Remnants

Table of

Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1- A Dark Secret Revealed

Chapter 2- A Helpful Stranger

Chapter 3- Haynesville

Chapter 4- The Search Begins

Chapter 5- A Forgotten Memory Revealed

Chapter 6- The Single Solution

Chapter 7- The Real Battle Begins

Chapter 8- A Close Call

Chapter 9- A Childhood Remnant

Chapter 10- His Desperate Attempt

Chapter 11- Almost Hopeless

Chapter 12- A Risk worth Taking

Chapter 13- A Killer’s Decline

Chapter 14- A Fairytale Ending

Epilogue

A ruthless killer, an unsolved murder, it’s all in the past, or is it? As young Shawna sets out on a journey to find her long-lost parents, she unearths a buried secret from her forgotten past. A dangerous secret, which puts her life and many other’s on the line. Can she save herself, and most importantly, find what she’s really looking for?

Remnants

Prologue

HE had driven all night and finally reached his destination. He had it all planned out. His gun was ready as a back-up system. The house was five miles out of town, so nobody would know.

Quietly, he opened his car door and walked up to the front door. The wooden steps were beginning to rot, so he had to step carefully around them.

Once at the door he knocked loudly and waited for a few moments. When nothing happened he pushed open the door and went storming in. The man he came to see had just risen from the table at which his wife and two year old daughter sat, and was headed for the door.

“Where’s my money Tom! I told you that you had ‘til noon to bring it to me and I didn’t get it yet!” he shouted.

“I told you, I can’t pay you right now. I’ll give you the money when I can,” Tom replied.

“Bull! You won’t ever give me my money, you lyin’ cheatin’ low-down thief!” He fingered his hidden gun and gave one last threat. “Give me my money now,” he demanded.

“Like I told you before, I ain’t got the money.”

Suddenly he whipped out the pistol and pointed it at Tom. “I want my money. I gave you so many extensions. I warned you what would happen if you didn’t pay, but you didn’t take me seriously. You thought I was joking and that you could get away without ever paying me back. Well, you thought wrong, Tommy, and if I don’t get what I came here for, you’re all gonna die!”

“I promise, I’ll pay you the money, just give me one more week,” Tom pleaded. The words were barely out of his mouth when he pulled the trigger shot Tom in the chest.

Tom’s wife shrieked, her scream echoing off the bare walls of the house. She stared at the bleeding body of her husband as he fell to the floor. Her gaze rested on him for a minute and then she lifted her gaze to the man with the gun. Her voice was filled with pure hatred as she said, “You. You killed him, my husband, you killed him.”

A blood-thirsty scream came from her lips as she grabbed the knife lying on the table and leaped at him. The knife glinted as it slashed down the side of his face at the same moment as another gunshot rang through the house. The woman raised the knife a second time, but never got the chance to strike the man. She collapsed on the ground next to her husband.

The man looked at the two lifeless bodies lying on the floor in front of him, the blood spreading around them. There he had done it. Everything he had planned for was finished.

Then he remembered the girl. He looked up at the table and saw the girl staring blankly at her parents. He didn’t want to, but he knew he had to. The girl was the one and only witness and she had to be permanently silenced.

He raised the gun a third time and focused it on the girl. Just as he pulled the trigger she looked up and for a moment stared fearfully into his eyes. The man looked at the innocent girl as she slumped in her chair. Yup, it killed her, he thought. He almost felt guilty, but not quite.

Chapter 1

A Dark Secret Revealed

“HURRY up! We’re gonna be late and y’all know that Ms. Friedly don’t like that,” 17-year-old Shawna yelled to her younger brother and sister with her strong mountain accent. It was an average Monday morning, nobody was ready and they had to get to school.

Shawna lived with Rob and Lily McGregor in a small house in southern Kentucky. They had very little money, and made their home in the woods, about an hours walk away from a small town. It was the end of The Great Depression, and many people were still very poor and looking for jobs. Rob was fortunate enough to have a job, even though he was paid minimum wage. There were five children in Shawna’s family, Shawna-17, Jerry-15, Jenny-10, Danny-6, and Bradon-3.

At last, Jenny and Danny came running out the door carrying their lunch buckets. Jenny’s curly blonde hair bounced around her shoulders as she took Danny by the hand and continued running to catch up to her older sister. Shawna had brown hair, unlike her sister and it was only wavy, not curly. Jenny’s hair was naturally a little shorter, but Shawna had to cut hers to keep it short. Most people considered Shawna very pretty with her blue-gray eyes, tan complexion, and athletic body.

When Jenny and Danny finally caught up to her, Shawna asked, “What kept you two? I thought you was right behind me.” Shawna spoke in a strong mountain accent, and it was the same way with her brothers and sisters.

“Well, Danny here, forgot that old cowboy hat that daddy gave ‘im. He wanted to show it off to all of his friends at school, so he ran back upstairs to get it,” Jenny replied.

Shawna looked down fondly at her little brother. He had on an old black cowboy hat; it was dusty and obviously had been well-worn. Rob had given it to him as a special gift the night before. It was much too large for his small head, but he wore it proudly anyway.

“Oh Danny. Well c’mon, we mustn’t be late again today,” Shawna spoke as she began walking a little faster.

After about 10 minutes Danny started whining, “Can we slow down, my legs are getting tired.”

“No, we can’t slow down ‘cause y’all know that Ms. Friedly don’t take kindly to us kids showing up late,” Shawna said. The trio continued walking in silence except for an occasional complaint from Danny.

They walked along a dirt road bordered by tall trees. The early morning sunlight slanted through the trees and made a dappled shadow on the ground. The birds were singing from their perches high up in the leafy branches. Nearby, the gurgling sound of a small brook could be heard as it flowed over rocks and around tree roots.

Soon the trees disappeared and the land opened up to fields and gently rolling hills. Many small farms dotted the landscape, along with horses and cattle that grazed in the meadows. The horses lifted their heads and pricked their ears curiously as the children walked by.

After an hour, the trio reached the little school on the outskirts of town. It was a small, modest building, and it was in dire need of repair. The paint was chipping off and the wood was beginning to rot. The roof had many holes in it, and it was miserable to go to school on rainy days for all the leaks and drafts. But today was sunny and warm, so there was nothing to worry about.

There were roughly 20 children running around outside the school. Jenny and Danny were gone in a flash in search of their friends. Shawna scanned the schoolyard, looking for Anne and Ruby, her two friends.

A voice called to her from behind, “Hey Shawna, over here!” Shawna turned around to see Matthew Henson, the boy who used to pull her pigtails when she was younger.

“Hi Matt, what ya doin’?” she asked.

“Talkin’ to you.”

“Smart aleck,” she muttered. “Did you see Anne or Ruby here this morning?”

“Yeah,” Matt replied.

Shawna looked at him, “Well, are ya gonna tell me where they are?”

“Naw.”

Seeing that she wasn’t going to get any help from him, Shawna began walking around to the back of the school house. Once there, she found them sitting on a large rock. They were talking when Ruby looked up and saw Shawna approaching.

“Hey Shawna,” she greeted her, “me an’ Anne have been waitin’ for ya.”

The more soft-spoken Anne quietly gave her greeting. Shawna was just about to sit down next to her friends when the teacher rang the bell. The three girls got up and jogged to the front of the building and followed the other children through the door.

The inside of the schoolhouse wasn’t much different than the outside, although it was a little bit better. The desks were old and the floorboards creaked and were rotting around the edges. Throughout the day, the students could hear mice scurrying around above them in the attic.

Shawna tried to pay attention to the teacher, but her mind kept wondering. She dreamed of being out in the woods, wandering around. And then, she imagined herself in a field or wildflowers, a field so beautiful she could barely stand to look at it, but yet too beautiful to look away from. She reached down to pick a flower to put in her hair.

“Shawna,” Ms. Friedly’s sharp voice interrupted her dream, “what’s the answer?”

“Uh, um,” Shawna looked up at the chalkboard. “Wha-what was the problem?”

“If you wouldn’t be off in dreamland, young lady, you would know,” came her reply.

“Sorry.” For the remainder of the day Shawna did her best to keep her mind on her schoolwork, but even with her determination, it was difficult. By the end of the day, Shawna was more than ready to get home.

“Jenny! Danny!” she called. “C’mon, let’s get home!” With her two siblings by her side Shawna headed for home. When the children reached home Lily was outside working and called to her children.

“Shawna! Jenny! Come on over here, I have some chores I would like y’all to do.” Shawna inwardly groaned.

The two girls walked purposefully slow over to their mother’s side. “Shawna, I’d like you to dust the downstairs, and Jenny, you wash the dirty clothes,” Lily said in her matter-of-fact way.

“Ugh, why do I always gotta do the dusting? Why can’t Jenny do it once in a while? You know I hate it!” Shawna complained.

“Don’t give me your whine, ‘cause I don’t wanna hear it. Get in that house and do the dusting before I make you do the whole house, young lady!” Lily snapped.

Shawna glared for a moment, then spun around and headed for the house. She hated dusting and Lily knew it, that’s why Lily always made her do it. Shawna and Lily generally didn’t agree on anything. Oh, there were a few things that they saw eye-to-eye on, but for the most part their strong-willed personalities clashed.

The door slammed behind her as she stormed towards the kitchen to fetch the feather duster. What a perfect way to end my not-so-great day. Shawna thought angrily. The first room she tackled was the living room.

There was a fireplace in the far corner and two old wooden rocking chairs in front of it. A small stool stood in the corner; it had been made by her great-great grandfather. Her grandmother had made the worn rug that was on the floor. A few more pieces of small furniture were spread around the room, none of them new though.

Her gaze swept over the room, no dust, not one speck. But she still had to dust it. She clutched the duster and began her routine. When the living room was done she headed off to the kitchen.

“One down, three to go,” Shawna grumbled. She then started the kitchen. While she was doing that a little though poked its way into her head. She glanced around. No one was within sight, so nobody would notice. Shawna considered for a moment. Which would she rather do, spend the afternoon dusting a clean house or roaming the woods? The decision came easily.

She placed the feather duster in the cupboard and headed for the door. Then Shawna remembered that it had rained the day before and it was all muddy outside. At least it was in the woods where the sun didn’t dry up the ground as quickly. Her boots were upstairs, so she turned around and headed for the rickety old stairs.

Once upstairs, Shawna entered her room and glanced around looking for her boots. They weren’t anywhere to be seen.

“Ugh, whenever I don’t need ‘em they’re in the way and when I want ‘em they conveniently disappear,” she muttered. She pushed her hair out her eyes and continued searching.

The sagging attic door caught her eye and she remembered throwing her boots in there the week before. Shawna crossed the room and carefully pulled the small door back. She didn’t want to pull it off the other hinge. The doorway was rather small, but she could easily fit her slender self through.

Inside, the attic was dark and smelled musty. Shawna waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness and then she began looking for her boots. Before long Shawna found them and put them on.

She then exited the attic and stepped into her sunshine-lighted bedroom. She began walking for the door, when a strange piece of paper caught her eye. It looked like an old newspaper clipping and it was lying on her dresser. Shawna crossed the room and picked it up. The article was small and faded and it looked like someone had spilled ink on it. The top half of the paper was unreadable, but the bottom half read:

…because of extreme blood loss, the girl can’t remember anything. The doctors say that it is unlikely that Shawna will ever remember anything. Maybe when she is older her memory may return, but not for many years if it does. It was later learned that the parents had wanted Shawna to live with relatives. The family has allowed no further information to be given…

Shawna stared at the paper as if it had just bitten her. No one else she knew had her name and what about the part about “has gone to live with relatives” and “can’t remember anything”? Forgetting about taking off for the afternoon, Shawna ran down the steps looking for Lily.

“Mom! Lily! Where are you?! Mom!” Shawna shouted.

“What’s wrong?” Lily asked from the next room.

Shawna ran to Lily and showed her the newspaper article.

“Where did you find this?” Lily asked her. She seemed to know exactly what it was about, even though only a few lines were legible.

“I-I was in my room a-and it was lying on my dresser,” Shawna stuttered. “Why is it all blotted out? Is there something that you and Daddy are trying to hide from me? I mean, you are my parents, right?”

Shawna’s blue-gray eyes searched Lily’s face for an answer and what she saw wasn’t what she was looking for. She hoped Lily would laugh and tell her that this was all a big mistake. Instead, her eyes clouded and filled with tears.

“Oh, Shawna.”

“What? What’s wrong?” Shawna asked, her voice quivering with fear.

“I was gonna tell you, but not now. This ain’t the right time. I can’t, not now”

“Not the right time for what. What were you gonna tell me,” she paused and watched tears begin streaming down Lily’s face. “Please tell me.” Shawna begged, “Please.”

Lily shook her head and turned her back to Shawna and began walking away. Desperation and fear rose up within her as she cried, “No, Lily come back! Please just tell me one thing. Tell me that you and Daddy are my real parents.”

Lily slowly turned and looked Shawna square in the eye. “I’ve never lied to you and I’m not gonna start now.” With that she fled from the room.

Shawna stood frozen, her feet rooted to the floor. This was all a bad dream, it had to be.

Chapter 2

A Helpful Stranger

PAIN and sadness relentlessly gripped Shawna’s heart as she ran up to her room. She flopped down on her bed and wept. The pain was almost unbearable. Shawna cried for several minutes and then a thought came to her mind, You could always run away and look for your parents by yourself, ‘cause you know that Lily ain’t gonna help you.

“No, I can’t do that. I mean, I can’t just leave all of the kids,” but the more she thought about it, the more intriguing it sounded. She always wanted adventure and here was her chance.

Shawna hopped off her bed and hurriedly began packing her belongings in a small shoulder bag. Since her family was poor, Shawna didn’t have many things and she could fit them all in the sack. Then, she quietly crept down the stairs, being careful to avoid the squeaky steps. Once downstairs, Shawna cautiously made her way to the back door.

Right outside the back door of the McGregor house were trees and rocks, which the runaway teenager dashed for cover in when Lily began yelling for her.

“Shawna! Shawna, where are you?!” Lily called. Shawna remained hidden behind her rock and glared at Lily. Now watcha gonna do? Sure you ain’t never lied to me. You’ve been lying to me all my life. You made me believe that I belonged in this family. I know I don’t, and now I’m going to find my real family. No one, not even you, can stop me.

Quietly, she slipped from behind the rock and disappeared in the darkening forest. Under the cover of night nobody could ever find her, and she knew it.

The forest felt like home to Shawna. She knew every tree and stream, and even without the light of the sun, Shawna could easily find her way around.

Instinctively, Shawna began walking towards a place that she knew as “The Lake”. It was in fact a lake, but a large one with a small unknown stream feeding it. It was secluded and peaceful, and it always helped her to gather her thoughts when she was angry or depressed.

10 minutes later Shawna emerged from the forest. To get to The Lake she had to cross a dirt road. It was hardly ever used so when the headlights of a car showed in distance Shawna quickly hid herself in the darkened woods. She watched as the car drew nearer and nearer. Then, as it reached the spot where Shawna wanted to cross, it slowed to a stop.

“Oh no!” Shawna whispered. “Please keep going, please!” but to her dismay the driver stepped out of the vehicle.

He was a middle-aged man, maybe about 40 years old and his hair was beginning to turn gray. The man was average height, but he had broad shoulders and muscular arms. Shawna thought he looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t place it.

The man looked around and then he looked almost directly at her. “Hello, is anybody there? Please come out; I saw you. I won’t hurt you or anything, just want to talk.”

Well, he sounds nice enough. With that last thought in mind Shawna stepped out of the shadows.

The man stared at her for a few moments and then asked, “Why are you out here all alone at this time of night, Miss?”

He didn’t sound like he was scolding her when he said it, he sounded like he was just curious.

“Ain’t no reason,” Shawna answered.

The man smiled, “You know, you’re a pretty good liar.” The man didn’t have any hint of an accent, unlike Shawna.

“Liar? You callin’ me a liar?” Shawna’s quick-temper flared. She had heard many stories about the rich folk, who lived in the big cities. But she quickly calmed down as the man continued.

“Well,” he chuckled, “it just seems strange that a girl would be wandering around here in the woods in the middle of the night for no reason at all.” The man looked at her, “There is something wrong, huh.”

“Yeah,” Shawna replied, “family issues.” She paused, “I didn’t catch your name.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. My name’s Nathaniel, Nathaniel Crawford. What’s your name, Miss?”

“Shawna,” she didn’t give a last name, but Nathaniel didn’t seem to care. Although, when she said ‘Shawna’, a smug look seemed to have crossed his face, but it was gone too soon for her to be sure.

Shawna wasn’t quite sure what to do. She wanted to be on her way, but she couldn’t just run away from such a seemingly nice stranger like Nathaniel.

Just as she was about to say ‘Good-bye’, Nathaniel asked her, “Are you running away from home?”

The question caught Shawna off guard. She chose her words carefully as she replied, “Sorta, I’m lookin’ for someone.”

Nathaniel looked at her, “Who might you be looking for?”

“My parents.”

Nathaniel’s eyes grew wide. “I knew you looked familiar. I think I might know who your parents are. I used to know these people, but they moved away quite a long time ago. One thing I remember about them is that they had to give up their daughter for financial reasons. You look just like the wife. You have her eyes and her face. ”

Shawna stared at Nathaniel like he had just told her that he was God. “Are you serious? What are their names? Where are they now? Do they live far from here?”

“Whoa! Slow down young lady. I forget their names, but I can check for you at home. And no, I don’t know where they moved to.” All of Shawna’s excitement drained from her and her soaring spirits hit rock bottom.

Nate seemed to notice for he quickly added, “There are some people who might be able to tell you, though.”

Shawna looked up, “Really? Who?”

“Some people back from my town. You see, I don’t live here. I live in Haynesville. It’s about 50 or so miles from here. I’m here on business.”

“How do you get to your town? I really need to talk to those people,” Shawna said.

“You plan to walk the whole way?” Nate asked her.

“Well, there ain’t no other way for me to get there.”

“Oh yes there is,” Nate replied, “You can come with me.”

Shawna stared at him. This man whom she had only met five minutes ago was offering to drive her to his town to help her find her parents.

“You mean in your car?”

“Yup.”

“I dunno. I don’t want to intrude or nothin’.”

“No, it’s really okay,” Nate said, “You can even live with my family until you find out where exactly your parents are.” With that Nate walked over to his car and opened the door, “Are you coming or not?” he asked.

Shawna quickly ran around to the passenger side of the car and opened the door. This man is Heaven-sent, she thought as she shut the car door.

Chapter 3

Haynesville

SHAWNA opened her eyes and it took her moment to remember where she was. She was with Nathaniel Crawford headed for Haynesville in search of her parents.

The sun was just rising over the mountains, creating a stunning sight. It looked like God had taken a paint brush and painted the sky with red, blue, pink, and gold. The sunrise was so beautiful as the sun climbed higher and higher in the colorful morning sky. Shawna rubbed her eyes to get the last bit of sleep out of them as she gazed over the majestic mountains.

One day I’m gonna stand with my parents at the bottom of the mountain and we’re gonna watch a sunrise just like this one, together.

