Yesterday's Dust (41 page)

DAREE
GAZETTE
30
^TH
DECEMBER

Hero Sam Saves Author on Dark Road

Malcolm Fletcher, the 76-year-old author of nine best sellers, was clinically dead when Samuel Burton, in town for the celebration of his twin brother, Jack's, life, came upon the old man, collapsed on the side of a dark road, two kilometres west of Mallawindy on Christmas Eve. The quick actions of Samuel saved the life of
the elderly man.

Having ascertained there was no heartbeat and that breathing had ceased, Samuel Burton commenced mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and heart massage.

John Burton, son of the deceased Jack, and Mallawindy primary school teacher, saw the stationary headlights of his uncle's car. ‘I walked up to the road to investigate,' he said.

Believing Malcolm Fletcher to be beyond the help of
man, John called the local police station, and when Jeff Rowan could not be raised, he called for an ambulance, before returning to the scene where he found his uncle still on his knees, working over the old author.

‘There was definitely no heartbeat, John told reporters. ‘He was clinically dead.'

But Samuel, who had recently lost his wife of over forty years, refused to give up. He and John
then continued the resuscitation.

By the time the Daree ambulance arrived, half an hour later, Malcolm Fletcher was propped against the car, breathing without assistance. Samuel Burton, his work done, helped lift the 200 kilogram Malcolm Fletcher into the ambulance, then quietly returned to his car and drove away from the scene.

It was Constable Jeff Rowan who discovered the secret identity
of Malcolm Fletcher, a retired schoolteacher, who has lived in Mallawindy since the 1960s.

Having gone to his house after learning that the old author had been in possession of an illegal handgun he had owned since the war of 1945, Constable Rowan found bookshelves filled with copies of the author's novels and also several letters addressed to Coll M Chef-Marlet.

‘I'm his Number 1 fan. It didn't
take long for me to deduce that the name was an anagram,' Constable Rowan said. ‘We had a celebrity living in town and nobody knew it.'

Mr Fletcher, from his hospital bed, said yesterday that he had come upon the old gun in a drawer, and that he hadn't sighted it in over thirty years. He said he had no idea that there had been a bullet in it, or why he had taken it with him when he'd walked outside.

‘I was not thinking logically at the time. Having previously suffered three heart attacks, I recognised the pain and thought to walk across the road to my neighbour's house. I recall little else.'

It is assumed that when he fell, the handgun, a piece of German memorabilia Mr Fletcher had brought with him from England, exploded in his hands.

Doctors operated on the damaged hands yesterday. A
portion of the right index finger was removed, but when asked this morning if this would affect his writing, the old author said, ‘I'm a two finger typist.'

‘How much longer are you going to make your readers wait for Number 10?' a reporter asked.

‘Coming soon,' Chef-Marlet replied. ‘Coming soon.'

MORE BESTSELLING FICTION AVAILABLE FROM PAN MACMILLAN

Joy Dettman
Mallawindy

Ann Burton was born on a river bank the night her father tried to burn their house down.

Six years later her sister Liza disappears while they are staying at their uncle's property. What Ann sees that day robs her of her memory and her speech.

A stroke of unexpected humanity releases Ann from her world of silence,
and she escapes her anguished childhood, finding love and a new life away from Mallawindy.

But there is no escape from the Burton family and its dark secrets. Ann must return to Mallawindy and confront the past if she is ever to be set free.

‘We ride the crests and troughs of the Burtons' 30-year history with open mouths and saucer eyes . . . Dettman is an adept storyteller'
THE AGE

‘A highly
competent and confident debut novel'
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

‘A compelling story, well told . . . it holds promise of further enthralling fiction from its author'
CANBERRA TIMES

‘A stunning debut; a rich and engrossing read; a tale of page- turning suspense and mystery; a postmortem of family ties; all this and more,
Mallawindy
will grab you hook, line and sinker'
QUEENSLAND TIMES

Joy Dettman
Jacaranda Blue

From the best-selling author of
Mallawindy
, comes a tale of dark secrets, shameful lies and unexpected salvation.

