Deadly Waters - Chapter One
This is my latest story. The writers block is over and I hope you enjoy reading my latest works.
Sheriff Jareth Langley looked down at the body now wrapped in a silicon body bag. Inside was the remains of a fourteen year old boy who had been in the area kayaking with his family. He couldn't believe he had just seen the boy happy, alive, and well just days before as they shopped the local general store in town. The small town of Sidney, New York was supposed to be a getaway from all the hustle and bustle of the big city life. The small town was near the river Susquehanna which ran into the bigger water ways of the state of New York. Jareth looked at the Coroner Robert Gregory, "So what do you think it was Rob?"
Rob didn't look so sure himself of what it could have been. "I'm not so sure Sheriff." He answered shortly. It looked as though the boy had been attacked by some men eating shark. Truth be known there was no such thing as sharks in the Susquehanna River. Not even in the Hudson which was a major river in New York. So what had attacked the boy? Hours later Sheriff Jareth sat in his office typing away the police report. He looked down at his phone and hesitated. There was one person he could call and that would be his ex-wife Lydia Langley. Lydia was working for the New York City Museum of Natural History and was a Paleontologist.
He called the number and Lydia's voice came on shortly. "Lydia Langley can I help you?" Jareth hesitated once more in talking to her. Maybe he should just hang up and if she called back he'd say it was a mistake in calling her. Jareth finally said, "Lydia it's Jareth. I know I'm the last person you expected to hear from. I really need you though, to come over to Sidney and take a look at something. I think this is out of our reach." There was a moment of silence and then Lydia came back on. "I'll see what I can do Jareth. It's funny you can't call me about Sarah or Will but you can call me about a case you're working on. I'll be there in a few hours."
Later that evening, Jareth met Lydia in the Diner on the outside Sidney and they went together to the city Morgue. He unzipped the body bag and looked down at the decaying body. She grabbed a pair of latex gloves and slipped them on. She took a scalpel and a pair of surgical scissors and started to look at the body. She looked at Jareth, "These bite marks seemed to be from some sort of carnivorous fish. There is not carnivorous fish in the Susquehanna River. I am going to take a sample with me back to the museum and try to match it up with some of the fish around the world and see what I come up with."
Jareth looked at her intently, "How long do you think it will take you to get the results we're looking for?" Lydia sighed, "Give me till noon tomorrow." She left and went back to New York City and rest would not come to Jareth that evening. He kept dreaming of sharks swimming in the Susquehanna River. When he went into the office the next morning at 8 am Lydia was there waiting on him. Lydia looked at him, "I think we have a serious problem on our hands here. These bite marks on the body are linked to piranha fish in South America. I don't think we have those fish in our rivers."
Jareth studied his ex-wife for a moment and then sighed. "So what are we going to do? If I go out there and tell everyone there is a killer fish on the loose it's going to scare half of the tourists away and the majority of our town is going to go broke. Our major source here is that river." She shrugged, "Would you rather lose thousands of people's lives or close down the water way until we can research and find out what it is we're dealing with?"
Jareth nodded closing his eyes and feeling a headache coming on. It was the life he led in being their sheriff. Years earlier he and Lydia had met in a cafe in New York City when he had been visiting his lawyer friend after the aftermath of 9/11. Lydia had been doing homework for school in the cafe when he saw her. She was beautiful even back then with her wire glasses and sophisticated smile.
He fell for her and they were married two months later. After three months Lydia became pregnant with their first child Sarah. After Sarah was born he took on the job of being a firefighter in New York City. It was a hectic job and he longed for the quiet town he grew up in. He had grown up in Sidney all his life working with his father in the Sheriff's department doing small jobs like shredding old police reports.
Things had been simple back then and Lydia hadn't made a big deal about him not being around. She had taken a job after graduating college at the museum and things began to fall apart. Finally she became pregnant with their second child, William, Will for short. She took on her job and raising the kids too. Finally she could stand no more and a mutual understanding was reached. They divorced in May of 2008 and went their separate ways. He saw the kids between school breaks and his own breaks and vacations from the office. He had moved back to Sidney and delved into becoming the sheriff of his beloved town. After becoming sheriff it had taken up most of his time and he had lost himself in his work.
Jareth looked at Lydia, "Maybe we should go to the river and gather some samples around there. Maybe we can find out what we're dealing with before we have to close anything down." So they went off to the river beds and found fish native to the area lying half eaten on the side of the rocks. Lydia leaned down examining the fish carefully, "It too looks like the victim of piranha fish. What is this?" Jareth shrugged and continued to look out at the beautiful waters as they rushed over the rocks. Just then a huge double-headed fish jumped from the water. It let out an inhuman growl and Lydia fell back onto the rocks behind them. She looked at Jareth, "What was that?"
Jareth grabbed his phone out and snapped a picture of it and they headed back to the Jeep. Once inside Lydia studied the picture carefully but couldn't remember having ever seen a creature such as what they were dealing with. It was clear with its teeth as big as they were, it was a prehistoric fish they were dealing with. She had seen jaws like that on nothing but sharks and piranha fish. She called in the museum's director, Lawson King and he came down. Lawson was an overweight man who knew nothing but money and what it could bring him. Lawson was intelligent however on the prehistoric creatures and aquatic fish. He looked and compared it to one of his record books.
