Peril in the Park Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Epigraph

  Welcome Packet

  Chapter 1: New Day, New Perils

  Chapter 2: Reports and Progress

  Chapter 3: RTFM

  Chapter 4: A Walk in the Park

  Chapter 5: Welcome to Hemisphere

  Chapter 6: Earning a Daily Wage

  Chapter 7: Time Clocks, Boxes and Bears

  Chapter 8: Revelations

  Chapter 9: Education

  Call To Action

  Other Hemisphere Stories

  The Hemisphere City Planners can be contacted at

  Please Help

  Peril in the Park

  A Hemisphere Story

  G. Oldman

  Copyright © 2017 G Oldman

  All rights reserved.

  To the Sprinters, Good friends one and all. Thank you for making Hemisphere happen.

  Epigraph

  "The world is a crazy, beautiful, ugly complicated place, and it keeps moving on from crisis to strangeness to beauty to weirdness to tragedy."

  -David Remnick

  A Public Service Announcement from the Hemisphere City Planners

  Welcome to Hemisphere. We are a quirky little town created by four writers who followed along when Billy Baltimore asked, "Hey, let's do a series set in this odd little town." Being like-minded about it, we all agreed. We all agreed to pen names as what we are writing about falls outside of what our regular readers expect from us. It was Billy's idea, again.

  To navigate the strange streets of Hemisphere, it would help to get a copy of the HEMISPHERE ORIENTATION AND NEW RESIDENTS PACKET. Yep, it is a long name for a pretty important thing. If you like things that go bump in the night, this little gem will help you with that. Everything you need to know and probably a dozen things you don't are included within.

  We hope this guide to our fair city will help you. To get your very own copy, click the link below.

  Http://www.subscribepage.com/d8n7d2

  Hope to hear from you soon, neighbor.

  - G. Oldman

  Chapter 1: New Day, New Perils

  Sergeant Daniel Corgan had been on the job in Hemisphere for just under a year. He transferred with his family to this out of the way town to get flee from the urban angst of Atlanta. However, that short amount of time here showed him that small towns can be many things. For instance, the current case he was called out of bed to address.

  He parked on the grass in the center of the small park. Exiting his patrol car, Daniel walked up to the ambulance. The paramedics were working on a woman in hysterics. She lay on the ground. They hadn't beaten him by much.

  As he approached, he could see that her legs were covered in blood. The dispatcher said something about a dog attack. He saw a significant bite on her right calf and multiple bites on her left. To her side lay a cell phone she must have used to call nine-one-one.

  He pulled out his notepad and jotted down his initial impressions of the scene. He stood back to let the paramedics do their work. When one of the paramedics lifted a hypodermic needle, Daniel stopped him.

  "Hey, do you mind if I ask her a question before you drug her up?"

  The paramedic looked annoyed at first but just nodded his head as his partner continued to tend to her wounds. He examined the woman and noted she was already on something. Her glassy eyes had trouble focusing.

  Daniel leaned in to the woman and asked, "Excuse me, Miss? May I ask you a few questions?"

  She rolled her head and looked up at him. "It was frickin' huge! Never seen a damn two headed dog before. One head bit each leg. I tell you it had the devil in its eyes. Ha! But I bet it never saw my mace coming."

  She looked to the ground and found her can of mace. Thrusting it triumphantly in the air, she pressed the button on it.

  "Aaaagggh!" The paramedic working on her legs rolled to the side and cursed violently. Corgan sidestepped and snatched the can out of her hands.

  Well that explained how someone as lit as this lady scared off a determined dog.

  "Ma'am, Please don't do that again. What's your name?"

  The paramedic didn't get a direct dose of the chemical in his eyes but enough to burn. The second medic gave Daniel a dirty look then grabbed the eyewash from their gear bag and flushed his partner's eyes.

  "Who, me?" She slurred. "Why I am Cynthia Potter. And I... Huugggghhhheeaaaahhhh."

