Evil in Paradise. R. B. Conroy

and blotchy with anger. “You better go or I’ll tell your mommy that you broke Mr. Brubaker’s window yesterday.”

      Little Ellie’s eyes glazed over, a tear rolled down her cheek.

      “You’ll get in lots of trouble and I’ll tell Mr. Brubaker too.”

      Ellie stared at the ground and murmured so softly Cathy could hardly hear her, “You promise you won’t tell mommy about Mr. Brubaker if I go with you?”

      “I promise.”

      “Okay, I’ll go.”

      Cathy twirled her bike around and started up the path again with Ellie riding reluctantly behind her. Soon the two of them were on top of the steep hill next to the old, abandoned gravel pit. Cathy came to a quick stop, dropped her bike to the ground and ran over to the edge of the pit. A chill ran up her spine when she looked over the edge at the steep drop-off.

      “Wow, look at all of those big rocks at the bottom by the water!” she yelled.

      Scared, Ellie stayed back straddling her bike on the trail behind Cathy.

      “Come on, Ellie, come over and look.”

      Ellie’s eyes teared up; she started to cry. “I want to go home. I’m scared, Cathy.”

      Cathy looked fiercely at her terrified friend, angry that she had disobeyed her, but Ellie wasn’t moving. She screamed and pushed backward on the pathway moving further away from Cathy and the edge of the pit.

      Once again, Cathy had an amazing metamorphosis. Her face softened, she smiled warmly at Ellie. “Okay, we can go home; but we have to go home this way. It’s the best way.” Cathy swung her finger toward the trail that bordered the deep pit. She smiled, but her eyes glinted viciously.

      “No! That trail goes by the gravel pit,” Ellie protested.

      “I know it does, Ellie, but it’s the fastest way home to your mommy.” Cathy spoke calmly to her frightened friend. “You can go first if you want to.”

      “I get to go first.”

      “Yes.”

      “I wanna go real slow, okay?”

      “Okay.”

      “Don’t move when I go past you Cathy, okay?”

      “Okay.”

      With her hands quivering, Ellie rode around Cathy and started down the narrow path that ran along the edge of the pit. Her wobbling increased as she got closer to the steep drop off. Frozen in fear, she stopped, spun around and looked at Cathy with pleading eyes, “I don’t want to go home this way. I want to go home the other way.”

      “It’s okay, honey, let me show you.” Cathy jumped off her bike and ran ahead of Ellie to the very edge of the steep drop-off. “Come here, Ellie. It’s not scary. Look here!” She grabbed Ellie’s handlebars and pulled her bike up to the edge of the pit. Wide-eyed and ashen, Ellie dragged her feet on the ground as she fought to stop the bigger Cathy from pulling her bike over to the edge. But, it was to no avail; she was soon looking directly over the edge of the terrifying drop-off. Cathy let go of the handlebars and quickly moved behind Ellie’s bike. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, Cathy laid her hands firmly on Ellie’s shaking back and whispered, “You’ll be fine, honey. It’s not that scary.” Then with the faint beginnings of a smile on her face, she calmly gave her friend a hard push to the back, sending the terrified Ellie tumbling over the side of the steep canyon wall. Cathy hurried over to the rim and watched her screaming friend tumble helplessly toward the bottom of the jagged pit.

      About halfway down the terrifying incline, Ellie’s bike crashed into a huge rock. The impact sent her bike flying one way and Ellie’s flailing body the other. Eyes wide, Cathy watched as her friend bashed into a large pile of sharp rocks about twenty feet from the bottom of the dark pit. She ricocheted left and banged off several more rocks before her limp body fell with a thud on the muddy bottom between two large rocks. An instant later, her battered bike bounced to a stop just a short distance away. Her tiny body lay motionless with streams of blood pouring from her ears and mouth.

      Cathy stood and stared at the horrid scene below-she had a blank, stoic expression on her face. She pivoted around and scanned the surrounding area again to be certain that no one had seen her. She picked up her bike, cleaned off a couple stray strands of grass from the seat, spun around and began peddling back toward home. Calm, and feeling no remorse, Cathy thought of how nice it will be not having the pesky Ellie around to bug her anymore. While gliding toward the bottom of the big hill next to the pit, she began to think of a good story to tell her mommy about what had just happened to her popular playmate.

      * * * * * *

      A short time later, a sobbing Cathy returned to the scene of the tragedy with her mother.

      “Over here, Mommy.” Cathy rode her bike past her mother to the edge of the pit and pointed at the spot where Ellie had fallen. “I told her to be careful, Mommy, but she wouldn’t listen. She fell over here.” Cathy waited for her dog-tired mother to catch up. Her mom struggled to the edge of the steep crevice and looked down.

      “Oh, my God! Oh, my God!” she shrieked. She collapsed into the tall weeds near the path and began sobbing, Cathy fell on top of her and wrapped her arms around her, screaming and crying.

      Sirens wailed in the distance. Soon the area was crawling with police and medical personnel. Two specially trained officers strapped on leather harnesses repelled down the steep drop-off with a stretcher and medical supplies. When they got to the bottom and examined the body, they both just shook their heads. The lead officer shouted up to the top, “She’s gone! It’s no use!” A short time later the little body was brought to the top by the officers just as Ellie’s mother arrived at the scene and received the horrible news. Unable to comprehend the ghastly sight of her nine year old daughter’s lifeless, battered body lying on a stretcher, the mother, her face drawn and ashen, collapsed into the arms of a nearby police officer.

       2

      The Villages, Florida, 2011

      The huge red-orange sun dropped slowly beneath the distant palms, rays of sunlight filtered through the gangly trees and glistened on a nearby lake. A gentle breeze rippled across the water, pushing tall, willowy reeds into a rhythmic dance. Ed Roberts stood still on the sixth green, putter in hand, admiring the beautiful scene. He was shaken out of his temporary trance by the jabbing voice of his playing partner.

      “Hit the ball, Ed! We don’t have all night, ya know. I told the little lady I’d take her out for ribs tonight at 6:30. It’s 5:35 and we still have three holes to play.”

      Ed Roberts chuckled at the barbs from his old friend. Then he quickly fired back one of his own, “Then why did you insist on playing Pelican? The Mississippi River doesn’t hold as much water as this place!”

      “Because I like a challenge, that’s why,” Dave groused. “Besides, it’s close to home.”

      Ed shook his head. “Okay, let’s play ready golf then. When you get to your ball, just hit it.”

      “Okay, ready golf it is. And, how about just a couple of practice swings, Ed. You act like you’re playing the U. S. Open or something.”

      “Okay, okay.” Ed loved his friend Dave, even if he could be irascible at times. They had been the best of friends since their high school days at Wawasee High School in Syracuse, Indiana, where they played football and basketball together. The stubby Dave was a tenacious, ball-hawking, little guard who made life miserable for whomever he was defending and Ed was a tall, lean, forward with great hand-eye coordination and exceptional leaping ability. Together, they led the Wawasee Warriors to a Regional Basketball Champion-ship title in 1963-a huge accomplishment for a small town in Indiana. Their friendship extended on into adulthood with Ed attending Ball State University where he was a four