Act V by Ansley Adams Page A

cranberry red from her
face. “It’s hard to remain anonymous when your uncle is also the
rector of the only Catholic church in town and your parents pretty
much built the parochial school.”
    Kenny took the left turn exit onto I-85
and headed for Atlanta. “Did you leave the note for your
parents?”
    “ Yeah, I hope they don’t get
too mad when they figure out that I’m not at Jeanie’s house like I
said in the note. With any luck it’ll take them a while to figure
it out and then we’ll be back and settled in.” Gabby’s parents were
about as high up in society as you could go in this town. Her
father was a judge and her mother was head of the Legal Auxiliary.
And of course there was Uncle Andrew, Father Andrew to the rest of
the parish. A girl had to mind her p’s and q’s with relatives like
that. Her parents had big plans for her. She would finish college
and go on to grad school, obtaining a degree that she would use
only until she saw fit to marry a very wealthy man with societal
levels equal to or greater than her own. So far she had completed
one year of college and hadn’t declared a major, something her
mother wasn’t very concerned about. During that year she’d met a
scholarship student, a senior, who also happened to be on Mama’s
list of people with whom you should never associate, except perhaps
when they come to cut the lawn. Kenny was handsome, rugged, smart,
and just far enough away from her parents’ idea of the perfect mate
to make her grab hold and refuse to let go. They’d been seeing each
other on the sly for six months now, and neither had the guts to
tell their folks.
    Kenny’s parents had worked in the last
remaining textile mill in town until it shut down and they’d both
gone to work at the auto assembly plant. They made good money but
Kenny knew they’d say he was getting “too big for his britches” if
they found out about Gabby. They wanted him to be a lawyer because
he could argue with God about the weather. He wanted it too, but he
wanted Gabby more. “Don’t worry Babe,” he cut his eyes sideways at
her. “After we’re married, it’ll be too late. They’ll have to
accept it and go on.”
    “ You hope.”
    “ Yeah, I hope.”
    *****
    “ Oh no, oh no!” Glynnis
couldn’t catch her breath. She stumbled outside, not even bothering
with a drink of water first. Gulping in the fresh outdoor air, she
felt her heart begin to slow just a little. There would be rain
tomorrow, lots of it. She wished it would come now and drown out
the cacophony of thoughts racing through her head. Today had been
the reason God created valium. First the police detectives, then
her mother, and Dorsey, and just now, she’d had the dream again.
The sword, the wine, the blood. It was the third time. Now it would
happen and it couldn’t be stopped. Maybe it already had happened.
“Please God let me be wrong this time. This time let it be just a
dream.” But she knew it was too much to ask.
    Glynnis went back inside, locked the
deadbolt and checked the clock—only two in the morning, but she
wouldn’t go back to sleep tonight. She grabbed Carl from his perch
on the bed and walked back to the den to sit down in the recliner,
her dog in her lap for comfort. She reached for the remote. Turning
on the local channel, she put the TV on mute and pulled a soft
cotton throw from the back of the chair over her legs. According to
the thermostat, it was seventy-seven degrees inside, but she was
cold. Glynnis set the phone on her lap and watched the screen.
There would be a news report sooner or later, and then the phone
would ring.
    *****
    “ Aw, scarabs in a sandbox!”
You have got to be freakin’ kidding me.” Addison rolled his eyes at
his partner and spoke into the phone. “We’re on the way. Just don’t
let those jerks tear up the place before we make it.” It was only
eight in the morning and already things were hopping.
    “ My, my, Detective Paddix,
what a colorful vocabulary