Amaris did not look back. She ran as fast as she could down the other side of the rock outcropping and back into the woods. She knew the bridge was not far away now, but neither were the men. She could still here them shouting at one another and crashing through the under brush. Hopefully she had given herself enough time. As she ran down hill now along the path heading to the water, she remembered how Heather had taken a shortcut through the bushes on the side of the path, essentially cutting out the curve in the trail just before the bridge and no one saw her do it that day in gym class. She had shown Amaris on the way back that day. Amaris only hoped that she could remember where it was and be able to find it while she was at a dead run on the path. Having come further down the hill, Amaris saw the familiar tree with the gnarled branch that looked like a “turkey leg” as Heather described it. Tears began to fall fast down her cheeks as she remembered seeing her friend crumple to the
Amaris had no idea where the third man was but she was not going to waste time looking for him. She turned and started running up the path leading up the side of the hill away from the bridge. Amaris knew that there was a place about three quarters of a mile up where the path ran close to the road. She could take the road from there straight to her house. It was only a few miles away. Amaris was still running but now that she was fairly sure that there were no men close by that were chasing her, the adrenaline was running out and the reality of what happened both at the kickball field and the bridge was becoming more real and less like a bad dream. Amaris continued moving along the trail but at a slower still. She had tears running down her face in a constant stream and was having a hard time seeing. Mr.Clark was injured badly, Mrs. Bass was shot, was she dead? Heather, she was injured. Amaris had seen the man step away from her with a bloody knife. Was she dead too? Was all this her f
When Mr. Bruce pulled up in front of the house everything was quiet. That was not unusual at Gran’s. Often when Amaris came home Gran was out helping someone who was ill, or she would be out in the woods or on the mountainside picking herbs or digging roots for some of her medicines that she made. Even from the outside you could see the house was warm and happy, but not fancy, just comfortable and welcoming. Amaris led Mr. Bruce into the house through the side door that leads into the kitchen. The house still smelled of Gran’s chocolate cake, which was still cooling on the center of the wooden kitchen table. However, once Amaris entered, she could see that the kitchen was a shambles. Every cabinet and drawer was open with their contents torn out. The pantry door was open wide and the contents of many of the jars that were stored in there, both food and medicine were smashed on the floor. Amaris’ hands flew to her mouth as her eyes moved across the room. Mr. Bruce reached forward and
Mr. Bruce was startled at the sudden change in her demeanor. He pulled back and looked at Amaris as if she had struck him. “It’s true. You really are her.” Amaris looked at him not understanding his meaning, but also feeling weird. It was as if she had just drank 10 energy drinks and they all kicked in at once. There was a feeling of energy running through her suddenly. It’s like the thought of her Gran being in trouble woke up a power in her that she never knew was there before.Ignoring this as just one more weird thing to happen to her today, her 17th birthday of all days. Amaris looked back into Mr. Bruce’s eyes and repeated her command.“I want answers Mr. Bruce and I need to hear the truth from you about all of this. Who are these people and are the people from the school the same ones who came here and killed Grover? Do you think they have Gran too?”Mr. Bruce stood up, reached down and offered his hand to pull Amaris off the floor. He grabbed a kitchen chair that was laying on
Amaris walked out the back door toward the police car. Mr. Bruce hesitated and then followed behind. The officer got out and then walked toward Mr. Bruce. “Lyle, what’s going on? The dispatcher said that there was a murder.” The officer said, paying no attention to Amaris.“Reid, It’s Grover. Looks like someone broke in and he surprised them and they killed him.” Lyle said. Sheriff Reid Clifton had been the local sheriff for a long time. He is supposed to retire at the end of the summer. His wife passed away a few years ago from cancer and he was going to move out of state to be closer to his daughter and grandchild. This sleepy little town had seen it’s fair share of speeders and drunk drivers, kids pulling pranks, and under age drinking, but in his time as an officer he had only investigated a handful of murders. “Did you touch anything Lyle?” Sheriff Reid asked finally looking over at Amaris. “This is your grandmother’s house, she’s not home? Where is she?” Sheriff Reid looked at
Lyle drove slowly and methodically up the mountain side road. He seemed to be on edge. Amaris assumed that was because she had been questioning him and he was deep in thought about what she had asked him about. In reality, Lyle knew this was the exact same route that Amaris’ parents had been driving the night that they had been killed and he wanted to make sure that they weren’t followed or worse chased. Fortunately for Lyle there was not another car on the mountain side for the entire ride. There was usually light traffic at this time of day but he had never seen no traffic at all. This made him even more nervous. Amaris peered out the windshield knowing that they had to be close now. The lights were getting closer and they could see the gate blocking the road up ahead. Lyle slowed and came to a stop at the gate. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.” Lyle got out of the car and walked toward the two men standing at the gate. Amaris watched as they greeted one another, and then Lyle pull
Amaris was so surprised and over joyed, she ran up the steps and pulled Gran into a big hug.“You are safe! Oh I missed you so much. I was so worried.” Amaris released Gran to look at her. Her short stature and kindly face had always made Amaris feel like she was safe. There was something special about the way she felt with her.Gran let go of Amaris and reached out for Lyle as he came up the steps and gave him a hug as well. Gran patted the side of his face and said again “I knew you could find her.”Amaris was about to speak but Gran turned to her, “I know you have a million questions, but we need to get inside first and get you taken care of.” Gran reached an arm around Amaris’ back and walked her to the door. Lyle had gotten there ahead of them and was holding it open for them. She walked into a cozy living room that opened into the kitchen-dining area. It was exactly what she imagined a log cabin to be. Exposed beams in the walls and ceiling as well as a wood plank floor. It even
“Yes, your birthday is not for another 2 days.” Gran looked up into Amaris’ face. Her dark eyes were in shock and disbelief.“Why did you let me believe all this time that you knew nothing about me. You told me you did not know who my parents were. That my birthday for the last 17 years has been celebrated on this day. What else have you not told me?” Gran looked at Lyle who had been quietly leaning in the door way to the bedroom watching them. Lyle gave Gran a brief look and then a quick nod and turned and went into the bedroom closing the door behind him. Gran faced Amaris and took both of her hands in her own. “Amaris, you are right, there is more and when I tell you the rest you will see why we did not tell you until now. “ “Amaris there are a few things that you need to know to start with. The first is that this village is actually one of many villages on this mountain that are all related and have the same belief system. Each village has a family that has provided leadership in