Nate’s voice interrupted Shawna’s fantasy, “I see you’ve woken up. Are you hungry, Miss?”

“Nah, I’m fine,” Shawna replied. Casting one last glance at the gorgeous sunrise, she turned in her seat and faced Nate. “Hey, how soon do we get to your house?”

“We’re almost there,” he answered her. “You should be able to see the town over the next hill.”

Shawna sat up in her seat and watched intently as the car reached the top of the hill and began coasting down the other side. Her eyes widened as she got her first look at Haynesville. The houses were huge, at least compared to what Shawna was used to. And were they ever fancy. Decorated curtains hung in the windows and the perfect green lawns were surrounded by bright flowers. The people walking on the sidewalks were dressed up and sophisticated-looking. The ladies had on the latest-style dresses and the men wore suit coats.

Shawna looked at her own faded hand-sewn dress; it was so plain compared to the fancy dresses the town ladies wore. “Wow, this place is awesome. I ain’t never seen so many nice things in one place.” Shawna commented.

Nate grinned, “Well, I hope you like it. Oh, right at the end of this street is our house.”

Shawna eagerly leaned forward; she was excited to see Nathaniel’s house. Her jaw dropped to her chest when she saw it. Talk about stunning. There was a white picket fence surrounding a lush green yard, with two oak trees shading the front yard. The two-story brick house looked almost brand new with silk curtains in the windows and a walk leading up to the front door. Along the walk were bushes and flowers of every kind.

“You live here?” Shawna almost whispered.

“What? What’s wrong with it?” Nate asked.

“Oh nothing’s wrong with it. It’s just that, that it’s so beautiful. Well, you see, I used to live in an old run-down cabin, and all this fancy stuff is so new and different to me,” she said.

Suddenly the front door opened and out stepped a tall thin lady, about the same age as Nathaniel. She walked down the steps, with her dress flowing neatly around her, and over to the car door. “Oh Nathaniel, you’re finally back! I wondered what was taking you so long. The kids-” She stopped mid-sentence. “Who is that?” She asked looking at Shawna.

“Oh Jessica, relax. This is Shawna. She’s from a small town north of here. She’s looking for her parents and I think I know who they are, so I told her she could come and stay with us for a while. And Shawna,” he turned to her, “this is my wife, Jessica.”

“Now that you say it, she does look vaguely familiar, but who?”

“That’s the thing,” Nate replied, “I can’t remember their names, but I think I can get a record of them for her.”

“Oh my, oh my! We shouldn’t stand here gabbing all day, come get out of that wretched car. You must be hungry.”

When Shawna stepped out of the car with her sack full of possessions slung over her shoulder. Mrs. Crawford eyed her faded, hand-sewn clothes. “We must get you into some proper clothes as well,” she said. Shawna followed after Nate and Jessica as they entered their extravagant house.

The inside of the house was even more elegant than the outside. The floors were wooden, at least where you came in. There was a grand staircase made of polished wood that curved slightly, leading upstairs. From the ceiling there hung a strikingly beautiful chandelier. To the right of the staircase was a carpeted living room, in which there were plush couches and chairs, and on the walls hung portraits of many “stuffy-looking” people.

“Come, come child,” Jessica said, “I will show you to your room.” Instead of heading for the stairs, Jessica raised her voice and said, “Ms. Lucy! Lucy, come here, I have a guest for you to take to the spare room!”

From the kitchen came the bustling Ms. Lucy. She was a plump woman, with completely gray hair and kind, sparkling eyes. “Hello, Miss,” she welcomed Shawna. “I’m Ms. Lucy, as you would presumably already know.”

“I would like you to show Miss Shawna to the spare room. Get her settled and show her around and then come down for dinner,” Jessica demanded.

“Can I ask you a question Jessica?” Shawna asked politely.

“It’s Mrs. Crawford, and no you may not.” With that she stalked off towards the kitchen followed by Nate.

“Don’t mind her,” Lucy said, “she’s had a pretty rough day. Would you like me to show you to your room, Miss?”

“Yes and my name’s Shawna,” she said.

“Very well then, come along, this way.” Lucy began walking up the staircase with Shawna close behind. At the top of the stairs, the hallway made a sharp left turn and continued down a large corridor. When Ms. Lucy and Shawna reached the top of the staircase three children opened their doors and stepped out in the hallway. There was a girl about Shawna’s age, a boy who looked to be about 18, and a little girl around 3 or 4.

“And who are you?” the older girl asked.

“Lindsey this is-”

“I was asking her not you,” Lindsey glared at Ms. Lucy. She then shifted her flashing green eyes on Shawna. Shawna studied Lindsey. She was tall and thin with wavy red hair. Her green eyes were set on a smooth and pale face. Her hands were smooth and delicate, as though she never used them for hard work.

“Well?” she questioned her again.

“Shawna.”

“You have a last name?”

Shawna gazed at her and curtly replied, “Yeah.”

“Are you going to tell me what it is, or are you going to act like the normal hillbilly and be stubborn?” Lindsey asked.

Shawna wasn’t about to be out-done by this spoiled rich girl and she definitely wasn’t going to give Lindsey the satisfaction of making her angry. Just as Shawna was about to give her a verbal slap across the face, Ms. Lucy interrupted, “Now now girls. Come along Miss,” she motioned Shawna to follow.

As Shawna began to walk away she cast a final glance over her shoulder. Lindsey caught her gaze and raised her chin in a sign of victory, her eyes jeering Shawna. A smug grin spread across her face. Shawna narrowed her eyes, determined to even the scores.

Ms. Lucy led a fuming Shawna to the spare room at the end of the hallway. It was a nice room, with a beautifully hand sewn quilt draped over a single-bed. There was polished furniture in the corners of the room and flowered wallpaper on the walls. But Shawna was too busy planning revenge to notice the luxuries that she had been provided with. All she did was throw her things roughly on the bed.

After giving Shawna the “necessities”, Ms. Lucy gave her a quick tour of the house in which she would be staying. It wasn’t as big as some might think, but Shawna didn’t really care. It was about noon when Ms. Lucy left Shawna’s side. Before departing she said, “Be downstairs in the dining room in 10 minutes. After eating you may sleep, if you wish.”

“When can I talk to Mr. Crawford? I need to ask him about the names,” Shawna asked Ms. Lucy.

“At lunch, dear, at lunch.”

When Shawna was able to talk to Nate and ask him about finding the names for her his reply was, “I have a record of them at my office and I will try to get them for you tomorrow.”

That night Shawna couldn’t sleep. Sleep was like a butterfly as it fluttered higher and higher into the sky until it was out of reach and out of sight. She laid thinking about the vast changes that had taken place in her life the past two days. She went form a poor family living in a run-down shack, to a bunch of rich people in a mansion. She still hadn’t had a chance to talk to Lindsey again, but she would, eventually.

When Shawna did finally grasp the butterfly of sleep, she drifted off into dreamland. But on this night, her dreams took her to a different place, back in time perhaps. It was filled with darkness and a deafening silence. Everything was still, and seemed to be holding its breath. Out of the darkness came a shrill scream, filled with anguish and anger, and the entire world seemed vibrate at its resonance. The scream carried on and on, the world at its mercy.

Shawna woke up panting and with a cold sweat covering her body. Slowly the realness of the dream began to fade, and her heart rate slowed to normal. Although it was just a bad dream, something about it bugged Shawna. It seemed so real, yet so imaginary. There was truth, but no logic. The scream, she had heard it before, in a place she didn’t know.

Oh stop it! Shawna told herself. You’re being silly. It was just a nightmare; forget about it, it’s nothin’. The thought calmed her and she soon fell into an exhausted and well-needed sleep.

The early morning sunlight shone through the window and it woke up Shawna. She yawned and stretched her arms above her head. Today Nate was going to find her parents names and maybe even where they were living. Nate had told Shawna not to get her hopes up about finding their location, but she couldn’t help dreaming about it.

A soft knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. “Who is it?” Shawna asked, trying to sound more awake than she was.

“It’s Ms. Lucy,” was the response, “I have some breakfast for you.” The gray-haired lady pushed open the door and stepped in, carrying a silver platter on which there was an assortment of food.

Shawna stared, her mouth agape, “All this, for me?”

“Yes Miss, for you. We provide all our guests with breakfast in bed and the finest of foods.”

“Oh, you don’t gotta go to all that trouble for me. I can live without it.”

Ms. Lucy gave her a look of disapproval, “Jist take what ya can git and keep your mouth shut. It’s the best way when it comes to rich folk.”

Shawna looked up at Ms. Lucy in bewilderment. Ms. Lucy met her gaze and smiled. “Just ‘cause I’m their maid don’t mean I was raised rich. I came from a back home country place just like you. The Crawfords hired me and taught me some ‘proper English’, but I didn’t forget where I came from.”

“You mean I ain’t the only one here with a so-called accent?”

“Nah, but you won’t ever hear me talkin’ like this to one o’ them,” she said, “Well, I should be on my way. Enjoy your breakfast.”

Hungrily, Shawna ate her breakfast got dressed. Mrs. Crawford had given her a nightgown to sleep in the night before. Shawna wondered if she should take the empty tray downstairs and give it to Ms. Lucy. It would be one way to earn my keep. She reached down, picked up the platter, and carried it downstairs. Ms. Lucy wasn’t hard to find. All Shawna had to do was turn toward the kitchen and she heard the older lady humming. “Can I help ya?” Shawna asked.

“Oh, no. I can manage, I am the maid, you know,” came the brisk reply. Ms. Lucy didn’t pause from her work; she only cast a quick smile in Shawna’s direction.

Ignoring Ms. Lucy’s comment, Shawna strode over to stand alongside her. She reached her hand out and took a dish from Ms. Lucy and began drying it with the dish towel that she had slung over her shoulder. The older lady smiled warmly at Shawna. Together they washed the remaining dishes. From the amount of plates they had to wash, Shawna surmised that the Crawford family ate very big meals.

The sound of approaching footsteps roused Shawna from her thoughts. When she glanced over her shoulder she saw the Lindsey flanked by the boy, who was still nameless in Shawna’s mind.

“Oh Jonathon, look,” Lindsey said purposefully loud, “look at our new maid. Isn’t she dreadfully ugly?”

Jonathon, who now had a name, remained silent. Shawna waited for him to agree with his younger sister, but he didn’t utter a word. Shawna stole a sly glance at the pair. Lindsey glared momentarily at Jonathon who was gazing thoughtfully at Shawna. Not wanting to be caught watching, Shawna turned her attention back to the dishes. Lindsey, seemingly undaunted by her brother’s unwillingness to join her in her teasings, turned to Shawna and said, “Well, it looks like you found your place in life.”

Shawna clenched her jaw in fury. Then, putting on a fake smile, she turned around to face Lindsey, “Maybe I did, but at least I chose to make something of my life and not be like a bratty little kid that’s always in the way.”

Lindsey’s eyes gleamed with anger and she balled up fists. “Bratty little kid, huh? We’ll see about that.” The confrontation over, Lindsey stalked out of the room, followed by the still silent Jonathon.

Once they were out of the room, Shawna glanced up at Ms. Lucy. She was surprised to see her smiling. Ms. Lucy looked down at Shawna, amusement twinkling in eyes, and when she spoke, she could tell that she was trying to suppress the laughter that bubbled up inside of her.

“She isn’t used to having someone who’s brave enough to stand up to her,” Ms. Lucy said, “but, by golly, that was the funniest showdown that I’ve ever seen. I mean, did you see the way she glared at you? And the best part is that she didn’t know what to say. It took all I had to keep from laughing.”

“Yeah, I agree. But I’d give anything to shove her face in the dirt, and show her how real hillbillies settle thangs,” Shawna countered. She looked up into Ms. Lucy’s sparkling brown eyes and the two of them burst out laughing. They had to grab onto the edge of the sink because they were too weak from guffawing to stand on their feet. It became too hard to stop laughing, because the joy of it was overwhelming. They kept laughing until tears streamed down their faces and their sides hurt from the effort.

When the last surge of giggles had escaped the “ladies”, Ms. Lucy walked over and picked up the over-flowing laundry basket. “Since you’re such a busy and sophisticated lady, I suppose you wouldn’t have the time to help a poor maid with the laundry?” Ms. Lucy asked with a voice full of sarcasm.

Playing along with the joke, Shawna replied, “I’m very sorry, but I’m due in for a manicure today.” Then she added in all seriousness, “Do you know when Nate, I mean Mr. Crawford, is coming home?”

“Well,” Ms. Lucy thought a moment, “he usually gets home at about 5:30, unless there is a complication at the office.”

“5:30,” Shawna repeated, “that gives us some time.”

“Well, let’s go then,” Ms. Lucy said as she held the laundry basket. When Shawna stood up to follow, she opened the back door and stepped outside. For the rest of the day, Shawna helped Ms. Lucy around the house. When they were done working, Ms. Lucy took Shawna to the ice cream shop and bought her a chocolate ice cream cone, a large, so they could share.

It was exactly 5:30 when Nate opened the front door and called out, “I’m home!”

Shawna jerked her head up in surprise and then whispered to Lucy, “Does he always announce his homecoming like a Calvary charge?”

The ever-observant Mrs. Crawford heard Shawna’s comment and sent a glare of disapproval in her direction. “Nate, do you have to be so loud?”

Nate dropped his briefcase and scooped Jessica up in his arms and before she could attempt an escape he kissed her and said, “Oh, I’m sorry. Shall I leave?”

His wife chuckled, “You always have to make life interesting, don’t you?” She was then set back on her feet and Nate again picked up his briefcase to take it upstairs. But before he reached the staircase, Shawna stopped him.

She looked hopefully up into his gray eyes and crossed her fingers behind her back before asking, “Did y’all happen to find me those names that you was talkin’ about?”

He smiled down at the hopeful Shawna and replied, “Why yes, I did. Here let me get them for you.” Nate set his briefcase on the bottom step and popped open the latches. Inside, there were many papers. How he could keep track of them, Shawna didn’t know, but he managed to find the papers he was looking for in a matter of seconds. Actually, there was only one small slip of paper and Shawna questioned as to why. “Well, I couldn’t take their file, so I just copied their names. I looked for a current address, but there wasn’t any listed.”

Bursting with excitement and eagerness, Shawna snatched the paper from Nate’s hand and read the names he had written.

Mark & Sandra

Harper

“Harper. Shawna Harper. Hmm, do you like it Nate?” Shawna asked.

“Yes,” he said, “it sounds beautiful, like you.”

Shawna showed her gratitude with a smile and then turned and bounded up the stairs. Once alone in her room, Shawna sat on her bed and repeated the names over and over again, trying to get used to the sound of them.

“Mark and Sandra Harper. Mark and Sandra Harper. Shawna Harper.” She had finally got her parents names, but yet, she was disappointed. She wasn’t as excited as she thought she would be. It was just a slip of paper with two names scribbled on with pencil. Shawna had expected the names to fit and be special, but they were so ordinary.

“Oh well, who cares if they’re ordinary, I’ve got ‘em now, and I can start looking for ‘em.” Start looking for them, how was she supposed to do that if she only had a little slip of paper with their names? And finding them was a whole other story, and an imaginary one at that.

Now what? There’s nothin’ I can do. There ain’t no record of them at all. I’m stuck, lost, and alone living in a big mansion with a snobby rich family. What am I gonna do?

Chapter 4

The Search Begins

THE first rays of light shone in through the window and across Shawna’s face. Her eye lids slowly fluttered open and she looked out the window. Her depressed feelings from the night before returned like a wave crashing on the shore. Shawna let out a disheartened sigh and closed her eyes. There was nothing she could do. She had nothing, absolutely nothing. No way of finding her parents, no possible way. The only thing that she could do was admit defeat and return to the only home she had ever known. Her eye lids gradually closed over her eyes once again.

It was dark and cold. The air seemed foggy and thick. She couldn’t breathe or hear or feel anything. There didn’t seem to any solid ground under her feet. Fear welled up inside of her and she tried to scream, but nothing came out except a strangled peep.

Suddenly, Shawna felt the presence of someone standing beside her, but when she looked no one was there. But yet, there was comforting warmth of another person by her side. It felt mysteriously familiar. Then the ghost-person began to speak in a feminine kind of voice, Don’t give up, Shawna, ever. There’s always a way. The ghost-person continued talking, but Shawna was unable to decipher what it was saying. The words, along with the ghost-person, began to fade away into nothingness. “No please, come back, come back,” Shawna pleaded, but it was gone.

Half an hour later, Shawna was woken by Mrs. Crawford, who had brought the local seamstress with her.

“Wake up Shawna, we have come to get you some new and nicer clothes,” she said.

“Ugh,” moaned Shawna, “do I have to?”

“Yes, you do. I will not have anyone living in my house, temporarily or permanently, in old rags like yours.”

Shawna glanced at her clothes lying on the dresser beside her bed. They weren’t rags, they might be a little dirty and worn, but they certainly weren’t rags. Lily had made them for her by hand. She had sown every stitch and Shawna wasn’t going to let some self-centered rich lady tell her that they weren’t good enough. “My clothes is perfectly fine.”

“Fine!” Mrs. Crawford exclaimed. “They’re anything but fine. Just look at them. Horrid, I tell you. Dirty, very dirty and awfully plain.”

“I said, they’re perfectly fine. I don’t need no new clothes, not from you or anybody else.” Shawna met Mrs. Crawford’s gaze evenly.

“Well, it’s her choice. Although why a person would want to walk around in clothes like that is beyond me.” With a flounce, Mrs. Crawford marched out of Shawna’s room. The seamstress remained for a moment longer, as if she had something to say, but then turned around and left the room as well.

“Why a person would want to walk around in clothes like that is beyond me,” Shawna angrily imitated Mrs. Crawford. “Yeah well, shows her what I care. Rags, my foot.” She then got dressed in her “rags” and went downstairs for breakfast.

Ms. Lucy met her at the stairs, “Why did the seamstress leave without measuring you for your new clothes?”

“I ain’t getting’ no new clothes. These is perfectly fine,” Shawna snapped.

“I’m sorry, did I say something?” Lucy asked Shawna.

Feeling guilty for taking her anger out on poor Lucy, Shawna apologized, “No, I’m sorry. It wasn’t nothin’ you said. It was that old Mrs. Crawford. She tells me that my clothes are like rags and that they ain’t good enough for someone living in her house.”

“Oh, I see,” Lucy said sympathetically. “Come with me. I have breakfast for you. I hope you like pancakes.” Ms. Lucy spun around and headed for the kitchen.

Shawna stood uncertainly on the bottom step. She wasn’t very hungry; actually, she wasn’t hungry at all. But soon, she made her way to the breakfast that awaited her. The meal that Ms. Lucy had prepared was scrumptious. She even had her own sweet homemade syrup.

“You’re gonna hafta show me how to make this syrup, so I can make some for my mom and…” Shawna’s voice trailed off. The discouraging thoughts again surged into her mind, from where they had sat dormant, waiting for a time to surface again. Silenced, Shawna sat and stared lifelessly at her food.

