G'Day to Die: A Passport to Peril Mystery - By Maddy Hunter Page 0,38
a lazy sneer. “What do you think?”
“Run!” Diana screamed.
“WHAT?” yelled Bernice.
Lucille hoisted herself to her feet. “RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!”
The terror in Lucille’s voice started a buzz that prompted rubbernecking, uncertainty, foot shuffling, and a chaotic stampede out the doors. Jake grinned at the disorder, while Heath stood over his mother, tugging on her elbow.
“C’mon, luvy. We need to go.”
“Leave me be.” She shooed him away. “I’m not through eating.”
“Could you use some help?” I asked, running around the table to them.
Heath nodded his thanks. “Up you go, Mum. Imily will carry your tray outside for you.”
Jake snatched up his plastic container and stalked the table. “All right ladies and gints, where’s the little buggeh hiding?”
I screeched as it leaped onto Nora’s tray.
“Mum! It’s not safe to sit here!”
Nora smashed her fist on top of it, smiling serenely. “It is now.”
“It wasn’t poisonous after all?” said Guy, as we descended the long flight of stairs leading to the gold mine. Bernice had taken one look at the stairs and said she’d rather shop, so it was just the two of us.
“Nope. Henry made Jake fess up. It was just a harmless jumping spider, which was a good thing for Nora. Henry said there are some insects so deadly, you can get poisoned simply by touching them.”
“Do you think she knew what she was doing?”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure she’s operating on all cylinders. She’s apparently been on a decades-long quest to find her twin sister Beverly, and I think the stress has taken its toll. But Heath has found some new leads on the internet, and he’s hoping to locate Beverly within a few weeks. Maybe that’ll give Nora’s mental health a boost.”
“Any repercussions for Jake?”
“Big-time. Henry confiscated his plastic container and warned him that if he instigated any more bug incidents, he and Lola would be sent packing. Lola complained that she had nothing to do with the incident and resented both the threat of punishment and Jake’s moronic smirk. So she cussed them both out, vowed to get even with Jake for causing her so much embarrassment, and stormed off for destinations unknown.”
“What was Henry’s reaction to her theatrics?”
“He gave Jake his email address. In his off-hours, Henry apparently does a little moonlighting as an online marriage counselor.”
Arriving at the bottom of the stairs, we headed uphill toward a weathered clapboard shelter that appeared to be the waiting area for the gold mine tour. Sheer cliffs flanked us on the right. Scrubby trees flanked our left. Mining cart tracks led to nowhere. Wooden planks shored up the cliff wall and framed an entryway that tunneled deep into the mountainside. I skidded on some loose pebbles and yelped as my legs gave way beneath me.
“Easy there.” Guy grabbed my arm, righting me. “No twisted ankles allowed.”
“Thanks.” I regarded the gritty terrain with a bit more respect. “I guess I need training wheels, or a keeper.”
“I thought you already had one. Or is it two?”
“Funny you should mention that.”
“I don’t know many women who can brag about having two such good-looking bucks chasing after them. Neither one of them can stop talking about you. Why don’t you do one of them a favor and marry him?” He paused for a moment’s contemplation. “Unless you think marriage is for old fogies and you’re into something more kinky.”
“No! I want to get married, and this trip is supposed to help me get to know both Etienne and Duncan a little better. The problem is, they’re spending so much time in front of your camera, you’re getting to know them better than I am.”
Guy winced. “Ouch.”
“Exactly.”
He held up his hands in surrender. “Mea culpa. I didn’t understand the situation. No more photos. But I couldn’t help myself. Bone structure like theirs comes along once in a lifetime. I thought I could make them famous.”
“They don’t want to be famous.”
“If that’s what they told you, they’re lying. Everyone wants to be famous. It’s part of our culture. Ask my kids. Fame is the in thing, and I’m talking about more than just fifteen minutes of it. You can slink through life unnoticed, or you can choose to make a splash.”
“And you think splash is better?”
“I know splash is better. I’ve had it both ways, and I’ll take splash any day.”
“In other words, you think Etienne and Duncan are being shortsighted.”
“I’m not walking in their shoes, Emily, but I’ll tell you this. My father would have killed to be someone, with a capital S. He