The Barkerville Bank Robbery- Chapter 1

A fiction short story by Norman D. W. MacDonald
This is an early draft.
A protected work via Author Copyright. All rights reserved.
Echo Dawn Media.

The story is not written yet. I just have an idea of what to write. You get to read it as each chapter unfolds.


THE BARKERVILLE BANK ROBBERY
A Cornelia Barkman Case File – Case #0001

Chapter 1
I am getting old. Jenny my daughter is in university. It has been a busy 21 years. Now, it is time to settle down and enjoy retirement with my darling husband. I have been reviewing some of my case files, so I thought I would share some of them with you.

But first, a bit about me. Jenny came along when I was thirty something. When I found out I was pregnant, I was horribly embarrassed because I was unmarried. I had been a police detective for seven years. I always kept my emotions in check and handled my cases with logic and emotional detachment. Getting emotional just clouded my mind, so I stayed cool and in control. It was not all that hard. You see, I am a big woman, not fat but big, I am five-foot eleven and sturdy. I can handle myself and have strong sense of self-worth. I don’t sway easily. Some men feel intimidated by me, though I don’t consciously do it to them unless I need to. I learned at an early age to handle myself.

I have my father and Yoshi Matsumara to thank for that. My father took me camping, hunting and fishing. He taught me about the woods and the wild. Sadly, he died in a plane crash when I was eleven. Yoshi, my sensei, taught me martial arts and his teaching of Aikido defined me.

I was a loner in school. I was more a tomboy than a girly girl, so the other girls couldn’t relate to me. My size scared the boys away. What guy wants to go out with a girl bigger and stronger than them? Martial arts filled the empty gap. Yoshi was like a father to me.

I had one almost serious relationship with a man right after high school. Roger slipped into my life and became my friend. He was murdered just when our relationship was warming up. His death led me into police work. I miss Roger.

When I found I was pregnant, I left the police force and never told anyone why. I was a detective with the RCMP detachment in Nanaimo for almost four years. I returned to Nelson to live with my mother in our large family home. She was not as young as she once was and needed help to care for the house and its lovely gardens. She would be a good support for me and she was thrilled to finally be a grandmother.

I didn’t know where Jenny’s father went and he didn’t know about her. I was too embarrassed to find him and tell him. I decided to go it alone with my mother’s help.

He was a private detective and one our cases crossed paths. We were working at night investigating a case when ‘it’ happened. I don’t know how ‘it’ happened; I barely knew the guy. It was certainly out of character for me. I had never done ‘it’ before or since. Well, not until I got married. Even writing about it after all these years embarrasses me.

Just so, you don’t think I am a horrible person. I loved Jenny from the moment I found out I was pregnant and loved her much more after she was born. After Jenny turned one, her father came to see us. Somehow, he had heard about her. He never told me how he knew and I didn’t ask. A big case had kept him away from Nanaimo and I was gone when he came back. No one knew where I went. He said he missed me, in fact, he said he loved me ever since that moment and wanted to marry me. My cool logical nature did not leap at his proposal. He would have to earn it. We started dating. It took a year until I was sure he was the right man for me and Jenny. Troy and I have been happily married all these years.

We have had a successful private detective agency since getting married.

There you have it, a bit of my history.

Well, let’s get on with my first case as a private detective.