Ms. Lucy looked across the room at the depressed young lady that sat at the table. She pitied her. She pitied her so much it hurt, it pained her to see the poor girl so miserable, but she didn’t know what she could do or say that would help. She wondered if it was the right time to tell her… But she was being paid… And what if they found out… But she really wanted to say… No, her mouth was sealed.

Shawna made her way upstairs and headed towards her bedroom, but as she passed the second door, Lindsey stepped out and blocked her way.

“Going somewhere?” she questioned.

“Yeah, to my room, that bother you?”

“Your room,” Lindsey scoffed, “you wish. You don’t belong here and you know it. You belong back in the boonies where you came from.”

Shawna glared at her, not because of her “boonies” comment, but because she was right. She had hit her mark. Shawna didn’t belong here, with this family.

Seeing that she had won once again, Lindsey tossed her hair and grinned, her eyes gleaming gleefully. “Well, I’m off to piano lessons. A piano is a big thing with little black and white keys. It makes music, maybe you’ve heard of it.” Lindsey laughed at her own joke and daintily made her way to the stairs. Shawna’s smoldering gaze followed her all the way and when Lindsey saw she said, “What are you looking at?”

Seeing her chance, Shawna replied, “I don’t know. I haven’t figured out what you are yet.”

Lindsey gave Shawna a sarcastic smile, but Shawna just glared at her expressionlessly. Lindsey’s smile quickly vanished. The silenced lengthened until finally Lindsey jerked her gaze away and proceeded down the steps.

For a few moments, Shawna gloated over her victory of the battle. But all too soon, she remembered the dilemma that she now faced. What could she do? Shawna made her way down the hallway to her bedroom still wondering if there was anything she could do.

Once in her room, Shawna flopped down on the soft, comfy bed. What can I do? What can I do? She thought for several minutes, but with no avail. She didn’t want to admit defeat, after all she had accomplished. What did I accomplish though? Not much of anything. I deserted my family, and found my parents’ names. Wow and now I’m stuck.

For the first time, Shawna wondered if she had been wrong to run away from home. She had totally deserted the only family that she had ever known. And what if, what if, Lily knew something that Shawna didn’t. Yeah, she might know alright, but she wouldn’t help me none. She’s way too overprotective; don’t let me have my independence.

“Ugh, what did I do with my life? I ain’t got no friends or family. Everybody here hates my guts, especially that Lindsey,” Shawna sighed.

Don’t give up Shawna ever. There’s always a way out, came the ghost-person’s words from the night before. The thought made her shiver, and she tired to forget about the dream. Although it scared her, the words have her hope and courage. There’s always a way out. I just have to find it, Shawna thought.

There had to be something that she could do. Then an idea slowly came to her mind. Me and Nate don’t know nothin’, but that don’t mean that the other people in this ol’ town don’t know anything.

Her confidence renewed, Shawna jumped off her bed and ran downstairs. She ran to the front door and flung it open. Just as she stepped outside Shawna heard Ms. Lucy’s voice from inside, “Shawna! Where are you going?”

“I just had a brain storm,” she yelled over her shoulder.

Lucy appeared from out of the kitchen. She gave Shawna a questioning look, “Brain storm?”

“I thought of a way that I can find my parents!”

Ms. Lucy’s face still didn’t show understanding.

“If I ask people around town, they might be able to tell me some things. I mean, just ‘cause we don’t where they are, don’t mean that other people don’t know.”

Ms. Lucy looked concerned, “That might not be a good idea.”

“Oh, I’ll be fine,” Shawna said, “I can take care of myself.” Without waiting for a reply, Shawna shut the door and ran down the walkway. This had to work. Even if she didn’t find out any information on the first day, there was always tomorrow, and the next day, and the next.

Her heart full of joy and happiness, she skipped out onto the road. She felt like a kite, flying high above the clouds, the clouds of despair. Freedom was hers and she could feel the exhilaration of the wind. She was in the seventh heaven.

When she reached the first house, she bravely strode up to the door and knocked. A plump, rosy-cheeked maid opened the door.

“Can I speak to the man of the house?” Shawna asked politely as she could.

“No you may not, he’s not home right now,” was the reply that the lady gave her.

“Is his wife home?”

“She doesn’t speak to uneducated people.” Before any more words could be spoken, the door was slammed in Shawna’s face. But even that could not diminish Shawna’s joy.

At the next house Shawna fared better. This time she used proper grammar and was actually allowed in the house. But when the man of the house approached Shawna felt her confidence beginning to fade away. He was tall, very tall. His arms were big and muscular, and he carried himself with a sense of pride.

“You asked to see me?” Shawna jumped at the sound of his low, booming voice.

Regaining her composer, and trying to stand a little bit taller, Shawna replied, “Y-yes. I was wondering if you knew anything about my parents. You see, I’m trying to find them and I’m not sure where to look.”

“Oh?”

“There names are Mark and Sandra Harper,” Shawna continued.

“Mark and Sandra Harper,” the man thought a moment. “No, I don’t believe I know them. I’m sorry to disappoint you, Miss.”

“That’s fine, thanks anyway.”

That’s how the rest of her afternoon was spent. She went from door to door asking about her parents. Either the door was slammed in her face, or the people didn’t know anything. By evening, Shawna’s soaring spirits were flying low once again. She had been hoping that at least one person would know something, but no one did.

“You only covered a small area of the town,” Shawna told herself, “tomorrow you’re gonna keep on asking and someone ‘round here’s gotta know somethin’.”

Shawna was in for a big surprise when she reached the Crawford house that evening. Nate wasn’t home but Mrs. Crawford was, and she wasn’t at all happy with what Shawna had done the past afternoon.

“What were you doing, may I ask?” she said when Shawna walked through the door.

“I was asking other people in this town if they know ‘bout my parents. Does that bother you?”

“Yes it does in fact,” Mrs. Crawford snapped. “You shouldn’t be running around town like that, it’s dangerous!”

“Yeah, it might be dangerous, but just remember one thing, Mrs. Crawford, this is my life and I intend to live it the way I wanna,” was Shawna’s sharp reply. An icy glare erupted between the two, but then Shawna remembered her manners.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Crawford. I ‘pologize for what I said. You people been kind and let me stay with y’all and I realize that. Please forgive me for what I said. My temper has a way of gettin’ the best of me.”

Mrs. Crawford also seemed to have gotten herself back together. “That’s quite alright. As long as you promise me that you don’t do it again, because like I said, it’s dangerous for a young lady, like yourself, to be wandering around unprotected.”

Shawna smiled, “Thank you.” Then she quickly around and headed up to her room. Her room had become her place of solitude. I never promised Mrs. Crawford that I wouldn’t go again, so tomorrow I’m still gonna keep asking them people, whether she thinks it’s dangerous or not.

Pleased with her slyness, Shawna dressed for bed and slipped under the warm blankets. Please help me Lord, she prayed, help me to find my parents. Amen.

The next morning Shawna woke up when the sun rose, which was quite normal for her. After yawning and stretching her tired limbs, she got out on one of the four pairs of clothes that she had brought along with her.

Quietly, Shawna opened her door and stepped out into the still dark hallway. She had a few minutes before everybody got up. She tiptoed over to the top of the stairs and looked around, so far so good. Shawna did her very best to walk noiselessly down the steps and out the front door. Once outside, Shawna realized that she had been holding her breath the entire time. She had done it!

The early spring morning was cool and foggy, and Shawna wished she had brought her jacket. Not many people were out and about yet, so Shawna roamed around for a bit. She got to know the basic layout of the town. Then she came upon an interesting sight. Across a small river, there was a bunch of little shabby houses, not at all like the ones she was by now used to seeing.

Shawna crossed the wide bridge, under which the water splashed its way downstream, and got a close-up view. Many of the houses were made of old wood and the shutters on the windows had fallen off. Then Shawna saw a little boy run out from an alley. He was about seven years old, and he was extremely skinny. His face was dirty, as was his clothes. The boy wore pants that he had long since outgrown and his shirt had numerous holes in it. Shawna’s heart went out to him, but as soon as he saw her, he darted off between some more houses.

“Aww, the poor little boy. I wonder where he lives,” Shawna mumbled to herself. Shawna then decided to turn around and head back to the rich part of town before she saw anymore sad sights such as this one.

As she crossed over the bridge again she met a teenage boy coming the opposite way. He was slightly taller than her and he had silky blonde hair that was stirred by the wind that had just picked up. As he got closer, Shawna noted that he looked very athletic and strong.

The boy, who had seen Shawna looking at him, said to her, “Hi, I don’t think I know you.”

Slightly embarrassed Shawna replied, “No, I don’t think you do. My name’s Shawna, and I’m staying here for a while.”

“Oh,” he said, “I’m Jack, Jack Manning. Pleased to meet you.” He held out his hand.

Shawna timidly reached out and grasped Jack’s hand. His much larger hand almost completely covered hers. She looked up into his eyes. They were a dark ice blue color and his skin was tanned, like Shawna’s. She marveled at his cute, boyish face.

All too soon, Jack released her hand and asked her, “So who ya stayin’ with?”

“Uh, um,” Shawna stuttered for a moment before answering, “the Crawfords. They live, uh, over there, in that part of town.”

Jack looked at her with a start, “You’re livin’ with the Crawfords? Do you know who they are?”

“Well, not really. I’ve just been livin’ with ‘em for the past few days.”

“Trust me Shawna, you wanna get outta that house.”

“Why, what’s so bad ‘bout them?” Shawna questioned him.

He looked at her with disbelief in his eyes. “What’s so bad ‘bout them? You don’t know nothin’ ‘bout them do you?”

“Hate to admit it,” Shawna said, “but I don’t.”

“Well,” Jack looked around and leaned closer, “rumors have it, that Nate Crawford committed murder a few years back and he never got caught.”

Shawna stared up at him, her mouth agape. “Nate? Murder someone? That ain’t true. I know him, at least a little bit. He wouldn’t do nothin’ like that. He’s a great guy.”

“You think so? Well, how long have you known him? And what exactly do you know about ‘im?” Jack looked at her. “And can I ask you one more question? Why are you even staying with them in the first place?”

“He’s helping me find my parents and no, I don’t know much about him or his family, but I do know that he’s a good, clean guy.”

“Nate Crawford, helping a teenage girl find her parents? Yeah, right.” He turned to look out at the river flowing underneath them.

Shawna glared at him. Who was he to tell her that the Crawfords are such bad people? And Nate Crawford would never murder someone, Shawna knew that for sure. What a jerk. He ain’t got no right to tell me all these lies about a family he probably doesn’t even know. I mean, look at him. It’s easy to see that he’s from the poor side of town, although he isn’t as bad as some.

Jack was leaning on the railing, staring out across the water. He seemed to be lost in thought, and Shawna decided to leave him alone. She turned to leave, but in her anger, she turned the wrong way and headed back towards the poor section of town. Too late, she realized her mistake, and she was not going to walk by that stupid Jack Manning again.

Well, while I’m here, I might as well ask some o’ these folks. Ya never know. They might know somethin’ I don’t.

Her mind made up, Shawna continued walking. The town was now being to wake up and there were numerous people outside. The people were poor, but most of them seemed to have enough to eat and a relatively good house. Not like that boy Shawna had seen.

As Shawna walked by a row of houses she picked out an elderly woman hanging up some clothes on an improvised clothesline. She might remember my parents because from the looks of it she’s lived here a long time. Changing her course, Shawna veered over to where the lady was hanging up her laundry.

“Hello,” Shawna tried to sound as friendly as she could.

The woman spun around and glared at Shawna. She began yelling at her in an unfamiliar language.

Shawna quickly retreated to the street. Well, that was one failure, with more to come. The next person she tried to talk to went a little better, although as soon as she mentioned the fact that she was staying with the Crawfords, the man looked at her strangely and promptly turned around and walked away. Shawna remained standing and gazed after him curiously.

“Why do folks ‘round here have such a problem with the Crawfords? What’s so bad ‘bout them?” Shawna asked herself.

Then Shawna strolled into the local grocery store. The store was rather small and obviously had limited recourses. A little ball rang as she opened the door and the store owner looked up from his work.

“Hello,” he said, “how may I help you?”

“Do happen to remember anybody by the name of Mark and Sandra Harper? They don’t live in this town anymore but they used to,” Shawna explained.

The manager studied her and then answered, “No, the names don’t ring a bell, but we do have some fresh bread for only a quarter a loaf.”

“No thank you,” Shawna replied.

This day was basically a repeat of the day before and Shawna soon learned that around the poor people you never mention anyone by the name of Crawford. For some odd reason, they all seemed to fear the Crawfords. Whenever Shawna would mention them, a frightened look crossed their faces and they swiftly ended the conversation. They must all believe that stupid murder story, Shawna thought.

As she wandered around, Shawna passed a playground. She saw a middle-aged mother pushing a small child on an old rusty swing set. Suddenly, as she was looking at the swing, her vision began to fog and she pictured the swing, only it was long ago, for the swing set looked brand new. There was a young woman with brown hair pushing a one-year-old girl. The girl laughed as her mother pushed her higher and higher into the sky. As the picture became clearer, Shawna recognized the little girl, herself!

Blinking her eyes and shaking her head, Shawna came back to the present. Stop dreamin’ up these stupid stories, Shawna told herself, but then she wondered, could all these dreams and weird flashbacks, be true? Could these things have actually happened to me? Then a scary thought entered her mind. I mighta lived here, and… As all these thoughts crammed their way into her mind, Shawna found it necessary to sit down on the first bench that she came across. After much thinking, she concluded that just maybe these “things” were memories from her childhood, which for some reason she could not remember anything about. But she still didn’t understand the scream and the ghost-person from her dreams, what are they all about? With many unanswered questions flowing through her mind, Shawna stood up and began walking towards the bridge.

When she returned to the Crawford home she found that Mrs. Crawford had been away for the day, so Shawna had no explaining to do about her day. She seemed to be off on a different planet for the rest of the day, but she re-entered the present when Nate came home. Although he still hadn’t unearthed anything about her missing parents, she still held on to that glimmer of hope.

“Hey Shawna,” Nate said, “I’ve been wondering, how long have your parents been missing, and why don’t you seem to know anything about them?”

Shawna still wasn’t quite ready to reveal that piece of her personal life to anyone, not even Nate, so all she said was, “It’s kinda complicated.”

Chapter 5

A Forgotten Memory Revealed

THE family gathered at the table and Shawna took her now normal place near the end. There was always a seat between her and Lindsey, and Molly, the little girl, sat across from her. It was breakfast and as usual, Ms. Lucy served a large meal, and by the time she was finished, Shawna was well-beyond satisfied. She made a mental note to not eat as much, because in just the few days of living here she had gained three pounds, which was not to her liking.

Lindsey had all but given up on persecuting Shawna, for she no longer found joy in it. Also, she had just started dating, and that now fully occupied her thoughts and actions. This change was much to Shawna’s delight for she no longer had to deal with Lindsey and her bratty disposition. Now she can use her feminine “charm” on someone else, Shawna thought.

After eating leaving the table and helping Ms. Lucy, which had long since become her routine, Shawna pondered over what to do with her day. She had woken up too late in the day to do anything without Mrs. Crawford’s approval, and that left her with absolutely nothing to do.

“Maybe Mrs. Crawford would let Lucy off for the day. I could spend the day with her and we could do something outside of this wretched house,” Shawna said to herself. Then, she stood up and walked over the sitting room, where she was sure to find Mrs. Crawford sewing or reading strange book. True to her suspicions, Shawna found Mrs. Crawford there and for once she didn’t seemed the least bit displeased by the interruption.

“Um, Mrs. Crawford,” Shawna began.

“Yes.”

Shawna was uncertain on how to ask her to spare Ms. Lucy for a day. And she hadn’t even asked Lucy if she wanted to. Mistake number one. “Has Nate been lookin’ for my parents?” she questioned.

Mrs. Crawford bit her lip and pondered for a moment. “Yes, he has been, although he hasn’t found any traces yet.”

Shawna mustered up her courage, “Well, since I don’t have nothin’ to do today, can you give Ms. Lucy the day off. I thought that maybe me an’ her could spend the day together.”

“Did you ask Ms. Lucy?”

Shawna’s face flushed. “Uh, no, not yet. I thought I’d ask you first… before we made any plans.” Liar! Shawna’s conscience nagged her. Only a gray one, she told herself.

“Well, allow me to talk to Ms. Lucy, and then we’ll see,” was Mrs. Crawford’s reply.

Shawna inwardly rejoiced, yet she let none of her jubilant and triumphant feelings show through to the outside world, which in this case was Mrs. Crawford. A humble, “Thank you,” was the only suggestion of happiness that she revealed.

Mrs. Crawford rose from her comfortable chair and succeeded in finding Ms. Lucy. Some words were exchanged, none of which Shawna heard, for she did not oblige herself to listen. As Shawna waited ever so patiently by the door, Lucy exited the kitchen, her workshop, with a smile of pleasure on her face.

“Oh thank you Shawna,” she exclaimed, “thank you for getting me out of work for the day. I do enjoy a day off now and then, although I’m not keen on catching up on my work in the morrow.”

A chuckle escaped from Shawna’s mouth, “”Well well well, looks like we’re gonna have one real fine day ahead of us, and we ain’t gotta worry ‘bout nothin’, leastwise, not ‘til t’morra.”

Shawna opened the front door and the two ladies left the house to spend the day in town enjoying the freedoms of life. They did not intend on letting this precious day go to waste. They wanted to use it to the fullest, filling it with wonderful things. And that they did. First, they walked down Main Street, where all the fancy shops were located. Since they didn’t have money to spend on the things in the stores, but they admired all the pretty things that money could buy. Everything was new and it seemed to glow, but all Shawna and Lucy could to was look longingly at the things, whatever they may be.

After tiring themselves of shopping without any money, the pair headed to the buffet. Lucy had brought along a small amount of cash, which she had saved for buying lunch. She bought the smorgasbord for both of them, and they enjoyed it immensely.

After stuffing themselves with the delicious food, Lucy and Shawna made their way to the park. They were adults and they knew that, but they couldn’t resist the temptation to act like a six year old for at least a little while. The swings were the first to receive their treatment, and then the two of them went to the slides. Both of them were laughing as they left the park, it had been so much fun, and neither of them knew when the next time they could do that would come.

For the rest of the afternoon, Lucy gave Shawna a proper tour of Haynesville, the rich part of it. She showed her all the good restaurants and stores, and the church.

Finally, an exhausted teenage girl, accompanied by fatigued maid, entered into the Crawford house. Their return occurred at about 4:45, and that gave Lucy 15 minutes to slap together a quick meal. It was easy and small, but very tasty.

It was after supper when Nate again began interrogating Shawna about her past. It was a private conversation, but Shawna still felt uncomfortable about sharing it.

“Please Shawna,” Nate begged, “I need to know about your past. You know, it would help me in finding your parents. Just please explain to me what happened before you came here.”

Shawna hesitated for a few moments.

“Shawna please, I need to know.”

“Okay,” she agreed, “it’s confusing to me, too, but I’ll tell what I know.”

Nate gave her a quizzical look, but remained silent.

