MALICE, REMORSE, AND A ROCKING HORSE by BRYAN SHERRI

Author:BRYAN, SHERRI [BRYAN, SHERRI]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-11-13T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

As was the norm at most times of the day, every table at The Cobbles Café and Flower Shop was full.

“Can I have an extra-milky coffee and a caramel doughnut, please, Amisha?”

“Finally! I’ve been waiting for you to come in all morning!” Petal beckoned Megan over to the flower shop.

“What’s up?”

“My grandad’s got the worst of the paint off the rocking horse. It looks amazing.”

“Brilliant.” Megan stuck up a thumb and rummaged in her bag for her lip balm. “I’ll tell Mum. I know she and Aunty Sylv will want to thank him. What’s so urgent, though?”

“Well, first of all, Gramps said he can fill the gouge down the side. He said the horse must have been scraped against something hard, or something hard was scraped against the horse, one or the other. Anyway, once it’s been filled, sanded and repainted, you won’t even be able to tell it was ever damaged.”

“That’s great,” said Megan, “but why do you look like you’re about to burst?”

Petal leaned across the counter. “There’s a message underneath the paint. Gramps had to be careful getting the paint off without taking the message off with it. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it.”

Megan looked up from her bag. “What does it say?”

“‘Keep on rockin, love and peace, Jerry.’” said Petal, “and the rest of the band have signed it too. The rocking horse has actually been signed by Rocking Horse. Can you believe it?”

Megan stopped rummaging. “You mean Jerry Braithwaite’s band?”

Petal stopped stripping leaves from rose stems. “Yes, I mean Jerry Braithwaite’s band,” she said, patiently. “He always used to say, ‘Keep on rockin’ at the end of his gigs, didn’t he?”

“Did he?”

Petal raised her jade green eyes to the heavens. “Look, I know you said you were a bit of a hermit before you came back to Bliss Bay—all work and no play—but even you must know that? It was his catchphrase. He used to say it all the time.”

“But why would someone who had a rocking horse signed by a rock star want to get rid of it?” said Megan. “And, more to the point, who was it?”

Petal shrugged. I’ve no idea but, whoever it is, they obviously don’t want it any more. And if that really is Jerry’s signature, we could auction the rocking horse for mega bucks for the kid’s charity.”

Megan arched a brow. “Hmm, I’m not sure that a murderer who’s been in prison for the past fifteen years is a great connection to fundraising for kids.”

“Oh, don’t be such a stiff,” said Petal. “You’d be surprised the things people will pay good money for, and I bet the fact that Jerry’s locked up will only add to its value. In fact, some collectors will love the fact that the rocking horse has a bit of notoriety in its history. In any case, why can’t we put it into the auction and see what happens? Some good might as well come from it. Who, knows? It could raise thousands.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.