receive the call, and five games of rock paper scissors later, it was decided Noxx would be the one we call.
“Could we not argue for a minute,” I yelled, massaging my temples, between the fright of the fall, the glare of the headlights, and the pain in my ankle, I was mighty close to my limit. I wanted out of the cold, dusty hole and instead be in Nixx’s arms, not listening to Blake and Mallory bicker back and forth and not sitting on the most uncomfortable, sharp rock in the history of rocks!
“My God, this rock is digging into my butt so hard, the impression is going to be there until the end of time,” I groused, lifting one cheek to get some relief.
Mallory scrambled carefully over my injured leg, a stupid looking headlamp strapped to her forehead. Why she thought she needed to put it on before winching down the shaft was not something for which I had an answer, but she did look silly, and I did laugh each time she pointed it my way.
“Let me take a look, maybe we can roll it out from under you as long as it isn’t dug into the—hang on, it’s not a rock,” she shouted, then lifting me more, she let out a shriek.
“It’s one of Mum’s biscuit tins!”
“Get stuffed!” Makena exclaimed, excitedly.
“I will not get stuffed, I am telling you it is one of Mum’s. Watch your leg Farron, don’t put any weight on it while I lift you some more and pull it out from under you. It is half under the earth, just give me a second.” Gritting my teeth, I took in deep breaths through my nose and tried desperately not to pass out as Mallory shifted me sideways, angling me up on my injured side. I could hear and feel her digging feverishly to unearth whatever it was, but my foot was feeling the pressure of being moved and hey diddle, diddle it hurt.
“Hurry Mal, I think she is either going to faint or throw up,” Blake warned, but it was too late. Vomit rocketed up my throat and out of my mouth, unfortunately for Blake, she was too close and received a rather disgusting covering of my stomach contents. Luckily it was mostly liquid but no less disgusting and humiliating.
“Oh god Blake, I am so sorry,” I sputtered, wiping my mouth and shirt.
“Oh, don’t be sweetie, it’s just vomit. Horses do worse to me every single day, cows piss and shit on me regularly, this is nothing darlin’,” she soothed, helping me mop myself up.
“I hope that biscuit tin has something in it worth throwing up on you,” I muttered, shooting Mallory a stink-eye glare.
Mallory, who now had the box open and was going through it, didn’t bite at my comment, surprisingly. The contents of the box was much more important than the smell of my spew.
“Mallory?” I asked, interested despite my pain.
“Holy shit.” Looking up, Mallory looked at all three of us, finishing with her sister.
“The money.”
“What money?” I asked again.
Watching her hand emerge from the box, a fistful of cash notes coming into sight.
“No way!” Makena hissed, and I got the feeling the biscuit tin was so much more important than I first thought.
“Way.” Mallory nodded, then burst into tears.
“So, your dad borrowed money off Will Hott,” I said, pointing at Mack, “and then buried it in this dry bore shaft in one of your mum’s biscuit tins?”
“Correct.”
Shaking my head, my pain momentarily forgotten about, I tried in vain to follow the logic of a man I never met.
“And he didn’t use the money because he hated Will and left the bore dry because he didn’t want to admit he needed help from your mum’s parents.”
“Yep.”
“And a dry bore sent that message?”
“Stupidly, he thought so,” Mallory huffed, “there is more in here, but I think we should wait for the guys to look at it.”
“Agreed,” Blake concurred. “This whole saga has been very hard on Drixx, and I know for Noxx and Fenixx too. It is only fair they be present when the truth is revealed.”
I nodded my agreeance, Nixx had filled me in on some of the story, but he didn’t give me the full details on the crazy shit between the two deceased patriarchs. And I thought my religious parents and Alec’s snobby family were weird.
They had nothing on this family feud.
The sound of an approaching car frantically tooting its horn changed the sombre and bewildered tone in the