“I lived with a couple named Rob and Lily McGregor. I don’t ‘member livin’ anywhere else, or with anyone else. And they never mentioned or even hinted, that I had, until I found some newspaper article. It said that I went to live with my relatives, so I asked Lily ‘bout it. Then she started cryin’, and wouldn’t explain nothin’ to me. I know Lily, and I knew that she wasn’t gonna help me none, so I took off.”

Nate pondered on what Shawna said for a moment then asked, “So you say that your par- I mean Rob and Lily knew that they weren’t your real parents, or what?”

“Yeah, they did, but they never told me about it.”

“They didn’t tell you anything?”

“Nope, nothin’.” Shawna looked up at Nate, and was glad to see that he looked satisfied, at least for the time being. She hadn’t mentioned the flashbacks, and decided that she wouldn’t until she completely understood them herself.

With nothing else to do, Shawna wandered around the house, examining everything with careful detail. She entered a part of the house that she rarely visited, and had never before really noticed. It had wood floor, and was small compared to the other rooms in the Crawford house. A small show case that had been hung on the wall caught Shawna’s eye. It was a wooden box with a protecting shield of glass. On the inside were knives, some of very large and curving, and others were small and straight. All of them had a polished glow to them. Shawna figured that collecting knives was a hobby for Nate. In fact, Shawna thought, this was probably Nate’s “hobby room”, for it had many trophies, animal hides, and fire arms in it as well as knives.

When Shawna saw a door on the far side of the room, she opened it to discover an empty closet. At least it was empty except for a small pile of clothes. She leaned down for a better look. With a hint of surprise, Shawna noted that the shirt had a small blood stain on it. The old, musty smell of the closet’s contents almost gagged her. These must have been here for a long time. She lifted the clothes to see what else was under there. What she discovered scared her. A pistol had been hidden underneath the pile of bloody clothes, and from the smell of it, for many, many years. The first thought that entered Shawna’s mind was Jack’s comment, ‘rumors have it that Nate Crawford committed murder a few years back, and he never got caught.’

Quickly, Shawna shut the closet door and left the room. She refused to believe that Nate had actually killed someone, but what if he had? He didn’t kill nobody. He’s a clean guy, and he’s helping you remember Shawna? She told herself. Well, one way to clear this up would be to ask him. No, I’d better not do that, because then he’d think I don’t trust him, which I do. I’ll just keep it to myself After all, he probably doesn’t remember what even happened.

After her rather disturbing experience, Shawna did her best to steer clear of that room, and tried to forget that it had ever happened. The house was empty, with Nate at work, and Lindsey and Jon at school. Mrs. Crawford had gone to the grocery store, but would probably soon be back. The only thing that Shawna could do was occupy little Molly while Lucy did the housework. Soon Molly was tired, and took her afternoon nap, so Shawna went to help Ms. Lucy.

Lucy was in the kitchen preparing supper. With a knife, she chopped up some vegetables. As Shawna started walking across the tile kitchen floor, a ray of light was reflected from the blade, and suddenly Shawna was temporarily transferred back in time. She saw the reflecting glint of light and heard that horrid scream of anguish and anger. She clutched a chair to keep her balance, and Ms. Lucy turned and looked worriedly at her.

“Shawna, are you okay? You look like you saw ghost, you’re pale!” she asked.

“Yeah,” was Shawna’s shaky reply. She was breathing heavily, her heart pounding, for that was the most real flashback she had ever had. Short though it was, it held a deeper meaning than Shawna could understand. But unbeknownst to her, a greater one was yet to come.

There was also someone else battling with an inward force. Only this was much worse. It was the last thing she wanted to do, but she had to. If she didn’t, the consequences would be horrific. More than one soul would lose its flesh. This would be the easiest way, or so they said. The words clung in her throat, but with her last bit of will, Ms. Lucy blurted out, “Shawna, if you want fresh air, you can go out in the orchard.”

“You have an orchard?” Shawna questioned. “I never knew.”

“Yes, out back. Oh, it’s small, but the apple trees are beginning to blossom, they’re absolutely gorgeous.”

“I’ll think I’ll go visit your li’l orchard,” Shawna said. “Thanks fer the suggestion.”

“You’re welcome,” Ms. Lucy said regretfully, then mentally added, but you won’t be so thankful.

Shawna made her way outside, for the first time using the back door. Behind the house Shawna’s eyes discovered one of the most beautiful sights she had ever witnessed. The apple trees were in rows, their flowery branches extended far enough to overlap the neighboring tree. The ground beneath the base of the trees was littered with the delicate little flowers. Even the air was delicious, so fresh and clean.

The sound of a saw interrupted Shawna’s dreamy thoughts. It continued for a few moments, and Shawna wondered where it was coming from. Her feet led her in the direction of the noise, but before she discovered who the responsible person was, the sound vanished. Although she heard nothing, Shawna continued on her chosen course through the orchard.

***

Even though he had only encountered her once, Jack couldn’t get Shawna off his mind. Something about what she had told him did not align with facts. Nate Crawford was not the kind of guy to help a teenage girl, unless he would get something out of it. So why did Shawna claim he was? What was Nate hiding? Jack sensed that some forgotten secret lay beneath what was known, underneath the surface. He suddenly felt a strange “gut-feeling”, so to speak. At first, he tried to dismiss the whole idea, but then it pulled on him even stronger. He felt, God forbid, that he had to go figure this out for himself. Against his external will, Jack’s internal being pulled him towards the family he had been taught to avoid, to a place he wasn’t supposed to be, and on a journey he would never forget.

***

Shawna soon came to the edge of the apple tree orchard, and there she found a small building. Her knowledge pulled her away, but her curiosity pulled her back. The stronger pull of curiosity won over, and Shawna found herself opening the door.

The wooden door creaked open on the rusty hinges. On the inside, a thick layer of dust covered the floor and objects in the room, except for a few areas which looked to have been wind-blown clean. Shawna noticed built-in rungs which led to a small landing another story higher.

She stepped quietly into the dimly lit building. A strange feeling engulfed her. It told her to be wary and watchful. This building wasn’t safe. The feeling warned her to be extremely silent. Then another odd feeling came upon her. This one sent shivers up her spine, and tensed her muscles. She sensed that someone, or something, was watching her very closely. But even when she scanned the entire room, she saw nothing. The invisible gaze followed her as she walked across the creaking, groaning floor, until she stood in the center of the room. The thought crossed her mind that she should leave, but this creepy place intrigued her. She just couldn’t leave until she had explored at least a small portion of it.

A soft breeze blew through a broken window and stirred up a small piece of paper lying on the floor boards. Shawna leaned over to pick it up, when movement from above and to her right caught her attention. She looked at what she noticed first, something from above. Her world jerked into slow motion. A large anvil was hurtling down towards her. The shocking scene froze her reaction, her body refused to move. Something smashed into her from the side, and the impact threw her off her feet. The block smashed heavily onto the ground, only a few feet away from her.

Dazed, Shawna opened her eyes, and looked blearily into the face of Jack. She blinked her eyes. Jack, the boy whom she had met on the bridge, lay on top of her! He had just saved her! Still not understanding, Shawna began struggling to stand up. Jack, who had also just recovered from the shock, immediately jumped up, and ran silently out the back door of the building.

“Wha- wait!” Shawna stuttered. She had no idea as to what had just happened, other than the fact that some idiot boy had just saved her life and ran off without even saying a word. What confused her most, though, was why he was even there in the first place. He had been hiding there, watching her. The thoughts that began filling her mind scared her. Jack was different. Something about him made Shawna wonder. What were his intentions? What did he know or think that had brought him here?

Before Shawna could come up with an answer to her questions about Jack, she heard a voice calling her name from the landing above her. She raised her eyes to the sound. Nate was peering over the edge, and when she looked up at him, he jumped to the ground. Once he hit the floor, Nate rushed to Shawna’s side. “Shawna! Shawna, are you okay. You almost got killed! I didn’t see you down there! Are you alright?” Nate interrogated her fearfully.

“Yeah,” she replied, “I think so anyway. What happened?”

“I was, uh, cleaning up the attic space, and I didn’t see you come in,” Nate answered.

“Yeah, well, Ja-,” Shawna debated whether or not to tell Nate about her mysterious encounter with Jack, “I saw it in time to move.” Something about Jack’s actions warned Shawna to keep his strange prior presence a secret. Nate hadn’t seen him, and it seemed that Jack didn’t want Nate to know he had even been there.

“Can you stand up?” Nate questioned.

Shawna’s body felt as though it was made of pudding, for it shook uncontrollably when she attempted to stand. The experience had quite reasonably shaken her up. It took several minutes for Shawna to calm down enough to stand up, and even then, she still had a hard time walking.

For the first time, Shawna saw a ragged scar that ran down the side of Nate’s face. They were still inside the dark building, so Shawna couldn’t see the mark clearly. When the pair stepped into the sunlight, though, Shawna saw it perfectly. The sight of the scar triggered a rediscovery of the memory that had haunted her dreams rushed into her mind.

Shawna instantly remembered everything. The screams, the flashbacks, they all suddenly made sense. The night of the murder flashed through her mind. She remembered the man in the bursting in doorway, and the way he yelled at her father. Then he killed him. In an instant, her father was dead. Her mother had screamed as she grabbed the knife, and cut the man, right down the side of his face. Then she too, was killed.

She stood paralyzed with her mouth agape. An ear-splitting scream came from her mouth as she recognized the man in the doorway. He was Nate. The man, who murdered her parents, was standing there next her. He knew. He knew everything. Her eye sight dimmed, and she could no longer feel her legs. Unconscious, Shawna collapsed to the ground.

Chapter 6

The Single Solution

SLOWLY Shawna’s eyes fluttered open. Her first thoughts were, Where am I? What happened? It didn’t take long for her to remember what had just occurred an hour before. Shawna quickly scanned the room and was relieved to see that no one was there. She had feared that Nate, the murderer, would be there, waiting for her to awaken. And when she did, he would kill her, just as he had her parents.

The truth about her parents had not yet sunken in. Shawna knew that they were dead, but didn’t really understand that she would never see them. At that moment, she was too scared and angry to realize it, but she would later.

As her heart rate slowed once again down to normal, Shawna wondered why she had never noticed that scar before. It had always been there, so why hadn’t she seen it?

Shawna’s mind was still in a flurry, she didn’t quite understand what was happening. Too many things had happened too quickly for her to completely comprehend all them. She was desperate to understand, but couldn’t, there was just an over-abundance of unanswered questions flowing through her mind.

Why am I even here? Why is Nate helping me after he killed my mom and my dad? Why was that boy Jack here? Why did he save me? Was that accident really an accident? Who knows what I don’t? What don’t I know? What sort of danger am I in? Does anyone else know what Nate did? What am I going to do? What can I do?

Shawna’s head began aching. Soon it was pounding and causing her vision to go blurry. “Rest, rest, I need rest,” Shawna mumbled in her bleariness. In moments she was sleeping, but her sleep was anything but restful. The ghost person from a few nights back again visited Shawna, only this time it was getting desperate. Shawna! Shawna! It called out in its eerie, haunting voice. It screamed, the voice rose and fell in a high-pitched wail. It beckoned with its ghostly arms, all the while calling Shawna’s name franticly, as if only Shawna could help it. And really, she was the only one.

Shawna jerked herself out of sleep and found herself shaking fearfully. Her adrenaline was pumping through her veins. Suddenly, the doorknob turned and the door began creaking slowly open. A scream lodged in Shawna’s throat. The only thing she could think of was Nate, but to Shawna’s relief, it was only Ms. Lucy who entered the door.

“Oh, Shawna,” she said warmly, “you finally woke up.”

A weak smile was all Shawna could return.

“Do you feel okay? Do you remember what happened?” Lucy questioned.

“I may not remember my past very well, but I remember now perfectly,” Shawna spoke in a slurred, murmured voice.

“What?”

Shawna raised her voice a bit and tried to talk more clearly, “Never mind. I feel fine. Well, about as fine as you would fer almost havin’ some one drop metal block on yer head.”

A forced chuckle came from Ms. Lucy. She then handed Shawna the cup of steaming tea which she had been holding. “Maybe this will help you feel better,” she offered.

Shawna gratefully accepted the warm cup. She took a careful sip and instantly liked it. The liquid goodness was difficult not to slurp down, but Shawna managed to keep what manners she had and drink it slowly.

After giving Shawna the cup of tea, Ms. Lucy left the room. She decided to give the girl some rest for she still looked tired. Ms. Lucy wondered why the incident had affected Shawna so much. Lucy had thought that Shawna was a strong fearless kind of person so why had she been so greatly afraid?

The hot tea made Shawna drowsy, and it didn’t take long for her to slip into a much-needed sleep. While she was asleep a different person stood outside the door. His hands began to shake slightly. He was out of practice. He told himself to relax, and that there’s nothing to be worried about. He placed his hand on the doorknob and started turning it as slowly and as quietly as he could. To his dismay, Lindsey came walking up the stairs.

“Hey dad,” she called, “how’s Shawna? I heard that she passed out earlier today.”

Nate sighed, “Yes, she almost hurt herself and it scared her terribly. I was just going in to check on her.”

“That’s what I was planning to do. Ms. Lucy said to be quiet, though because Shawna’s probably sleeping.”

Together, father and daughter entered Shawna’s room. True to Ms. Lucy’s prediction, Shawna was sleeping peacefully. They soon exited the room, for they didn’t want to wake her.

The next morning, Lucy prepared a small breakfast for Shawna and took it up to her room. The sleeping pills she had put in the tea the night before should have worn off by now. Lucy was also worried that morning. Nate had seemed strangely preoccupied at breakfast. She felt an unwelcome urge to protect the helpless girl. Even if she would, she would have to do it exceptionally secretly.

Lucy walked in Shawna’s room. The girl was still lying in her bad. She was awake, but seemed distant from the world around her. “Shawna, I brought you something to eat,” Ms. Lucy said softly. When Shawna didn’t respond, Lucy repeated her statement louder.

Shawna then looked up. Her eyes were red and swollen, an obvious side-effect of crying. She didn’t utter a word, just looked at Ms. Lucy with a pitiful expression.

Lucy set the plate of food on the nightstand and sat down on the side of her bed. She began stroking Shawna’s messy hair. “Shawna,” she crooned, “what’s the matter? Everything’s fine now, what’s bothering you?”

Shawna only moaned and rolled over. When Ms. Lucy tried again, Shawna buried her face in her pillow and began sobbing. “Just go away,” she said through her tears, “just go away.”

Not taking Shawna’s comment personally, Ms. Lucy stood up and strode out of the room. She closed the door softly behind her. Now, Shawna really confused her. For some unknown reason, she was sorely depressed and refused to be comforted. Patience was certainly not one of Ms. Lucy’s weak points. She was willing to wait until Shawna was ready to talk, and until then she had to keep a close eye on… No I can’t do that. It will only make things worse.

Her world had collapsed around her. Nothing, absolutely nothing was right. It was wrong all wrong. Her parents were dead. Dead! Murdered! To make matters worse, they had been murdered by the man into whom she had put her complete trust. Her life was terrible, horrible. The only family she had ever had, she had unjustly abandoned.

Shawna’s couldn’t think clearly, she felt as if she was inside a tornado with no way out. Her mind, her life, was spinning out of control and she didn’t know what she could do to stop it. Depression had seized her, and for good reason. She had devoted her life to finding her long-lost mother and father, only to find out that they were murdered. Why? Why had Nate killed them? Shawna didn’t know. Shawna had the urge to break something, preferably Nate. Yet, she wanted to lie down and cry. She was angry, sad, and tired all rolled up in one. The only thing she was capable of doing was lying on her bed and bawling. After crying the whole night, she had no energy, and all she wanted to do was sleep. Sleep forever, because when sleeping there was no pain or sadness. There was no feeling or emotion, only the peaceful blackness, which she now craved.

When Shawna did finally fall to sleep again, it wasn’t the kind of sleep that she wanted. She had nightmares, many nightmares. Some of which she had no clue to their origin. Others, she knew perfectly what they were. Screams echoed through her mind. Pictures of flashing knives and gunshots, along with blood and dead bodies swirled through her mind. She even remembered pain, physical pain. Pain that had been inflicted by none other than Nate. She saw him raise his gun a third time, she heard yet another gun shot. A terrible, searing pain erupted from her shoulder. Her world faded away, and that was all she remembered of that horrid, horrid night.

Sleep. Tears. Those are the only things Shawna could do. Her mind became a heavy fog. Nothing made sense. She couldn’t understand anything. She couldn’t, feel, taste, or do anything, except sleep and cry. She remembered several times when Ms. Lucy came to her bedside. The maid offered Shawna food, but she refused. There was some times that Lucy forced Shawna to drink, but she didn’t on her own. No words came out of her mouth, she didn’t explain to anybody what had caused this sudden depression. Many thought that she was sick, but Ms. Lucy thought other wise.

This went on for a course of three days, until one night Shawna awoke to a clear mind. She had been thinking about nothing else for the past few days. Every detail had passed through her mind at one time or another. To her, there was no way out. Her life was down the drain, never to come back. Everything was ruined, nothing was right. There was only one solution, only one way out of this unfixable mess she had made. She had to end it, completely. There was no cure for her problem, there was no way out of this messed up tangle that she called a life. She decided in her weak and bleary state of mind that she should end her life and get it over with.

Lack of food and water made Shawna extremely weak, but her determination gave her the strength she needed. She pulled back the covers and put her legs over the side of the bed. Using all of her strength, she pushed herself to her feet. The room started spinning, and she grabbed the nightstand to steady herself. When the lightheaded feeling subsided a slight degree, Shawna began slowly making her way across the room. Her legs shook with the effort, and she stumbled. She caught her balance and continued on her way.

After what seemed like miles of tedious walking, Shawna reached the door. She opened it and stepped out into the silent hallway. All the other occupants of the house were sleeping in their warm beds.

Taking a few more steps, Shawna reached the railing that protected the open stairwell. She leaned upon it and rested. By now she was gasping for breath, and every breath hurt her chest. Her vision was going blurry again, she needed to get this over with quickly, or she would again pass out. Using what little bit of strength she had left, Shawna attempted to pull herself on top of the railing. Her arms could not support her body, and she fell backwards onto the floor. The fall stunned her, and she lay unmoving on the ground.

The thump from Shawna falling was enough to wake Lucy, who had been asleep a few doors down the hallway. She ventured quickly outside her bedroom, to find Shawna lying on the floor. In seconds, the lady had picked up the unconscious girl and put her back in her bed. All the while, she was wondering what had ailed this sick girl to get out of bed in the middle of the night. The maid had no idea of what Shawna’s real intension had been. She only knew that Shawna was living in a very confusing state of mind and that she couldn’t even understand her own actions.

After her second near death experience, Shawna started eating, but no matter how hard Ms. Lucy tried, Shawna would not tell her what had happened during those days she had been severely depressed.

It didn’t take long for Shawna to regain her strength. Within two days, she was walking around again. Ms. Lucy gave her some tight restraints, but they were to the benefit of Shawna’s well-being. If left alone, Shawna would have run away from Nate and the house, but with Lucy’s watchful eyes trailing her everywhere, Shawna never had the chance. Also, Shawna didn’t really know where she would go anyway. Her life was too messed up. She couldn’t go back home.

