Chapter 65
More than once I've heard, "Grammie, stop writing right now! Let's play."
More than once I've said, "In a minute." Be aware that when a writer says that it really means something like, "I'll be free after I get one of my characters hanging over a cliff and can't figure out how to save them..."
Hidden Secrets
Leona Palmer Haag
Chapter 65
Jenn stepped from the hot shower and still shivered.
Katie streaked around while Jenn dressed. She finally nabbed her and forced her
into clothes. Jammies. Nice and cuddly warm, even though it was still much too
early for bed. "It's movie night," Jenn said, nuzzling her soft damp
baby hair. "What will we watch tonight?" Movie night was nothing new.
Nothing special anymore. It happened every night. Jenn was tired of it. She
longed to say, "It's school night. I need to prepare a lesson on lizards
and snakes. Want to help?"
"Story," Katie said.
Jenn placed Katie on her shoulders and trotted down
the stairs. "First, we eat. I'm starving." She yanked open the fridge
and pulled out a chicken breast. "How about this, Katie cuddles? Yummy,
huh? Shall we fix it with rice tonight?"
"Yummy!" Katie said as Jenn plopped her down
on the countertop where she could help. They both cried over the chopped onion,
and laughed as they wiped tears.
"Story time," Jenn said as she pushed the
chicken casserole into the oven to bake. "What do you want tonight?"
She lifted Katie from her seat and plopped her down on the couch. Katie landed
only for a split second before she raced off like a bullet for a stack of
books. They read one after another until the timer rang.
After dinner Katie romped and played and they ended up
in the basement on the exercise equipment with music turned up full blast.
Sometimes the music drowned out the loneliness, and other times it made her
listen more carefully for hidden sounds. Tonight she tried to ignore the echoes
that invaded her brain. After Jenn had a good workout they played kickball, tag
and dodge ball with half a dozen bouncy balls and no rules except run, kick,
tag, tumble and laugh like crazy.
Jenn finally settled Katie down in front of a movie in
the master bedroom while she took another shower. Katie was asleep when she got
out. Jenn stood over her little form and studied her innocence as she combed
water droplets from her hair. She knew they could never survive something like
this if Katie was older. But what would they do after they went home? Jenn
probably wouldn't have a job. They wouldn't have money for all the toys,
clothing and outings they now enjoyed. Gone would be swimming lessons. Maybe Nick
too. She blinked back tears.
Jenn sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the
movie Katie had been watching. All make believe. Exaggerated voices.
Embellished colors. Her life was the same. Unreal. Jenn smiled sadly at Katie
and tussled her hair. Without Katie, she knew she never would have survived
this long in the castle with no real information on the outside world. There
would be no reason to stay.
She got up and pulled Katie's movie out of the DVD
player, put a chick flick in, and moved Katie aside to make room for herself.
She flicked off all but one bedside lamp and crawled beneath the covers by the
sleeping baby furnace. She used fast-forward to skip the opening credits and
with half-glazed eyes began watching the movie.
March twentieth. The calendar in the kitchen would get
a big fat X in the morning. In the meantime, Jenn would try to finish the day
without tears. Skip the grief. Stop the pain that always came during the
silence and loneliness of night, and encroached on the odd and empty places of
each day.
Where was Nick? Dead? Alive? In a prison? Without
hearing from him in over two months, her hopes had diminished. She was quickly
reaching rock bottom. Jenn pulled the pillow to her face and wept a thousand
tears into it. Again.
The movie ended. With a click, Jenn turned it off. She
reached for the lamp and flicked it off. The bedroom was bathed in darkness. A
clock on the mantle ticked. Minute after minute passed. Finally the sound faded
and sleep came.
Jenn wasn't sure what sound awoke her. Her brain was
too far away. An echoing whoosh of air filled her mind. That was what she'd
heard. She was certain of it. But there had been something more. But what? A
thud? Jenn lay awake with a thumping heart pounding stronger than the sound of drums
in any rock band CD escaping from some teenager's car. She was sure it shook
the bed so much Katie would wake up. But the worst part was the fear—the dread
that crept over her that she was being watched. Someone knew who she was and
where she was hiding. Right down to how many blankets were piled on top of her
as she tried to keep the chills away.
