Chapter 1

Saturday morning found me driving down a country road to a small seaside town called The Narrows. The road was a single lane of bitumen with a gravel verge on either side; when traffic met, the procedure was for both vehicles to pull over to the side to allow passing. It was not uncommon to see the local cars sporting 'bulls eyes' and cracked windscreens; as they say "It goes with the territory."

The Narrows is surrounded by a National Park with a large lake frontage; it was one of Australia's best kept secrets. No electricity, a shaky telephone line that was often down. Water was from either the rain collected off the roof or iron stained water from bores that were hand dug with augers and pumped to the surface with windmills. A general store cum petrol station cum hardware cum pub was the only commercial establishment in town, it served as a church on Sunday and a meeting place as required. Dense ti tree on uninhabited blocks made the town a high fire risk but the locals loved the place.

I was on my way to visit my old friend and mentor Jack Bell and his lovely wife Margie. Jack had guided me when I was growing up and kept me on the straight and narrow. When they retired Margie and Jack build a home on The Narrows and were living their golden years at peace with nature and the wildlife in the area. I tried to visit as often as I could, enjoying the peace and tranquillity that the village had to offer.

As I pulled into the driveway Margie came out to greet me, I thought it a bit odd that Jack wasn't with her.

"Hello Tony, it's great to see you again, Jack's inside, he's feeling a bit off colour but he's really looking forward to seeing you."

"It's always a pleasure to see you both Margie, you're looking well."

"Thanks love, it's the fresh air that keeps me that way, anyhow come on in and say hello to the man."

When I stepped into the living room I got the shock of my life, Jack was sitting in his chair, rugged up. He was sporting two black eyes and a swollen split lip, his nose also appeared to be broken. "What the hell happened to you Jack, did you smash your car?"

"No Tony, I had a run in with Barry Hall," he lisped through his split lips.

Margie spoke up and told me the whole story. Jack had been driving along the road when a ute closed in on him from behind, Jack pulled over to allow it to pass him, in doing so he showered the other vehicle with gravel. The driver of the other vehicle forced Jack into the scrub on the side of the road, the driver, Barry Hall, pulled Jack out of his car and belted the crap out of him.

"Did you report this to the Police Jack? People can't just go around bashing folk up like that"

"No he didn't Tony, one belting is enough, no need to go looking for more trouble. Just lick the wounds and get on with life."

"I'm not with you Margie, assault is a punishable offence, why would there be more trouble?"

"You remember old Barney Peterson? Hall belted him up a few years back, Barney went to the police and they arrested Hall. His family are big business people with a lot of clout, Barry got off with a caution. That should have been the end of the story, but a few months later 'someone unknown' belted Barney up again, he didn't see his attacker. That's why we don't want to go to the cops."

"Christ Margie, he can't get away with this..."

"Tony, leave it be, please."

I was seething that some arsehole could do this to Jack, it was totally wrong. Margie was upset that I would try to even the score. I didn't want to upset her any more so I dropped the subject but not in my mind. This bastard is going to pay and pay dearly.

"Let's talk of more pleasant things Tony, how are the girls going?"

Margie was referring to my twin daughters, Tess and Tania both aged twelve, whom I had raised single handed since the unfortunate demise of my dear wife several years ago.

"Both well and growing faster than I can keep up with them, if I didn't own my own business I'd be on the road to the poor house. I think females are born with a spending gene."

"And how is your novelty store going these days?"

"Very good, we've just got in a shipment of blow up toys."

"Not them things that dirty old men buy I hope?"

"Not in the novelty shop Margie, we do have them in the adult store the other side of town though. You might be surprised to know that it isn't only men that buy the blow ups, women also buy them too."