End of the Road (19 page)

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Chapter 18

Because I Love You

By Michael Meyer

She minced no words when she finally spoke.
“We both know that this is the end of the road.”

For several awful seconds, silence was king,
reigning with an omnipotence that frightened him more intensely
than he had ever been scared before.. “But why?”

“
You know why.”

“
But I love
you.”

“
And I love you. I always
have and always will. You know that.”

He knew that she would soon be ending his
life, and he was outraged by his predicament and bewildered by her
words. “I do not. I know no such thing.”

“
Yes, you do.” Her eyes
held steady, the firmness of her tone reflected by the narrowing of
her eyes.

He wanted to reach out to her, but he knew
that that was impossible. He was held securely to the earth, and
there was absolutely nothing that he could do about it. It was a
hopeless situation. It had all happened so fast, and yet it had
been such a slow process. How he had ended up like this was a
question that tortured his brain. There were so many ways to
answer, but did any of them really fit? He had always been a
cautious sort, and yet this time, the one time in his life that it
really mattered, he had been caught completely off guard, not fully
comprehending the deadly seriousness of the situation until it was
too late.

Was
it too late?

He tried to think.
He
had
to think.
But everything was coming up so blurry. The silence that had
suddenly come between them spoke loudly, but it only screamed in
vain since there was no one near enough to hear or to see. She had
obviously planned carefully. There would be no
witnesses.

She bent down and gently kissed his cheek.
Then she slowly caressed his face.

Even now, constrained as he was, he couldn’t
help the flutter of excitement he felt from her lips and fingers
against his skin.

“
Then why this?” he said.
The roses all around were in full bloom. The rainbow of colors in
the field were as beautiful as anything he had ever seen, and he
had seen plenty in his life. The lush fragrances added to the
serenity of the death scene. Everything was so juxtaposed, the
world—his world—turned completely upside down. It just didn’t make
any sense.

Or did it?

“
How can you be doing this
to me if you love me?” he asked, his voice fighting to prevent the
panic he felt from coming between them. He well knew that this was
a life and death situation, and it was his imminent death that was
at stake. He had to remain cool, calm, and collected. It was his
only hope. He had to make her see.

But see what? It was all so confusing.

She smiled down at him. She had such white
teeth. Her smile was as lovely as the colorful roses surrounding
her kneeling frame, as feminine and delicate as the pink dress she
wore. “It’s because I love you that I have to do this.” She touched
him gently, her fingers softly rubbing his arm in the way she used
to do as they snuggled in bed, cuddling before their daily
lovemaking, when the world had been so grand, so wonderful, as if
they were living a dream come true.

Maybe
this
was a dream, but her sudden
laughter told him otherwise. This was real, not some awful figment
of his imagination.

“
I adore you,” she said. “I
will miss you terribly.”

His eyes, the only part of his body that had
any way to move, looked into hers, and he could see that her words
were heartfelt.

“
You’re crazy,” he said. “I
think you know that.”

She laughed again, the cheerful laughter of
the little girl that still resided somewhere within her. “I know
I’m crazy about you,” she said. “I always have been, since the very
first day I met you.” She smiled down at him, her lips as lovely as
the blooming spring. “And I will continue to do so for the rest of
my life.”

The rest of my life!
The words were so terrifying to hear. Even though
she had been referring to her own life, it was his that was about
to come to an abrupt end.

He tried to turn towards her, but it was
useless. She had done a real job on him, his body clamped to the
ground under the tight canvas, the ropes and stakes firmly pressing
his limbs into the grassy field. His head faced the open sky, as
blue as her eyes, the weather as warm as her touch, the scene for
as far as the human eye could see as silent as the windless day,
and as devoid of any possibility of help nearby. He was on his own.
There would be no rescue. If he were to survive, it would have to
be entirely of his own doing.

His only hope was to remain calm, and to try
to reason with her. Physically, he could do nothing to prevent her
ending his life, but mentally he had a chance, slight as it might
be. He fought to keep any trace of the anxiety he felt from finding
a home in his tone. “That’s a laugh,” he said, which he immediately
regretted having said, even though he had gotten the knife in, so
to speak.

She laughed…and laughed.

Then suddenly she stopped. She began
caressing his cheeks again, gently, softly, and lovingly. “Let’s
just be still for a while, okay? Please.”

He started to say something, but then
stopped.

She smiled. He had to admit that she had the
most gorgeous smile he had ever seen. She was stunningly
beautiful.

“
There, that’s so much
better. Don’t you agree?” She kissed the end of her finger and
pressed it against his nose. “So much better. Yes, it is. Let’s
just sit here for a while and savor the moment. After all, it will
be last we will ever spend together.”

“
But--”

She was quick to cut him off. “But nothing,
my darling. Let’s not waste the precious little time we have to
ourselves on meaningless words.”

He kept his mouth shut. He
had no idea how to respond. What
could
he
say?
He needed to use the time available to him to think. Just to
think.

He tried to formulate a plan, but his mind
wandered back to the first time he had seen her. It had been at the
local gym. He couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. She had walked in
as if she owned the place, and, with all the stares in her
direction, she very well could have. She was certainly the center
of everyone’s attention. When she entered a room, people stopped to
have a look, a good look. It was very difficult to pull one’s eyes
from her. She was a magical figure. It was if she were a magnet,
capturing one’s eyes and holding them in place.

And the greatest thing about her was that
she was so down to earth, so unassuming, so easygoing and friendly,
full of laughter and gaiety.

