Chapter 1
“Get back!” Chris Carols yelled as his eyes trained on the sharp blade of the vicious ax. Deep inside Chris knew he wasn't much of a fighter. As a matter of fact, he was a very gentle man, and violence was not in his nature. In college, he hit the gym a few times and even took a few boxing lessons, but...well...he just didn't possess the hunger to hurt another man. It seemed better to Chris to spread love and peace. “Get back!”
The crazy man holding the sharp ax leaned his head back and burst out laughing. “Boy, if I was a real killer, you'd be minced meat by now!”
Chris glanced at Candy. Candy was standing in front of Betty in a protective position. Candy remained tense and was prepared to run. “Who are you?” Chris demanded.
“My name is Peppermint Tolsky, but my friends just call me Peppermint.” He answered with an accent that sounded a bit southern. He lowered the ax he was holding, stopped laughing and grinned. Boy did he love a good prank. “You should have seen your faces. I needed a good laugh this morning. You bet.”
Candy took in Peppermint's appearance. The man looked to be about fifty years old with a grayish brown beard, grayish brown hair that needed a trim, a face that kind of looked like Dennis Quaid, deep green eyes, and dressed like a lumberjack, wearing a brown winter hat. “What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I was chopping wood, but then I stopped because I needed to drink some Pepto-Bismol. I put pepper on my eggs this morning and should have known better. Gives me gas.” Peppermint patted his stomach. “I sure love my peppers, though.”
“No...what I mean...what are you doing on this island? This is a private island and this is a private residence,” Candy clarified without relaxing her voice. She wanted answers. Unfortunately, she wasn't a forceful woman.
“I've been living on this island for years. I'm the groundskeeper,” Peppermint explained and then rolled his eyes. He leaned down on his ax in a curious way. “I take it my old boss man didn't tell you folks about me. I kind of figured he didn't when I scared you the way I did. I did have a good laugh, though.”
Chris relaxed a little. “Scaring these women wasn't funny, sir—”
“Name is Peppermint.”
“Well...Peppermint...a prank has its limits,” Chris tried to scold him. He failed miserably. Why? Because Peppermint had scared a hundred years out of everyone. A good laugh was needed. “Well, I guess it was funny...on your part. Not on our part. You could have been a crazed killer for all we knew.”
“I am crazy.” Peppermint grinned. “I work here, don't I? And speaking of work, I still need a job and the news owners…” Peppermint nodded at Candy and Betty, “still need a groundskeeper. Even if you don't need a groundskeeper, I'm still under contract for the next ten years. I'm not going anywhere, and a raise would be nice.”
“A raise? After you scared us the way you did?” Betty stepped forward. “I should throw you off this island!”
“In ten years you can,” Peppermint spoke in an easy voice. “I signed a twenty-year contract when I was forty. I'm fifty now. A bit older, but I can still chop wood with the best of them.”
“Look,” Chris held up his right hand, “let's not let our tempers get the best of us.”
“I don't have a temper,” Peppermint pointed out. “I'm as easygoing as a fish swimming in the ocean. She has a temper, though.” Peppermint nodded at Betty and then grinned. “I guess I did scare her pretty good. Guess she has the right to be sour at me.”
“You could have given me a heart attack!” Betty plowed into Peppermint. “I'm sixty-eight years old. My heart isn't as strong as it used to be! You should be ashamed of yourself!”
“You're still kicking.” Peppermint kept up his grin.
Candy could tell Peppermint was an easygoing man who simply liked a good laugh. He saw three stooges, who he could scare, and took advantage of the situation. No harm. No foul. “Mr.—”
“Call me Peppermint.”
“Peppermint, do you have any family?” Candy asked.
“Wife died when I was thirty-seven. We were married for seventeen years,” Peppermint answered without showing too much emotion concerning the subject. “My wife died of cancer. We tried to have children but couldn't. Wasn't God's plan, I guess.”
“I'm...sorry. I didn't mean to—” Candy began to apologize.
“Don't be sorry. Life on this earth is short. My wife is waiting for me in Heaven. In the meantime,” Peppermint stopped leaning on his ax, “I'm not going to Heaven until God says it's time. That means I've got to keep living...which means I need a job.” Peppermint looked around. “For the next ten years, my job is to take care of the grounds on this little island, and I intend to do just that...but not for free. My old boss paid me every Friday. I expect the same from you.”
“How much did my cousin pay you?”
Peppermint frowned. “My old boss was rich but cheap. Because I'm allowed to have a room upstairs, he deducted what he called myliving expensesfrom my pay. I was hired on at two grand a week. I ended up being paid seven hundred dollars a week, but all of my expenses, such as food and housing, were paid for. Guess I shouldn't complain.”
“Well...two thousand a week—” Candy began.
“One hundred and four thousand dollars a year...” Betty cut in. She grabbed Candy's hand and pulled her back a few feet. “Should we pay that prankster so much money or make him leave?”
Candy glanced over her shoulder. Peppermint leaned back down on his ax. “He has a contract—”
