This
year’s Halloween dare is a piece of cake. I’ll be done in an hour. Honestly, Thursday’s
full moon should make it easier.
As
I slipped through a gap in the stone fence, I realized I’d made a mistake not
bringing a flashlight. Deep in the oldest part of the cemetery, the giant oaks
blocked most of the moon and cast eerie shadows. I picked up my pace. I wanted
to get this done.
The
Sinclair family burial plot is protected by a wrought iron pavilion topped with
a lacy metal dome. The corner posts supported an ancient tangle of snowy white
climbing roses twining around the iron braces creating a fragrant woven roof
over the brooding graves of generations past.
However,
I wasn’t here for a history lesson. At the peak is an elaborate copper-plated
cross.
First,
I’d claim bragging rights for the year and then I’d off it to an antique dealer
for a bundle.
Piece of cake.
I
used the trunks of the roses as a ladder and crawled out onto the dome. I swore
as thorns tore at my hands and the century-old iron creaked under my weight.
Okay, maybe not cake. But still worth
it.
The
cross was within reach. I shifted my weight and my knee slipped off the support
strut, sending me face first into the roses. Cradled in the tangled vines,
countless thorns bloodied me.
I
tried to grab something for leverage, but every time I moved; I sank farther
into the barbed agony of the bower. If I broke through, I’d end up skewered on
the iron crosses below.
I
screamed when I heard the first crow. My granny always told me that hearing a
crow at night is a harbinger of death. When the first two landed, I buried my
face in the cloying blooms.
***
Tuesday
morning after Halloween weekend dawned cold and clear. The cemetery sextant
fumbled the ornate key around in the rusty lock.
“Sorry.
It’s been a while since we’ve had a Sinclair kick off. You pick the spot and
I’ll get the gravediggers working.”
The
funeral director looked around and said, “No worries. The funeral’s not until
Friday. This really is a lovely place. Look at these roses; I don’t think I’ve
ever seen such an incredible shade of red.”