What a time they had had together. The time
spent with her had been dreamlike. It had been—

“
So are you ready?” he
suddenly heard her say.

“
Ready for
what?”

“
You know,” she said, and
she smiled sweetly at him, her face as pretty as anything he had
ever seen.

“
Why are you doing this?”
He knew that fear had penetrated his tone. He just couldn’t help
himself any longer.

“
You know very well why I
have to do this.” She stroked his cheek, then kissed it for the
very last time. “Goodbye, my dear.”

Wait!”

A hawk could be seen in the distance.

“
You know full well why I
must do this,” she said. “It is because I love you so
much.”

“
We’ve been through this
before,” he said. “I did not do it. I swear.”

But she said nothing.

“
I swear on everything that
is holy that I did not do it,” he said. He knew he was pleading,
but what else was there for him to do? He
had
to get her ear before it was too
late.

“
I am so sorry, my darling,
but it is way too late for that, and you know it.”

“
I know no such thing!” He
was shouting. Why wouldn’t she listen? And that’s when he heard it.
“What’s that you’re doing?’ he asked her.

“
Don’t worry, my darling. I
promise you that it will not hurt for long.”

Then he knew. She slowly poured the gasoline
all over the canvas, saving his head for last. She was meticulous.
She did not miss a thing.

It stank.

And then out came the match.

#

It wasn’t for another week
that she discovered the truth. She had been poking through the
papers in his desk when she came upon it. At first she was shocked.
Then she became scared by what she had done, but this quickly
turned to anger—directed at him. It was
his
fault. He had no one else to blame
but himself. He just had not been persuasive. If he had been much
more forceful and forthcoming in his denials, then all of this
would never have taken place. They would still be together, as
happy as can be, living life to the fullest.

She sat down, her head in her hands, but she
did not sob. She worked her brain until she made things right. The
stiff drink she had helped. She felt much better now. She could
live with this. She was not to blame in the least for what had
happened. Life would go on. Happy memories would sustain her. She
would find someone new. She would be happily married once again.
Yes, she would. She was determined.

She smiled at the thought. Life was good
again, just as it was supposed to be. At least they had loved each
other “until death do us part,” and, in this day and age, there was
a lot to be said for that.

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THE END

About the Author

I have resided in and have
visited many places in the world, all of which have contributed in
some way to my own published writing. I have literally traveled
throughout the world, on numerous occasions. I have lived in
Finland, Germany, Thailand, Saudi Arabia (where COVERT DREAMS is
set), and the U.S. Virgin Islands (where DEADLY EYES is set). I
gained the wanderlust to see the world, to experience other
cultures, at an early age, and this desire has never left me. If
anything, it has only gained in intensity as I have aged. I try to
travel internationally at least once a year. In the interim, I
spend lots of time traveling around both my home state of
California and other nearby states.

I spent my early years in
the small town of Lone Pine, California, the home of almost every
western movie, in addition to a wide variety of other genres, made
in the 30's, 40's, 50's, and 60's. In fact, Hollywood still films
parts of big-time movies there today. My dad, the town's lifeguard
at the time, personally knew John Wayne, Lloyd Bridges, and Lee
Marvin, all of whom came to the town's pool, the Memorial Plunge,
at times to cool off after a hectic day of working in the sun. I
was even an extra in a movie filmed there in 1957, MONOLITH
MONSTERS, a B-cult favorite even today. I was ten years old at the
time. Even though I resided in a small town hours from the big
city, I was exposed to the excitement of action and heroes at a
formative age, and, thus, my interest in writing novels of suspense
such as COVERT DREAMS and DEADLY EYES was born. I am particularly
proud of the fact that these two international suspense thrillers
are rated #1 and #2 on the Goodreads Recommended Thriller/Suspense
list.

As a recent retiree from a
forty-year career as a professor of writing, I now live in Southern
California wine country with my wife, Kitty, and our two adorable
rescue cats.

SPECIAL NOTE: COVERT DREAMS
has recently received a Compulsion Reads endorsement. For those of
you who are unfamiliar with Compulsion Reads, this company
specializes in reviewing and endorsing those novels that meet its
quality standards based on the fundamental qualities of good
storytelling. Many books that the company reviews don't earn their
endorsement, so this is a pretty big deal.

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Michael Meyer’s ebooks and
paperbacks can be found
here
.

Chapter 19

Holmgang

By E.B. Boggs

The events in this story take place in
Vinland, in the year 1029 and involve the descendants of the
original Jomsviking settlers of the New World.

Valdimar was in deep contemplation. He had a
decision to make and it was not an easy one. Nothing in his life
had ever seemed easy to him. His father had been murdered and when
he took revenge, he had become outlawed.

Many people believed in him and had followed
him, fought beside him and looked to him for leadership, as they
had his father. But the gods were tearing them apart.

Some of the people believed in the nailed
god of the Christians. Some worshipped the old Pagan gods of the
Norse. The Skraelings, the native people in this new land, held to
their own gods.

Two young men, Kolben, a Christian, and
Arnulf a Pagan, were constantly baiting each other and fighting.
Valdimar had warned them about such activities before, and yet they
continued.

Olaf and Hradi had reported the latest event
to him. Kolben’s father, Hagni, had tried to stop them fighting and
had ended up being stabbed to death by Arnulf.

Kolben’s family was not interested in
wergild for the murder and wanted to start a blood feud. Arnulf and
his family were too willing to oblige them.