Murder and Mayhem by B L Hamilton Read Free Book Online Page B

village?”
Nicola asked.
    “A walk around the village would be great. After
sitting in cramped quarters for fourteen hours it would be good to stretch my
legs and clear the cobwebs from my head,” Danny said.
    As Nicola backed the car onto the road and headed down
the hill a blue Taurus pulled out from behind a dark green Blazer and followed.
    Danny noticed a sign at the end of a driveway as
Nicola negotiated a sharp hairpin bend. It said it was a private driveway, not
a public road. “Seems a bit like stating the obvious,” he said.
    “You would think so but some of the roads around here
are extremely narrow and a lot of homes hidden from view so people unfamiliar
with the area often mistake driveways for streets–especially curious tourists.”
    “You would think the absence of a street name would be
a clue.”
    “Not necessarily. Some of the street signs are a
little hard to see. And besides, I think people are just plain curious and want
to see what’s up there, hidden out of sight,” Nicola said, grinning.
    “Point taken, you’re obviously a better judge of human
nature than me.”
     At the bottom of the hill, Nicola turned onto Cascade
Drive and drove down a narrow lane where quaint cottages were set amongst
trees, and a silvery stream flowed under wooden bridges and ran beside paths
that disappeared up driveways where houses were hidden behind giant redwood
trees. The soft riffle of water could be heard through the car’s open windows
as it washed over smooth pebbles on a creek bed streaked with moss.
    The sound of running water grew louder as the BMW
rounded a bend. Nicola pulled into a cut-out at the base of the falls and
turned off the engine. “Cascade Falls,” she said smiling extending both hands.
    Danny opened the door and climbed out. He shoved his
hands in the hip pockets of his jeans−and looked around. “This is nice.
It’s like something you’d see on a postcard.”
    They stood a short distance apart at the base of the
waterfall. Nicola pointed to a narrow path that wound its way through thick
undergrowth and disappeared over the rim at the top. “There are a lot of little
used trails up there. But you have to be careful you don’t get lost because the
water could turn into a raging torrent without warning if there’s a storm
further upstream. It might not look like much at the moment but you have no
idea how suddenly that could change.”
    Nicola pointed after a blue Taurus as it disappeared
around the bend up ahead.
    “Just beyond that bend, Cascade Drive winds up through
the forest and becomes little more than a dirt track. It’s a pretty drive in
fine weather but not so good in bad. A few hardy souls live there but four
legged creatures tend to outnumber the two legged variety,” she said as a shaft
of sunlight made its way through the trees and turned the cascading water to
quicksilver.
    Danny wandered over to the rail on the other side of
the road and wrapped his hands around the old gray timber. He looked at the
water spilling out from beneath the asphalt covered bridge and watched it
tumble over rocks and ferns as it washed against long tendrils of heart’s ease
that grew along the mossy banks flitting between sunlight and shadows. All
around was a quiet stillness as a breeze ruffled through the leaves of live
oaks and maples and birch trees, and sent leaves dancing through the air.
    The trill of a songbird drew his eyes up to where the
sun dripped through the treetops. Danny put his hand up and squinted into the
sun and watched a bird glide gracefully through the trees and disappear in the
forest canopy. The air was sweet with the scent of something he didn’t
recognize.
    “Is it always this quiet?” he asked as Nicola came up
beside him and leaned into the rail.
    “Pretty much. Occasionally some cyclists come here but
because the road becomes a dirt track it’s mainly just locals. We do get the
odd hiker but it’s off the beaten track. They tend to go to Muir Woods