A CURIOUS TALE OF THE CONFLAGRATION AT CLARK MANOR

It was cold and the pinpricks of rain on our faces were reminders of reality. We trudged through the mud, as the rain fell ever harder. Thunder sounded, lightning flashed. We walked over to where Bailey still lay, face down on the ground, where we had left her. “It’s not really Bailey,” I thought to myself – “too pale, and she never would have gotten so dirty. This, then, this thing, was merely what we had left of her. Just a body, then.
We walked away from the body and headed north. The trail was winding, and more than once I didn’t think I’d make it back. The rain fell, if possible, even harder than before, so hard that my already damp clothing became so soaked it was no longer protection from the elements, and my pretty blonde hair became a messy wet brown. I couldn’t see a damn thing. Had I had a mirror (or my mother) with me at that point, I’m pretty sure the mirror would have broken and my mother would have been aghast.

As the trail began to peter away, the woods thinned out a bit and we made our way back to the house by the river. The river itself was so high it was almost flooding. I walked to the edge and stared in. The water was hypnotic. I leaned forward, straining to see my reflection in the turbulent stream. All I caught was a glance, a glimmer of the darkest blue I’d ever seen my eyes turn.

“Lavvie, no!” I started and realized the water was creeping towards my feet and I could have easily lost my footing and tumbled in. Graham pulled me back towards him, towards the house. “We’ve got to go in, Lavinia. We’ve got to tell someone what we’ve seen, tell someone about Bailey.”

“Graham, what can we even say?” I asked. “The truth? They’d never believe that we don’t know what happened.”

“Don’t you see, Lavvie? They’ll suspect us both if we don’t come clean immediately.”

“Oh, sure, Graham. That’s fine for you, I’m sure. Well, you’re not the one who got pregnant, are you? No. This has slightly worse repercussions for me, as I’m sure you’re aware, so I’d appreciate it if you did not call everyone and their mother to announce that you have found the body of one Bailey Sheldon, town gossip and ex-best friend of yours truly. The body will be found eventually. Don’t look at me like that.”

Graham started to pace the floor. I could tell he didn’t think it was a good idea, but couldn’t think of anything else. “Fine,” he said. “But when this comes back to haunt us, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”