Categories
Hardware

Hardware Shop Mystery

When Jack, Julie’s husband, returned home from the hardware store, she was less than impressed. She sat him down almost immediately, with his new tools still in hand and told him very plainly why he could no longer engage in such risky behaviour. She tried to make it as clear as possible that he is no longer living just for himself and that protecting himself should be his number one priority, for his child if for nothing else. Jack responded poorly, at best.

Throughout the entire conversation he remained adamant that the building supplies for sale in Cheltenham were worth risking his life for. He told Julie that with the baby on its way, he needed to make sure that a nursery was built with the highest quality products. He told her that he needed to be in control of the materials chosen, so that he would be able to sleep at night knowing his baby was as safe as possible. Julie understood that sentiment, but she was still fuming at the thought of the love of her life and the father of her unborn child engaging in such risky behaviour.

After their conversation, both Julie and Jack agreed to take some time to reflect on each other’s opinions. They love each other, there’s no doubt about that. Each one of them needs to understand the other’s perspective and they need to come to some sort of agreement. Jack will never give up his risky behaviour, but he may need to do less of it. Julie found herself wondering what made the hardware shop located near Cheltenham so special. Why did it have such better quality materials than other hardware shops? Why did her husband specifically need to go to that one? It was a mystery and one that she hoped to get to the bottom of very soon. With only one month before her baby is due, Julie set herself a mission to understand her husband’s appeal of the hardware store.

Categories
Hardware

Hardware Store Ambush

They took a slight detour on the way to the building supplies, stopping by the timber at Vai’s request. Apparently, she had a cool idea for something she could build to fight off those hunting them, but she’d need a plank of wood in order to make it.

“Hurry up,” Maphira whispered, as Vai searched for the perfect plank of wood. “We can’t stay here long or they’ll find us.”

“Chill out, my dude,” Vai said, tossing another plank to the floor. “They’re never going to search this part of the store for us. There are plenty of reasons to come to a Cheltenham hardware store selling timber, but this certainly isn’t the best time. They’ll assume we’re literally anywhere else.”

Maphira looked up to the top of the shelves, spotting a shadowy figure moving up there. “Are you sure about that?” she asked, lunging forward and pulling Vai out of the way, just as the figure leapt down, right onto the spot Vai had been. They each rolled out of the way, but Vai quickly sprung back, swinging the plank of wood she currently held in both hands.

She struck the figure with a sickening crack – Maphira wasn’t sure whether it came from the wood or the man’s bones. He collapsed, instantly knocked unconscious. 

“Alright, point taken,” Vai said, tossing aside her plank of wood. She picked up another and gave it a quick look over. “This one will do. Let’s get out of here.”

“Good idea,” Maphira replied. “I have no desire to die in a hardware store in the Bayside area. We need to get to the building supplies before another one finds us.” Maphira glanced back at the figure on the ground. “Nice hit, though.”

“Thanks.” Vai grinned, although Maphira only just saw it through the flickering lights above them. 

It reminded her of the good old days, taking down bad guys together, back in the force, all those years ago. The thing was, those days had ended because of Vai’s betrayal. How could she ever forgive the woman for that?

She bit her lip and continued on.