  Her eyes crossed, and she leaned to her left and threw up an amazing amount of material. For a tall but thin woman, it appeared that she let loose half of her body weight in vomit.

  The paramedics just sighed and went back to work. Different day, same situations. Soon they had her legs cleaned and bandaged. Cynthia was incoherent anyway so Daniel waved to the paramedic to shoot her up. Which he did with alacrity.

  "Officer, we've had to deal with Cynthia on one of her benders before. She has walked through glass sliding doors, wrecked her car and fallen down stairs. This is the first time she ran into trouble that wasn't self-inflicted," said the paramedic with the very red eyes.

  "Did she say anything to you when you got here?"

  The other paramedic took over, "Nah. We only beat you here by a couple of minutes. She was raging about some dog. But it made little sense. It could have been two dogs, or she is so drunk that she's seeing double and it's only one. Who ever heard of a two-headed dog?"

  "Cerebus."

  "What?"

  "You know, Greek mythology. The dog that guarded Hades. But I think he had three heads."

  The paramedic gave him a look as if Daniel had sprouted another head.

  The red eyed paramedic returned to their ambulance and pulled out the gurney. Dawn wouldn't break for another two hours yet and the day was already weird.

  Daniel looked around the area and found tracks in the soft mud near the running path in the park. It was an unusually large print. He took out his camera phone and snapped a picture of it. Something had attacked Madame Barfs-a-lot, and it's possible this could have been the dog. Those bites were nasty, and she was lucky to have survived. He was impressed that she scared the thing off. He would need to visit her in the hospital to interview her again once she was sober.

  Chapter 2: Reports and Progress

  Daniel arrived in the late morning at the hospital. It didn't take him long to find out from the receptionist, what room Cynthia Potter was in. He headed up the elevator to the third floor. His first stop was the nurse's station. He always found that if he talked to them before, he had less of a hassle when interviewing suspects, witnesses or victims. He let the nurses feel as if they had some say in what he was going to do.

  This proved to be no exception. The very pretty nurse smiled at him.

  "Of course officer, you may go in and interview Ms. Potter. This isn't her first visit and I doubt it will be her last."

  "Excuse me? I don't think I understand," said Daniel.

  "Why, Ms. Potter ends up here every few months. She forgets the rules and suffers the consequences. I don't think she will ever learn. I mean, who on earth walks through that park at night, anyway. That is an invitation for trouble."

  Daniel nodded his head in agreement. He would never let his kids walk through a park at night back in Atlanta. It was far too dangerous. It was probably the same everywhere now. He thought coming to a small town, he could escape the gangs and drugs but that was wishful thinking on his part. It was life in modern America. So different from when he was a child.

  "Well, thank you for letting me see her. Do you know if she is sobered up yet?"

  The pretty nurse laughed, "Oh yes. She has a powerful hangover. It may be enough to keep her out of trouble for a couple of days."
br />   Daniel smiled and winked at the nurse. He needed to remember to get her name and phone number later, but duty first. He headed down the hall to Cynthia's room.

  He knocked lightly at the door and heard a groan from inside. Taking that for permission, he pushed it open and saw the most miserable creature lying on the hospital bed.

  Cynthia Potter had a washcloth across her forehead. Her sheets were tangled around her body. Her left leg was outside of the covers and tightly wrapped in gauze bandages. Her face was pale, and she moaned lightly as she clutched her head in pain.

  In a barely audible whisper, "Please don't beat on the door. My head is killing me."

  Daniel tried to be sympathetic but years of working the Atlanta streets and dealing with addicts numbed him somewhat toward their misery. He lowered his speaking voice to try to account for her condition.

  "Ma'am, my name is Officer Corgan. I saw you in the park after your attack. I was hoping you could give me a statement."

  She closed her eyes and muttered, "Oh yeah. Did I puke on you? Sorry if I did. Had a hell of a party last night."

  "I'm sure you did. No, you didn't get me. My cat like reflexes kicked in."