For forty-four years Stella Templeton has been a dutiful daughter and a good citizen, living in Maidenville, population 2,800, a town where nothing happens. Until one hot summer afternoon . . .

An ugly act has lifted the respectable skirts of Maidenville
and mystery starts to surround the daughter of the local minister. Then the disappearance of a sixteen-year-old boy adds to the neighbourhood's confusion. Does something sinister lurk behind the neatly trimmed hedges and white picket fences that divide this sleepy town?

No one comes close to knowing the horrifying truth – but after forty-four years of self denial and duty, Stella Templeton is
finally beginning to blossom.

‘. . . a gripping small-town mystery . . . Dettman is brilliant at depicting the seemingly inconsequential murmurs of small-town life . . .'
SUN HERALD

‘. . . a pleasure to read . . .'
CANBERRA TIMES

‘The only disappointment in this book is reaching the end.'
HERALD SUN

Joy Dettman
Goose Girl

Sally De Rooze is almost thirty. She has survived the accident that killed her father and brothers. Her mother never forgave her for that. But she survived her mother too. Surviving is what she does best.

Farmer Ross Bertram, who offers her his acres and safety, is the answer for a while. Until he starts pushing for a wedding. Sally wants . . . wants more. Wants
to know great love. Wants to find herself. One year. That's what she wants. One year of freedom in the big, bad city.

Her survival skills are tested in the urban sprawl and she discovers more about herself than she had ever dared to imagine.

From the bestselling author of
Mallawindy
and
Jacaranda Blue
, comes a moving story about being set free.

‘. . . a can't-put-it down story'
NW

‘
Goose Girl
is not just a story to read about – it's one to think about'
THE EXAMINER

‘Dettman knows how to tell a story'
THE SUNDAY AGE

Katherine Scholes
The Rain Queen

Tighten your heart.
The phrase came to Kate in Swahili – with the voice of the African housemother who had led her away from the School Office, after she had been told. Told. Just like that. A man's mouth moving, words coming out. ‘Something terrible has happened . . .'

Kate has forgotten Africa. She no longer recalls stories about black witches and sloped-back
hyenas nor wants to know what happened at Langali Mission almost twenty years before. Her past is buried along with her missionary parents and the desire to know the truth is as distant to her as the sound of the village drums.

For Annah Mason, Africa is a land of contradictions. Her extraordinary life has taken her from a missionary hospital to the company of rainmakers, and deep into the heart
of the Waganga. But Annah's past contains a tragic secret. To find peace she must tell her story to the one woman who needs to listen. Who waits to be set free . . .

Two women, one terrible event, and a vast and beautiful country pulling them always back . . .

‘Moving and inspiring'
AUSTRALIAN GOOD TASTE

‘a fantastic and gripping read . . . a must-have'
THE EXAMINER

‘the natural and engaging
style . . . and abundance of stirring imagery soon make it hard to put down'
THE ADVOCATE

Catherine Jinks
The Notary

‘I told you,' said Gaillard, upon being pressed once more for information, ‘all I know is that he was slain and found by his scribe. And that his genitals were gone.'
‘Gone!' I exclaimed.
‘Not there. Vanished.'
‘Somebody stole them?'
‘A nun,' Othon remarked, unleashing a shout of laughter
.

Raymond Maillot is a lustful young notary who prefers wine, women and
song to the pursuit of professional renown. But when he's employed by Father Amiel, a sober Dominican monk charged with investigating a particularly shocking murder, his life begins to change.

Now Raymond is torn between his taste for irresponsible pleasures and his desire to find refuge in the church. His journey of self-discovery, however, begins with a severed penis.

The Notary
by award-winning
writer Catherine Jinks is a tantalisingly cryptic tale of dismemberment, debauchery and demonic visitation in fourteenth-century France.

Praise for Catherine Jinks

‘. . . queen of the narrative drive'
THE SUNDAY AGE

‘Jinks . . . deserves cult status'
VOGUE