Rosen looked down at the salesman’s prone body then turned towards the barn doors. Linda stood in front of his car, haloed by the headlights from his police cruiser. In her riding boots, tight jeans and fitted shirt, Linda’s tall, athletic figure looked mouth-wateringly tasty to Rosen.
“Well, well, I guess maybe I am gonna get my chance to put a tail on you after all. Get your cute ass over here.” he ordered. Linda didn’t move.
“NOW!” he roared and fired his pistol up into the roof causing a cloud of dust and wood splinters to cascade down. Linda jumped and screamed at the same time. The scythe twitched again.
Linda stepped forward several paces then stopped.
“Keep moving honey,” Rosen swung his gun back towards Ed’s still figure, “or I’m gonna make sure your new boyfriend here quickly becomes your next ex.”
She moved forwards again, breathing deeply but her head high and proud. She stopped again just a few feet from the raised platform. “You won’t get away with this you murdering pig!” she spat at him.
“Oh yes I will you stuck up bitch, I already have, now take your shirt off.”
“What?!”
“You heard me clear enough, take it off, now!”
The scythe rattled against the barn wall making both of them look in that direction but when their eyes looked at the tools and bench everything was still. Rosen looked back at Linda, the thought of field mice gone already. He thumbed the hammer back on his gun very slowly for dramatic effect, the click sounding very loud in the silence. Tears welled in Linda’s eyes as her hands reached for the top buttons of her checked shirt. They came undone with ease and as her chest heaved, Rosen’s skeletal grin widened. As she unhitched the bottom of her shirt from her jeans, her large firm breasts burst outward, the lacy deep red underwired bra barely holding her in. Rosen’s arm lowered slightly as all of his concentration went towards Linda’s exquisite form. Her long black hair, still held in a ponytail, came down the left side of her body, stopping just above her flat, sun-kissed stomach. Like a hungry wolf, Rosen licked his lips. Neither of them noticed the rusty scythe quiver again on the wall.
Rosen had started to pant slightly. “Show me.” he demanded in a husky voice. She dipped her head in shame then brought her hands around the back of her body reaching for the clasp on her bra. As she fumbled to unlatch the garment Rosen glanced down at the salesman, the pale skin, two bullet wounds ejecting lots of blood and no visible breathing told him all he needed to know, he had finally killed the pain in his backside. As he looked back up Linda’s bra came away from her chest, revealing a glorious sight to Rosen. He took in the large firm breasts topped with large dark areolas and large erect nipples. His lascivious grin widened and he licked his lips once more as he took a step nearer to her. “Now take off your jeans.” he demanded. At the same moment, the workbench and all of the tools hanging above it started shaking violently. The percussion was incredible, like an earthquake, but the rest of the barn wasn’t moving. Linda raised her head and looked over to the bench. Rosen lowered his gun slightly as he reluctantly looked away from Linda’s exquisite form and stared in awe at the sight. All the tools were rattling, rust fell from worn saws and hammers, a wooden peg gave way and an old pick fell to the wooden bench then to the dusty earth. One of the outer panels of wood splintered and gave way, the remainder slapping against the piece of wooden wall.
“What the f…”
The rusty, jagged scythe came spinning away from the wall like a boomerang. Mesmerised, the sheriff never moved as it flew straight towards him. The blade hit him across the neck with such force it sheared his head clean off. His head tumbled back, bounced and rolled unevenly across the top of the marble altar, a bemused look now permanently stuck on its countenance; his body just stood still, the revolver still in his hand. The scythe carried on to the other side of the barn, hit the wooden wall then clattered to the dusty earth and lay still. The rest of the tools and the workbench fell still and silent. Linda watched this happen as if it was in slow motion. With the sheriff’s heart still pumping, blood spurted up and back in a glorious bright red geyser, splattering down onto the marble table top then running in rivulets down the drain gulley’s to the chalice waiting underneath. She stared at Rosen’s body as the blood pressure weakened. Eventually, his legs buckled and he sank to his knees as if in prayer, then a few seconds later he toppled forwards onto the raised floor, his headless torso hanging over the side of the stage, what blood remaining oozing freely from the open wound. Linda’s hands went up to her face.
“Oh my god!” was all she could murmur as she stood horrified, transfixed to the spot, watching the pool of blood from Rosen’s body spread across the hard-packed earth then sink into it. After what seemed like an eternity she heard movement from behind the altar and heard a low moan.
“Ed!” She darted to the left of the dais, away from the wretched sight of Rosen’s body, her half-nakedness completely forgotten. As she came around to the rear side of the marble slab there was Ed Saunders lying on his back in a pool of blood, trying to get up and focus his eyes. She jumped the eighteen inches up onto the stage and flung herself at Ed. Very gently she got behind him and lifted his shoulders and cradled him to her chest, her tears of horror now turned to tears of joy. He moaned a little as she moved him; his eyes fluttered open then closed again, his body going limp. Her tears ran down her cheeks and gathered at the point of her chin then dropped lightly onto the side of Ed’s face. The tiny river of tears ran down the side of his nose to his lips. The moist sensation and salty tang made him lick his lips. It was enough to rouse Ed from his semi-unconscious state, he tentatively opened his eyes. The first thing he could focus on was the glorious sight of Linda’s beautiful deep, tanned cleavage that was rising and falling with the deep breathing coming from Linda’s chest. He grinned broadly then winced in pain.
“Is this heaven, tell me it is, please?” he managed as he tore his eyes away from her bust and looked up into Linda’s large brown eyes.
“My god, I thought I had lost you, I saw him shot you, I thought you were dead!” she replied. The mention of the sheriff made Ed stiffen.
“Where is he, what happened, did I get him?”
“You didn’t see it? He’s over there,” she pointed with her right hand to the other side of the dais, “dead.”
“Did I shot him?”
She shook her head no.
“Did you shot him?”
Again she shook her head no.
“No one shot him, it was a…… I don’t know, I don’t know what it was, I just know he’s dead, very dead.”
Between them, they got Ed to his feet. There was a large gash on the side of his head where the bullet grazed him, but it was already starting to scab over although blood was still freely seeping out. He still felt wobbly and held onto the altar for support. She took a handkerchief from her jeans back pocket and placed it gently on his head to help stem the bleeding. He winced again but thanked her. His shoulder had started to ache more than his head now. He looked around slowly to make sure Rosen was dead and almost jumped when he saw the skeletal face of the sheriff looking up at him just a few feet away.
“What the hell?”
Linda couldn’t bear to look at the ghastly sight; she turned away, looking over towards the hole that had been dug many years ago in the corner.
“Well you’re right, he’s definitely dead… but I still don’t understand what happened, who did this to him?”