* * * SENSH * * *
She looked back. Behind her was no trace of the door she had just walked through. She was in untamed scrubland, the gravelly ground littered with rocks of all sizes. A giant saguaro cactus stood a few feet away, looming over her; Teresa had never been so close to one before, and stared up at it in awe. The dry heat made her throat hurt, and the sun made the top of her head burn.
There was a paved road a short distance away, and parked on the side was a white opentop Lincoln Continental. The driver was leaning across the front seat, waving and beckoning to her. Teresa walked quickly towards the car, wary of turning her ankle on the loose rocks.
'Hello!' said the driver, in a British accent. 'You want to go and look at Monument Valley with me?'
lt was the young woman she had seen on the set, still dressed in her cowgirl costume.
'You're Shandy, aren't you,' Teresa said, realizing that they had never been face to face before.
'Yes. How do you know that?'
'I'm Teresa Simons, and I'm glad to meet you.'
* * * SENSH * * *
'Get in the car, Teresa. Let's get to know each other.
Hey, isn't it hot? You want to loosen some of those clothes?
Me, I'm just crazy about the heat. Phew!' She pulled at the top of her shirt, and with the sound of ripping velcro she opened it all the way down. Her barely restrained breasts popped into sight. 'Let's go somewhere, and'
'Listen, this isn't going to work, Shandy,' Teresa said.
She looked ahead, and saw the road leading in a more or less straight line across the desert floor, the stunning, magnificent rocky buttes rising on each side.
'Is this your first time?'
'I got to go. I'm sorry.'
'I've got a friend called Luke. He'd love to meet you.'
'No, Shan. Maybe we can do this some other time.'
'Whatever you want,' Shandy said, pouting and looking straight ahead down the desert road.
'Yeah, 1 got to go,' said Teresa. She recalled the LIVER mnemonic.
You have been flying SENSH Y'ALL
Fantasys from the Old West
Copyroody everywhere doan even THINK about it!!
She kept forgetting about that, but didn't have the energy to kill the music. She heard it through, until at last it faded.
A young woman was sitting at one of the tables in the picnic area, with plastic cups and plates, scraps of food, and several toys spread all about. She was laughing, and her child was running around on the grass, wrapped up in his game.
Teresa was standing at the edge of the clearing, but she stepped back quickly behind a tree.
Gerry Grove lurched into view, the gun in his hand. He raised it with a deliberate, wide swinging motion of his hand, then cocked it, working the mechanism three or four more times, relishing the sound.
The noise made the woman turn towards him. She saw
the gun levelled at her, and panicked. She shouted in terror to her child, trying to twist round on the heavy log, to get across to the little boy, but she seemed paralysed by her fear. The boy, thinking it was still a game, dashed away from her. The woman's voice became a hoarse roar, then, after she had sucked in her breath, she was incapable of further sound.
Teresa saw that Grove still didn't know how to hold or alm a gun. He held it at arm's length, pointing at the terrified woman, the weapon wavering slightly in his grasp.
This time, Teresa thought, I'm not going to show him how to do it properly.
Grove fired! The gun recoiled back in his hand, and Rosalind Williams screamed in terror.
She ducked down, rushing across the clearing floor towards her child. Grove fired at her again. The gun bucked in his hand, this time apparently twisting his wrist. While Rosalind Williams scooped up her little boy in her arms, Grove held his gunarm against his stomach and leaned over it in pain. Crouching low, holding her screaming boy at an awkward angle, Mrs Williams scrambled past him, heading for the road.
Grove tried firing again, but his gun arm was obviously hurting and the weapon did not discharge. He transferred it to his left hand, took hurried alm at Mrs Williams, fired again.
Once more, the recoil made the gun jerk in his hand. The woman escaped through the trees, clutching her child.
Giddy with relief, Teresa breathed in deeply, letting it out with a sob. Grove heard the noise and turned towards her. She was not making any more effort to hide.
'Who the fuck are you?' he said.
She began to laugh; she felt the madness of relief rising in her, and she spluttered and coughed, doubling up.
