Council of Peacocks by M Joseph Murphy Read Free Book Online Page B

and
led Jan away from the body.
    “She has to be in on it.” Jan stared down,
unable to meet Matt’s eyes. “There’s no way she didn’t know what
was going on down there.”
    “Still, you don’t know…”
    With fast, large steps, Josh walked over and
put a hand over Matt’s mouth. He put a finger against his own lips,
the sign for silence, and looked around the room.
    It was a pleasant kitchen. There were two
other doors, one leading outside and the other into the guts of the
house. The walls, painted yellow with white trim, were lined with
glass-covered cabinets. Inside, cups and dishes reflected the light
that shone through the large window embedded in the western wall.
Looking through the window, Josh saw the sun setting behind a
distant row of trees. In between the house and the woods was a
large red barn. Two brown horses ate hay in a pen. Josh saw
movement. A man in overalls, with large arms and a pitchfork, ran
toward the house.
    Before Josh could react, something smashed
into his head. Everything spun, the world blurring. It stopped when
he hit the floor.
    He saw a thin, black-haired man hitting Matt
in the knees with a hammer. An olive-skinned man in a white
ceremonial robe pointed a shotgun at Rebecca and Jan. Two redheaded
men, who looked to be identical twins, stared down at Josh. Like
the men below, they bore an uncanny resemblance to Robert
Redford.
    ‘Brothers,’ Josh thought. ‘What kind of
family is this?’
    “Damn maggot,” one of the twins said. “You
killed me mumsy.”
    The other twin kicked Josh in the ribs. Josh
felt something crack. He coughed up blood. Then both twins began to
kick him repeatedly.
    He heard a door open. The beating
stopped.
    “What the hell happened?”
    Josh looked up from the floor. It was the
large man with the pitchfork.
    “They killed Mumsy, Sasha,” one of the
Redford twins said. “Shot her like a bleeding animal. Let me skin
him alive.”
    Sasha, the man with the pitchfork, stepped
forward and looked down at Josh. “You know we can’t. Otto will have
our heads if he dies. Go check on the others.”
    “But…”
    Sasha slammed the butt of the pitchfork
against the hardwood floor. “Check on them now! Remember why we’re
doing this.”
    One of the Redford twins kicked Josh in the
head before stomping off downstairs.
    From the floor, Josh looked around the room.
It hurt to move his head, so his view was limited. Matt held up
hands covered in blood as he screamed in pain. One leg twisted at
an unnatural angle. Josh couldn’t see much of the women from where
he was, only their legs and the man who held the gun on them.
    ‘If ever there was a time for a miracle, this
is it.’ he thought. Nothing happened. ‘Oh well. Guess I’ll have to
make my own luck this time.’ He closed his eyes and focused past
the pain, numbing it.
    Then, he opened his eyes and sprung.
    With his right hand he grabbed the remaining
Redford twin by the crotch. He pulled down and twisted as hard as
he could. The man fell to his knees. Josh slammed his elbow into
the man’s nose. The man holding the shotgun pivoted, pointing the
gun at him. Josh spun behind the Redford twin. He lifted him back
up to his feet by the hair. Josh had another human shield.
    The man with the shotgun cocked it, readying
it for fire.
    ‘Don’t know if this will protect me or not,’
he thought. ‘Better not chance it.’ He twisted the twin’s head with
a sharp jerk. There was a wet crunch and the neck broke.
    “You mother….” The man with the shotgun
fired, the sound drowning out his curse. Josh dropped, rolling away
from the blast. He yelped as the movement brought sharp pain to his
ribs.
    “Josh!” Jan cried out for him. She curled her
fist and punched the man with the shotgun in the back of the head.
His head flew forward and Jan hammered her hands down on his skull.
He fell.
    The man with the hammer left Matt and slammed
the hammer into Jan’s side. At the same time Sasha raised