Bonfire Memories by Sally Quilford

Author:Sally Quilford [Quilford, Sally]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯)
ISBN: 9772051174009
Amazon: B00A6S4624
Goodreads: 16133651
Publisher: Tales from the Shed
Published: 2012-11-11T13:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

1946

I can barely bring myself to do what needs to be done. But if I’m to get her up to the bonfire, it’s the only way. If I’m stopped, I can always say it’s my contribution to the festivities, and pray that my ruse works better than the one young Sammy and his friends tried.

It feels like a violation, removing her clothes and replacing them with the clothes of his tramp mother. I’ll have to get rid of her clothes in some other way, just in case they don’t burn through properly. Someone might have remembered her and what she was wearing.

“I’m sorry, my love,” I murmur, as I begin preparing her for the bonfire. “If there were any other way, we could have lived happily together. Even with Brigitte.” I explain to her how much I like my life here. How good it feels to be a big fish in a small pond. One day I’ll be an even bigger fish. Then I can guide this country towards being what it should be. She stares back at me blankly, accusingly, so that I have to close her eyes.

Soon she is ready. She looks grotesque with the paper bag over her head. It was not enough that I killed her. I have violated her too. Made her into something inhuman.

What’s more, I have to keep her here until it gets dark. When I can no longer bear looking at her, I put her into the boot of the car. I sit and wait for dusk to fall. I can’t risk being seen, so I drive the car up through the trees, at the back of the common. There’s an old footpath there that no one ever uses. It leads up to the Roman ruins. My guess is that none of the locals has walked that route since that old Jew finished his digging, and the area was plundered by other archaeologists for artefacts. Occasionally, in summer, day trippers hike the lanes in the area, but it’s November, so there’s no risk of that.

She’s so slight, like a wisp of air, that I lift her easily in and out of the bonnet. I carry her to the bonfire and lean her against the side, whilst I walk around, looking for a large enough gap in which to put her. Anyone glancing up from the village at this time of the evening will think that it’s just another Guy Fawkes put here by the children.

Someone is coming! I wait behind the bonfire, holding my breath. Damn! It’s that dirty little gypsy girl. What’s her name? Cara. That’s it. Why does this country allow such people to live? It’s an abomination.

She’s seen the body and is walking towards it. If I have to kill her, and shove her into the bonfire, I will. No one will miss her, except that vile gypsy mother of hers and no one cares about her feelings. I’ve heard the women talking about her behind her back. They’d probably thank me for giving her a reason to leave Midchester.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.