sticking your nose where
it doesn’t belong can only result in one thing…wishing you hadn’t.”
    Thomas turned and
walked towards the door to the left, into McCune’s bedroom.  I turned on
my heels and headed back towards Maddie’s room,
muttering profanities the entire way.
     
    “Oh big deal,” Maddie said.  “Wilson fights with at least two people
in this house every night, including myself.”  She was lying in bed, her
eyelids heavy.
    “But Maddie , he actually threatened to-”
    “Cut her out of the
will and kick her out blah blah blah .”  She looked awful.  “ It’s how he keeps them here and under his thumb.  It’s
how he keeps us all here.  That man may be gruff on the outside, but he’d
whimper like a puppy locked in the bathroom if he were left alone for too
long.  He doesn’t scare me at all,” she finished with a yawn.  I
looked at the night table next to her bed and saw the bottle of pills Dr. Witcham had given her to help her sleep the next few
nights.  It wasn’t just food poisoning that had Dr. Witcham concerned, but Maddie’s blood pressure and the level
of stress everyone in this town knew she must be under.  She was sinking
fast.
    “But Maddie , I-”
    “ Reevie ,
go to bed.  There is school tomorrow and you’ll fail your maff quis if you…” and she was
gone.  In her then present state, Maddie was as
useful as a solar powered flashlight.  I turned off her light and left the
room.
    Richard came in to
say goodnight at about ten.  I tried to get to sleep