Michael was dead and buried.
And Jesse Bristow.
I waited until the furor died down and the new Governor was seated, then I left.
Not that anyone suspected me.
There was nothing to link me to Jesse Bristow’s killing. But a grey fog of depression wrapped round me. I could find neither peace nor comfort where they had always been.
I didn’t try to slip away. I was too well known to simply disappear. I wound down my column, wrote my swan song, closed my affairs and made my way out of town as inconspicuously as possible.
I had already said my goodbyes to those closest to me. Rhae Dannan kissed me on the forehead and said, “Remember what your are.” Marnie understood, but cried. Dulin wished me well. There were no others I needed to tell. Except Allie. I couldn’t face Allie.
That was almost ten years ago.
I had no intention of returning.
Yet here I am…in the cemetery overlooking the river…kneeling beside Rhae Dannan’s grave and not ashamed of the tears or the hurt in my heart.
Thus begins Theo III, the third volume in the Theo trilogy. The year is 1980. The setting is the Bluegrass of Kentucky. The narrative picks up where Theo’s Story ends. Theo is now a successful writer living in San Francisco and working around the world as an Editor-At-Large for The Atlantic Magazine.
Rhae Dannan’s death calls him home and sets in motion a chain of events that could expose his hand in Jesse Bristow’s killing and force him to confront the phantoms he thought he’d left behind.
I’m about a third of the way through the story now and, as always, have no idea how it will end.
The story as it stands so far will be previewed at “A Gathering of Authors”“at the Paul Sawyier Library in Frankfort, the state capitol, Saturday, August 25. Each year, the library invites a small group of Kentucky bred-authors to come in and meet and talk with readers about the craft and their stories. This is the fifth year for the event. It’s a grand idea and I’m happy to be one of this year’s invitee’s.
If you’re in the area and have some free time between the hours of ten a.m. and three p.m. that day please drop by. Maybe you can help me figure out where THEO III goes from here.
The “A Gathering of Authors”event is free to the public and open to all ages. There is something for everyone. So come out and join us, and see what some of Kentucky’s best have to offer. For more information, please contact Diane Dehoney at (502)352-2665×108 or Mark Kinnaird at mark@pspl.org.
grew up in Kentucky and learned his craft there. He now lives with his wife in Pinehurst, North Carolina. He is the author of 