The Milburn Big Box Set

by Nancy McGovern

The final heat was the most challenging, named “Pluck the rose”. The competition had artificial roses placed far from the archers, with their task being to cut the rose as close to the bud as possible. Of the five who had advanced from the round before, only one successfully “plucked the rose”, that is, cut its stem. The other arrows fell to the side, and the audience booed and sighed each time.

  A cheer went up, and the winner was lifted on the crowd’s shoulders, then tossed up once, twice, three times, as people laughed and sang.

  Nora, too, clapped in glee, enthralled by the events.

  Eventually, the crowd drifted away to the concert, where JJ Johnson and the Jackhammer Squad began their songs. Far from being a Viking playlist, JJ Johnson and his squad had instead chosen to honor classic rock and metal bands. Soon, Nora could hear the crowd screaming and singing along to classics by The Scorpions, AC/DC and The Eagles.

  She could hear JJ, that is, Wallis, scream quite clearly over the microphone. Harvey wasn’t wrong. Wallis was a charming rockstar on stage. Effortlessly, he roused the crowd to near hysteria with his crooning voice and his snake-like dance steps. Energy seemed to float in waves off his body, infecting the others till they screamed his name hoarsely.

  The crowd had thinned out now, and Nora was taking a break, as her customers had all vanished. Tina and Mrs. Mullally vanished too, and Nora manned the stall, secure that they would come back once the dinner rush started.

  “He’s quite something, isn’t he?” Sean asked, coming up and leaning on a pole. “Wallis. He always had a flair for drama in his work as deputy, but in his defense he was always an excellent interrogator. He’s very good with people. I hate to say this, but he’ll make an excellent sheriff.”

  “Now that’s talk I don’t like to hear,” Nora said heatedly. “A finer sheriff than you I haven’t met on this continent.”

  Sean laughed. “You didn’t let me finish my sentence, Nora. He’ll make an excellent sheriff, someday. But not this day.”

  Nora could tell Sean was being brave, but the truth was, Harvey’s words had shaken him. She could see it in his eyes. Sean believed what Harvey had said, that he might be out of his office soon.

  But knowing Sean, he wouldn’t go without a fight.

  *****

  Chapter 6

  The concert ended with spectacular pyrotechnics, sparkles and flames erupting on stage as the crowd oohed and aahed.

  Wallis bowed to everyone, and after a final strumming of his guitar, he raised his hands in the air and walked offstage.

  “Brilliant!” Mrs. Mullally said, appearing quite star-struck. “What a star he is! What personality! It’s like seeing my old blue suede shoes superstars.”

  Tina only harrumphed. “Oh, he’s all right. He’s good enough for the small town circuit, and he does play his gigs off and on in Jackson Hole. But I don’t think he’s good enough to quit his day job yet.”

  “Talent shines wherever it’s kept,” Mrs. Mullally said. “What’s important is that he cares about what he’s doing, and treats his audience with a basic respect. That’s what differentiates the greats from the brats. That guitar wasn’t the only instrument Wallis was playing. He was playing the audience too.”

  “You’re an odd one, Mrs. Mullally,” Tina laughed.

  “I was a backup singer in the ‘60s,” Mrs. Mullally said. “I once went on tour with a lot of the big stars.”

  “Like who?” Tina asked.

  “Fleetwood Mac, Jimi Hendrix… a few others, like Zany Motts.” Mrs. Mullally sighed. “Well, he was a great one. Off-stage, he was all right. But onstage, he was nothing short of a god. He even stopped in our little ol’ Milburn once, way back when. The town was all aflame.”

  “Zany Motts? Mrs. Mullally!” Sean said, excited. “Here I thought you’d been a science teacher all your life! Zany Motts is a legend! My father used to play his records all the time. I loved his sound. Still play it when I want to get in a rock and roll mood.”

  “It was last year that he died, wasn’t it?” Tina asked. “Found him two days later in his apartment, with his cats licking his face.” she shuddered at the thought.

  “Poor man,” Mrs. Mullally said, with genuine pity in her voice. “He lived a superstar, but died alone and broke.”

