Free The Hunt Chronicles: Volume 1 by Leo Bonanno Page A

thought about it and decided it was
too risky.
    “You do
nothing.  You’re upset.  Frustration will get us nowhere right
now.  I suggest you go back to your room and cool down.”
    “But Reevan, I-”
    “I said go.”  I
pointed a dripping finger towards the hallway.  I listened as he left the
room, dragging his feet behind him like an angry child.  I locked eyes
with my sister.  She stared at me for several moments and then
smiled.  “You’ve got a plan, don’t you?”
    “I believe I do,” I
replied.
     
    Maddie and I went back to her room and locked the
door.  We sat next to each other on her bed.  I looked her straight
in the eye and asked, “Do you think he did it?  Do you think Donald killed
his father?”
    “I didn’t think so
at first,” she said, “but he was so drunk, Reevan.  I’ve never seen him
act violently when he drinks.  He usually gets a little tipsy and swears a
little, but that’s all.  I just don’t know what to think anymore. 
This family, this house is going to hell in a hand basket.  What do you
think?”
    “I’m not making a
decision until I find out about the other people that live on this
property.  Do me a favor and leave me for a while.  The less you know
about what I’m going to do, the better off you’ll be.”  She stood up,
looked down at me hesitantly, and then headed for the door.
    “Okay,” Maddie said and left the room.  After she shut the
door, she screamed through it, “There’s a phone book in the nightstand.” 
Next to Maddie’s clock rested a telephone.  I
reached for it with one hand as I pulled open the nightstand drawer with the
other.  I plopped the thick book on my lap and began flipping through
pages as I pulled the receiver to my ear.  I focused on the blue pages,
the government listings, but I wasn’t looking for Detective Walters with the
Wellington Police Department.  My finger trickled down the page and
stopped at the C’s.
    “Bingo,” I mumbled
to myself, my finger hovering above County Coroner .
     
    On the Grand Listof fine entertainment there lies the greatest of minds.  William
Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and Aristotle are just a few.  Aesop and O’Henry side by side on a library shelf.  Dumas and
Hugo share the spotlight as well.  Great actors, singers, dancers,
speakers, writers; they are the heart and soul of the word entertainment .
    However, we each
have our own list, separate from the Grand List but just as important and reliable. 
My list contained Aesop and O’Henry , Dickens and Poe,
as well as two others that were the only ones I really needed after dialing the
County Coroner’s office.  Step aside Lewis Carroll, ciao bella Bulfinch; come on down Yosemite Sam and Foghorn Leghorn.
     
    “Coroner’s office,”
a small, nerdy voice said after it picked up the phone.
    “Howdy!” I bellowed
into the phone, instantly feeling ridiculous.  Walters may have been
southern but he wasn’t Yosemite Sam southern.  Then again, I didn’t really
know him well enough to make the call, so what the hell.  Caution to the
wind, I went for the gusto.  I could always hang up and deny the whole
thing.  Foghorn Leghorn bring it home!
    “Excuse me?” 
The voice said.
    “Excuse you? 
Why the hell should I, boy?”
    “Oh, Detective
Walters, it’s you.  You sounded a bit muffled there.  You feelin ’ okay?”
    “Feeling
fine, sa !” Sa being the southern equivalent of Sir . 
“Thank you kindly.  I just got a question or two and then I’ll leave you
to your business.”  I was settling into the role by then.  The twang
began to flow naturally.
    “What do you need?”
    “I need some details
on that there McCune body.”
    “Oh
yeah, McCune.   Well actually
Walters, that one just came in.  I haven’t finished my examination
completely.”
    “Don’t dance around
the hen house, boy!  Gimme  
what you got!”
    “Dance around the
what?”
    “Come on now, give
it to me!  Start with the