  The joke bombed horribly as she didn't react.

  "Would you be able to tell me more about the attack?" Daniel continued.

  "You know, they won't even let me have a real drink here. They only are offering me water, juice or coffee. That is hardly hospitable. You wouldn't happen to have something more with you, would you?"

  "No, ma'am. I am on duty and it isn't even noon yet."

  "Oh, right. I won't tell anyone, don't you worry. Yeah, last night. That was the damn biggest dog I had ever seen. I almost peed myself when I saw it have two heads. I didn't know they came that way. But strange stuff always seems to happen in this town. It's not like we have a nuke reactor to blame that stuff on. I mean I'd get it if we were near Three Mile Island or that Russian place, Cherrynoble."

  "You mean Chernobyl?"

  "That's the one," she said swinging her arm for emphasis. She groaned at the pain brought about by the motion.

  "How much did you have to drink last night?"

  "Good question. There was a party at the Drag Inn. I had three glasses of punch. Then there were a couple of beers. Oh, Jamie bought me one of those fruity drinks with an umbrella in it. There was another handsome guy that treated me to a few shots. I had a great time."

  Daniel wrote the details in his notebook, "Ok, when did you leave the Drag Inn?"

  He had seen the place before on patrol but had never stepped foot on the property, it gave him a weird vibe.

  "I'm not sure. It was after two. I walked and did everything by the book. I made it from plaque to plaque, just like it says in the manual. I know what I am doing at night."

  Daniel put down his pen. "What manual?"

  Cynthia gave him a gaped mouth stare. "THE MANUAL!" she screeched, then clutched her head in pain.

  She opened one eye and looked Daniel up and down.

  "Are you new here to Hemisphere?"

  Daniel shrugged, "I've been here a couple of weeks."

  "Didn't your real estate agent give you a manual?"

  "Maybe, there was a bunch of paperwork that we got with the purchase of the house. I didn't read it all. Who does?"

  She put her hands down and the washcloth fell off of her forehead onto the bed, "Everyone needs to read the manual. Otherwise, Hemisphere isn't a safe place."

  She had earnest eyes that bored into Daniel. "Look, I know the locals don't tell you much. That is our bad. You have to know what is going on around here. I can't explain it. The dog is part of it. Hell, everything weird is Hemisphere. It's like nothing else in the world. It either scares you off, kills you or you fall in love with it. This is my home. I love my town. But there are things you need to understand. They are in the manual. Please, go read it, for your own sake. Then come back and we can talk. Otherwise you are going to put something in your report that could get you fired. Go!"

  She was so intense about this; Daniel closed his notebook and just nodded. He left the room still uncertain as to what happened to her. But now he needed to find that manual.

  Chapter 3: RTFM

  After his shift, Daniel returned home. His conversation with Cynthia Potter had left him so bewildered that he forgot to ask the pretty nurse for a name or a number. That frustrated him but not as much as needing to know what the hell was in the manual.

  He pulled in the driveway and made straight for the living room. In there, he had a storage ottoman where he had placed all of his moving documents. He hadn't set up his office yet and didn't even have furniture for it so the footstool was as useful as anyplace else he could store stuff.

  Daniel went through the documents. There was the security deed, the pile of papers he signed at the closing and letters of termite inspection. He also found the warranties for the roof that was replaced last year and for all the major appliances. All were useless as far as Daniel was concerned. Finally, there was a sealed manila envelope. In big red letters stenciled across the front were the words, "Open First, Read Immediately."

  He broke the seal on the envelope and pulled out a manual. It was the size of a magazine with the rather stark text "HEMISPHERE ORIENTATION AND NEW RESIDENTS PACKET - FAILURE TO READ COULD RESULT IN CALAMITY OR DEATH BY MISADVENTURE."

  The all caps of the title made him raise his eyebrows.

  "This is interesting," he said out loud to the empty room.

  He glanced at his watch. The kids should come home soon. He also had to get to his second job in a bit. He laid the manual on his chair and went to change clothes.

