Death in the Woodlands: 03 Body Disposal

Chapter Three

"This place should do," said Janet and Wayne, and Kevin dropped the body to the forest floor. The body rolled over, and it was the first time that Janet had seen the guy's face.

"He's an ugly one," she said, "and we probably did him a favor!"

Wayne didn't like this side of her character but knew now that he couldn't object. She knew his secret; they all had to stick together and have similar stories if ever questioned about their whereabouts on the night of the robbery.

"Well, we certainly didn't do ourselves any favors," said Wayne. "We didn't even get any money, and it cost me every cent I have to get the gas for the truck to get us here!"

"Stop complaining, will you," said Kevin. "We can always do another robbery once we've got this sorted out," he said.

"You've got some nerve, Kevin. You get us in all of this mess, and now, you want us to trust you with another robbery!" shouted Wayne.

There was a cracking noise in the distance as if their footsteps were being followed. Janet turned off the flash. They didn't want to be found, not here, not in these circumstances. The cracking happened again. "Who on earth would out there?" whispered Wayne.

"It's probably an animal," Janet said impatiently.

Julie wasn't that sure. There was a wailing, moaning, roar for a moment like a grizzly bear but deeper, and then silence. All of them stood there, not wanting to move or to draw attention to themselves. The shadows from the moonlit sky were even spookier than they were in the flashlight. Julie moved toward Kevin, and he placed his arm around her. Wayne simply stood there waiting for the moment to pass, so that he could sink the shovelhead into the earth, and get the body buried. He even doubted that they could find their way back easily, though Janet had assured him that it was easy, even at night.

The shovel hit the earth with a thud and then another. Little by little, the forest floor was being pushed to one side, in readiness to cloak the body of the man, not one of them knew. All of them knew, however, that if they got caught, their lives as they knew them were finished. Wayne passed the shaft of the handle to Kevin.

"Your turn!" he said. "I've dug loads, and it's time you got your hands dirty." Janet lit the light again so that Kevin could see the progress. They didn't have much more to dig. It didn't matter that the man's grave was shallow, as no one would look this far into the forest for his remains. Just like the leaves from fall, the body would deteriorate and enrich the ground into which it was placed.