  “The funny thing is, it sparked a revival of his music,” Sean said. “One of his guitars even broke records when it sold for a little less than a million soon after. But it was no use to him, was it? Money’s all we think of when we’re alive, and it matters not at all when we’re dead.”

  Nora nodded, feeling tired, and suddenly sleepy. She’d been on her feet since 5am, and the weariness hit her in a wave. She stretched and yawned, and Mrs. Mullally, noticing, suddenly said in a stern voice, “Nora Newberry. I declare. You haven’t taken more than fifteen minutes off all day. Enough is enough. Tina and I will handle things here for an hour, and you’re going to go watch the burning boat.”

  “Oh, I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Nora protested.

  “You don’t have to ask,” Tina said. “That’s what friendship is all about.”

  Mrs. Mullally nodded. “Now off with you. Go enjoy yourself thoroughly, and don’t come back.”

  Nora protested a little more until Tina and Mrs. Mullally bodily ejected her and refused to let her back into the stall.

  Laughing, she thanked them and moved to the bank of the lake where the crowd was now gathering, waiting for the fireworks and the burning of the boat to begin.

  Sean had vanished, and Nora looked all around her, wondering where he could be.

  “Looking for Sean?” a voice said at her elbow.

  She jumped, and whirled around to see Harvey standing there. His sleeves were rolled up to his forearms, and tiny bits of leaves and debris were stuck to his messy hair.

  “Harvey. What are you… where’s Missy?”

  “Milly,” he said.

  “Same thing,” Nora said. “Shouldn’t you be with your new girlfriend?”

  “She’s not my girlfriend,” Harvey said, defensively. “I’m just entertaining her while she tours the area. Her--”

  “Sure you are,” Nora interrupted. “It’s not my business anyhow. You’re welcome to do as you please.”

  “Am I?” Harvey asked. “You don’t care at all, do you? You’d be perfectly fine if I were dating her?”

  “Yes,” she said, setting her jaw. “I would. I only wish happiness for you, Harvey. If she’s what makes you happy, go for it.”

  His expression was unreadable as he stared at her. “So that’s how it’ll be? No rancor after the breakup? No bad feelings?”

  “None at all,” she said.

  “Well, I’ve got bad feelings.” Harvey declared, passion rising in his voice. “I’ve got very bad feelings about whatever’s going on between you and that Sean. Though I suppose you’ll tell me it’s not my business.”

  “It’s not,” Nora said, blushing. “Sean’s just a friend.”

  “A friend who gave you flowers,” Harvey pointed out. “A friend who wants to be more.”

  “Well, it’s not your business. You’re the one who walked out, six months ago, back when I needed you so much.”

  “I walked out because you didn’t need me at all,” Harvey said, his voice growing hoarse and thick. “Or have you twisted events around in your mind to blame me for it?”

  “I haven’t--”

  A roar of approval rose from the crowd, and Nora turned around to watch as eight men emerged from a covered shed, carrying the “Viking” boat on their shoulders. The crowd parted as they walked toward the lake, each member of the crowd cheering wildly. Flashes of light went off as people photographed the procession, and Nora couldn’t help but feel proud of Milburn.

  It was beautifully done, each element just right. The men who carried it were all tall, with thick necks and forearms that were muscled and veined with years of hard work. It was entirely possible that they had some Viking blood in them. Dressed as they were, they c
ertainly looked like the ancients. Nora found herself wondering if, in a distant past, in a distant land, a procession like this had laid some tribal chieftain to his final watery grave in a Viking burial.

  Of course, there was to be no burial here. Instead, the boat was filled with mementos of remembrance for those who had passed and items of memory that the audience wished to let go of.

  Nora herself had contributed a pair of Raquel’s favorite high heels. Raquel loved her shoes. Sending a pair off in the boat felt bittersweet to Nora, but it also felt right.

  Perhaps she would have found closure, too, if the proceedings had gone as expected. Instead, the events of the night shattered each person who witnessed it.

  *****

  Chapter 7

  It happened so quickly. One moment, the crowd was alive and chanting hoorays. The boat was set on the water, and one of the bearers climbed up and set the fuse, before pushing the boat in the water.

