Scarecrow, Scarecrow - Anne McFry Series Book 1 by John Kaniecki Book Tour and Giveaway :)
Scarecrow, Scarecrow
Anne
McFry Series Book 1
by
John Kaniecki
Genre:
Horror
The
Scarecrow lurks in the shadows of a young girl’s frightened mind.
Everywhere Anne McFry looks, she sees the face of a twisted demon
that haunts her past. Escaping from the horror ridden town and going
to the big city, Anne thinks she is safe from the Scarecrow. That is
until it starts popping up everywhere she looks. Befriending a young
man against her better judgement, she experiences a demented ride of
torture as the past she is running from catches up to her. The
Scarecrow is coming to collect dues, and the only payment Anne has is
her soul.
Chapter One
To the scant few who knew it existed, Mercer County, Iowa was known
for its corn and annual fair. However, when Wilbur Ferris was
murdered, the town's reputation got hijacked. It was not just the
rarity of the event that attracted attention. It was the savage
brutality with which the crime was conducted. The poor man, who was a
pillar of the community, was stabbed no less than seventy-five times
according to final autopsy reports. Add to that the fact that his
mangled body was found hanging from a tree, and his head was barely
attached to his mutilated frame, it was a wonder how he could hang
there without his battered corpse becoming decapitated.
If
such a heinous crime had been conducted in the old South, cries of a
lynching would have been raised up. Wilbur Ferris was far from the
typical poor, black man that was so commonly executed. He was of
Anglo Saxon descent. Certainly, he had no hereditary mixtures of
anything scandalous to prevent him from claiming blue blood status.
He was a member in good standing of the Second Baptist Church. He
owned a rather large and prosperous piece of farmland where he raised
corn. His family history went back for generations and could be
traced to the original settlers. In fact, there was even a street in
town named Ferris Avenue after some distant relative.
The
question for the community, and indeed the country at large, was why.
Why did anyone not only murder poor Wilbur Ferris, but with such
brutality? The local police, in association of the Iowa state police,
conducted a thorough investigation. Hordes of people were
interrogated. After several weeks, when the circus like atmosphere
had dissipated, there came out an official conclusion; the
authorities determined that Wilbur Ferris had been killed by some
stranger who had passed through the community.
Some
of the facts were consistent with the official conclusion of the
matter. There had been a mysterious individual who could be labeled
as a transient who was present in Mercer County in that time frame.
Unfortunately, by all accounts this stranger had disappeared three
days prior to the killing. The local folk grumbled at the
determination. The national press accepted the police's verdict
without a breath of doubt. The press, after all, was only interested
in sensationalizing the murder anyway. They cared nothing about the
truth. The television networks quest was solely for high ratings.
Other heart gripping stories had come to life, and the story of
Wilbur Ferris was soon as dead as he was. Most importantly, the
murder case was officially solved. At least for the moment, things
could return to normal.
Anne
McFry knew most of the intimate secrets. The dark details haunted her
mind as she boarded the Greyhound Bus with a one-way ticket to New
York City in her trembling hand. Conveniently, her leaving was a
scheduled trip planned months in advance, and so it would not have
gathered any suspicion from any watchful eyes.
That is, if the law was even interested in her. After all,
they had no good reason to. The young lady would be pursuing her
dreams of becoming a professional singer. Like thousands of other
aspiring stars, she was making her pilgrimage to the Mecca of show
business. Anne was determined not only to never return but not to
even take a look back. She rejected Lot's wife syndrome.
The young lady mechanically clutched her purse knowing that if the
police knew its contents, she could be charged with murder. Truth of
the matter was that she was in that intangible gray area. It could
one day become a reality that she would be charged for murder in this
heinous crime. If she had a good lawyer, she wouldn't go to jail. But
being a relatively poor person and thus having to rely on a public
defender, most likely the outcome of any trial would be to find her
guilty. Such a prospect only urged her to flee her home all the more.
Anne
looked all around in a fit of paranoia. Then with confidence, she
relaxed using the techniques she learned from her musical experience.
The singer imagined she was going on stage and focused. Using
controlled breathing, she exorcised her anxiety. Many of her fellow
passengers felt agitated with the thoughts of taking the trip to New
York City. Consternation was inflicting the faces of many boarding
the bus. Why should she fear arrest anyway? A fair number of the
police knew the exact details of that dreadful night when Wilbur
Ferris had his life snuffed out. They were as guilty as she. How many
there were involved exactly Anne had no way of determining. It could
be the whole damn police force for that matter. Anne was certainly an
integral part of the secret society that had done the gruesome act.
It was a group dominated by mystery. As a safety precaution, members
held their anonymity. When meetings were conducted, members masked
their faces and disguised their voices. They also went by aliases to
hide their true identities. For them, secrecy was the norm.
The
young lady sat back in her seat and did the best she could to relax.
Looking out of the dirty window of the bus, she saw her parents
standing. Her Momma had broken down in tears this morning, as her
baby was leaving her. Both her parents were adamant against her
making this trip. She was being foolish to do such a thing was their
declaration. But Anne was of age, and the reality was that she would
make her journey with or without their blessing. So instead of
dealing with the shame and embarrassment of their precious daughter
sneaking out in the middle of the night, the unhappy parents gave her
a proper send off.
So
consumed in her meditations, she failed to notice a stranger sliding
into the empty seat on the aisle next to her.
"Is
this your first time to New Yawk City?" came a deep voice of a
man. The young lady could pick up the nervousness in the high pitched
tone of the question.
John Kaniecki was born in Brooklyn, New York. Though having no memories of life there, John is proud to be called a Native New Yorker. John was raised in Pequanock Township, New Jersey. At age twenty John was baptized and became a member of the Church of Christ. Presently John resides in Montclair, NJ and lives with his wife of over twelve years Sylvia. The happy couple attend the Church of Christ at Chancellor Avenue in Newark, NJ. John is very active in outreach and teaching as part of the leadership of the congregation.
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