Freak Show

Don't Cry

Stevie struggled to carry the other half of Mick's dead weight, stumbling as she followed Lindsey down the narrow dirt path. The thorns were tearing at her skirt, dirt smudging against her dress as they carried his body towards the lake.

Finally reaching the clearing, they let him drop Stevie letting out a desperate gasp of air.

"Are you ok?" Lindsey questioned, Stevie nodding.

"I'm fine, let's just do this please."

He nodded, reaching in to the bag and pulling out the rope. He knelt down next to the dead man, shoving as many stones as he could inside Mick's pockets.

Stevie was glancing around, finding a rock that resembled a small boulder, going over to
pick it up. "Lindsey I need your help."

He looked up, seeing her struggle. He quickly walked over, gently pushing her away. "Don't do that, I don't want you to hurt the baby."

  She smiled at him briefly, then remembered the situation they were in, snapping out of it. Grabbing the rope, she quickly began to unravel it. They both froze when they heard the snapping of twigs as footsteps approached them. Stevie was paralyzed, not able to look up. She glanced over at Lindsey to see that he too was frozen.

  "Stevie?"

  She heard Christine's voice, looking up to see her friend standing over them. Tears welled in her eyes, Christine dropping next to her and pulling her in to her arms.

  "Love what happened?"

Stevie sniffled, shaking her head in the crook of the older woman's neck. "I killed him, I didn't mean to."

Christine let out a deep breath, smoothing out Stevie's hair. "What happened?"

  "He found out about Lindsey and I, he lost it, he was shoving me and he struck me. He forced himself on me and I just wanted it to stop, I didn't mean to hit him that hard!"

  "Settle down." Christine soothed her, rocking her back and forth. "What was your plan here?"

  Stevie was still crying, Christine looking over at Lindsey for an answer.

  "We we're going to dump him in the river."

    "Idiots, the both of you." She was still holding Stevie. "Go get John, Buckingham, tell him to come out here."

  Lindsey looked at her hesitantly, but the glare she shot his way was enough to make him start jogging back to camp.

  "What are you doing Chris?"

   "Did you really think that you
could just dump him in the river and there'd be no questions from anyone?"

  Tears rolled down Stevie's face, sniffling. "I don't know, I can't think straight right now."

   Christine sighed, holding her close. "Listen to me. We're going to take him back to his trailer, we'll set it up as if it were an accident."

    "Christine if anyone finds out I'm dead, they'll burn me at the stake for sure."

   "Then we'll take it to our graves."

   "Won't it look suspicious if we leave as soon as his dead body turns up?"

  Christine shook her head. "We're not leaving anymore Stevie, this changes everything."