  That was when there was a piercing scream from the crowd, a scream that quickly became infectious. A woman pointed to the ground. A trail of dark blood had splattered the grass between the shed and the boat.

  Horrific confusion followed.

  Harvey, who had been entirely focused on Nora, now turned around and saw that the crowd was panicking. He squeezed her hand and commanded her to stay put. Then he ran right into the fracas.

  Nora, stunned, remained rooted where she was for a moment, before running after Harvey.

  “Where’s Sean?” Harvey was saying. “Sean or Wallis? We need them to control the crowd before someone gets hurt.”

  “I don’t know.” The man Harvey spoke to was a new deputy, a nervous boy in his early twenties named Dean Elbert.

  “Never mind,” Harvey said, taking charge. “Dean, you run to the entrance and throw the gates open.” He turned around, saw Nora, and said, “I should have known you wouldn’t stay put. All right, Nora, you can direct the crowd. I’ll be doing the same.”

  In minutes, some semblance of order was restored, as Harvey grabbed a megaphone from one of the announcers, and spoke into it.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, there is no cause for panic. Repeat. No cause for panic. The situation is under control. Please stay calm and walk, not run, to the exit. Repeat, walk, not run, to the exit.”

  “Was this planned?” Nora heard people in the crowd whispering to each other. “Is it just a prank?”

  It wasn’t, of course. Nora knew Harvey. Knew he’d make up lies if necessary, to make sure that the situation didn’t get out of hand. It had worked too. The instant his powerful, calm voice had floated out of the megaphone, the crowd, which had been reacting like a spooked animal, had calmed down. It was still jittery, though.

  “Is this for real?” a woman asked Nora.

  “I don’t know, Ma’am,” Nora said. “I was just ordered to direct you this way.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw others who Harvey had roped in to help. May Almand, to her credit, was doing a wonderful job of calming people, as was the town doctor, Kurt Neil.

  In less than ten minutes, the crowd had calmed down. But Nora saw Harvey talk to some off-duty firemen, his hands making exaggerated motions as they pointed toward the still burning boat.

  Sean appeared then, clutching his forehead, his eyes narrowed with pain. “Nora,” he said.

  Nora gasped. “What happened?”

  “Never mind that. What’s going on?”

  “Someone spotted a trail of blood from the shed to the boat,” Nora said. She interspersed her words with a gentle push that had Sean sitting on the grass and began examining his wound. “The crowd panicked and we calmed them down. Harvey’s telling the firemen to put out the burning boat now. You and Wallis were nowhere to be found, Sean. Something’s gone wrong. I have a horrible feeling about this.”

  Sean still looked confused, and Nora forced him to lie on the ground while she examined his forehead, which was leaking tears of blood that made his blonde hair sticky and brown. His entire shirt seemed to be stained with it.

  “I need to go talk to Harvey and the rest,” Sean said, trying to get up. His knees buckled a little.

  “You need to sit right here while I scour around for the doctor,” Nora said. “Keep putting pressure on it. What happened, Sean?”

  “I have no idea,” Sean said. “I was … Well, I’d had a bit too much coke to drink, I guess. I was at the outhouses. Then, I was passing by the shed, and heard a noise, so I went in, and pow.” He grimaced. “God, I hope I don’t have a concussion.”

  “Me too.” Nora felt her stomach twist at his words. “So someone assaulted you while you were in the shed. Was this before or after the boat was removed from it?”

  “The boat was still in there,” Sean said. “But when I woke up again, it was gone. I had a tarp covering me, which is why the boat carriers probably didn’t notice me in the shed.”

  Nora shook her head. “Do you think the trail of blood we noticed was yours?”

  “Can’t be,” Sean said. “A body’d have to be dead to produce that much.” Seeing her face pale, he amended himself quickly. “We can’t be sure its blood, anyhow. It might just be… some prankster’s idea of a good time.”

  “That’s likely,” Nora nodded, relieved. “I guess… after what happened to Raquel, my mind leapt to the most horrible conclusions.”

  “It’s natural enough.” Sean put a hand on her cheek and stroked it. “It’s been a rough year for you.”

  “I’m not the one who got socked on the head, Sean. I think you’re the one in need of sympathy right now.” Nora smiled. “Now hang on here while I find the doctor.”

