Second Harvest

"Mrs. Whittaker? You alright?"

Silence.

When buddy peered in the doorway and looked on the floor, he immediately turned aside and vomited. He quickly ran back to the windmill, splashed water on his face, and breathed hard. Taking out his handkerchief, Buddy wet it in the cistern. He then tied the handkerchief around his face to cover his nose and mouth. Building courage, Buddy walked back to the house. Before stepping into the room, he scanned the area searching for the lion's return. Determining his safety, Buddy walked over to the person lying on the floor.

A mutilated corpse lay strewn on the floor while partially dried blood surrounded the perimeter. Maggots crawled throughout the decaying body and half the face was ripped open with the eyeballs dangling out of their sockets. The upper torso was exposed on the left side where the flesh of the breast had been chewed off, exposing the chest muscles. Despite the massive mutilation, it was obvious the body on the floor was once an adult woman. Her dress, as well as her legs, was shredded. Teeth and bite marks punctured the limbs. Buddy was traumatized as he fascinatingly spotted her shoes because amazingly they were still on her feet even though her legs were shredded. Fighting the urge to vomit again, the sheriff surveyed the room looking for clues.

Mrs. Whittaker was a few steps from her small dining table. The chair next to her was lying on its side next to the body. On the table was a tin plate with dried bread and beans, but the fork was on the floor near Mrs. Whittaker's right hand. A frightened small field mouse was nibbling on the plate and stopped momentarily to watch Buddy's actions before fearlessly returning to eat. A cup of amber liquid was on its side, the contents spilling across the table, and was now dried into a sticky mass. Buddy looked down at Mrs. Whittaker.

Poor woman must have had a problem, stood and died right here, the sheriff thought.

Nothing else in the house looked out of the ordinary. The blood from her body was still sticky, so Buddy assumed she had not been dead long. He holstered his weapon and walked over to the bed. Lifting the blanket off, he floated it over the body and covered what was left of Mrs. Whittaker. Gagging, Buddy rolled the body in the blanket and could hear grotesque sounds. Suddenly, Mrs. Whittaker's shoe fell off. Using the tips of his thumb and finger, Buddy picked up the shoe by its laces, because part of the flesh and bone were still inside the shoe. Buddy opened the edge of the blanket and quickly dropped the shoe inside with the body.