* * *
it wasnt the liquor he imbibed
he slipped time
he had only the audacity to
smell to watch time unwind itself and
reveal the transgression
he was an unwitting witness
he could recognise both men
recognise the murderers
he also recognised as an
uninvited stranger no one would listen to him
he sees he murders the murderers
* * *
he sees
he sees he is no longer in the
white stone building
he descended the stairshe descends past the storey where the bodies would have fallenhe descends hoping that he can find where the two men have exitedwhere they may have taken the dead woman and man
he emerges onto the flatstone veranda and runs to his righthe runs between odd guestshe knows the murderers wouldnt come this waywould be at some secret exit probably below the veranda discrete
the earth is soft
in the dark he can make out ruts cut by cart wheels the footprints of an unshod donkey or horse one man rodemaybe both he didnt stop to feel the compacted earththe ruts he knew them
hed recognise the murderers whether separate or together
separate or together didnt play into his consideration
he chased into the night after the unwinding trail already the earth was mixing with marl and sand the pulling animal plodded its feet bit harder at the toe clawed the sifting ground
he slowed to a walkand slowing ahead he could hear the wheels turn and groan he heard the animal urged by a voice occasionally a lash
he walked easily in the animals footprints reserving his strength
the path ran in a switchback working its way to the sea
atop one crest from behind seagrass he saw that both men rode on the cart the bodies were secreted under a bulky tarp that didnt betray what lay under it
it was unlikely that anyone in the middle of the night would be curious to stop the men or ask what they transported
he ran to the end of a switchbackopposite the mens backs and worked his way noisilyutterly obscured to the beach below
he arrived amply ahead of them and surveyed where the path emerged where the men might dispose of the bodies
the tide was high but it did not eclipse the crooked finger of a seawall that deflected the sea wavesthe beachs erosion
he assumed theyd take the bodies out onto the stout wall and hurl them into the deep water
the receding tide would steal their remains and provide feast aplenty for the waters denizens
theyd have to manhandle the bodies to out near the point where the finger crooked there wasnt room enough on top of it to turn the beast and the cart around
he slipped his clothing and save his shoes he swam naked across the protected still water he sprawled on the inclined rocks shy of the crook and waited
he should have been a murderer
he read their minds
they carried the mans body first
they were struggling fatigued
they didnt see him rise behind them as they labouredas they swung the body into the seaone lost his footing and began to fallthe second rushed to grab and arrest him and akimbo off balance precarious he leapt and shoved them at once and they plunged into the water then rising separately below him dazedgasping for air he cracked their skulls with large seawall rocks the cracks either killing them or disabling their wits that they drowned
they bobbed in the surf face down
when they bumped into the seawall before the sea took them he struck them in the head with other rocks that he wield above his head like Atlas
they did not protest
like black turtles they finally floated out to sea with the tide
the beast untethered turned on the beach and began up the path to return whence it came it ambled and began ascending almost gratefullythe cart lighter for the missing men
it would be curious when the beast and cart were finally discovered
he thought to himself as he swam across the quiet inlet to his clothing had he said he should have been a murderer
dreamed
Day-between-Two-Ts and Thursday, 1 and
2, 8. 18
1326, Twosday, 7 8. 18
1326, Twosday, 7 8. 18