  “Well, Sheriff, if you’re done lying around, maybe you could come help us by doing your job?” Harvey said.

  Nora whirled around and saw Dr. Neil and Harvey approaching, both grim-faced.

  *****

  Chapter 8

  Nora felt like the entire town had spontaneously gathered at Anna’s Pancake House the next morning. They were all there for one reason of course. No matter how instant the internet made things, here in town, the fastest way to find out facts was to get out of your house and meet people.

  Nora smiled at Anna, the large Swedish proprietor who always wore a fluorescent-blue eyeshadow to complement her blonde hair. Somehow, it made Nora think of David Bowie.

  “What’s good today, Anna?”

  “Everything,” she said impatiently.

  Okay, message received, she’s swamped. No time for chit chat.

  “Um, I’ll try the cinnamon French toast,” Nora said. “Also a cup of elaichi tea please.”

  “Very well.” Anna turned around and yelled an order to the kitchen, then rung up the order. Blinking as Nora paid, she added, “I tasted your crepes yesterday, Nora.”

  “Oh.” Nora felt both embarrassed and proud. The truth was, Anna had run a competing pancake stall, which had received considerably less patronage than Nora’s.

  “If you need a job, I’d hire you,” Anna said. “Just until you fund yourself better.” She smiled, tore off the receipt and then made a dismissive gesture as Nora stuttered her thanks and excuses.

  No. Tempting as it was to be a chef in someone else’s kitchen, Nora had made up her mind to be an entrepreneur, and she was going to do it.

  “Over here, Nora,” Tina looked downcast as she waved Nora over.

  “Hey, Tina.” Nora smiled. She handed Tina an envelope. “Your share from yesterday.”

  “Ah, yes. Yesterday,” Tina shuddered. She took the envelope, peeked into it and exclaimed, “Nora! Did we really make that much? Or are you giving me extra?”

  “Never mind that now. You deserve every cent. Did you hear anything? I mean, about what happened? I wanted to stay back yesterday but, with few exceptions, Sean shooed everyone out of the field last night.”

  “It took them until 3am to finish putting out the fire and bringing the boat back to the mainland,” Tina said. “The boat-carriers were all part of the volunteer fire-brigade, so t
hat was a big help. Poor things, they were in total shock.”

  “It must be traumatic,” Nora said.

  “Ladies, may I join you? The place is packed today. Though heaven knows we’re all here for more than the pancakes.” Dr. Neil approached with a mug of coffee in one hand and a pancake stack topped with whipped cream in the other. It wobbled slightly as he lowered himself down next to Tina. He set it very carefully on the table and looked admiringly at it for a moment. “A sight for sore eyes, with a cherry on top,” he said. “This is my regular Saturday morning indulgence.”

  “How’s Sean, Doctor?” Nora asked. “He was hit on the head.”

  “Yes.” The doctor nodded gravely and adjusted his spectacles. “Sean. No concussion, luckily. The blow could have done some real damage. If it had been done with a little bit more force or a little to the right, we would have been dealing with two bodies, not one.”

  Tina leaned forwards. “You were there when they found him?”

  “I stayed until we found the body, yes,” Dr. Neil said. He dug into his pancakes with no hint of feeling, chomping them with glee. “These are amazing,” he said, pouring more syrup on.

  Nora pushed her own plate away, feeling a little sick. “Has the body been identified yet then?”

  “We have a good idea who it is.” Dr. Neil said. “It’s a man, mid to late twenties, healthy.” He shook his head. “But of course, it won’t be official until the lab checks and confirms with his dental records.”

  “It’s Wallis, isn’t it?” Tina asked. “He’s the only one no one’s seen since yesterday.”

  Dr. Neil pursed his lips. “Well, it wouldn’t be very ethical to tell. But let’s just say that hypothetically, it’s possible that Wallis fits the profile.”

  “That’s terrible,” Tina said. “I mean, I didn’t know him all that well, but he was a good man.”

  “Clearly not so good. Else no one would have wanted him dead.” The doctor finished up the last bites of his pancakes, then looked at Nora. “My dear, you look positively unwell. You haven’t touched your meal.”