Mark Ponyboy Peters

@Summerabbacat oh yes, Cunningham and the school SHOULD have reported it, but of course aren't most religious organisations rules unto themselves? And yes, they were "only" poofters who were affected, so they don't count, do they? Grrrrr!!!!!!! I probably didn't go into the outcome for Cunningham and the school in enough detail I don't think ... which is probably because it was only an aside as far as the story goes ... it's the real culprit we want. We'll just assume that Cunningham and the school get their just desserts, shall we? There are a few "red mullets" to come yet, so keep watching! Good news is, from some of the readers comments, I have a thread forming for a new Rick Cooper Mystery (even though I already have two that I've started planning out! haha), MP

@Paladin Fr Dave's reputation was known far and wide, it seems. When I was in primary school I went to the nearby public school, so didn't really have anything much to do with him. He was a regular visitor at my neighbours house though ... their boys were one the same age as me and one 12 months older. He was the football coach that was looked up to by many. I remember he also used to play rugby league against my father. Funny the memories that stick!

@weinerdog wow! Some thought has gone into that one! 🙂 Lovings everybody's ideas and thoughts about all possible scenarios. Nothing like a few 'red mullets' (as @Summerabbacat says) to make life interesting! Thank you!

@Gary L and we should be surprised? Nah, not at all! Here they just quietly dispatch them to some far flung rural parish ... "out of sight, out of mind" There was a notorious priest in our parts who it had long been rumoured (back when I was a lad) to be a kiddie-fiddler, who recently got his just desserts! When the truth about Father Dave finally came out nobody was surprised. I am convinced that he was one of the reasons why one of my classmates committed suicide not long after we had finished high school! 😥

-- Chapter Twenty-two -- ‘Do I need to remind you, Cooper, of just where you are, and who you’re talking to?’ Mr Cunningham quickly responded, trying his best to assert his authority. ‘That type of language is simply not acceptable here, as I am sure you are fully aware!’ ‘Forgive me, sir. Perhaps I did forget myself there for a moment . . .’ I replied in as steady a voice as I could possibly muster, which in itself was something I was finding extremely difficult to control

@Paladin if she has any brains at all! lol

Anything the boys may have done that might be used to potentially "discredit" them, will be useless. Their co-operation with the prosecution will surely trump any potential misdeeds and give them immunity, if it's needed! Uncle Phil, Horse and everyone else involved are toast! As for Madison . . . she's only gonna end up with a whole lot of nothing but trouble! haha @Paladin this is progressing nicely! Thank you!

@Summerabbacat I'm torn! Do I ❤️ or do I 😅 ?????

-- Chapter Twenty-one -- ‘Where did they find him?’ I asked Helen. ‘Remember that pub where we all went the other day for lunch? There’s a park not far from there, which backs onto a bushland reserve. Some bushwalkers found him this morning.’ ‘Oh, god! I’m so sorry,’ I repeated. ‘I guess this surely blows right out of the water any suggestion of it being a coincidence.’ ‘Yeah,’ she replied. ‘But we’re still no closer to finding out who . . . or more

-- Chapter Twenty -- ‘Are you sure you’re okay, Rick?’ Beth asked. ‘You look like you’ve seen a . . .’ She didn’t finish the sentence. And I was glad. ‘I’m fine, Beth. Thank you. I’ve been having pretty much the same nightmare on and off for years now, only tonight it was just a little bit worse than usual.’ ‘Martin?’ she gently asked, to which I nodded in reply. ‘I guess being here, in this room, hasn’t helped . . . but I had to come back

Perfect song @Summerabbacat thank you! And so many ideas and questions! And you will have answers for them all. Trust me! MP

-- Chapter Nineteen -- Apart from the bugs and the mosquitoes, the evening proved to be an enjoyable one, with some great steak, accompanied by some of Beth’s fine salads, then followed by a cheesecake. How she always managed to just whip up these meals, almost out of thin air, never ceased to amaze me. Even Jimmy and Shane both pitched in and helped with everything from the cooking to the cleaning up. It was almost as if they had been craving a normal life, but hadn’t had

OK @Summerabbacat all fixed. 'Catholic' changed to 'Christian' all the way through (only three places!). Gotta love 'Find and replace' LOL Thanks again!

Thanks @Summerabbacat nice pick up about the school. Not sure what happened there ... I've obviously f@cked up! LOL Must have happened during one of my edits/reviews ... another edit required now! 😁 I don't mind having the errors of my ways pointed out! 😉

Haha ... so that's the name of the 'spanner in the works' I mentioned last week! Bring it on! 😃

-- Chapter Eighteen -- We retreated back inside the house and then made our way back out onto the back deck, where glasses were refilled and the conversation was restarted. Thankfully, Jimmy and Shane sensed that I needed to talk privately with Beth and Tom, so they excused themselves and escaped to their room. ‘How about we call you when we’re about to light the barbeque,’ Tom said to them. ‘You can help us out with the cooking.’ ‘Okay,’ Shane replie

I know who Orville is ... just can't say I've paid much attention to him though. Will have to check him out some ... 🙂

@Summerabbacat I did tell you to stock up on the Kleenex when you did your next weekly shop, did I not! Love the song BTW. Nice choice. Thanks.

@weinerdog hmmmm . . . 😁

@peter rietbergen ok. Point taken 🙂 A slight edit made. Cheers.

@Summerabbacat ooohhh! Harsh! I can definitely understand your initial reaction though, but I also do think you'll change your mind about sis, once you get to know her! 😉 I also get folks concerns about what Rick might have told Adam, but they've been together for a while, and like you I think Rick is a good judge of character. And as good a cop as he is, or might be, he is still young and possibly a tad naive ... possibly. 🙂

-- Chapter Seventeen -- It was a homecoming that had been far too long in coming, as far as I was concerned. Still, I had no one but myself to blame for that. Helen had followed my directions, and it wasn’t long before we had cut across the city and were now crossing the bridge onto Kooragang Island. The main drag would take us around the back of the industrial area, across another bridge as we left the island, and then onto Nelson Bay Road, which would lead us directly in

-- Chapter Sixteen -- ‘Adam . . . I . . . I . . .’ I began to say, but he quickly cut me off. ‘Rick, don’t sweat it,’ he scolded, even if the tone of his voice wasn’t entirely forgiving. ‘I get now that yours isn’t exactly a nine to five job, and sometimes I’m going to come second, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to give up on you . . . even if you do test my fucking patience sometimes!’ At that, even I had to chuckle. ‘How far away is it that you an

@Paladin so glad you chose a Quarter Horse too! lol

-- Chapter Fifteen -- I followed Casey through the dimly lit and musty smelling cleaner’s room, dodging mops and buckets and shelves piled high with cleaning chemicals, until we reached another door on the opposite wall. ‘Where does this lead?’ I asked him. ‘Outside . . . eventually,’ he said, with a grin that contained more than just a hint of mischief. ‘Oh, this’ll be good!’ ‘You’ll see,’ was all he would say. The door opened e