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For the third night in a row, Ian sat by the phone and
waited. One eye on the clock and
one hand on the receiver. Patiently
waiting.
He had told no-one of his conversation with
Wilhemina's sister, or of his intentions. Everyone
who knew and cared about him were worried enough. His nervous state over the past eight months had been
deteriorating under the stress and fear that had been slowly eating him from the
inside until he could take it no longer. Now
the fear was gone, replaced by a resignation that only a condemned man could
know.
Or a condemned woman.
Would she make him wait two long years as she had
waited, cooped up inside a tiny cell awaiting certain death with little or no
hope? He wouldn't blame her if she
did, but somehow he knew that she wouldn't.
He knew it would be soon.
As he watched the minutes tick by, he thought again
and again about the others. Had
they known? Had they all had a
premonition just as Judge Davis had? Or
did she just sneak up on them and snatch them from the earth, like they had
snatched her precious life and crushed it in their hands?
He smiled in amazement at it all.
How incredible the will of the human soul, even beyond death.
Would his soul be the same? Carry
on until he had achieved peace?
Somehow he had achieved peace already, if that's what
the sudden calm in his gut was. No,
his soul was dead already. It died
the moment he had first typed the words 'Wicked Willie' and sent them to the
copy room with a perverted feeling of pride.
She was just going to finish it for him. Or, rather, he would. She
had done enough already, and deserved some help at last.
The second hand on the clock seemed to go backwards
for a moment, time moved so slowly. But
at last the time hit two o'clock, and in the dead of night, the phone rang.
Right on time.
Ian picked it up slowly and, though his hand trembled
somewhat, he was ready.
He didn't bother saying hello, or any other banal
greeting like that. He listened for
a moment. There was nothing on the
other end of the line, as he expected, but he knew it was her.
She had come for him at last.
With a strange smile on his face, he whispered into
the receiver, "I'm sorry Wilhemina."
And as his other hand drew the pistol to the side of his head, he kept
the receiver to his ear, just in case he would hear her at last.
But nothing, to the very end.
As the trigger went off, so did the connection on the
other end of the line.
It was late, but Felicity couldn't bring herself to
sleep.
The news of Ian Jeffreys death the night before had
made her truly believe what he had said to her only a few days before.
True, he had shot himself, but who had willed it?
Would a young man with a promising career and a beautiful, educated
girlfriend shoot himself in the head for any other reason?
No, it was Wilhemina, and in the back of her mind Felicity had known it
all along, right from the first death of Wilhemina's lawyer.
Felicity herself had nothing to fear, of course, but
the thought of Wilhemina living on unsettled her. Was she still suffering, still crying out to no-one who would
listen to her? Felicity couldn't
bear the thought. She hoped with
Ian Jeffreys death that it would all be over, and that Wilhemina would rest at
last. But something in her heart
told her there was one more soul to join her before Wilhemina could truly be at
peace.
With just the dim light from the hall, Felicity stood
in Daniel's doorway and watched him sleep.
Such a beautiful and gentle boy, he looked so much like his mother.
She felt so sorry for him, but what more could she do to ease the pain he
didn't understand.
A hand touched her shoulder.
"Come to bed, dear," her husband John said
softly, "he's fine. You need
some sleep."
Felicity nodded, took another look at Daniel, and
followed her husband off to bed. She
looked at the clock on her bedside table. 1:46
AM. Yes, she did need to get to bed
earlier.
Fourteen minutes later, as sweet Daniel slept, he saw
his mother before him. He still
knew her, of course. She came to
him in dreams every night, but he could never get near her. His legs were always like lead and all he could do was call
to her as she waved from so far away.
This time though, at last, he could run to her.
He rushed into her arms, and they held each other again after so long.
And as Wilhemina whispered to him through her smile,
"And may we reunite in heaven," little Daniel's heart stopped for no
reason as his soul joined his mothers' for all eternity.
© Cynthia M. Piromalli 2003
©2003 StoriesByEmail.com
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