Her gun was loaded. Ready. But what good would it do
her sitting in her purse on the kitchen countertop? It was a long twenty-minute
sprint away at the pace she retrieved forgotten items when she felt scared and
was sure she’d move in slow motion.
Jenn gently pushed the covers off and crept from bed.
She leaned against the closed bedroom door for an eternity until her knees quit
shaking. Her hand turned to ice the moment her fingers touched the handle.
Minutes passed before she worked up the courage to open it. Without a sound the
lock unlatched and she opened the door an inch. Two inches. All the way.
The castle was dark and quiet. As
still as Christmas night after all the mice have plumped out on fig pudding and
the kids have emptied their stockings and played themselves into exhaustion.
Jenn tip-toed to the gracefully curving front stairs. Out of sight around a
corner a faint light flowed inside through the arched window over the door. It
cast a silvery glow. Jenn hesitated and listened. All was still. She tip-toed
across the loft to the back stairs—the direct route to the kitchen. They were
narrower. Straight and long and richly carpeted. Poised with one foot raised
over the first step, she listened. Not a sound. She couldn't complete the step.
Jenn sank against the wall, huddled in a shadow. She
hated this. Hated being alone. Hated having to be the brave one. Hated being so
forgetful her gun was out of reach. And after all the coercing she'd gone
through to get it! Couldn't she remember to keep it with her? Hadn't she been
so scared the night before that she had to have to tonight? Not tomorrow or
Monday, but tonight?
You can do it. I know you can. Just take the first
step. Please, just do it, she coached herself. It didn't help. She still stood
frozen in place. Like a statue of ice that would never melt. A clock in the
loft ticked incessantly. Minute after minute of fear and dread piled up,
turning into lead in her feet.
Jenn couldn't force herself to go down. She finally
backed away from the stairs and crept to the edge of the loft. Through the wide
windows she could see across the gully and into the stretching valley. Everything
lay in darkness. Only a few lights dotted the landscape. In the distance a lone
car moved in a straight line, then turned and disappeared. Jenn finally
gathered the courage to lean over the railing. There was her purse. Exactly as
she'd left it near the glowing red numbers on the microwave oven and a
decorative bottle of oil and peppers on the countertop.
She stared at the coveted purse for at least ten
minutes. A very long time to want something so close yet so very far away. Then
a flutter caught the corner of her eye. A little wisp of movement from the
window. Like a shadow. It was hard to tell. Just a dark whip near the pool
shed. Jenn shrank back with her heart pounding. Had Kevin caught it on the
security camera? Why would he? He was home sleeping. Most likely, very comfortably.
Jenn stared at the back yard bathed in shadow. She'd
left the pool uncovered. Starlight glimmered on the smooth iridescent midnight
blue surface where one lounger and a few child's toys lay motionless. "No
wind tonight," Jenn whispered.
After an eternity of staring at nothing but
undisturbed darkness, Jenn finally made up her mind. She crept to the stairs
and silently darted down, stopping before she entered the kitchen. She
listened. More silence. All the blinds were shut. No one outside could possibly
see inside. She tip-toed across the cold marble tiles and grabbed her purse,
turned, and raced up the stairs. She hugged the walls, staying in the shadows
as she crossed the lost. She barricaded herself in the bedroom and sank to the
floor and pulled out the gun. The clip was in place. She heaved a sigh of
relief as she sat on the soft carpet with her back pressed against the door.
After dozing off and waking up with a jerk a few
times, and listening and hearing nothing unusual, Jenn finally tucked the gun
in the far nightstand drawer and toppled over in bed and slept. Her dreams were
filled with horrible sights. None she would think of in the daylight or wished
to witness after dark. The most distinct image contained dark wings rising from
the pool shed roof and hovering over her until it whoshed away in flight.
End Chapter 65
As always, you're welcome to leave a comment.
No comments:
Post a Comment