Deep down inside, Shawna was still depressed, but she did a good job of covering it up. The thought never crossed anybody’s mind that maybe Shawna was still harboring some of those awful thoughts that had almost killed her. Those thoughts were still there, and refused to leave. They haunted her like a demon, telling her that there was no way out. Just end it. Just end it all. They told her. It was tempting. It would be an easy way out, but she never had an open opportunity.

About the only thing that Shawna could do, was avoid Nate to the best of her ability. She wondered if the accident out in the building had really been an accident. Just to be sure, she always kept a safe distance from him

One evening at dinner, Mrs. Crawford mentioned to Nate that the two of the lights on the chandelier were out. He told her that he would fix them the nest day.

True to his word, Nate was preparing to fix the chandelier the following morning. This particular chandelier was easy to fix. All he had to do was pull it over to the railing and detach it from the chain that it hung from.

While he began his project, Shawna walked towards the kitchen. She planned to help Ms. Lucy clean up breakfast. A curious sound entered her ears as she walked past the stairs. She looked up to a frighteningly familiar sight. Only this time, it was a chandelier instead of an anvil. In a moment of suspense, Shawna looked into the face of Nate. His face was solemn, showing no expression at all.

Having only seconds to spare her life, Shawna dove away from the falling light. With a shattering of glass, it hit the ground. A blink of an eye earlier, Shawna had been standing in that exact spot.

Upon hearing the crash, Ms. Lucy hurried from the kitchen, preparing to see the worst. Shawna lay only a couple feet away from a shattered, broken chandelier. Tiny pieces of glass carpeted the wood floor, and a many larger pieces had lodged themselves into Shawna’s exposed skin. Ms. Lucy’s lifted her eyes up to where Nate stood watching silently. She held his gaze for a brief moment before bending over to help the girl.

Chapter 7

The Real Battle Begins

SHAWNA clenched her jaw and flinched as Ms. Lucy pulled out the glass that had been imbedded in her skin. The blood was oozing out and running down her arms, legs, and face. Lindsey grudgingly dabbed Shawna’s face with a wet cloth to keep the blood out of her eyes. The whole ordeal was painful. They had to get every piece of glass out, and some had been driven in dreadfully deep.

Meanwhile, Nate stood back and watched. He stared at her as Lindsey and Ms. Lucy cleaned her up. A cold, icy glare which was exceedingly unnerving. She couldn’t help but shift uncomfortably under his relentless gaze. The man hadn’t said a word since the incident, he hadn’t even apologized. All he did was stand quietly at the sidelines and watch.

When they had finally pulled out all the glass they could find, Ms. Lucy bandaged up the worst of the cuts. There was an especially deep gash on her forehead and on the back of her neck. She also needed bandages on her right calf.

Looking like a badly wrapped mummy, Shawna slid off the kitchen counter. She walked clumsily across the floor, trying not to move the injured parts of her body. If wasn’t that she was in excruciating pain, but it irritated her cuts when she moved. Plus, getting cut by glass can prove to be rather painful.

Nate was standing in the doorway that led towards the stairs. This teenage girl was now desperate to keep as far away from this man as possible. She turned as nimble as she could, which was more graceless than a duck with a broken wing. At first, she didn’t know where she should go or what she should do, but when she spied the back door, she decided to head out to the orchard again.

Her excuse was, “I need some fresh air.”

“Should I come with you?” asked Ms. Lucy.

“No, I’ll be fine.”

Feeling very awkward, Shawna made her way to the back door, and once there, she let herself out. The outside air was refreshing, and still had its chilly morning nip. The sun was rising higher in the sky, and drying up the dew that clung on the leaves and grass.

Shawna made her way into the center of the field and looked out to the horizon. She considered her options, and yet again mauled over her many problems. This most recent dilemma had shown Shawna that she did not want to die. She had done her best to keep her life, and protect her being. Suicide was completely out of the question. Her problems didn’t disappear, though. Nate was still out to get her for a reason she didn’t know, but she didn’t want to leave this place all together. Her parents were dead because Nate Crawford had murdered them many years ago. He needed to pay for what he did. If she stayed, she would be killed, but if she left, Nate would get away with what he did.

What could she do, who could she turn to? Lucy? Maybe, but she needed someone else. Someone who was daring enough to…

Footsteps sounded behind her. Shawna twisted around to see Nate walking towards her. She started shaking, and her heart beat increased.

“Shawna,” he said, “what are you doing out here all alone.”

Alone, I’m all alone, Shawna thought fearfully. “Just ge-getting some, uh, fresh air,” she stuttered.

“Aren’t you cold? You look like it,” he said as he stepped closer.

“N-no I’m fine.” She was beginning to get really nervous now, what was she going to do. Her feet wouldn’t listen, she was stuck.

“Look at the horizon, doesn’t it look beautiful with the sun rising over the tops of the mountains,” Nate said.

Shawna glanced back in that direction. Nate was now standing directly behind her. She could feel his breath of the back of her neck. Shawna jumped when she felt Nate’s finger touch her neck.

“Ooh, that’s quite the nasty gash,” he said with a would-be concerned tone. He ran his fingertip down along the cut.

Shawna’s body stiffened with fear.

“You’re shivering,” Nate noted, “you must be cold.” He then wrapped his arms around Shawna’s shoulders.

She screamed, but her scream was cut short by Nate. He slapped his hand roughly over her mouth.

“Keep quite, don’t make a sound, or it may be your last.” His tone of voice had changed quickly, and Shawna felt something hard being pushed against her back.

It’s a gun. He’s got a gun, Shawna realized. He’s gonna shoot me, I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die.

Shawna was far beyond petrified as Nate began walking her towards the building at the edge of the orchard. She was shaking uncontrollable, and when she stumbled over a stick, she was unable to regain her balance. She fell to ground in a cloud of dust.

“Get up!” Nate yelled angrily. “Now!” He kicked her leg, and that caused Shawna to cry out in pain. He grabbed her arm and yanked her violently to her feet. “Move!” he demanded.

Once more, Shawna struggled forward. She saw a hefty part of a tree branch lying of the ground several feet ahead of them. She knew this would be her one and only chance. When they reached the branch, Shawna faked another fall. Just as Nate lifted his foot off the ground, Shawna seized the piece of wood and swung it with all her might. The branch hit Nate in the back of the leg with a crunch. The blow knocked him off his feet and onto his back.

Not waiting for anything else, Shawna leaped to her feet and ran. She ran like she had never run before. She didn’t even glance back. She waited to feel the slicing cut of a bullet, but she didn’t. Nate shot, or course, but his target was running in a very lopsided way, so he missed.

She continued running even after she had ran out of the orchard. Soon, though, the adrenaline wore off, and she began to tire. Shawna stopped to rest, and while doing so, looked behind her to see nobody following her. A feeling of relief flooded her body, and she smiled in to herself.

It was only then that Shawna realized that she had left everything she owned back at the Crawford house. “Shoot!” she muttered. She decided she would go back to the house after dark to retrieve her things. But first, she needed to make sure that everyone in the house was asleep, mainly Nate. She knew she was completely crazy, but she did it anyway.

Cautiously, she made her way back to the house. She was careful to stay out of everybody’s view. Nobody saw her, and that was exactly what Shawna wanted. When the Crawford house came into view, Shawna slipped in between two houses. This was when invisibility was very important. Being sure that absolutely nobody noticed her, Shawna got as close as she dared.

After locating a good spot to conceal her, Shawna considered her view. She loved it. It wasn’t that it made the house look great; it was because she could see directly into Mr. and Mrs. Crawford’s bedroom window. Another plus to her situation was that she was completely hidden by a small group of pine trees and bushes.

It was only mid-morning, so Shawna had to spend the rest of her day in hiding. She didn’t want to risk being spotted in town, so she decided to sleep. And sleep she did. In fact, she slept the whole day away, at least until late afternoon.

Ms. Lucy had come out to hang up some laundry. She glanced around the perimeter of the house, sensing something different. Her gaze swept over the small grove of pine trees when she spotted someone’s foot sticking out between the bushes. Not knowing who it was, she walked quietly over to it. She gasped when she discovered the truth, and her outburst woke the sleeping girl.

Shawna jerked away to find Ms. Lucy standing above her. “You scared the wits outta me, Lucy,” Shawna stated.

“Well, goodness gracious child, what do you expect if you’re sleeping underneath a tree in our backyard?”

“Well, uh,” she wasn’t sure what to say.

“And why did you run away this morning after hitting poor Nate with branch?” Ms. Lucy questioned her.

Shawna debated whether or not to tell Ms. Lucy about Nate and what he had done. Her rushed decision was positive. “Look, Lucy,” she said as she stood up, “you probably won’t believe me, but I’m gonna tell ya anyway. Nate is tryin’ to kill me! He tried to three times, out in that barn and twice this morning. And what’s more, is that he killed my real mom and dad! Many years ago, that is. I can’t explain everything right now but-” Shawna paused when she saw that Lucy didn’t look the least bit surprised. “You don’t believe me, do you?” Shawna asked.

“Oh yes, I believe you,” Ms. Lucy said, “it’s just that… Never mind.”

“No, what? Tell me,” Shawna begged. “Please.”

Ms. Lucy hesitated, “I already knew.”

“What!” Shawna almost screamed. “You already knew! You mean this whole time you knew everything!”

Ms. Lucy nodded her head, ashamed.

“I trusted you, and you knew! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“They said they’d kill me if I told you, and they were paying me to keep you here and to not tell you.”

“Oh, so it’s about you an’ the money? You don’t give a damn about me, do you? You wouldn’t o’ cared if he killed me, ‘cause you was on his side the whole time!” Shawna’s was fuming, she had trusted Ms. Lucy, and now she, too had let her down.

“No Shawna, it’s not like that,” Lucy tried to explain.

“Oh yes it is. Don’t try to lie to me. I trusted you, but you ain’t nothin’ but low down, double-crossin’ snake. I don’t want nothin’ to do with you anymore.” With those last words out of her mouth, Shawna turned and ran away, leaving Lucy standing alone.

Shawna’s mind was a blur. Everybody she knew and trusted had let her down and deceived her, everybody from Rob and Lily, to Lucy and Nate. All of them had lied to her, and now she was all alone in this world, left to fight this battle all by herself.

Her legs carried her far from the Crawford house. They ran until they brought her to the bridge. It was at this same bridge that she had met Jack several days prior. Maybe it was just coincidence, but most consider it fate that Shawna, in her moment of distress, ran to that very bridge. Deep down inside, buried far beneath the surface, Shawna may have known and gone there, to that bridge, on purpose. Although in her conscious mind, she didn’t know why she had gone there.

Instead of crossing the bridge, though, Shawna ran down the sloping bank, to the water. She knelt next to the water on the stony shore. She had been able to keep herself together until then. Shawna’s will broke. She cried like she never had cried. Tears ran down her face in waves. Now, she had lost another friend, and friend she had cherished deeply. Her body went weak; she lay on the ground and cried. It didn’t matter, she didn’t care. All she could think about was how pain-filled her life was.

Suddenly, she felt someone’s arms wrap around her. She was to tired and sad to care. All she did was look through her tear-filled eyes into the face of Jack. He helped Shawna to her feet and led her up the bank. She was too weak to support herself, so Jack put his arm around her waist to keep her on her feet.

Together, they walked across the bridge, and then behind a row of shabby houses. Shawna’s sobs had soon subsided to sniffles, but when she thought about her horrible predicament, she would burst into tears again. Jack walked to a secluded area behind the houses. There was an old metal bench covered half by over-grown ivy.

The pair sat down on the bench. Shawna, who had only begun to recover from her tears, leaned upon Jack. Not because she wanted to, but because he was the only person who seemed to care for her at that time. He was the only solid figure that was near her. Hence the reason, she leaned on him, and he protected her.

For the next few minutes, Jack held Shawna in his arms and tired his best to comfort her. Soon, Shawna regained control of herself. She sat up and wiped her red, puffy eyes. The only show of gratitude that she could muster up for Jack was a weak smile.

Feeling the need to know, Jack asked as politely as he could, “What happened?”

Shawna sniffed. “Well, it’s a long story.”

“Do you mind telling me about it?”

“Can I trust you?” she asked meekly.

“Yes,” he replied, “you can trust me.”

“Well…” Shawna told Jack everything. She told him things that she had never shared before to anyone. She told, for the first time, her deepest, darkest secrets. The need to share her innermost thoughts and feelings overwhelmed her, and for some reason, she trusted Jack. A boy whom she hardly knew, she trusted. And to Shawna’s surprise and relief, he believed every word she said.

“Why did you come here?” Jack asked her when she had finished her story.

“I don’t know. I can’t just go home. I don’t really have a home. Not a real one anyway. This guy is a murderer. He’s trying to kill me, and he won’t give up. And I just can’t let him go after he killed my mother and my father. I need to know why he did it, and I need to see him punished for it.”

“I guess that’s a good enough cause to stay.”

“Jack?”

“Yeah.”

“Why do you think Nate’s trying to kill me? He could’ve taken me far away from here, and I would’ve never remembered anything. Things would be a lot less complicated now.”

Jack looked at her, and considered what she had just said. “He probably feels the need to finish what he started. To him, the thought of you getting away is probably unbearable. There was always the chance that you might remember your past and the things that happened to you, and he knew that. Since you were the only witness, he needed to have you out of the way for him to be in the free and clear.”

“I guess,” Shawna said.

They sat quietly for a few minutes, each lost in thought. When Shawna mentioned walking around for a bit, Jack agreed. Neither said where to go, but both knew where they were headed. The bridge soon came into view and Jack and Shawna walked out onto it. When they reached to center, they stopped and leaned on the rail. No wind was blowing, and the humidity was very high, so soon Shawna began to get rather hot.

“How warm is the water?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Jack said, “probably too cold for swimming, but good enough to wade in, if that answers your question.”

“Yup, that’s all I needed to know.” Shawna turned and walked back across the wooden bridge. She then headed down the bank to the water’s edge. She slipped off her worn shoes and stepped into the cool shallows. Jack was not far behind her. He, too, decided to wade in the water. The cool water felt very good after being in the heat.

Out of the corner of her eye, Shawna saw a person walking across the bridge. Not even thinking about whom it might be, she continued with what she was doing. She reached down and grabbed a handful of water. When Jack’s attention was diverted to something else, she poured the water down his neck.

“Agh!” he yelled when the cold water began running down his back. He shivered as it trickled slowly down. He turned around and looked at Shawna through his sparkling blue eyes. “You asked for it.” Jack came splashing towards her, and Shawna tried to run away. Before she could put any distance between herself and the boy, Jack grabbed her shoulders and pulled her deeper into the water.

“No Jack, stop!” Shawna pleaded. “Stop!”

But Jack was relentless. Once he got her into waist-deep water he put his hands on her head. “I’m sorry Shawna, but you asked for it,” he laughed, his smile lighting up his face.

Not giving the girl any time to respond, Jack pushed her head under the water. Shawna came up sputtering yet laughing. “Jack, you’re cruel.”

“Yeah Jack, you’re cruel,” someone echoed sarcastically from the shore. The couple looked up in surprise, and Shawna gasped.

“No,” she muttered, “not now.” To their dismay, Jonathon had found them.

“Well, well, well, what are you doing here, Shawna? I thought you ran away for good,” he said with an evil tone clinging to his voice.

“What do ya want?” Shawna angrily replied.

“We just want to know why you deserted us.”

Shawna was just about to blurt out her honest answer, but restrained from the temptation. Nate didn’t know that she knew about her past, and she wasn’t about to lose the upper hand of surprise.

Jack and Shawna came dripping out of the water and stood in front of Jonathon. Jack felt unnervingly uncomfortable about Jonathon’s presence. He wondered if the boy knew about what his father had done. From the way he was acting, Jack supposed he did.

“Why can’t you just leave the girl alone?” Jack suggested.

“Why can’t you stay out of this conversation?” Jon replied.

“’Cause I’m part of it.”

“We never invited you.”

Jack was beginning to lose his temper. Anger surged through him as he glared at Jon. “Get outta here, now,” he demanded.

Jon stepped closer until he was nose to nose with Jack. “Make me.”

That was the last straw. Jack drew his arm back and swung at Jon’s face. He hit him square on the nose. Jon hit Jack in the stomach, causing him to stumble backwards. Before Jack could recover, Jon dove at him. The two teenage boys then wrestled on the ground, throwing punches whenever the chance arose.

Soon, they tumbled into the water, and had to stand up. Jack’s blonde hair was wet and in his eyes, and when he was pushing it out of the way, Jon dove at him again. Taken completely by surprise, Jack fell backwards. Jon then grabbed him around the neck, attempting to shove him under.

Shawna knew Jack was strong, but he was having an unlucky fight. Deciding to help a bit, she started for the water, but someone’s hand stopped her.

A gruff voice behind her said, “Let him fight alone, girl.”

Shawna looked into the dirty face of another guy. He was tall and built. He had multiple scars on his face and arms, and from the looks of it, a skilled fighter.

Jon still had Jack under his control, and Jack was finding it increasingly difficult to breathe. It was then he realized Jon wasn’t just fighting, he was fighting to kill. Jack felt his head shoved under the water and held there. Jack had grown up in the rough part of town and had had plenty of experience in fighting, so he knew what to do. Under the water, he wriggled free of Jon’s grip, and he pulled towards the surface. While he was still under the water, he swam farther away from Jon, so he would have a chance to clear his eyes before another attack. It worked better than Jack had anticipated. He had tried and succeeded in swimming behind Jon. Jon didn’t know where Jack had gone, so he was taken fully by surprise when Jack hit him from behind.

From the shore, Shawna silently cheered Jack on. Jack spun Jon around and clenched his fist. His knuckles hit Jon’s face enough times to knock the boy unconscious. When Jon was unable to fight, Jack dragged him out of the water. He didn’t want to kill, only fight.

With the fight being over, Jack looked up at Shawna. He sucked in his breath. She wasn’t alone. Danny Riggs was holding her by the arm. Danny was the leader of a gang called “The Hell Raisers”. He was rough and tough and was known as the best street fighter ever. He could beat-up any guy for he was exceptionally strong. His size and build were also on a large scale. Ever since childhood, Jack and Danny had been arch enemies, and everyone in town knew that their differences would one day have to be settled.

“Where the rest of your boys, Danny?” Jack asked. If there was going to be a fight, Jack wanted to know where the rest of the gang was. These boys never fought fair, and Jack knew that very well indeed.

“Lunch break,” Danny smiled. “I happened to see yer scuffle with what’s his name and thought I might come ‘n watch.”

“Well, the show’s over,” Jack said uneasily.

Shawna could sense Jack’s fear. Anybody would be afraid of this Danny kid who was still holding onto her arm. It was very tense between the two, and Shawna wanted to get away from Danny. “You can let go o’ my arm now,” she suggested.

Danny looked annoyed down at her. “Shut-up would ya. This is between me ‘n him. You’ll get yer turn.”

