Charon's Crossing

It was the hot water heater that had caused the explosion that had destroyed Charon's Crossing. Not the heater, exactly; the propane tank. The safety valve had failed, somehow; the gas had ignited...

"A terrible, terrible accident," she'd heard Beverly whisper over the phone to a friend.

But it hadn't been an accident! Kathryn knew what had happened, that Matthew had caused the explosion, that he'd planned it and found a way to get her out of the house, that he'd sacrificed his own existence for hers.

What had become of him? Was he gone forever? Was he trapped in that awful darkness he'd described? Was he wandering some worse hell, with Waring breathing his foul stink upon him?

"Kathryn?"

Matthew. Oh Matthew, why did you do it? I loved you. I'll always love you. I would have stayed with you forever...

"Kathryn? Darling, what are you doing out here all by yourself?"

Kathryn swung around. Her mother was standing in the doorway. She was smiling but it was a tense, worried smile.

"It's chilly out here, Kathryn. You ought to be wearing a shawl."

Kathryn swallowed hard.

"Hi," she said brightly. "Did you just get in?"

Beverly nodded. "My meeting ran a bit long. Darling, are you all right?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine." She frowned, came closer, and put her hand to Kathryn's forehead.

Kathryn jerked back. "Really, I'm fine."

"I just wanted to see if you have a fever. Your eyes are so bright..."

"So," Kathryn said briskly, "how did your meeting go?"

Beverly smiled. "The way I'd expected. They want me to try working in platinum. I said I'd give it a try."

Kathryn laughed. "No sacrifice too great, huh?"

"Of course, I told them we'd need a new contract, one for lots more money." She leaned her arms on the balcony railing and gazed out over the park. "I wish you'd let me send you on a little vacation, Kathryn. It would do you good."

Kathryn sighed. "We've been all through this, Mother. What I need is to get back to work, find a place of my own... get my life started. Which reminds me, I've got a terrific interview lined up for tomorrow morning, did I tell you?"

Beverly turned and leaned back against the railing. A breeze ruffled her hair, still as dark and lustrous as Kathryn's.

"You're quite sure you don't want to go back to your old job, darling? Jason keeps pleading for you to return."

"I know. It's kind of him, considering how I treated him, but it wouldn't work out. He's a dear, sweet man and I hope we'll always be friends..."

"But you don't love him."

"No. Not the way I loved... not the way a woman should love a man."

Something in her daughter's voice alerted Beverly. She reached out and took her hand.

"Are you having a bad day?" she asked gently.

Kathryn hesitated. "Yes," she said. "I keep thinking about... about..."

"Did you call the doctor?"