Read Pears and Perils for Free Online

it up for the Lone Ranger and the millions watching at home. The seed was planted long ago, though, and Mano saw no reason why he couldn’t rake in some higher tips from the tree of ignorance that had grown out of it.
    “What are these?” April had taken in the whole room in a glance and made a beeline for the welcoming bowl of fruit on the coffee table. She’d picked one of the lumpy, hard-skinned fruits that were featured more prominently among the selection.
    “That is a Kenowai Pear,” Mano told her.
    “You think that’s a pear? Dude, we’ve gots to get you folks a legit farmer’s market here, and I mean stat,” Thunder declared.
    “Different regions have different variations of vegetation,” April informed him. “They evolve alternately based on the climate or competing flora, and over time can have features and flavors independent of others in their same classification. Like all the different varieties of tomato.”
    “The lady has much wisdom,” Mano agreed. “Kenowai Pears only grow on the island; they are a blessing from Kodiwandae himself. The skin is tough to resist the animals and block some of our abundant sunshine. You have to cut them open with a knife, but the flavor inside is something I promise you’ll never forget.” Mano contemplated punctuating his statement with a flirtatious wink, but it seemed like wasted effort on the younger girl. He’d seen her type before: out here to connect with some sentiment of relaxation she’d never really understand. This girl was the kind of person who, if she tried to stop and smell the roses, would end up cutting them, dissecting them, and sorting them into various classifications based on color, scent, and petal composition.
    “Pears must be very important to your people, and to share a god’s blessing shows such grace and kindness,” Falcon complimented.
    “Well, the truth is we’ve just got a whole lot of them, so they get put in nearly everything. The stories say Kodiwandae made the first tree that bore the pears on Kenowai to be very abundant so that others would quickly spring up across the island. He meant to slow them down once enough had taken root, but he was sealed away before he had a chance.”
    “I’m sure we’d love to hear more of the stories of the island… after the rest of us have been taken to our rooms.”
    The tone was polite and nearly bordered on friendly, yet the voice left no doubt that this was not a request. Lawrence gave a tight-lipped half-smile when the island boy looked at him, trying to see if it worked better when he didn’t show teeth. From the look on the tanned, square face, Lawrence suspected that this too would be a failed strategy.
    “Of course, yours is right across the hall, sir.”
    “Thank you. Ladies, shower up and get on some clothes appropriate for the heat. We meet in the lobby at eight and it is my understanding that this island barely cools, even at night.”
    April and Falcon nodded then shut the door. Mano dropped off the brothers next, who walked right in and slammed the door without so much as a goodbye, then the two younger men. The quiet one shook his hand and thanked him for his help, while the loud one ran around the room looking out all the windows, despite the fact that the view was largely the same from each, just with a slight shift in perspective.
    Last was the older man, a single bedroom that still managed to be the largest suite of the four. It had, initially, been reserved for Mr. Dillon and he’d forgotten that peons don’t require such lush accommodations when he’d forced Lawrence to take over.
    “You’ve been very helpful,” the man said, slipping a thick wad of bills into Mano’s hand. He didn’t bother to count them; Mano had been at this long enough to know it was far too much for chatter and bag carrying. “I trust if we need anything else you’ll continue being helpful.” There it was: the man wanted a local as a runner, a guide, and possibly a procurer of