“Let me go,” Shawna said as she tried to pull free.

“No!” Danny slapped her across the face.

Jack wasn’t about to let Danny take advantage of a younger girl like that. He leaped at Danny, but Danny was ready. From the beginning Danny had the obvious upper hand, and it didn’t take long until poor Jack had a bloody nose and multiple bruises. Shawna tried to help, but was quickly shoved out of the way by Jack.

Jack was tired. The fight was unfair but it had to be fought. Suddenly, Danny reached into his hip pocket and pulled out a knife. Jack’s eyes grew wide.

“Danny, that ain’t fair.”

“Who said we was fightin’ fair?”

Before he had a chance to respond, Danny slashed his arm. Jack cried out as blood gushed from the cut. This only made him madder. He swung his leg and hit Danny’s arm. The knife went soaring through the air and landed several feet away. Danny leaped, Jack ducked. He hit the ground, giving Jack an open opportunity. He jumped onto Danny’s chest, and grabbed his neck. He wasn’t going to strangle him, just secure him.

“Don’t you ever get close to Shawna again, you hear me? If you do, I’ll finish you off for real,” Jack threatened. He pulled his fist back and hit Danny’s face.

Finally, he let the other boy up. The humiliated Danny stood up and looked at Jack. This was the first time he had ever been on the losing end of a fight. His pride was crushed, and his reputation ruined. Jack had won.

Although Danny didn’t play fair, he knew when to quit, so he disappeared and let Jack and Shawna alone. Jon had also disappeared by then. None of them had seen him go, but at least he was gone.

Jack fell to the ground, exhausted. His nose and arm were still bleeding, as well as other small cuts.

“Jack, you should get that cut on yer arm wrapped,” Shawna said worriedly.

He sat up and looked at it. It was worse than he had thought, and he was feeling light-headed. “Is there a cut on my head,” he asked Shawna.

She knelt next to him gently pulled the wet hair away from his forehead. There was a large bruise, but no blood. She then managed to convince Jack to go home and get his “battle wounds” taken care of. On the way, he insisted that he needed to save his dignity and walk alone. Jack showed Shawna where his house was, and together they entered in.

Jack’s home looked about the same as the others around there. It had fallen into disrepair during the depression. The door was sagging on its hinges, and the paint was chipping off. For the most part, though, it was a pretty good shape. It reminded Shawna very much of her old home.

When Jack’s mother saw him she hurried over to his side. “Jack, now what did ya do?” she asked. She didn’t seem to be overly worried, and Shawna supposed that was because Jack had gotten into fights before.

“I got into some scuffles,” he said bluntly.

“So I see. I suppose-ooh, is that from a knife?” she asked when she noticed Jack’s arm.

“Yeah, from Danny Riggs.”

“Humph, what’s new,” his mother said with unhidden disgust. She then bandaged up his arm, and while doing so, she studied Shawna with interest. Only after she had cleaned the worst of her son’s cuts did she ask about her.

“Her name’s Shawna,” Jack said. “She needs some help.”

“Oh.” She looked at Shawna, asking with her eyes for her to explain.

“To keep it short and simple, Nate Crawford killed my mom and dad a long time ago, and now he’s tryin’ to kill me. I was wonderin’ if y’all could help me.”

“Nate Crawford? You got yerself mixed up with ‘im? No, no, we can’t help ya, ya gotta help yerself. Nate, is yer problem, we don’t wanna get mixed up with ‘im.

“But mom-”

“No, anybody but Nate. Look Jack, we gotta protect ourselves. We already gotta ‘nough problems without hers. She can take care o’ herself.”

Chapter 8

A Close Call

JACK’S mother Michaela allowed Shawna to stay for the night. Try as Jack might, he couldn’t convince his mother to help Shawna. Every person living in the poor section of town had an instilled fear of Nate Crawford. Most of them worked with or around Nate, and they knew that if they didn’t give him what he wanted, their lives would be at stake. Michaela didn’t want to risk her family’s well-being, so she refused to help Shawna since she was going against Mr. Crawford.

Jack showed Shawna to the spare room after supper. It was a small, simple room. There wasn’t any extra furniture, just a bed and small bureau. The walls were painted with one color, tan.

“Shawna,” Jack said as they entered the room, “I’m sorry ‘bout my mom, but I’m gonna help ya anyway. I don’t really care what she says.”

Shawna looked gratefully into Jack’s eyes. “Jack, I’m thankful for what yer doin’, I couldn’t do this by myself.”

“Don’t think of it, ‘cause it’s ‘bout time Nate paid up for his debts.” Jack began walking towards the door. “Night,” he whispered quietly.

“Night.” After Jack left, Shawna laid down on the bed. The night was warm, so she didn’t need any blankets. Shawna reached around to feel the back of her neck. Her cuts from earlier that day were already feeling better. They hadn’t been bothering her all that day, but she had been too preoccupied to worry about them.

As she tried to fall asleep, Shawna found herself thinking about Jack. He was such a nice guy. She hadn’t expected him to protect her, and disobey his mother to help her. I wonder what his dad’ll have to say ‘bout all o’ this. Wonder where his dad is? The thought came to her mind about how lucky she was to have a guy like Jack on her side. It was true that she couldn’t do this alone, she needed Jack’s help.

Soon, the chorus of frogs, along with the warm breeze that blew through her window, lulled Shawna to sleep. Sleep was for once what she wanted it to be. It was dream free and undisturbed.

The sound of someone knocking softly on her door woke Shawna early the next morning. Her first glance was directed out the window. The sun had not yet begun to rise, and she wondered why she was being woken up at such an untimely hour of the morning. Trying to fully wake herself up, Shawna stumbled sleepily over to the door. When she opened the door, she discovered that Jack was the culprit.

“Why so early,” Shawna asked him.

“Shh,” he signaled her to be quiet, “we need to be absolutely silent. I don’t want my mom to know that we’re leaving.”

Shawna nodded her head understandingly. The two of them tiptoed warily down the stairs and out the back door. They simultaneously relaxed when they had gotten outside.

“That was tense,” he said.

Shawna laughed, “Let’s make that the tensest moment of our day.”

“Yeah, we don’t want too much excitement today, do we?”

“Nope, I don’t think so.”

“Jack?” Shawna asked as the walked down the dusky street.

“Hmm?”

“If ya don’t mind me askin’, where’s yer dad?”

Jack seemed slightly reluctant to talk, but eventually did. “I don’t rightly know. Last I heard he was in California.”

“California?” Shawna questioned, “Why?”

“He needed a job, and nobody ‘round here would hire ‘im. We was broke, so he up an’ left to find a job.” Jack continued, “That was ‘bout, say, ten years ago. At first he sent money back regularly, but it didn’t take long for that to stop. We haven’t heard from him for over nine years.”

“Why don’t he send ya a letter or somethin’?”

Jack stared silently as his feet, and Shawna thought she saw him blink back a tear. She felt awful for asking him about his family life. She should’ve known better. She apologized to the boy.

“That’s fine.” Jack said, still avoiding her eyes

Then a light drizzle started, and soon the rain came pouring down. Jack and Shawna had already crossed over the bridge into the rich part of town, so they dove under cover. The shelter they found was the veranda in front of the Bakery.

Most of the stores hadn’t opened yet, so the pair had some time to spend waiting. It wasn’t long, though, until the police station opened. In this particular town, there was a sheriff and his one deputy. That was it, the whole police force. In the mornings, Sheriff Henry Blake liked to sleep in, so the only person working was Deputy James Barlow. His shift usually began at around 6:00, so Jack and Shawna didn’t have to wait too long. When the uniformed man came walking up the street, Shawna stepped out to talk to him.

“Excuse me,” she said.

“Can I help you?” the deputy said.

“Uh, yes, ya can. I was wondering if-”

“Can we continue this inside the courthouse?” Deputy Barlow interrupted.

“Yeah, it would be nice to get out of this rain,” Shawna agreed. She looked towards Jack and motioned for him to follow. The threesome entered into the courthouse. After going inside, Barlow sat down at his desk and looked up at Shawna.

“I’m pretty sure ya know of Nathaniel Crawford,” she began.

“Why yes I do. He’s a very prominent citizen of Haynesville.”

“’Bout that. Um, ya see, many years back-”

“How many years?” Barlow didn’t seem to be very interested in what Shawna was saying, he was only trying to get the correct, specific information that he liked.

“Um,” Shawna thought, “somewhere ‘round 15 years ago. Anyway, he murdered my parents and-”

An explosion of laughter came steaming out of Deputy Barlow’s mouth. Between his outbursts of laughter he managed to ask, “You expect me to believe that load of crap?! Ha! And why are you only telling me about this now? Who are you anyway?”

“Look!” Shawna was getting desperate, “You have to believe me! It’s true! And he’s tryin’ to kill me, too!” The deputy didn’t hear a word Shawna was saying, as he was too busy trying not to fall off his chair from laughter.

Tears of frustration clouded their way into Shawna’s eyes. She continued trying to talk to the deputy, but he didn’t believe one single word that she said. After numerous attempts to get him to listen, Shawna turned and looked hopelessly at Jack, who stood behind her. Jack had tried to help her convince the obnoxious deputy, but had failed as well.

“Look,” Deputy Barlow said, “I have work to do, so can you peoples skedaddle.” Then the man seemed to really notice Jack for the first time. “Hey you, ain’t you Crazy Red’s kid?”

Jack looked away and mumbled, “Yeah.”

“Well then you kids better get outta here. I don’t want you thieving punks in my office!”

Shawna began to yell out a rebuke, but before she could say anything, Jack grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of the courthouse.

“What was that ‘bout?!” she asked once back outside.

“I didn’t want ya to embarrass yourself,” Jack said.

“Embarrass myself! Jack what are ya talkin’ ‘bout? We ain’t no thieves!”

“Just shut-up, okay!” Jack snapped. “Just let it go.” He began walking down sidewalk. Shawna watched him go, wondering what his problem was. She figured that “Crazy Red” was Jack’s father, the man whom he didn’t want to talk about.

The rain wasn’t coming down as heavy was it had been a few minutes before. In the eastern side of the sky, the clouds were breaking up and some weak sun rays were breaking through.

Shawna shivered as the cold raindrops slid down her back. She wondered where Nate was. She certainly hoped that he was nowhere near. Her eyes darted back and forth, when she realized what danger she was in. It was later now, and the town was waking up. Stores and shops were opening, and a few early risers were bustling around the streets. Knowing Nate’s schedule, Shawna remembered that he would be going to work about now.

Jack was far ahead of her by now, so she began running to catch up with him. The rain puddles splashed up on her legs as she ran, making the bottom of her dress wet. She had barely started, when she collided with a man walking the opposite direction.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Shawna gasped as she tried to continue on her way. She kept her eyes on Jack, trying not to lose sight of him.

“You should really learn to watch where you’re going,” the man paused, “Shawna.”

Shawna swallowed nervously; she slowly raised her eyes and looked directly into Nate’s grinning face. His grin wasn’t pleasant either. It held a superior sense of pride.

Fearfully, Shawna attempted to run away, but she was too late. Nate grabbed her arm, and began dragging her into an alleyway.

“Jack!” Shawna shrieked. “Ja-”, a hand slapped across her mouth and discontinued her cry for help. Shawna frantically struggled to free herself from Nate’s grasp. Although she was only inches shorter than him, Nate was much stronger, so Shawna had no chance.

Nate forced the girl back a dark alley, between two buildings. Shawna looked hopefully over her shoulder towards the street. Nobody had even seen! She prayed that Jack had heard her yell, for he was her only chance. Shawna could barely breathe, or see for that matter. The alley was so shadowy that she could hardly distinguish herself from the surrounding murky dimness. Nate, along with his captive, hid behind a row of garbage cans in a corner.

He whispered to the frightened girl, “Don’t make a sound. You hear me Shawna? If you do, your boyfriend won’t make it out of here alive.” Through the dark, Shawna could see Nate’s glinting eyes, and she indicated that she had heard by nodding her head. She could hear her own heart beating in her head and wondered if her captor could hear it as well.

Shawna tried desperately to see through the darkness. To her fear and relief, she saw Jack’s silhouette appear from the street. He didn’t say anything as he cautiously made his way back.

Before her knowledge was conscious of the element of danger, Shawna watched the advancing Jack, wishing that he would find her. Unfortunately for Shawna, luckily for Nate, the man had a pistol concealed in his jacket.

To the untrained eye, the gun was insignificant, but to Nate it was one of the most important parts. Not the fact that he had a gun, it was the gun itself. Fifteen and a half years ago to the date, Nate had held this same gun and was preparing to end another’s life. Now, he was just finishing his out plan. Nate wasn’t sloppy. Everything he did had to be perfect, including this. He was extremely organized and sophisticated in his tactics. Though he had not practiced his strategy for many years, he still knew what to do. His motto: Once a murderer, always a murderer.

Shawna saw Nate pull out his deadly weapon. From past experiences, Shawna figured that this man was not afraid to use it. Now, her thoughts consisted of, Go away, Jack. Save yourself, go away. Her silent urges weren’t known to Jack. He kept on coming closer and closer. Closer to what someone wished to be his death. The innocent young boy knew nothing about what was going on behind a trash can. He didn’t know what thoughts of evil and of good were jumbled together there. He only knew one thing; he had to save the girl.

Nate waited until Jack was within a range of ten feet, until he made an escape attempt. His eyes were glued on Jack, as he reaching into his pocket and pulled out a coin. Being silent as well as invisible, he threw the coin across the alley. It landed behind Jack, and he turned to look in the direction of the sound.

When Nate had Jack looking the other way, he picked Shawna completely off the ground and began a getaway. Shawna was now getting almost hopeless. Knowing that this could be her last shot for freedom, she kicked out her leg as Nate carried her away. As a result of luck and good aim, her foot hit the top of the garbage can. The metal lid clattered off.

Jack whirled around and faced this new noise. He glimpsed the fading shadows of Nate and Shawna. He ran after them, wondering where Nate was taking Shawna. There didn’t seem to be anywhere to go, but Nate seemed very confident.

Shawna eyes glanced over Nate’s shoulder. With the man sprinting through a darkened passage, it was difficult to observe anything behind her. She managed, for a fleeting moment, to see Jack’s black form following her. She knew that help was on the way. If only it wouldn’t be stopped in mid-mission. If only…

Nate knew where he was going, he had it all planned. It was very rare that one of Nate’s schemes failed, and he hoped this one would be no different. He ran to the side of the abandoned building to his left. The door was unlocked, as it had been earlier that morning. Nate jumped inside and slammed the door shut. Being as fast as he possibly could, the man locked the door. He knew that the door wouldn’t hold for long if the boy tried to open it, but it would give him some time.

With the Jack put on a slight delay, Nate sprinted up a rap which led to the next level of the warehouse. Instead of steps, this old warehouse had wide ramps that the people used. There was a lot of old machinery still inside the building, as well as other useless things the workers had left behind.

Jack had meanwhile reached the door. When he discovered that Nate had locked it after his entrance, Jack took several steps back and ran. His body slammed heavily into the door, but the door didn’t budge. He tried again and again, but to no avail. It was then that he spied a long metal pole resting on the ground by his feet. Jack picked it up. It was rather heavy, but it might work. The rod did indeed break through the door and better that Jack had predicted. The door broke open and Jack went stumbling in.

His eyes searched his surroundings. The dimly lit building didn't provide Jack with a clear picture. As he walked farther into the building, his footsteps echoed loudly off the walls. The kidnapper was nowhere in sight. Jack knew he could be anywhere, hiding in the darkened shadows, waiting for the perfect opportunity to disappear permanently.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang through the deserted warehouse as a bullet whizzed by Jack’s head, only inches away from killing him. The bullet ricocheted off a large piece of machinery, narrowly missing him the second time. Jack’s eyes darted around the deceivingly empty room. To his surprise, the bullet seemed to have come from above. There was a ramp in the center of the room, and Jack supposed Nate had taken Shawna up to the next story. His suspicions were confirmed when another gunshot rang out through the large building. This time, Jack saw Nate, but only for an ephemeral moment.

The closest pile equipment was promptly turned into a safe haven of protection for Jack. Plans of what to do raced to and fro through his mind. Something had to be done quickly, or else Nate would make a clean escape with his doomed captive. Jack knew running up the ramp would be certain suicide, but if nothing was done soon, the chance would be lost. The gun was Jack’s only worry. If only he could find a way to get the gun out of the problem. Jack knew his opponents approximate location. It would be quite the risk, but a risk had to be taken in this situation. Figuring that the man only had one round of ammunition, Jack ran out from his cover.

Nate saw Jack dart out from behind his protection. His trigger finger automatically pulled back and the gun went off again. The deadly cartridge glanced off a solid sheet of metal, which Jack had run behind. Nate’s palms were getting sweaty, as was his forehead. Only three shots left. Again the boy ran from one cover to the next, and again Nate missed his running target. He cussed under his breath. The boy was working his way closer to the ramp while he was wasting his ammunition on what he hoped to be a good shot. He cast his gaze upon Shawna, who lay bound and gagged at his feet. Although his aim was out of practice, his speed was as good as ever. It had taken him only moments to secure the girl. This is too easy, Nate thought. He considered taking the girl’s life right then, but he wanted to make Jack work a little harder in an unavailing attempt to save her. He thought of Jack as an irrelevant adversary, so he decided to play “Cops and Robbers” for a bit. Of course in his mind, the latter people always had victory dangling from their fingertips.

As a fourth gunfire echoed around the room, Shawna was almost positive that Jack had been hit. She clung to the last bit of hope she had. Maybe, just maybe, her friend had been lucky enough to avoid the lethal bullets, which were intended to end his very existence.

This was repeated until gasp of surprise mixed with a tint of anger came from Nate. No longer did his gun have any means in which to kill, there was no longer any way for Nate to harm Jack unless they got closer to each other. This is what Jack had been wanting. The odds were even, maybe even slightly leaning towards himself. An advantage that Jack had for himself was the fact that he knew the layout of the building more that his antagonist. One detail that not many people knew, except for him, was that he had been there several times prior to this. His father had taken him along and they had often hidden from the feds, who were most times trailing his father. The thought of his dad made Jack hesitate, but the conflicting thought of Shawna counteracted his hesitation.

Jack bounded up the ramp, but by then Nate had picked up Shawna and began running up to the next level using a staircase that ran all the way to the top. The staircase was open providing an unobstructed view of the levels underneath. He carried her on his shoulder with what seemed to take no effort; her extra weight didn’t slow him down at all. When the man reached the third story, he looked down upon the approaching Jack. The blonde-haired boy was still on the story below and Nate indeed did take a full advantage of it. A rusted sledgehammer lay on the ground near Nate’s feet. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins, and the sweat came pouring off his body. He snatched up his new weapon and hurled it at Jack. It nearly clipped Jack’s head, but he ducked as it flew towards his face.

Just in case it would be needed, the boy seized the sledgehammer once it hit the floor. Little did he know it was a good thing he did, because the tool would prove to be a helpful touch to what was to come.

