Here's a little from the first chapter:
‘Are you out here with all the other inquisitors raking up strife Sam? I never thought of you falling that low, you’d be pestering old weak men about their part in this never-ending victims of abuse enquiry.’
Grabbing a box of crays
and stacking them onto his trolley, I said, ‘Not me, I’ve worked my last case.’
‘I read about it,’ he
said, his eyes never leaving his work,
‘I didn’t see it
coming, I’d never thought Estelle could do that.’ Taking in a big gulp of air,
I added, ‘A lot of people died, and all because I couldn’t work it out.’
‘So what?’
I felt his eyes pressing
heavy on me again, his words hitting home like hail, belting into my already
brittle pride.
‘You come down here
expecting me to give you absolution,’ he said, picked up a filleting knife and pointed
it at me, ‘look around you Sam, I don’t do that anymore.’
‘I didn’t come here for
absolution old man. All I want is a holiday visiting an old friend. The fact
that you’ve given up saving souls and turned to killing fish, is your business.’
Saying nothing, he
turned away from me.
I hadn’t expected a
stoush, but I wasn’t ready to give up on him either, ‘You know what you did
changed me. Saved me, even. And what? Now you expect me to forget all the stuff
you used to say to us kids… All that Jesus loves me tripe. Telling us God would
always be by our side.’
I started sucking in
deep, trying to keep my composure.
Gunter not even looking
at me, remained mute.
‘Tell me, where was he
when I was trying to stop the murders?’
‘Did you even think to
ask for his help, when did you last invite him in?’
‘I didn’t.’
‘So what? You wanted to
come down here, say I was wrong and tell me that you’re getting along just fine
without God looking over you?’ Wiping his hands on the towel he’d rested on the
gunwale earlier, and leaning in until his face was almost touching mine, said,
‘Good, you’ve done that, now you can go.’
‘Not going to happen, I
came down here to talk. You’re one of the few people I’ve ever loved and I’m
hoping you may still feel that about me,’
He rolled his eyes.
Expressing emotion had always
come hard for me, but in John’s case, just saying love felt easy. However, as
for acknowledging me, the best he’d managed so far, had been to grunt.
‘Look, all I want to
know is why you’re so damned confrontational?’ Staring into his eyes, I
searched for any hint of duplicity or anything to explain his manner, there was
nothing there. ‘What’s got you so damned frightened?’
Flinching at my last
two words, he straightened, and making himself as tall as he could, said, ‘Don’t
ever think you can get inside my head, policeman Sam. Gunter Weisman does not
frighten,’ and waving toward the carpark said, ‘now, you can just piss off.’
‘When I came to the
wharf I didn’t even know if I’d find you. All I really wanted, was to say
thanks and make sure you’re doing okay.’
‘Well, you came, and
you’ve seen I’m fine, now go, I have fish to fillet.’ Dipping his hand into a
slurry of water and ice, the knife becoming a blur as scales flicked and
splattered the back of his boat.
I’d had years of asking
questions of people who didn’t want to answer, so not ready to leave yet asked,
‘What happened Gunter? Why go fishing?
‘Just go.’ He said, and
washing the fillets without looking, reached for another fish, continued ‘There’s
nothing to interest you here Sam. Leave now, please…’
And for the best part, I have decided to put $5.00 from every book sale toward finding a cure for a rare form of muscular dystrophy. FSH, or Facio Scapular Humeral affects about one in one hundred people and in my seventy six years it's the only lottery I have won. So, a little bit of funding sent the researcher's way may not help me, but for kids being diagnosed in their first decade, it's likely Professor Marnie Blewitt and her team at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute will have a world shattering treatment available for them.
Please email your order and address to kundela@bigpond.com on receiving it, I will forward an invoice with payment details.
Cheers Terry
