Read Online Character Witness by Rebecca Forster - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Rebecca Forster
Tags: LEGAL
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close to the spiral of smoke. Perhaps it was the flash of his gentle loving expression she remembered that brought the tears. It would be wonderful to see him once more, to have him here to hold, now that she was afraid.
Shrugging into her sweater, she opened the door a crack. She peeked outside and scanned the land she knew so well; the land that now seemed so alien. It was quiet enough. Then again it had seemed quiet the day her husband died, too. Death could come stalking in the dark, the light, when you least expected it. Death came from strangers, and it came for reasons she didn't understand.
Knowing this, she slid out onto the porch, lay against the rough wood of the house and waited. When nothing happened, she put her head down and hurried to her vintage Beetle. She started the engine with a prayer on her lips.
That's when she began to shake.
She was actually going below. To the city where people moved too fast and made decisions about her life when they didn't even know her. The thought of driving the freeways, negotiating the downtown streets, finding the room she wanted and standing up to the people she didn't want to see made her feel sick. But the sounds in the night, the voices she heard through the darkness, were more frightening still. And, most terrifying of all, was the sense that somehow, if she didn't do something fast, someone might make sure she joined her husband sooner than the Goddess wanted. Much as she cared for him, much as she would love to lie next to him again, she didn't want her new bed to be cold and dark and six feet under.
So she drove away without knowing that company was coming to her house in the woods. This time it wasn't coming through the front door, it was moving through the trees and brush behind her cottage.
'' She's gone,'' the first guy called to the second. The second stood up, his knees cracking under his great weight. He took a man sized breath of fresh mountain air.
'' Thank God. I got bit sitting here. I hate bugs. I hate nature. Can't believe it. Something bit me. Look.'' He pulled down his dress sock to show that, indeed, he had been bitten.
'' Looks like a spider.'' The other huge man peered closely at the wound. ''It's real round. Probably a spider.''
The other one shuddered, ''That's disgusting. Think it's gone up my pants?''
'' I don't know.''
His friend moved forward, branches crackling and breaking as he pushed through the trees instead of seeking out a path. He didn't like the outdoors anymore than his cohort, but he wasn't going to be sissy about it. Behind him he heard his friend hurrying to catch up. They were almost at the clearing when he was called. Turning, a reprimand on the tip of his tongue, the man looked at his partner who was grinning from ear-to-ear.
'' Look. Look what I found. Bunnies!''
The big man opened the wire door on the hutch and grabbed one by the neck. His expression softened as he held it up so that they were nose-to-nose. The rabbit's little pink one twitched, the man's long hooked one did the same. Suddenly he gripped the bunny hard, whacking at the side of his neck as he did so. What happened next wasn't quite clear to the man who watched, he couldn't really understand the words that bellowed seemingly from the man's belly, but the end result of his outburst sent an amazingly clear message. The man didn't like nature.
The big man stood in a semi-circle of white, fluffy, dead rabbits, not a one giving a twitch about anything anymore. The big guy held a hand to his neck. There were tears in his eyes.
'' I got stung. Some goddamn thing stung me. Check for the stinger. I'm not going any further 'till you check to see if I'm swelling. I could die from a bee sting. They say you can die from a bee sting. Come on, take a look.''
The other man, just as big, just as mean, checked out the dead rabbits, realized that six necks had been broken in a blink of an eye, and decided he would not be the seventh to get on the big guy's bad
Shrugging into her sweater, she opened the door a crack. She peeked outside and scanned the land she knew so well; the land that now seemed so alien. It was quiet enough. Then again it had seemed quiet the day her husband died, too. Death could come stalking in the dark, the light, when you least expected it. Death came from strangers, and it came for reasons she didn't understand.
Knowing this, she slid out onto the porch, lay against the rough wood of the house and waited. When nothing happened, she put her head down and hurried to her vintage Beetle. She started the engine with a prayer on her lips.
That's when she began to shake.
She was actually going below. To the city where people moved too fast and made decisions about her life when they didn't even know her. The thought of driving the freeways, negotiating the downtown streets, finding the room she wanted and standing up to the people she didn't want to see made her feel sick. But the sounds in the night, the voices she heard through the darkness, were more frightening still. And, most terrifying of all, was the sense that somehow, if she didn't do something fast, someone might make sure she joined her husband sooner than the Goddess wanted. Much as she cared for him, much as she would love to lie next to him again, she didn't want her new bed to be cold and dark and six feet under.
So she drove away without knowing that company was coming to her house in the woods. This time it wasn't coming through the front door, it was moving through the trees and brush behind her cottage.
'' She's gone,'' the first guy called to the second. The second stood up, his knees cracking under his great weight. He took a man sized breath of fresh mountain air.
'' Thank God. I got bit sitting here. I hate bugs. I hate nature. Can't believe it. Something bit me. Look.'' He pulled down his dress sock to show that, indeed, he had been bitten.
'' Looks like a spider.'' The other huge man peered closely at the wound. ''It's real round. Probably a spider.''
The other one shuddered, ''That's disgusting. Think it's gone up my pants?''
'' I don't know.''
His friend moved forward, branches crackling and breaking as he pushed through the trees instead of seeking out a path. He didn't like the outdoors anymore than his cohort, but he wasn't going to be sissy about it. Behind him he heard his friend hurrying to catch up. They were almost at the clearing when he was called. Turning, a reprimand on the tip of his tongue, the man looked at his partner who was grinning from ear-to-ear.
'' Look. Look what I found. Bunnies!''
The big man opened the wire door on the hutch and grabbed one by the neck. His expression softened as he held it up so that they were nose-to-nose. The rabbit's little pink one twitched, the man's long hooked one did the same. Suddenly he gripped the bunny hard, whacking at the side of his neck as he did so. What happened next wasn't quite clear to the man who watched, he couldn't really understand the words that bellowed seemingly from the man's belly, but the end result of his outburst sent an amazingly clear message. The man didn't like nature.
The big man stood in a semi-circle of white, fluffy, dead rabbits, not a one giving a twitch about anything anymore. The big guy held a hand to his neck. There were tears in his eyes.
'' I got stung. Some goddamn thing stung me. Check for the stinger. I'm not going any further 'till you check to see if I'm swelling. I could die from a bee sting. They say you can die from a bee sting. Come on, take a look.''
The other man, just as big, just as mean, checked out the dead rabbits, realized that six necks had been broken in a blink of an eye, and decided he would not be the seventh to get on the big guy's bad
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