Nate’s luck had run out. The stairs to the next story were barricaded by rows of nailed on boards. A sense of helplessness flooded over Nate, but his captive was relieved beyond her knowledge. As she was laid on the cold concrete floor, Shawna looked back to see where Jack was.

Shawna’s rescuer then came pounding up the stairs. The boy and the man stood face to face for the first time. They looked each other up and down, trying to find a path to victory. Shawna saw that Jack had the sledgehammer and so did Nate.

When Jack raised it warningly, Nate said, “You wouldn’t really do that would you Jack? Would you really try to kill me?” His voice was filled with a sarcastic worry. He seemed to be making fun of Jack, saying that he wasn’t man enough.

Jack’s voice was steady and convincing as he spoke, “Do you really wanna find our Mr. Crawford?”

Nate was sly, and never showed nervousness and never gave into fear. True to his being, he rushed Jack, and easily dodged the swing that was made. Nate then ran back down the stairs, but with no pursuers. Jack did not follow the man, although he did watch him. And until he was sure that Nate was gone, did he turn to Shawna.

His first instinct was the obvious: untie her from her bonds. Once she was free, Shawna threw her arms around Jack.

“Thank you Jack!” she cried. “Oh Jack, thank you! You saved me!” As the pent-up tears of fear began running down her cheeks, Shawna almost said ‘I love you’, but couldn’t bring herself to do so. Although her feelings for the blue-eyed boy were positive, she did love him. Instead, she kept her arms around his neck and continued to cry. She wasn’t sobbing, just so relieved that the stress she had experienced rolled away in a few tears.

“Jack, I was so scared. If it wasn’t for you Jack,” she paused and pulled away from him, “I wouldn’t be here.”

Their eyes searched one another’s as Jack said, “Shawna, I was scared, too, but you’re a risk worth taking.”

Chapter 9

A Childhood Remnant

AFTER their intense encounter with Nate, Jack and Shawna were constantly looking out for danger. The pair stuck close together, as they felt safer with a companion by their side. The rain that had been coming down that morning had stopped, and the day began to warm up.

As they walked away from the now bustling streets Shawna asked, “Jack, what are we gonna do?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, your mamma said that she ain’t gonna help me, so where am I gonna stay?”

“I’ve been thinkin’ ‘bout that,” Jack said, “I know of a half decent place where you could stay. It won’t be like stayin’ with the Crawfords, but it’s livable.”

“Makes it all the better,” Shawna muttered.

Jack smiled, “I guess it would.”

Shawna followed after Jack as she asked, “Where exactly is this place?”

“Well,” Jack turned back to her, “that’s the secret.”

She raised an eyebrow as she studied Jack. A secret place, that sounded nice. What other secrets does this kid have? I mean, good mercy, there’s so much he won’t tell me. Oh well, guess that’s life.

Wonder filled Shawna’s mind as Jack turned away from the way he head been headed. Now, he was walking out of town, not towards the river. She followed her guide without question, though. He knew more that her, hence the reason, he was leading her. It didn’t take long until the pair had reached the edge of Haynesville. The town wasn’t a very large one, although the people living there believed it to be.

Shawna saw that once out of town, the terrain looked very similar to what she was accustomed to. There were hilly meadows surrounded by trees and thick grasses, as well as forests with lush greed grass and trees with twisted vines. It was quite a hike to reach the place Jack had in mind. He wanted a secluded, secretive place. This place was very secluded indeed, deep in a forest, down in a yawning gorge.

Shawna adored this place, it was absolutely lovely. As the evening fell, weak rays of sunlight shone through the trees. She tried to memorize the beauty of it all, which was next to impossible. Just when she thought she had all there was, Jack showed to her his secret hideout.

As he turned to walk down a steep hill, Shawna saw that where they had been walking was on the edge of cliff. Some small tufts of grasses hung out over the edge of a rock wall. On diminutive ledges, moss clung on and managed to grow. There was a brook flowing from out of the bottom of the rock wall. As she studied the scene, she saw that there was a cave where the brook ran out of. Her eyes also picked out that after roughly 100 feet, the creek ran into a smaller cave in another rock wall. Jack led Shawna down into the gorge to where the creek was. Down there, they were sheltered from any wind that might blow, for on each side a steep hill rose up. To keep from falling, Jack and Shawn leaned upon trees as they ventured down into the ravine.

Jack looked at the cave from where he and Shawna were standing. As he turned to face her he asked, “What do ya think?”

“The cave?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’ve been here lots of times before. From the outside it looks kinda murky and icky, but farther in, it’s real nice.”

“Nice?”

A smile spread across his face, and his eyes sparkled mysteriously. He motioned for her to follow as he began walking towards the entrance to the cave. Shawna shook her head as she trailed after the boy. She stuck to her conclusion that Jack was different, but now she liked all the surprises and secrets he held. Her only wish was that she could understand them more. He was so unpredictable but always seemed to be reliable, but then again, what did she know?

There was a flat, narrow trail that led beside the creek into the cave. It looked to have been well traveled at one point in time. To avoid having to step in the water, Jack walked upon this pathway and entered the cavern. Just as he had said, the interior of the grotto was damp, cold, and musty, definitely not meeting even Shawna’s standards of livability. No complaint came from her, though, for she trusted Jack. After knowing him only days, she had discovered a hidden, guarded side to him. It was because of this secretive part of him that she had put such trust into his directions.

Shawna glanced around the inside of the cave as her eyes adjusted to the dimness. Nice, she wondered. I don’t see what Jack was sayin’ ‘bout this bein’ nice. Still, she kept quiet. Jack had had not yet stopped. He was walking alongside the trickling brook as it flowed deeper into the rock. His footsteps stopped, and he looked over is shoulder at Shawna.

“You gotta promise that you will never tell anyone about this. This is top-secret, understand?” His voice was stern and serious, so Shawna solemnly nodded her head. The blonde-haired boy knelt down and began groping along the rock until he found what he was looking for. Then, he started pulling and shifting a piece of rock, which looked to be another solid part of the wall. He clenched his teeth as he pulled and twisted.

Shawna asked him if he need help, but he grunted back a negative answer and continued pulling out a rock. Soon, it piece of rock slid out easily, for it got smaller. When Jack had pulled the rock out of its place, Shawna peered curiously into the gap where it had stood. There was a tunnel leading even further into the rock. The tunnel was extremely narrow, and to pass through, a person would have to crawl of their stomach. It seemed to be long and dark. There was no light as the end of the tunnel from Shawna’s vantage point.

“You wanna go first or should I?” Jack asked her.

She laughed nervously, “You can have the honors.”

He shrugged his shoulders and ventured head first into the burrow. After his feet had disappeared, Shawna got down and followed after him once again. After she had began pulling herself in, Jack said back to her, “After you get inside, grab that piece of rope of the back of the rock, and pull the rock back into place. This was weird, very weird. Shawna wondered how Jack knew about this tunnel, and if he had been the one to put the rope on the rock so it could be pulled back into the wall where in wouldn’t be seen.

She struggled to turn her body around enough so she could reach back outside. Jack had left the rock directly outside the opening so Shawna thought it shouldn’t be too hard to reach. Before this experience, Shawna had thought of herself as flexible, but this proved her wrong. The tunnel was too small for her to completely turn around, but she tried as best she could. After groping around for a few moments, she found the rope that Jack had talked about and attempted to pull the rock. This also proved to be out of her capability. The rock wouldn’t budge.

“Ugh, Jack,” Shawna said, “I can’t move this rock, it’s too heavy.”

“You can’t move it at all?” he replied.

“No.”

The boy thought for a moment then said, “Lay flat on the ground, I’ll come back and get it for you.”

“Can you fit over me and turn yourself around?” was Shawna’s surprised reaction.

“Actually, back out, and you go first.”

Shawna followed his direction, and was soon back inside the tunnel with him behind her. Of course, Jack had absolutely no trouble pulling the rock back into place. Shawna launched into crawling blindly through the dark tunnel. She couldn’t see her hand even if she held it right in front of her eyes. The only thing that kept her going was the constant encouragement from Jack. Every time she would complain about not being able to see or that she hit her head, he would tell her that she’s getting closer to the end.

“How much father,” she asked after what seemed like hours, but in reality had only been a few minutes.

“We’re almost there,” Jack replied. “Trust me, after doing this a couple times, the tunnel doesn’t seem near as long, and its lots easier to crawl through.”

Shawna grunted, unconvinced. As the sweat began running down her face, she felt a cool breath of wind. Good, almost there. Sure enough, the tunnel soon began to get bigger.

Suddenly, the narrow tunnel opened up into a large room. They were still in the cave, as the walls and ceiling were rock.

“Oh, Jack,” Shawna said, appalled. The room was of decent size, and also well furnished. It could serve as a home for one or two people. Several pieces of used furniture stood around the room as well as a fireplace. The chimney ran up the wall and out of sight through the roof. A thin shaft of light shone down on them from above.

“Do you like it?” Jack asked as Shawna gazed wonderingly around the hidden room.

“Do I like it? Jack this is awesome! How did you ever find this place?!”

“I didn’t find it, my dad did. Me ‘n him used hide out here after a whiskey run.”

Shawna turned and looked at Jack, surprise written on her face. “Your dad was a moonshiner?”

“Well, not really. He was in a business with his brothers, and he was the bootlegger. They made the moonshine, and he ran it.” Jack paused. “I guess you probably wanna know the rest of the story behind my dad, huh?”

“I was kinda wonderin’ about it.”

“My dad and his brothers had a bunch of stills up in the woods. They made the best darn moonshine in the whole county. Everybody wanted a jug of it just about every week. They had their regular buyers, and my dad made runs ‘bout every other night to deliver to the people. There was a ton o’ revenuers ‘round here at that time, and every one of ‘em was after my dad. He was the most famous bootlegger in Kentucky.” Jack smiled as memories of his dad flooded through his mind. “But one night outta the week, usually Wednesday, my dad made a run to most of the local police and revenuers. It was that night that they revenuers wouldn’t go out chasin’ the runners, ‘cause they knew my dad was delivering’ to them that night. They broke their own law to have some of his famous moonshine.”

“But my dad did have a bad reputation,” Jack continued as the happy light faded from his eyes. “Most everybody was ‘fraid of him. If his buyers didn’t pay when he came to them that night, he beat ‘em up, leave ‘em half dead, and rob ‘em clean outta money. He was so mean,” he paused, “and crazy, too. He never got caught, not once. He risked his very life to stay out of the hands of them revenuers. This went on for many, many years. I rode with my dad lots of times. It was a real thrill for me to have them ol’ revenuers chasin’ after us those dark nights while we hauled illegal whiskey. Oh, it was fun. Then, those sneaky cops put an end to all that. One day they found one of the stills, and busted the other guys in the business. My dad got away. He couldn’t continue the business on his own, so he started looking for a job. No one would hire him, since he was known as a thief and a dangerous man. Soon after that, he left home to look for a job, and we haven’t seen him since.”

“Oh,” Shawna said quietly. Jack had had a rough childhood when it came to his father. His childhood had also been unfair. His father’s bad reputation was unjustly passed down to Jack. Nobody seemed to trust the whole family just because of that one man’s status in society. Jack was considered by many a thief and a hazard to humanity. But that wasn’t the slightest bit true. Jack had a personality all his own. He was trustworthy and considerate. Oh, he was daring as his father had been, but in a different way. That boy would risk his own precious existence to save the life of a person he loved.

Buried deep within her heart, nameless even unto the proprietor, Shawna had warm feelings for this young man. Feelings of love that she neither knew nor understood, for she had never felt this way before. She had never once in her life experienced true expectance from anyone the way she did with Jack. Although she scarcely recognized these emotions that swirled within her heart, they were there, little by little working their way unnoticed into her mind.

Shawna had one more question. “Why was your dad called “Crazy Red”?”

Jack smiled, “His runnin’ car was bright red. With him bein’ such a crazy driver, folks started callin’ him Crazy Red. After all these years, the name still stuck.”

For the next several minutes Shawna and Jack settled themselves in to their temporary home. This unique place was equipped with a crude bathroom. An underground stream ran through the back corner, and Jack’s father had built a wall around it.

After seeing that particular section of the cave, the only thought that kept Shawna interested was, It’s better than nothing. There was one part Shawna didn’t think of until later that troubled her to an elevated extent. This hide-out had previously only been used to house two men, not a man and a woman. Although the cots were on opposite sides of the cave, just the thought made her feel strange, as if she were doing something wrong.

It was later that evening when Shawna began to feel the gnawing pangs of hunger. “Jack,” she felt guilty for begging, but she was hungry, “you wouldn’t happen to have any food here would ya?”

“Shit!” Jack said disgustedly. He put his hands over his face and repeated under his breath.

“You don’t have any at all?”

“No,” Jack muttered angrily, half to himself, half to the girl.

Shawna spied cupboards nailed to the wall on the other side of the room. Just to be sure of their predicament, she walked over to them. She was pleased with her findings, and announced them to Jack.

“We have food Jack, right in here.”

“What?” He came over and looked for himself. “That shouldn’t be here. I thought my dad cleaned this place out before he left.”

“Well, he mustn’t have, ‘cause there’s still cans of food in here.”

As Jack studied the cans of soup and other contents in the cupboards, he noted that they weren’t old. In fact, he had seen many of these products in the store earlier that week. Somebody had found this place, and was living in it. He had absolutely no inkling as to who this person might be, unless his father had returned home. But that wasn’t possible; his father was gone, never to return. To keep worry at a minimum, Jack kept his suspicions to himself. He didn’t want to trouble Shawna for she already had too many problems on her mind.

The pair ate their meal of soup, which they warmed up on the fire Jack started, in silence. Each was preoccupied, traveling on imaginary roads, as they tried to solve their many problems.

When they both had completed their meal, they lay down on their separate cots and attempted to fall asleep. Jack’s deep breathing told Shawna that he had fallen asleep quite quickly and she was soon to join him.

Hours into the night, and grinding sound awoke Shawna. It sounded like an animal clawing at a door. What she didn’t know was that what she was hearing was about as close to a wild animal as she would ever meet. Her ears strained to pick up on the hushed noises. She noted with inquisitiveness that the sounds were getting louder. It was then she began to get anxious.

She decided that it was in her best interest to awaken Jack as the scraping, clawing sounds seemed to be coming from the tunnel. She padded silently over to where Jack lay still sleeping. She gently shook his shoulder as she softly called his name. Groggily, he opened his eyes, and when he did, Shawna put her finger to her lips and motioned for him to be still. Both Jack and Shawna listened, and Jack soon picked up on why Shawna had woken him up in the middle of the night.

He stood up and Shawna remained behind him for protection. In their miniature procession, they set out to investigate the curious noise. They had gone no farther then a couple steps when a man stumbled through the tunnel opening.

Shawna gasped and the man looked around in utter astonishment. Because of the darkness, all the man could see were two dark looming shadows standing there in the cave.

Jack was the first to break the silence, “Who are you, and what do you want?”

“This is my place, I should be askin’ you that,” the man replied. His words were slurred and he sounded disoriented. Just from hearing him talk and watching him stand, Shawna could tell that this man was drunk to a very extreme extent.

Shawna wondered why Jack now remained silent. She put her hands on his shoulders to remind him of her presence. He was tense and from the sound of his breathing, astonished.

“D-dad?” Jack questioned weakly.

“I ain’t nobody’s dad. You get outta my place!” The man continued ranting and raving as his voice level rose. His drunkenness became more and more evident.

“Dad!” Jack shouted “It’s me! Jack, your son! Look!”

The man stopped yelling and looked in utter bewilderment and shock. “Jack? Jack, is that really you?”

“Yes dad, it’s me,” Jack said, relieved that he had discontinued his rampage.

“Who’s that with you?” his father questioned.

“This is my friend, Shawna.”

“A girl, Jack? A girl?” The man glared through the darkness at his son. “You damn idiot, Jack! You run away from home to live here with a girl! You all gone crazy since I left! Jack, you supposed to stay and protect yer ma, but you run away with a damn girl!”

Jack cowered at his father’s angry voice, and Shawna hid herself behind him. Suddenly, the man hurled something, which he had held in his hand, at Jack. The heavy unknown object crunched into his shoulder crushing also Shawna’s fingers. Shawna felt Jack cringe from the pain of the impact.

“What do you think yer doin’ Jack!” his father stormed. “Get outta here, go home where you belong. And as for you,” he turned towards Shawna, “get your ass outta here, too. And stay away from my boy!”

“No dad,” Jack whimpered, “let me explain…”

“NO! Your mama don’t want me back, so I don’t want nothin’ to do with you!”

Jack stared blankly at his furious father, “What do you mean mama don’t want you back?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know! She kicked me outta my own house, says she despises my very existence! Don’t act innocent, I hate you Jack,” he yelled, “I hate you all!”

Shawna felt Jack begin to shake fearfully as he cowered terrified in front of his father, who by then was towering over top of him. He shoved Jack backwards, all the while swearing and yelling at him. Jack quickly pushed Shawna out of harms way for he didn’t want his abusive father to be able to injure her.

Shawna watched petrified as Jack’s father pushed him back farther and farther until he had him up against a wall. Then he was bellowing in his face. The man went on ranting and raving as his son trembled before him. Shawna could barely watch. She was too frightened of what this evil man of wrath might impinge upon a defenseless boy, who happened to be his own son of which he held no ounce of love for.

The back of the man’s hand cuffed Jack across the face, and the boy cried out as his hand flew to cover his face. “Listen to me boy! Don’t you look away!” The man hit Jack repeatedly as his eyes began filling with tears of pain and pure rejection.

Shawna wanted to do something but fear held her body in an unbreakable cast. She watched in horror as the boy fell to his knees as his father’s feet, trembling uncontrollably.

“Stand up!” he roared. “When I talk to you listen!” His father dragged his son up off his knees and took a choking grasp around his neck. “I should just kill you, end your wretched life. It would be a relief to have you gone. Nobody loves you Jack, nobody. They all hate you Jack, despise you. No one ever loved you; you’re always just a nuisance, a bothersome problem that should be taken care of.” An ugly sneer crossed his father’s face as he tightened his grip around his son’s neck.

Tears began running down Jack’s cheeks, and all he saw was the wicked, unloving face of his drunken father as he spat out threats to kill him.

Shawna couldn’t take it any longer. She ran forth and jumped upon the man’s back. “Let him go!” she shrieked, “Let him go!” She wrapped her arms around his neck in an attempt to throttle him. It worked to a slight degree. The man released Jack, and reached up to grasp her arm. Shawna looked anxiously around for Jack, hoping he would lend her a hand, but he was out of sight. The man turned in circles trying to grab onto some part of Shawna’s body as she strangled him as he had his son. He had a firm grip on her arm, but that was all he could reach. Shawna knew she wouldn’t be able to keep on doing this for long, but all she could manage to do was hold on in fear of her life.

Suddenly, he stopped, and Shawna saw Jack standing by his side. In his hand he held a gun, which he had against his father’s head. “Let her go,” his voice was strangely hard and cold. It held no emotion as he threatened to pull the trigger. His glare was icily rigid as he stared forebodingly into his father’s blood-shot eyes. “Let her go now, or I swear I’ll kill you. I’ll prove it to you if you don’t believe me. I’ll prove it to you.”