  Now dressed in his work uniform, khakis and a blue polo shirt, he returned to his chair. The first page of the manual read like a promotional brochure for the town. It listed the schools and their recent achievements. Talked about the local soccer team and highlighted the work of the town's Better Business Bureau in attracting new businesses to the town. Tourist attractions and several popular bed and breakfasts were some of the featured items.

  The word breakfast did him in. His stomach rumbled, and he put down the packet to get dinner before he had to leave. He opened the fridge and found leftovers. There was chicken he had made yesterday. That went into the microwave. A minute later he was eating over the sink. The manual once again forgotten.

  Chapter 4: A Walk in the Park

  They met outside the High School on the large brass plaque laid in the ground. It was big and round and about twice the size of a manhole cover. It had to cost the city a fortune to put this in place.

  Peter looked at his watch as he an Edmund waited for Susan to meet up with them. They had finished their scout meeting about fifteen minutes ago. Cheer leading practice should have ended before their meeting.

  "I bet she is talking to Gary Eliason again. She has the hots for him" Edmund pronounced with the assurance of someone who didn't realize they had no idea of what he was going on about.

  "I don't trust that guy. She is only a freshman, and he is a junior. But she's going to ask him to drive all of us home tonight. That would be something. Hey, how much work did you get done on your First Aid merit badge?"

  Edmund's face lit up, "I finished all the requirements. Mr. Baxter signed off on it tonight. Just two more to go and I will have what I need to rank up to First Class."

  "Nice job. I thought you were close. I spent the meeting trying to figure out what my Eagle project will be. Back home, I had ten different ideas. Here, I don't have a clue."

  "Hey, this is home now. It's not so bad; they made you Senior Patrol Leader. What is there to complain about?"

  "I don't know what it is, Edmund. This town just feels so different. I can't put my finger on it but it's strange. You know what I mean?"

  Edmund just shrugged when they heard footsteps behind them. They turned and saw Susan walking toward them. Her mascara had run down her face and she was crying.

  Peter walked to her and put h
is arm protectively around her shoulders, "Hey, what happened sis?"

  He pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and checked that it was still clean before handing it to her.

  "Thanks, Peter. That asshole Gary tried to feel me up. He said he wouldn't take us home if I didn't let him."

  "Crap, what did you do?" asked Edmund.

  "I punched him in the nuts with a roll of quarters like Daddy taught me to," Susan said with flippant indifference.

  Both Peter and Edmund winced in sympathetic pain.

  "I guess we are walking tonight," said Edmund.

  "It's not that far. What, about a mile and a half?" said Peter.

  Susan nodded, "thanks guys. Let's get started."

  Peter looked one more time at the plaque. He read the inscription.

  "In memory of the men of Hemisphere: who gave their lives to Protect and serve the community and Those who could not defend themselves. Erected by the town council Here on this date 10/7/1970."

  "That is the weirdest marker I have ever seen. It doesn't even say what it is for. Look at it. Nobody proofed it. The capitalization is all off. I mean the thing is solid brass. You would think they would be more careful with something that would be expensive like that." said Peter.

  The other two looked at the marker and had to agree.

  Susan shook her head, "And they put that little gem in front of the school. Makes me so confident in the quality of education we are getting here. And we thought Georgia public schools were bad."

  They set off. They moved through the empty parking lot to the street corner. Across from the school was Big Ed's Chicken and Waffles. Big Ed's stayed open later than any other restaurant in town. They didn't close until eleven pm. It was only eight fifteen, and the place was hopping. The lot was well lit and shone like a sole beacon of hope in an otherwise desolate landscape. Hemisphere shut down when the sun went down. Big Ed didn't seem to worry about convention.

  They crossed the empty street and turned left to head down the sidewalk. The kids already had dinner and didn't want their Dad to worry, so they skipped going to Big Ed's for one of his cookie dough milk shakes. They were the best and the three kids were sorely tempted but stayed true to their course.