Reggie and August
She turned pale.
August threw her a sidelong look as he drew closer. “You found it?”
“Why would anyone do such a thing to a fellow human?”
He didn’t reply. His fingers brushed aside the soil to take a better look. He too pulled away from the stench. “Man can be horrible, darling. We need to clear this.”
She gawked at him.
“Sweetheart, this is our land. Everything points to us.”
“I’m not touching that.”
“I never asked for your help.”
“August, we have to report this.”
No reply.
“August!”
“There is no way in hell this thing is getting out, you hear me? I’m done with the police.”
She shook her head, taking a step back. Her lips quivered. “I shouldn’t have told you.”
“Ha! As if you can keep anything from me. Hold the torch.”
She stepped back.
“Regina. Could you please hold the torch for me?”
She just stood there, staring back at him. His eyes flared as he sprung up. He picked up the torch and adjusted it on a tree branch above. Then paused to look her in the eye. “You know I love you, right? But I swear, if you dare let this thing out…”
He went back to work, gently digging around the body, occasionally throwing a glance at her white face until he couldn’t take it any longer. He walked over to the seemingly statute and carried her. A waft of the spruce fragrance in her tangled dark hair tickled his nostrils as he put her down. His heart skipped a beat. “Reggie…”
Her hollow dark eyes stared back at him, her lips as white as the nightgown she clad. A tear droplet splattered on his hand. He got up stiffly from the bed and walked out, closing the door behind him. Only when the front door clicked shut did he start running. He ran across the field, jumped over the rickety fence and burst onto shadows on the main road, his heart pounding. His fists slammed the metal window until it slid up. A wrinkled face peered down at him. “Gracious heaven! Young man…”
“Father, a dead body…Reggie…”
“Reggie is dead?”
“…and I’m trying to be strong for both of us…she’s…everything just happened so fast…Father…” He crumbled on the ground and sobbed.
