“That’s right, I am Summer’s brother. Son of Dr. Charles Denning and Natalie Denning. Brother to Hayden and Hayley.” Jung tries to stand, but his feet will no longer hold him, and he topples to the ground and wets himself.
Alex uses his foot to turn him over and smiles down into his face, “And I am you’re Executioner. You see Dr. Alberto Hass, by now the venom is moving through your system and paralysis is setting in.”
Jung's heart is pounding loudly, and he pants in terror. He can hear and see perfectly, but he can't move. His arms twitch, and he struggles to move them, to no avail.
“Summer received your message, and so she sent you a special gift. I promised her that this would not be over quickly. We agreed that you should suffer as much as possible. I only wish I could kill you once for each person in my family.” Seth tosses the quilt from the bed over Jung's body and rolls him up like a sausage.
“Let's get on with this. He's starting to stink,” Seth murmurs. They carry the body out the back door, and up the hill to a wagon in the trees. Seth tosses his body inside with a thud and then reaches for the whiskey he brought with them. Alex quickly snags the bottle from him and takes a long hard pull before climbing up and driving off.
They follow train tracks for a few miles, sharing the whiskey until they are outside of town. Seth takes another swig before glancing at Alex, “Here, drink some it will put some color back in your face.” Alex takes a drink and slows the wagon, handing Seth back the nearly empty bottle.
“Easy,” he says softly to the horses and pulls back on the reins stopping them. He steps down from the wagon and looks back up at Seth.
“You’ve done enough, Seth. I won’t ask you to be a party to murder.”
Seth leaps down and hurries to the back of the wagon. He corks the bottle and stuffs it inside his coat pocket. “You didn’t ask, Alex. We are in this together.” He grabs Jung by his feet and pulls him towards the edge. “You can, however, help carry him, he is built like a bull.”
Together, they unroll his body on the grass and toss the quilt onto the rocks beside the tracks. Seth takes another drink, and Alex does the same before pouring the last remnants on top of Jung's motionless body. Large eyes full of fear and hate, glare at them. With swollen lips, and a tongue that is useless, Jung tries to speak, but his mouth is not capable of clear speech.
They carry him to the tracks ignoring the sounds and grunts he is making. Dropping him on the tracks with a thud, they move him around like a piece of furniture, trying to decide which way to leave his body.
“I do believe you are drunk, Seth,” Alex snorts.
“No, you are. Blast it all, it doesn’t matter which way he is laying.” Seth drops his feet across the rails and stomps off the tracks.
“Quite right.” Alex drops his end and snickers at the groan. Alex bends over to stare into the eyes of a murderer and wonders what that makes him. “I promised Summer you would suffer. I imagine it burns doesn't it? The poison inching through your system, paralyzing you. You'll be aware when the train comes, you will feel it tearing your body to pieces and then you will die. You will die like a common drunkard who fell asleep on the tracks, and no one will know who you were. You should know that we will go on. Our lives will be full of laughter and love, and you will only be a bad memory.”
When the sun is rising on the horizon, they return to town and drop the wagon off. In the distance, the mournful whistle of a train screams out as they purchase two tickets to New York.
“Time to go home,” Alex says with a smile.
Epilogue
“Mama, it’s here!” Jonah screams running through the house at full speed. He finds her in the sunroom at her writing table. Today, she is working on the sketches for her children’s book. It is the story she told the twins on the ship. Her heart is full as she hears the excitement in Jonah’s voice. She puts the finishing touches on the child’s face in the sketch. She is staring at her reflection in the water and finds to her shock she is a unicorn.
The house is decorated for Christmas, their first one together as a family. Mistletoe is her favorite new tradition. Jonah explodes into the room with his arms holding a brown wrapped package.
“Let’s open it!” She exclaims as she takes it from his hands.
“Really? But it’s not Christmas yet.” Jonah was practically vibrating with excitement.
“True, but as your Mother, I get to choose, and I say you should open it.” Summer smiles at the joy on his face.
“Okay, Mama,” he sits and opens it carefully. Revealing the first bound edition of her children’s book, “The Princess and the Pirate, written by Summer Yates.”
Summer did the artwork herself, and Mr. Khou did the binding and printing of the first one for her. Her book was picked up by a publisher in New York. She has dreamt of this all her life, and now she's holding her first book. Of course, it will be months before they can begin printing them, but the dream is now a reality. When she hands it to Jonah his smile couldn’t be any larger.
“Open the cover, Jonah.” Inside of the title page is a dedication to him.
She pulls him close and reads it to him, “To my son, Jonah.
