By the time I made it to the forest, her body was gone. Hauled away, then tucked away until she could be poked and prodded after death. All I wanted to do was touch her. I wanted to say goodbye to my sister.
I heard they found her under a peach tree. There was more than one peach tree out there in those woods, but as soon as I saw it, I knew I’d found the right one. It was the biggest one, the spot where that monster dumped her body.
I know it sounds crazy, but as I crawled beneath that tree, scurrying into the shady darkness of the branches above, I thought I could feel her there.
The other night I had a dream, one of those dreams you can’t dream twice. Rachel and I were sitting on the edge of a jagged cliff, dangling our toes over the side of Widow’s Curve. “Now this is what you call living on the edge. Literally,” Rachel giggled. She jumped from the edge before I could stop her.
She burst apart into tiny little particles before she hit the ground below.
Sometimes, I imagine those bits of her floating back into me, filling me up and making me whole again.
I made her a grave marker, similar to Annie’s, and our sister Allison’s. Now they lie side by side. I like to think that they’re intertwined, whispering secrets beneath the dirt and soil…
The other day, I saw Martin on TV again. They were finally able to match his DNA to tiny bits of blood on the heel of my sister’s sneakers. I like to think that even though she died, Rachel got to have the last laugh in the end. His clients who went house-hunting finally admitted that they were occupied during that timeframe and Martin could have left and killed her. There were also prostitutes who came forward, verifying that he was a violent man. And some of Lily’s furniture and belongings were discovered at the local dump…
I think he’ll be convicted, but you never know. I guess if he’s not, I might have to take matters into my own hands, like I did with Andy.
Like the curl at the bend in Widow’s Curve, Rachel was destined to die no matter which way she went. I only wish I could have saved her…but now, Nova and Lily will watch over her and the other ghosts on the farm while I’m gone. I stand trial next month for Andy’s murder. I may have to serve some time, but there are a lot of people on my side—Officer James, Sergeant Sam, and even my husband’s former mistress—and I’ve never felt freer. My lawyer will plead self-defense and hopefully, I’ll get to spend the rest of my days with Nova and Lily, my new family.
As I stare at Nova’s beautiful, smiling face, and as I watch Lily running freely through the fields…I know it was all worth it. I couldn’t save my own daughter or my sister, but I have saved these two…and for now, that is enough.