It's been a while since Sheila has appeared on this blog. But I wanted to end her story.
Here is that ending...
Karma Comes Killing
After Jerry’s death, Sheila trudged
quickly down the mountain in a light rainfall. She walked to Jerry’s car in the
parking lot and wiped it down. She didn’t want her fingerprints to give her
away. When she finished, she locked the extra set of keys in the glove
compartment, careful not to allow herself to be seen by anyone. Exhausted, she
started for home. By then, the rain was coming down in buckets. “Gosh, I’m
horny,” she said and pulled up her collar against the rain. “Time to get back
to town and find an able-bodied man to make me whole.”
Those thoughts filled her mind as
she arrived at the main road and stuck out her thumb. The man that picked her
up looked scruffy and smelled worse, but the inside of his truck was warm and
dry.
He offered her a swig of whiskey
from a new bottle, and she accepted. “Enjoy,” he said to her. “That’s some top
of the shelf stuff. Just won me the lottery and spent my first thousand on
several cases of God’s nectar.”
“Thanks. I’ve been walking for
hours. Went for a short hike and got lost.”
“It’s easy to do. Been lost a few
times myself. You didn’t say where you were going.”
“The first motel you see will be
fine. I’m homeless at the moment. But I have enough for a decent night’s sleep
and a hot shower!”
He looked her over, his striking
blue eyes looked so much younger than his body belied. Almost familiar. Before
she could find him in her memory, he dropped his gaze.
“You’re welcome to stay the night
at my cabin. I wouldn’t mind a drinking partner.”
Sheila laughed. “You lookin to get
laid, old man?”
He snorted. “Wish I could say yes,
but the Vietnam War took my mojo. It’s why I love the drink. So what do you
say? My turn off is just ahead. Or I can take you closer to town.”
“Your place sounds nice. I could
use the company too,” Sheila said, pretending not to notice his lottery
comment.
He turned off the road and headed
back up the mountain. By the time he arrived at the cabin, Sheila felt a little
car sick from all the twists and turns, but the fresh air quickly dispelled
that feeling once she climbed out of the cab and took a few deep breaths.
He limped to the door and opened it
for her. “Make yourself comfortable. I’m going to carry in a case or two to get
us started. If you start the fire, I’ll bring in the wood. That way, you can
warm yourself and dry out a little.”
She entered the dark cabin and
looked for a light switch. There was none, but she found a lantern and a box of
matches on the small kitchen table and lit the lamp. She gazed around the large
room. A ratty sofa sat in one corner, a wooden counter with shelves above it
sat in the other. The shelves were filled with dishes and boxed and canned food
items. An old-fashioned cookstove fed with wood and stacked with iron skillets,
and a coffee pot sat near the back door. In the far corner was a bed just as
ratty as the couch. One wall held the fireplace, and in the middle of the room
sat a rickety table with two chairs. It was rough but looked lived in. She lit
the fire that had been prepared in the fireplace.
“A little too rustic, isn’t it?”
she said when the stranger joined her.
He grumbled. “Never said it was a
fancy bed and breakfast.”
“No, you didn’t. It’s nice enough,
but I was expecting electricity. No bathroom either, I assume?”
“Of course, there is,” he said
proudly. “Outback. Just picked up a new roll too. Help yourself.” He handed her
a new roll of toilet paper that he takes from a grocery bag. If you take that
pitcher,” he pointed to one sitting on a shelf by the door. “You can fill it
with water from the barrel outside to wash with. Be sure to bring the roll back
with you. If you leave it out there, the critters will get to it, or the
dampness will!”
With a shrug, she walked out the
back door to the outhouse. She set the pitcher on the porch near the water
barrel and moved toward the doorless outhouse. When you’ve got to go, you
go. After all, I just spent a night in the woods with Jerry. This is a mite
better, she thought as she sat down on the cold, wooden seat. She watched
the cabin, just waiting for the old guy to take a peek. She was surprised when
he didn’t.
Back in the cabin, she found the
old man lighting another lantern. He had the kitchen table set with bottles of
Jack Daniels, a plate of cheddar cheese and a package of Ritz Crackers.
“Thought you might be hungry. If
this won’t do, I’ve got eggs and bacon, but I was saving that for breakfast.”
“This is fine,” she said as she
poured some water into a large bowl and washed her hands. She took off her
jacket and sat down near the fire. She opened a new bottle, poured a glass, and
took a big gulp. “This is so smooth.”
The old man smiled. “I’m glad you
like it.”
She poured another glass, ate a
chunk of cheese, and finished off that glass too. “You never told me your
name—I’m Sheila.”
“I know, Sheila. I know. And you know
me. Remember?” the old man said, then began to remove his facial hair and the
gray wig on his face. He pulled off the prosthetics that made him look years
older.
“Hank. Sheila. My name is Hank. And
I’m here to make sure you pay for all the crimes you’ve committed.”
By now, the drug he’d coated her
glass with had taken hold. Sheila could not fight him. She could barely stay in
her seat, but she was still conscious enough to know she’d been had.
“How? How did you find me?”
“It wasn’t difficult. I almost had
you, but then you disappeared up here. While I waited for you to reappear, I
perfected my disguise and rented this place. I’ve been searching for you for
days. What I don’t understand is why you were hitchhiking.”
“I couldn’t very well get caught in
my last victim’s car, now could I?”
“So, you killed Jerry too? You work
fast, girl. Too fast. Damn!” he shook his head. “You are one evil bitch, but I
knew the minute I mentioned a winning lottery ticket that you couldn’t resist
another opportunity.”
“You’re a bastard. But don’t worry,
I’ll escape again,” she said before the world went dark, and her head hit the
table.
*****
But Hank wasn’t about to leave
escape to chance. Sheila awoke to find herself in a sleeping bag on the porch
of a very rustic cabin. As she stretched herself awake, she saw that several
large, brown bears stood nearby. She immediately hurried inside but found that the
place had no door. The door had already been torn off by the bears. It lay at
her feet, and the smell of blood and meat assaulted her nostrils.
Realizing her error, she turned
around and came face to face with a bear. The beast swatted her with his
massive paw, and she went down in a heap. Blood poured from open wounds as the
bear began dragging her outside where three smaller bears attacked.
Sheila was eaten alive. Her bones
were found that next summer, and ID was found in the pocket of her jacket. The
papers in Alaska carried the story of how an escaped murderer met her match in Alaska's
wilderness. When the AP picked up the story, Hank read it and smiled. “Justice
has finally been achieved!”
The End of Sheila
*****
Photo by Sašo Tušar on Unsplash
