Dorothy Ellsworth's small face was tense, her eyes red-rimmed. She clutched the hem of his shirt and followed beside him. She knew what Elmer was about to do, but at that moment, it was as if she understood so much more, and she watched in silence.
Time ticked by, second by second. Elmer held the kitchen knife aloft for two minutes. Thinking that the father and daughter would be back soon, Elmer hesitated no longer and brought the knife down hard.
A scream of agony lasted only a few seconds before falling silent.
Blood splattered all over Elmer's little face. He struck again to make sure the middle-aged woman was dead. Only then did he wipe the bloody knife on the thin blanket, pick up a towel to clean the blood from his face, and cover her head with the blanket.
"El... Elmer... let's run away..."
"The door's locked from the outside. How can we run? ...We wait. We wait for them to come back..."
