The River Runs Dry Read Online Free PDF

conditioning systems, so most would look to get some solace from the breeze that blew past from time to time.
    The front of Jessie's house was already dead, and she had no heart to try to change that. It had been her mother who'd kept the small flowerbeds alive, and the lawn between them finely cut and freshly green. Now there was nothing but parched earth and dirt, the life sucked away by the insatiable heat.
    Jessie heard tires screeching round the corner at the top of the road and raised her head to see Darcia's little blue car coming straight for her. Jessie's house was right at the edge of town, looking out over the wide expanse of the plains beyond.
    In days gone by she used to love sitting there at night, when the evenings were cool and her mom was preparing dinner inside. She'd look out over the wide world and wonder what was out there, how far it all went. She'd stare deep into the sky and try to count the night stars, so clear and bright out here, no blanket of smog or pollution to veil them. Sometimes her mother would join her, and they'd sing together under the moon as it moved through the sky. Those were some of the happiest memories of her life, memories she still clung to.
    The sound of a car door shutting loudly broke Jessie from her thoughts and she saw Darcia hurriedly running up the steps towards her. Jessie didn't sit up or feel any concern that something was wrong. No, Darcia had always been one for the melodrama.
    “Have you seen the news?” Darcia asked quickly, panting, her voice brittle.
    Jessie shook her head. “No, can't bare to stay in there for too long, it's too hot,” she said, tilting her head towards the front door as Darcia walked straight in.
    Jesus, what now.
    Jessie stood, lifting her cool, wet, feet from the bucket and placing them down onto the burning wooden porch. She flinched slightly at the change in temperature as she quickly tiptoed after Darcia and into the house. The TV was already on when she got inside, Darcia sitting forward with her elbows on her knees and chin in her palms as she gazed at the screen.
    “It's awful Jess, it's just so horrific.”
    Jessie moved forward and perched herself on the arm of a sofa. “What is this?” she asked, staring at a police reporter standing around a cordoned off area out on the plains. “Is this the murder Tony was talking about the other night?”
    Darcia was nodding slowly, and sobbing lightly now. “They say it's Taylor, Jess, Taylor. I can't believe it.”
    Jessie felt her heart constrict suddenly as a red bar rushed across the bottom of the screen. It read only: BREAKING NEWS – Body found at Lancer's Point confirmed as Burgess resident Taylor Lane.
    Jessie slipped off the arm of the chair and onto the cushion, her eyes beginning to well. “Taylor. But why would anyone....how could anyone....”
    She leaned forwards as Darcia was, her hands shaking as she looked through wet eyes at the television. The reporter was still speaking as a couple of cops stood guard around the site.
    “ The recent body found out near Lancer's Point has been confirmed, via official police reports, as Taylor Lane, a former resident of Burgess who'd recently moved to LA to pursue her career as a singer and performer. At this time further details of the death are unknown, but it is thought that she was abducted and murdered, before her body was dumped in the small river running southward across the valley.
    The body was found last week by a family on their way to Lancer's Point in the dried up river bed. No suspects are thought to be known at this time. We'll have more on the story as details come out.”
    Darcia quickly pressed the remote and the TV shut down, it's screen going black and leaving a silence in the room. “I can't listen to it any more. Who'd do that to Taylor. Why would anyone...” Her voice was breaking down now as her tears grew, spilling from her eyes.
    Jessie stood up and moved over to sit beside her, pulling her in for a hug.