The Haunted Traveler Vol. 2 Issue 1

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slammed shut forever. All for him, with his eternal rat-tat-tat
on that cheap laptop, the piddling through old and pointless
papers, the grubbing over bones and useless relics. What was
she doing in this wretched place? He didn’t care, he couldn’t
care, so wrapped up in his own plans while she vegetated.
Had he forgotten that he had a son? Kerry, who wandered
alone now amidst treacherous ravines, surrounded by vicious
creatures and lurking pitfalls. What sort of man would desert
his own son, send him away into the wilderness, an alien
environment in which he could not cope if danger threatened.
Even now little Kerry might be trapped in a cave, or pinned
underneath a toppled boulder, or... Desertion? Diana suddenly
realized—it struck her, like a shot in the night—what
the future held in store for her. Neil would climb to the top
on her back. He would make it, for ruthlessness does have
its advantages, and in the end he would discard her as he
discarded a broken arrowhead. Such was her future, indisputably
coming; could she doubt it any longer, when Neil was
willing to consign the child to an early death? It must not
happen. Options narrowed, but choice remained. She listened,
could hear nothing. More notes, then. She leapt to her
feet, moving noiselessly, with deliberate tread, into the kitchen.
Proceeding straight to a certain drawer, she removed the
long, heavy-handled butcher knife. Diana studied the shimmering
blade, admiring the sparkles of light in the smooth,
polished metal. She closed the drawer. As she turned, Diana
detected footsteps.
Neil Williams continued to plug away at his rough
draft, though he was distracted by Ralph’s continuous baying,
the low but persistent buzzing in his ears—an audial
nerve infection?—and his grinding headache. These irritations
had come upon him rather suddenly, slowing production
to a crawl, interfering with what began as a fine work
session. Now he proceeded with extreme difficulty, his mind
cluttered with hazy images, vague impressions which fused