Monday 25th October
As I took the stairs to the mock funeral, Rachel's hand was in mine: our palms touching, fingers interweaving, and her thumb running over the back of my hand. She wasn't there, of course, but if I tried hard enough, remembered enough, she almost could be.
She was torn from me when I found the remainder of the guests gathered outside. Darren and Anais had dug a deep, messy hole in the ground, someone had crafted a headstone from two rotting bits of driftwood, and Lily, beautiful Lily, took her place next to me.
It couldn't be possible to love two people, could it?
Once everyone was present, we formed a circle around the hole and looked mournful. None of us had really known Harriet, but I think the funeral represented more than that: we were scared, alone, and living with a potential murderer. What more could bring people together?
Darren and Anais carried the funeral well—they said a few words, telling us the little they knew about Harriet's upbringing, her Wife, and family. Unsurprisingly, the poisoning rumour wasn't mentioned, and while they spoke, a gnawing feeling grew in my stomach.
Guilt.
I ignored it.
There wasn't a dry eye in the house as David and I carried Harriet, still wrapped in the bed sheet—another carpet-rolled corpse—to the hole. Anais spoke as we walked.
Our father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
On earth, as it is in heaven.
I don't know if Harriet was religious—she certainly didn't seem it—but the effect of the prayer rippled through the group and hugged us, even me, in a warm blanket.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
Could I be forgiven?
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
Harriet felt heavier as we reached the grave, and the Old Man's face flashed across my mind as we delicately levered her in. After carrying two bodies in one day, my biceps were so jellified, it was a miracle we didn't drop her.
With his wide, strong arms, I suspect David took most of the weight.
For thine is the kingdom,
The power and glory,
For ever and ever.
Harriet hit the bottom.
Amen.
A few people—Lottie, Anais, and David—made crosses on their chests before we worked together, each taking a spade and filling the hole one scoop at a time.
Anais dropped in a few crystal-white flowers.
YOU ARE READING
Backwards Into Hell
Mystery / ThrillerThere's nowhere quite so lonely as an Island. In the North of Scotland, the Isle of Barra is a tranquil place devoid of danger, fear, and crime. That is, of course, until Jake arrives. A week earlier, he lost his Wife in a deadly accident, and now h...
