A Grave Mistake

"Charley, how much longer do we have to do this?"

"Until we get what we were paid to get, bloke."

"Okay, but it doesn't seem right to me."

"Doesn't matter what is right or not, Carver. We were paid to get the job finished and that's what we're gonna do."

Charley is a big strapping of a man, muscles that bulge and quiver under his shirt and has many a scar on his face and body from many a fight, none of which he ever lost. Charley was always one for making a few extra dollars no matter what it might be. The money would then be spent on whiskey and women and if he had any left over, he would pay his rent and purchase food at the local outdoor markets.

On the other side of the coin, Carver is a small man, thin and barely 10 stones in weight, but he had stamina. The only reason he is doing what he is, the offer by Charley to help him with a debt he has owed for some time. Once that was paid, his life would again be his own without having to answer to anyone.

It was nearing four in the dark night with a covered moon of shifting black clouds. The wagon they drove in on, sat but a few paces away from where they were. And the wagon was filled almost to overflowing.

"Just three more, Carver, then we'll have the numbers wanted and we can get out of here."

"Good. The stench is killing me. The maggots are all over the place and it's really starting to make me feel poorly!"

"Three more, then your debt is taken care of and you'll be a free man. Keep that in mind. A free man."

"It's all I ever think about, but you said they would pay you a thousand pounds of sterling? Seems like for all we're doing, it should be more."

"Does it matter? You get four-hundred and then you can go anyplace you like. So stop bellyaching and keep at it."

The next hour grinded away, until finally, after much sweat and toil, they finally finished getting the number required.

As Charley had settled the last of them in the wagon, Carver came up behind him and drove the edge of the shovel into the back of Charley's neck, where Charely gave out a piercing cry no one but Carver and the night heard. Upon the pain and the blood seeping out of him, he straightened, turned, and looked at Carver with both anger and surprise.

With what strength he could muster, he uttered, "You knew, didn't you? I was never gonna pay you and leave you in one of them ...."

Carver then shoved the shovel into the front of Charley's neck before Charely could stop him. Charley fell to the ground, bleeding like a stuck pig before he finally gave out a last gasp of air. Carver grabbed his ankles and dragged him to an open grave and rolled Charley into a four foot hole.

"They won't be needing you, Charley. Blimey, you sure were a trusting bastard. Now, I'll not only get out of my servitude but I can start a new life. You. You would have wasted the money, but not me, no siree. They say America is a place where a man can make it rich and that's what I intend to do."

For the next ten minutes, Carver covered over Charley's dead body and then went to the wagon and directed the horses to the hospital.

Carver had no clue what the doctors wanted so many dead bodies for, and didn't care.

He whistled a tune and smiled as he made his way to the future.