The Forgiving River

Cleaning it Up

When Adam reached the edge of the woods, he didn't hesitate. He tore through the underbrush, making his way to the place in the woods where they had taken her.

After the life had left her that night, they had wrapped her in a sheet, turned the blood soaked hearth stones over, and carried her limp body to the woods. Once there, they had soaked her sensible gown and the  blood soaked sheet in gasoline and lit her up. While she burned, the men seemed unmoved to the horror of what they had done. As they talked and continued to drink, watching to make sure she was completely disposed of, Adam was able to slip away and up the hill. Now he was headed back down the hill...to finish it.

When he got to the clearing, he saw the large blackened circle where they had burned her body. He saw immediately that she hadn't burned completely. Animals had scattered what remained of her body.  He would have to gather the remaining parts of her body and dispose of them elsewhere. He picked up a charred stick, squatted beside the circle, and started poking around in the ashes.

The first thing he found was part of her skull, hair singed off, and skin blackened. He also found various bones that hadn't burned that night. Then he found the partially burned body of an infant, its mouth open in a silent scream, its back arched, and its fists clenched.

When the baby's mother had entered the room that night, Adam had noticed her swollen belly. She had waddled across the room, tried to break up the fight between her husband and his brother. Adam, Jack, and the others had watched as she fell backwards, propelled by a wayward shove, splitting her skull open on the hearth. As she lay there dying, Ellery watched in horror as the baby kicked, perhaps trying to break free of his dying mother. As they carried her to the woods, Adam felt as the movement became more infrequent and then stop.

Adam gathered up the body parts that were still big enough to find and placed them in the burlap bag that he had brought from the truck, the one containing her hand. He walked to the bluff overlooking the river, and threw her, piece by piece, into the fast flowing, swollen river. He watched as the bones shattered on the rocks below and washed toward the sea, all evidence rinsed away from the airy world by the forgiving river. It was truly over now. No one would ever know.

He reached into the bag and pulled out the last piece of evidence he had to dispose of. He cradled the little boy gently in his arms, tears falling from his own cheeks, dripping onto the cheeks of the baby. Then after looking down at the river once more, he took a deep breath and flung the baby...and himself into it.