CoffeeShop Blues: 2015 Traveler's Edition | Page 77

Jeremy Frost With a shout, Derwen darts to the rock cliff. His hand slips when he tries to look down, dreading what he will see next. However, as he scans the rocks, only the shimmer of the moss greets him. In the pool at the waterfall’s base, there is neither floating white dress nor hair weaving below the surface like reeds. No gash of blood stains the rocks with a wetness familiar from the farm. Cupping his eyes, he even checks the meadow before his shoulders slump. The bubbling of the waterfall echoes in his head as he wonders if he is hallucinating. No one could possibly believe him. The parents will declare him mad, a conjurer, a murderer who makes his bodies disappear. A babble of children’s voices floats across the water. The family is returning to the coach, the footman is holding the door open and standing to attention. Cardiff, Derwen decides. He will say that Eirwin escaped from him and tricked a ride in the carriage, the footman her accomplice. From the city, she could travel anywhere before they could check. However, at the waterfall, she will always be his. 77