The grip on her arm was loosened and she slid down to the rocky floor. Shawna watched as Jack whispered warningly to him. Shawna heard not one word that Jack spoke so quietly, yet threateningly, and that was the way Jack intended it. He started moving slowly away, keeping the man at gunpoint every step of the way.

Once at the tunnel, Jack motioned Shawna inside, and he then followed after her. The tunnel didn’t seem to be near as long as it had the first time, which was much to Shawna’s liking. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was that man hitting Jack. Why? Why did he have to be uncouth? Why couldn’t he just love his son, couldn’t he see that was all Jack wanted, to be loved?

As they reached the end, Shawna wondered how she was going to push the rock away, but the drunkard had left the tunnel entrance open. When she had pulled herself from the tunnel, Jack wriggled his way out after her. Instead of standing up to go, he remained sitting on the floor of the cave. He rested his elbows on his knees and hid his face.

Shawna wondered how Jack dealt with it all, an abusive father, an unfair judgment, and so on. Didn’t he ever wonder why? Why people couldn’t like him and accept him as he is? Did he ever wonder why his father treats him in such a horrid manner? Did he ever long to be loved by someone unconditionally and feel accepted by them?

As Shawna watched Jack, she saw that his hands were still quivering. If it was from his father’s behavior or something other than that, she didn’t know. Just longing to console him a little bit, Shawna sat down next to him, reassuring him of her company.

Jack lifted his head off his arms, and began to speak. He still hung his head in sorrow and refused to make eyes contact, but he wanted to talk. “I’m so sorry, Shawna.”

With eyes and a voice full of pity she answered, “Sorry, Jack? Sorry for what? You didn’t do anything.”

Jack closed his eyes and almost inaudibly began to speak, “My father’s always been this way. I never told anyone, though. I always kept it to myself.”

“Jack,” Shawna said soothingly, “what your father does isn’t your fault.”

“It’s not that, it’s just…”

“What?”

Jack’s voice started to falter as he said, “Why can’t he just love me Shawna? You realize how it feels to be rejected for everything you do? When nothing you do is right? When your whole life is a waste of time and effort? Do you know how that feels Shawna?” He looked in her eyes as if searching for compassion and understanding. What he saw were eyes full of pity and tears. For a moment he wondered if she loved him, wanted to be with him. Nobody had ever showed real love to Jack, and all he ever wanted was for someone to care for him and need him.

Now, there was no need for words of any kind. Their eyes told each other everything. As Shawna leaned her head against his shoulder, Jack whispered to her, “Thank you. Thank you for believing in me.”

Chapter 10

His Desperate Attempt

DARKNESS was the master of the earth and the stars owned the heavens as a pair of nearly invisible black shadows walked across the wooded land. The owls from their homes high in the treetops examined vigilantly the strange creatures below. Eyes peered unknowingly at them as they strolled innocuously past, some seen others went unnoticed. An almost inaudible murmur rose from these creatures as they continued harmlessly through the forest. They were considered hunters in the animal kingdom, but now they were docile. Their actions were free of aggression, for they only communicated within themselves. The furred and feathered animals knew nothing of what was being said between the passing creatures, but they understood each other perfectly well.

“Jack?”

“Hmm?”

“Where are we gonna stay now? I mean, we already got kicked outta one place tonight, not counting the courthouse earlier.” Shawna almost smiled at the prospect of their situation.

Jack strode without answering for a few moments before he asked, “Did you ever sleep outside?”

Shawna looked up at him, “Why? Are you thinkin’ ‘bout campin’ out?”

“I was think’ ‘bout it.”

“Sure, I’ve done it before, where exactly, though, do you plan to sleep?”

He stopped and looked around the grove of pine trees in which they were standing in. “This looks like a good enough place.” His gaze swept over to Shawna and rested upon her, “What do you think?”

In that moment, Shawna experienced a feeling that was rare to her, nervousness. Her cheeks flushed, and she stuttered as she attempted to answer, “Y-yes, its fine.” Never once had she felt uncomfortable talking to Jack, but when he looked at her the way he had… she got butterflies in her stomach. Shawna mentally scolded herself, C’mon Shawna, this is Jack, not your Prince Charming. Does he look like your knight in shining armor? Just concentrate on your present problem, and worry about everything else later. The one problem? Jack wasn’t a worry, he was more like a blessing. Many times in a day, Shawna would catch herself thinking about him and watching his every move.

After laying down on the ground, it wasn’t long before sleep engulfed both Jack and Shawna. They slept until the early rays of sunlight shone across their faces. As they woke themselves up they began discussing their situation with Nate and what they could do. Neither could come up with an immediate solution although they threw many possibilities around. Nothing would work, especially since the police sided with Nate and didn’t believe them. Of course, who could blame them? Two teenage kids accuse a much respected civilian of murder and have absolutely no evidence what so ever. What was anyone supposed to think? Shawna was extremely lucky to have just one person believe her story enough to devote his time to helping her.

“Ya know,” Jack said after considerable thought, “the only way anybody else is gonna believe us, is if we get Nate to confess.”

“How are we ever gonna do that? I agree, but… it seems almost impossible,” Shawna replied as she sat next to Jack on the ground.

Her companion sighed, “That’s where I’ve been getting’ stuck. How are we gonna get him to confess in the first place, and how are we gonna get people there at the right time to hear him?”

Shawna mulled over what Jack said then suggested, “Why don’t I meet Nate outside of the courthouse or somethin’ and start talkin’ to him. People will hear, and then they’ll have to believe my story.”

Jack gave her an exasperated look. “Shawna, if you come in contact with Nate, even in front of the courthouse, he’s gonna try to kill you. Don’t think he won’t. “Sides nobody’s gonna really listen there anyway. We need even better proof than having some townspeople as witnesses.”

Shawna lifted her gaze towards the sky, as if waiting for an answer. The wind blew the tops of the trees until the swayed back and forth and back and forth.

Jack rubbed her shoulder as he said, “Don’t worry, we’ll find a way. Don’t give up, Shawna. Not yet.”

She turned and looked Jack square in eye as she spoke, “Jack, why am I even doing this? I could just go back home and leave this whole mess behind me. With me gone, Nate’ll probably give up and forget about everything.” She knew she was being unreasonable, but those discouraging thoughts had been flying through her mind for the past while, and she was beginning to deem them.

“Shawna, you can’t just run from your problems. You know that never fixes them, it only makes them worse. Plus, I don’t want you to do.” Jack regretted those words the moment he spoke them.

Shawna looked at him and questioned him as to what he meant. He looked away, blushing, and mumbling quietly. But, the girl was persistent.

“Why, why don’t you want me to leave?”

Jack tried to make a quick decision as to whether he should tell her the truth or not. He hesitated as fear of rejection took over his mind and body. Rejection was all he had ever known. He hoped against hope that Shawna would accept him, but it was too soon for him to take that step. It felt to him as if he were about to step off a cliff, not knowing if there was a ledge to catch him below or not. The only thing that convinced Jack otherwise was the beautiful blue gray eyes staring understandingly and wonderingly into his eyes. For a moment, Jack thought he saw a hint of love reflected in her eyes, but he told himself that such a thing was not possible.

Taking the leap, he said, “Shawna, I don’t want you do leave because… because,” he paused. His heart throbbed against his ribs as he wondered what Shawna’s response would be. “Because I’d miss you if you would. I want you to stay here, with me. At least for a little while, I want to get to know you better. Shawna, you’re the only person in my life that likes me for me, and I need that. I need you.”

Amazement, mingled with disbelief, shone in Shawna’s face, and Jack started to apologize. But Shawna stopped him. “No Jack. You don’t need to be sorry. I- I don’t really wanna go either. If I would choose to leave, you’d be the only thing holding me back. I…” She almost said ‘I love you’, but told herself to wait. It was too soon, way too soon.

They leaned closer to each other, and Jack put his arms around her. Shawna looked into Jack’s loving face as she lifted her lips to meet his. A kiss seemed inevitable, until suddenly, Jack pulled away.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “but I can’t do this.”

Sorrow flooded Shawna’s heart as she stared at Jack. She had let herself get out of hand. Once more she had lost control of her emotions and her actions.

Neither looked at the other as they sat in stillness and in thought. It wasn’t until much later that conversation was renewed.

***

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Jack asked once more.

“Yes,” was Shawna’s reply, “I’ll be fine.”

“I should go for you. I don’t want Nate to catch you.”

Shawna clenched her fists in frustration. “Look, Jack, I can take care of myself. I don’t need you’re protection. Anyway, I need to talk to Ms. Lucy about what happened the other day. I think I overreacted a bit.”

Jack nodded his head in agreement. “You’re right. You should go by yourself. I’m sorry if I’m being overprotective, but I’m just worried about you.”

Shawna looked at her feet, telling herself to let it go and keep her love-struck emotions under control. She didn’t have the time to lose her head here. She needed to fully devote herself to solving first this problem, which was of the utmost priority. “I’ll be back.” She turned around and headed for the Crawford home once more time. Caution was her chief worry with this mission. To keep visibility at a minimum, she decided to travel alone. Although, more dangerous, not as many people would notice.

Shawna went around the outskirts of town, in an attempt to avoid as many people as possible. When her destination came into view, Shawna felt her palms of her hands begin to get sweaty. She tried to steady her breathing as she neared the grove of trees where she had hidden before. Crawling underneath them, she prepared to wait for a chance to talk to Ms. Lucy.

As she staked out the house, the front door opened and out stepped Nate Crawford, all dressed up and ready for word. Shawna ducked down and held her breath until she was 100% positive that the man was out of sight.

Shawna wondered how long she would have to wait until Lucy came out and if she would actually get a chance to communicate with her. She hoped it wouldn’t be too long for she wanted to get back to Jack.

Jack, just the thought of him sent her mind and soul in a flurry. She thought of that morning. She felt embarrassed and felt her cheeks get hot even though she was completely alone.

Her train of thought was discontinued when Ms. Lucy stepped unsuspectingly out of the house and walked towards the wash line outback with a basket full of laundry.

Being as undetectable as she could, Shawna followed Ms. Lucy back there. She prayed that no one would look outside from the house and see her, for she may have been within plain sight.

Before she was visible to the lady to whom she wished to speak, she called out softly, “Don’t turn around. It’s me Shawna. I want to talk to you, but don’t look at me. Move closer, so you can hear me.”

Ms. Lucy heard and was very discrete as she slid down the line in Shawna’s direction.

“Do you know absolutely everything?” Shawna asked.

Ms. Lucy continued her work and answered, “Yes, every detail.”

“Okay, there’s no time for an explanation, but I have a plan that we can bust Nate. Do you want to help?”

“Yes, but I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“Nobody is gonna get hurt if everything goes according to plan and we need your help.”

Lucy nodded her head slightly in agreement, “What do I have to do?”

“You have a tape recorder, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good,” Shawna said with satisfaction, “set in the closet in the room with all Nate’s guns and knives. At 6:00 sharp, make a way for either me or Jack to get in there without being seen.”

Lucy then interrupted, “Who’s Jack.” She still didn’t look in Shawna’s direction, or gave away any suggestion that she was talking to anyone.

“A friend. You can trust him. Get Nate in there and get him to confess. Lucy, you have the most dangerous part of the plan, and you can’t give away our position. Don’t get yourself in trouble, just give us enough evidence. Are you still willing to do this?”

“I’m all for it, Shawna. Let’s do it.”

***

Jack watched the grassy hilled horizon, waiting for the return of Shawna. He hoped that she hadn’t gotten caught, and that Ms. Lucy would agree to help them. As Jack thought about Ms. Lucy he realized how much he didn’t trust her. Why Shawna still had confidence in her was far beyond his understanding. She had lied to her and connived her in to staying. This lady didn’t deserve to be trusted by anyone, especially Shawna, the one she had schemed along with Nate against.

Jack’s blue eyes spotted a silhouette of a person sneaking along at the edge of the forest. As the figure neared his position, he was relieved to find that it was Shawna. He wished for her that she had succeeded in her mission to recruit the maid. When the girl finally reached him, he noted with happiness that her face was glowing. It was one sign that her quest had been ended on a victorious note.

“I did it! I did it!” Shawna squealed gleefully as she approached Jack. She jumped up and down and clapped her hands as she exclaimed, “She said yes! We’re gonna do this Jack! It’s gonna work!”

Joy and triumph flooded also over Jack’s soul. A new hope glimmered in both their eyes. They now held a chance in winning over this cold-blooded killer. A chance, a risk worth taking.

Shawna grabbed Jack’s hands and began jumping around in a circle. His high spirits allowed him to do only one thing, join her in her antics.

Once the celebration had ended, Jack asked, “Did you tell her what time to expect me?”

Shawna smiled, “I told her we’d come at six. That’ll work, right?”

“Yeah, but we aren’t going.”

Confusion covered Shawna’s face, “What do you mean?”

“I mean that I’m going over there. You aren’t.”

“No Jack, I’m coming with you,” Shawna protested.

He closed his eyes and shook his head. “No Shawna, this is way too dangerous. I cannot let you do this. I will go by myself and you can wait for me here.” He motioned to the abandoned house that he stood in front of.

“But Jack-”

“No buts, you aren’t going on this one.”

Shawna clenched her jaw as she glared at Jack. “Fine.” Why did he always have to treat her as if she couldn’t take care of herself? She hated be sheltered by others. Her spirit was independent and free, it didn’t like being held back, even if it was for her own good.

Conversation was limited for the remainder of the afternoon. Tension was running high and tempers would take over. It wasn’t long, though, until the time for Jack to leave arrived. He gave Shawna a quick good-by and left. Her gaze followed after him as he disappeared in the direction of the Crawford house.

Jack covered ground quickly and before he had time to prepare himself for what he was about to do, the house came into his view. He took deep breaths as he went around to the back door as Shawna had suggested.

He had only waited for a minute or two when the door slowly opened and out came Ms. Lucy. She glanced around the yard and Jack wondered what he should do. He then stepped out of hiding and Lucy saw him.

When he came near enough to hear her, she asked, “You’re Jack?”

He nodded his head in answer.

“Then follow me.”

He followed after the bustling maid and she led him into the house. He didn’t even take the time to gush over the beauty of the home; all he was after was the chance to finally get rid of Nate. Shawna had explained to him the basic layout of the house, so he knew somewhat about where he was going. He was taken into a room which Shawna had called Nate’s hobby room, and Jack saw why the name had been chosen. Just as the girl had said, there was a closet on the far side, and that’s where he was to hide. Jack opened the door and slipped silently inside. No words were exchanged between Jack and Lucy. Partially because there was no time and partially because they knew nothing of the other.

As with the first time, Jack didn’t have to wait long before Ms. Lucy filled out her part of the plan. He scarcely had the time to find the tape recorder and figure out how it worked before Nate and Lucy entered the room. Jack wondered how Lucy had fulfilled this expectation so promptly. He was soon to find out.

“What do you want,” Nate snapped angrily.

“I just want to know what we are going to do about the girl. We haven’t seen her since Jon found her with that boy. We need to catch her before rumors are started,” Lucy said evenly.

Jack had the tape recorder running and he was watching the people’s feet from his hiding place.

“What? Are you scared that those kids are gonna outsmart us?”

“The thought crossed my mind.”

“Whose side are you on?”

“I’m, neutral,” Lucy said irritably, “Remember? You forced me to do this, it wasn’t my choice. I didn’t want to-”

“Shut-up!” Nate yelled in a whisper.

“What? Is your conscious getting the best of you now? You know what? I may as well report you. I got more than enough proof to put you away for the next fifty years.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Wouldn’t I?”

Silence filled the room. When Nate next spoke he didn’t sound quite as confident as he had before. “I’m paying you. You can’t do anything.”

“How much you wanna bet.” Ms. Lucy didn’t sound the least bit afraid as she stood up against Nate.

Suddenly, Nate’s feet rapidly neared the door behind which Jack hid. Jack held his breath tensely. Would he be found out? The doorknob turned and the door was wrenched open. Jack found himself staring into the daunting face of an irate Mr. Crawford.

“What are you doing here?!” Nate screamed. “Wait,” he said as he spotted the still playing tape recorder. “Turn it off,” he demanded.

Jack obeyed instantaneously.

“You’re all working together, aren’t you? You schemed this all against me, didn’t you?” Nate’s intellectual part of his mind was well strengthened. It took only moments for him to understand everything that was happening around him, including this.

His foot shoved Jack and he reached down to pick up something that lay on the floor. As he returned to a standing position, Jack saw with alarm that he held a gun in his hand and was swinging it around to point it at Lucy then at himself. “Stand up,” he commanded Jack, “And don’t give me any rats about it.” The man motioned towards the tape recorder, “Pick it up.” Again, Jack obeyed the man and handed him the tape recorder with the only evidence of conviction he had.

Ms. Lucy then began to speak, “Let the boy go.”

Nate snorted, “You think I’m dumb don’t you? There ain’t no way this boy’s getting a clean getaway if I have any say in it.”

“Well, maybe you won’t have any say.” Once said, Ms. Lucy ran forth and tried to hit the gun from Nate’s hand, but she wasn’t fast enough.

Nate pulled the trigger and a gunshot rang throughout the house as Lucy grabbed her shoulder and fell to the ground. Jack started wide-eyed at the bleeding body laying on the floor with a puddle of blood spreading around her.

“You- you…” Jack stammered.

“Yes,” Nate snapped, “I shot her. If you don’t want the same thing to happen to you, I’d listen to every word I say.”

Jack was surprised with himself. He wasn’t even scared a slight degree. He was calm, even with his present situation. He knew he had to do what he was doing and that he had no choice. Fear was not among his thoughts at that moment. Jack met Nate’s gaze evenly and coolly. “I’m not afraid of you, Nate. And don’t even try to intimidate me, ‘cause it won’t work.” A pleasing thought entered Jack’s mind then, if the rest of the Crawford family was home, they would soon be down here wondering what the gunshots were all about. Jack glanced over his shoulder at the door, wishing that in would open to reveal some inquisitive person on the other side.

Nate didn’t miss a beat, “No Jack, nobody else is here. It’s just you and me,” he looked down at Ms. Lucy who still hadn’t moved, “and her.”

“What do you want, Nate? What do you really, really want from this whole thing?”

“Revenge Jack, revenge.”

“For what?”

“You don’t know what happened, do you?” Nate asked him.

“Oh, I know.”

“No, not with her, with me. What happened with me and her parents and how she got in the way. Do you know that?”

That was when Jack made his first mistake, one that he would regret for a long, long time. This whole while, he hadn’t taken his eyes off Nate, but now, he did. As he thought about what Nate had said, he looked down at his feet, giving Nate the opportunity he had been waiting for.

Jack was preoccupied, and Nate was ready. He took one long stride and was next to Jack’s side. Before the boy had any time at all to react, he was slugged in the head with the gun in Nate’s hand. His world faded into blackness and gravity helped him to the floor.

***

The pain, the pain, the pain. Lucy tried to steady her breathing, but she couldn’t for every breath she took almost