Authors: Dianne Yetman
“You must have stayed close enough to see where I parked?”
“No, that was the scary part.
We drove up and down the waterfront looking for your car but couldn’t find it. I circled back and drove towards the container ships thinking you might have had to pull in there and walk into the park. No luck. It was on my way back into the park
when I looked
at the canteen
that it hit me.
I lost
ten
minutes and those
ten
minutes cost a life.
”
Roger zoned out and Kate sat quietly waiting for him to return.
“It wasn’t your fault Kate. There’s no need to shoulder unnecessary guilt, we all have enough of the legitimate stuff to spread around. How did you figure out the direction we took?
”
“
We knew you had to have climbed the hill
.
I
t was the only direction to take without being seen. Once we reached the top and came to the crossroads,
our hearts sank. We stood motionless for what seemed to be hours before we heard the crunch of feet on gravel
and we
had our direction.”
“We didn’t hear
you;
at least I
didn’t;
I wonder if Hazel did? She
seemed to tire early in our trek and I convinced Eleanor to let her take a break.
Maybe
Hazel
thought you were closer than you actually were. Who knows?
”
“I doubt if she heard us Roger. Once we had our direction, we got off the g
ravel
path
.
It was the only way to muffle our approach. When we started our descent, we could see the shelter and the three of you walking towards it. We came crashing down then but we were too late. The roar of the gun filled our ears
.
I saw you roll out from under Hazel and take off running. Eleanor was ready to fire when Shirley brought her to the ground. I
ran after you
and
w
ould have caught you sooner if it hadn’t been for the
ballet flats.
”
“Like hell you would have. I wasn’t called
wind speed
by my track and field mates for nothing.”
His attempt at humour was as weak as his smile.
“Did Hazel say anything to you Roger to give you a hint of what she had planned to do?”
She watched his face closely.
“I can’t believe I had forgotten. It was a few seconds before Eleanor took aim and fired. I remember the intensity in her voice. She said something like,
‘
I’m tired, and it’s time to go.
There are people waiting for me.
’
”
“I thought she would have. She chose it freely Roger
and
she wanted you to know it.”
The
y
ordered another round,
and
raised their glasses
in a toast
to Hazel
.
“
I won’t be going back to the station with you, Roger.”
“
Hooking off are you? Don’t worry, I won’t tell.”
“
No, it’s not that. I won’t be back at the station for quite some time.”
“What are you talking about?”
“
I need some time to sort things.”
“Sort things
? Are you sick or something? Is it your parents, or your
brothers?
What’s going on?”
“
No, I’m not ill and my family is fine. But there are problems. P
roblems
I
need
to address.
Problems I’m not ready to t
ell
you
about yet.
I signed off on the papers this morning.
”
“
Six months?” He sighed. “If it has to be, it has to be.
Is there anything I can do?”
“
Thanks, if there is, I’ll let you know.”
“Come back to us, Kate.”
“
I’m making no promises. There’s law school
,
maybe a different path to follow, I don’t know.
So, off you with
now
before I cry or something.
”
She watched him walk away and tears ran down her face.
She gave h
im enough time to
dri
ve away before leaving the bar.
S
he drove out of the parking lot, turned left and headed out of the city.
The authorities at the prison knew her well. No problem
in being allowed to visit Eleanor.
She looked
thin
ner
since Kate had last seen her. She sat
on the edge of the bed staring into space
- c
omatose.
According to the prison guard who escorted her to the cell, she h
adn’t spoken a word since she
sent to prison to await her trial.
Kate stared at the woman who killed so many people.
The look
on
her Eleanor’s face reminded her of Anthony Perkins’ face at the end of the film
,
P
sycho
. One difference though.
Kate
knew
Eleanor wouldn’t hesitate to swat the fly.
11