"This is a Laccognathus embryi... something a little bit bigger than our regular piranha fish in which we are so used in dealing with. I think you should close the waters down, Sheriff Langley until we find out what we're dealing with." Jareth looked at the man and sighed very frustrated in having to deal with this sort of thing. Why did trouble always seemed to follow him around?
Rob didn't look so sure himself of what it could have been. "I'm not so sure Sheriff." He answered shortly. It looked as though the boy had been attacked by some men eating shark. Truth be known there was no such thing as sharks in the Susquehanna River. Not even in the Hudson which was a major river in New York. So what had attacked the boy? Hours later Sheriff Jareth sat in his office typing away the police report. He looked down at his phone and hesitated. There was one person he could call and that would be his ex-wife Lydia Langley. Lydia was working for the New York City Museum of Natural History and was a Paleontologist.
He called the number and Lydia's voice came on shortly. "Lydia Langley can I help you?" Jareth hesitated once more in talking to her. Maybe he should just hang up and if she called back he'd say it was a mistake in calling her. Jareth finally said, "Lydia it's Jareth. I know I'm the last person you expected to hear from. I really need you though, to come over to Sidney and take a look at something. I think this is out of our reach." There was a moment of silence and then Lydia came back on. "I'll see what I can do Jareth. It's funny you can't call me about Sarah or Will but you can call me about a case you're working on. I'll be there in a few hours."
Later that evening, Jareth met Lydia in the Diner on the outside Sidney and they went together to the city Morgue. He unzipped the body bag and looked down at the decaying body. She grabbed a pair of latex gloves and slipped them on. She took a scalpel and a pair of surgical scissors and started to look at the body. She looked at Jareth, "These bite marks seemed to be from some sort of carnivorous fish. There is not carnivorous fish in the Susquehanna River. I am going to take a sample with me back to the museum and try to match it up with some of the fish around the world and see what I come up with."
Jareth looked at her intently, "How long do you think it will take you to get the results we're looking for?" Lydia sighed, "Give me till noon tomorrow." She left and went back to New York City and rest would not come to Jareth that evening. He kept dreaming of sharks swimming in the Susquehanna River. When he went into the office the next morning at 8 am Lydia was there waiting on him. Lydia looked at him, "I think we have a serious problem on our hands here. These bite marks on the body are linked to piranha fish in South America. I don't think we have those fish in our rivers."
Jareth studied his ex-wife for a moment and then sighed. "So what are we going to do? If I go out there and tell everyone there is a killer fish on the loose it's going to scare half of the tourists away and the majority of our town is going to go broke. Our major source here is that river." She shrugged, "Would you rather lose thousands of people's lives or close down the water way until we can research and find out what it is we're dealing with?"
Jareth nodded closing his eyes and feeling a headache coming on. It was the life he led in being their sheriff. Years earlier he and Lydia had met in a cafe in New York City when he had been visiting his lawyer friend after the aftermath of 9/11. Lydia had been doing homework for school in the cafe when he saw her. She was beautiful even back then with her wire glasses and sophisticated smile.
He fell for her and they were married two months later. After three months Lydia became pregnant with their first child Sarah. After Sarah was born he took on the job of being a firefighter in New York City. It was a hectic job and he longed for the quiet town he grew up in. He had grown up in Sidney all his life working with his father in the Sheriff's department doing small jobs like shredding old police reports.
Things had been simple back then and Lydia hadn't made a big deal about him not being around. She had taken a job after graduating college at the museum and things began to fall apart. Finally she became pregnant with their second child, William, Will for short. She took on her job and raising the kids too. Finally she could stand no more and a mutual understanding was reached. They divorced in May of 2008 and went their separate ways. He saw the kids between school breaks and his own breaks and vacations from the office. He had moved back to Sidney and delved into becoming the sheriff of his beloved town. After becoming sheriff it had taken up most of his time and he had lost himself in his work.
Jareth looked at Lydia, "Maybe we should go to the river and gather some samples around there. Maybe we can find out what we're dealing with before we have to close anything down." So they went off to the river beds and found fish native to the area lying half eaten on the side of the rocks. Lydia leaned down examining the fish carefully, "It too looks like the victim of piranha fish. What is this?" Jareth shrugged and continued to look out at the beautiful waters as they rushed over the rocks. Just then a huge double-headed fish jumped from the water. It let out an inhuman growl and Lydia fell back onto the rocks behind them. She looked at Jareth, "What was that?"
Jareth grabbed his phone out and snapped a picture of it and they headed back to the Jeep. Once inside Lydia studied the picture carefully but couldn't remember having ever seen a creature such as what they were dealing with. It was clear with its teeth as big as they were, it was a prehistoric fish they were dealing with. She had seen jaws like that on nothing but sharks and piranha fish. She called in the museum's director, Lawson King and he came down. Lawson was an overweight man who knew nothing but money and what it could bring him. Lawson was intelligent however on the prehistoric creatures and aquatic fish. He looked and compared it to one of his record books.
"This is a Laccognathus embryi... something a little bit bigger than our regular piranha fish in which we are so used in dealing with. I think you should close the waters down, Sheriff Langley until we find out what we're dealing with." Jareth looked at the man and sighed very frustrated in having to deal with this sort of thing. Why did trouble always seemed to follow him around?
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