Short Story Time! (Part 4--finale)

Check out parts 1, 2, and 3 here, here, and here.

And here we have it, the last part! If you are reading this, thanks for sticking with it thus far :) Enjoy!

And So They Proceeded* 

Part 4

Day three showed the end of the forest, day four the beginning of the next town, day five the

plateau, and so forth until day seven, when the gravel roads became concrete and drummed into the boys’ heels. At noon, it began to pour. Without a word, Two peeled off his coat and draped it over the girl, and no one in the party objected when he untied the ropes completely as they expanded and stiffened from the rain.

The sun came out by the time they reached the center of the land. A respectable number of people had gathered. Word had gotten around that this time, it was a girl, and at that, a wife-turned-widow. Children hung off the hips of mothers and fathers brought their sons to witness the sentence. If the coatless boy and the coated convict with untied hands, or oddly silent party, or the missing third member raised any questions, nobody voiced them.

“What did she do?” whispered a boy to his father as the girl was led to the front of a stone wall.

“She murdered her husband,” the father whispered back.

“Why?”

“They say she wouldn’t say. All the suspected are given a chance to speak, and they say she said nothing.”

“But why would she stay silent if she’s going to die for it?”

“People don’t speak to the face of the law. They speak to the face of those who listen.”

The father and son fell silent when an onlooker glared at them. Any other muttering quieted, too, for the four had lined up facing the stone wall. In the utter silence, the sun seemed to steam the puddles of water on the ground.

With a hand, the leader gave the signal.

***

As Five discovered, he was right. She didn’t plead or cry or so much as say a word. Without assistance from Two, she walked to the wall, the skirt of her dress shifting a little as she placed one foot down in front of the other without looking back.

One was cursing under his breath. Two, seeing the sleeves of his coat pooling over her hands, wept bitterly, so much that he almost couldn’t steady his rifle.

“Come on,” Four muttered when Five could not. “Let’s finish this.”

Looking down the line of his barrel, Five stilled the pounding in his chest until it barely resounded in his ears.

At the other end, their eyes met.

At the other end of his barrel, Five realized that her irises were the color of question.

***

It was two o’clock when Three suddenly woke in the Healing House. Ignoring the pang in his abdomen, he slowly pulled himself up and lurched to the window. It had rained—that much was apparent. Down in the square the puddles of water shimmered, reflecting images of the gathered men and women and children.

A wave of vertigo passed over Three. He wondered about One, Two, Four, Five. And the girl. He glanced again out the window, at the square. For the first time, he didn’t know where they were.

Slumping, he gripped the sill to keep himself upright. The glass pressed cold against his cheek. When he turned, he imagined seeing the face of Di in it, but he only saw himself.

***

After the people had dispersed, the gravediggers gathered the body. Five continued to stand motionless, rifle frozen in position, lowering it only when Four touched his arm.

Two sank to a squat, shaking. “That didn’t feel like dealing out justice,” he croaked.

One spat onto the ground. “You don’t feel justice, stupid."

THE END

Again, thank you so much for reading. I don't write very many short stories and I'd therefore love to hear all your thoughts and comments. 

*Don't forget to check back on Parts 1 and 3 to vote for your favorite title!