The Valley
Page 8
“Who’s back there?”
He was walking again. “I don’t know.” The tension in his voice silenced me.
We had reached the park entrance when it was Will’s turn to stop abruptly.
“Oomph!” I smashed into the back of him; the impact knocked me to the ground. Will’s gaze zeroed in on something that I could not see in the distance. I scrambled to my feet rubbing the spot on my butt where there would no doubt be a lovely new bruise to match the welt on my leg. Being with Will was quickly becoming hazardous to my health.
His shoulders and back stiffened. I couldn’t move him if I tried. He was staring directly into the center of the park. It was completely blanketed by darkness except for the yellow glow cast by the nearby street lamps. Into the glow, two figures were moving slowly toward us.
“Do not come any closer!” Will shouted.
Ignoring his warning, they continued to move.
“I said do not come any closer!”
"What should we do?" I whispered to him as he shoved me behind his back. Whoever was coming toward us was not answering his calls. Cowering safely behind Will’s six-foot two-inch frame, a wave of fear washed over me. The two figures were still not stopping or even slowing down. They glided closer, uninterrupted by his commands. They looked as large as he was, but it was hard to get a good look from where I was standing. I peeked my head out from behind Will's arm. It was too dark for me to see them clearly, but wanted to see if I recognized them anyway. Maybe it was someone from school trying to scare us. Sometimes, the boys that graduated last year came back to visit and pull ridiculous pranks on my friends and me, yet another perk of living in a small town. I could feel my temper flare. If it was them trying to scare me, they were doing a fantastic job of it. I couldn't stand there anymore.
I shifted my body around his and shouted. "Hey! What are you doing? Get outta here!” The figures halted at the sound of my voice. Got you! I thought. How stupid do these guys think we are? “Quit being a jerk and go home!” Before I could yell anything else, Will shoved me back behind him.
“SHH!” he hissed. “That’s not who you think it is.” The tense muscles in his arm pulled me tighter behind him. Was he scared? Why was he afraid of these jerks? Of course it was easy for me to think that while his body shielded me.
“When I say ‘go’, I want you to run as fast as you can through the trees to my house. Do you understand? Do not stop. No matter what.” His low command sent a spasm through my spine. No matter what? His glare did not break from the figures that still hovered several yards away from us. Something that he saw made him think that this was not just a couple of kids playing around. With each of his steady breaths, my fear rose.
“What-no! I‘m not leaving you,” I whispered in a panic. “It’s just somebody messing around.” I was trying to convince myself that’s all it was, but he wasn’t swayed by my optimism.
“Do it, Cami!” His arm left my side.
He began to walk toward the figures very slowly. What was he doing? He stopped a few feet from where he’d begun. He mumbled something under his breath, but I couldn‘t understand.
I was still standing there, frozen. He was too far away from the visitors for them to hear his whisper. Or was I too far back to hear? The one on the right glided toward Will. I had never seen anyone move so fluidly before and he too, was speaking…whispering. How could they hear each other from so far away?
My heart was hammering in my chest. Just give them your wallet! I wanted to shout, it was the only thing that made sense. I couldn’t believe he was about to get mugged. So much for the safety of the valley. The longer I remained still, waiting for Will to tell me to move, the more confused my emotions became. On one hand, I was scared out of my mind but on the other, I was getting angrier by the second. Would I be able to run when he said to? Or would I be stranded here, completely petrified?
Faster than I could think, he was reaching for me. He had spun me around toward the trees and pushed. “GO!” he shouted.
I hesitated and looked back at him. His face pleaded with me to go. I turned back and dashed off into the forest. My mind was still battling. One voice shrieked at me to stop and go back. Will was protecting me and all I could do was run? The other voice told me to trust him and keep running.
That voice was more powerful than the other. I wasn’t sure if it was trust or fear that kept me running, but I did not stop. Just as Will instructed, I headed for his house. I’d been all over this forest throughout my childhood. I was relying on those experiences to get me there...fast. The sound of the river rushing nearby proved I wasn’t too far.
The moon that I had been so thankful for five minutes ago was now fading behind a cluster of clouds. It had lit the way through the thickest part of the forest on my journey. I was growing very tired and the ground was getting very wet, causing me to slip every few steps. Why was it taking so long? I should have at least found the road to Will’s house by now. Frustrated with myself, I slumped down against a tree and the voices began to battle again. You’re going the wrong way! Had I misjudged my own knowledge of this forest? No. I shook my head. It just seemed farther because it was dark out and I was panicked. I hoped Will was okay. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if something happened to him.
A crackling in the brush through me back against the tree. Once again, I was struck stiff and not breathing. A silhouette appeared from behind the tree. My body was so tight with fear, it felt like I was crushing myself. The outline moved slowly through the trees in front of me. The grace in movement again took me by surprise and alarm at the same time. One of them had found me. That meant that Will- oh NO!
“Cami?”
The breath that I had sucked in flew out of my throat. “I’m here!” my voice croaked.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, I just thought that maybe I was lost,” I admitted.
He knelt down to find my eyes in the darkness. “We have to keep going.” His voice was calm but still very firm.
“They’re following us?” I breathed incredulously. “What do they want?”
“Let’s go!”
We were running again before I could question him more. Actually, he was running. I was being dragged again. I didn’t know how long we had been running before my legs decided they weren’t going to function anymore. I tumbled over a branch and rolled down the embankment, landing close to the river’s edge. I lay there for a moment, cursing myself for being so weak. I also didn’t want to see any damage I had done.
He was by my side in an instant. “Are you hurt anywhere?” He scanned my twisted body for any broken bones.
He was very careful not to touch me as I finally began to move. I propped myself up on my elbows and looked down at my dirt covered clothes. Aside from the soreness running throughout each limb, everything looked in its place.
"Can you walk?"
"I think so.” The embarrassment of my fall caught up to me. I hated feeling helpless and I considered for a moment faking worse injury to cover my shame, but decided against it.
He helped me to my feet. A searing pain shot through my leg. I buckled and fell to the ground. “Ow!” I moaned. My ankle was now throbbing, and there was nothing phony about it. I struggled to get to my feet. Will grabbed my elbow before I could fall again. I shifted my weight to my other foot and stood the rest of the way up.
"Thanks," I muttered.
"Is your leg okay?"
"Yes. It only hurts a little," I lied. Actually, it hurt a lot.
I dusted the dirt off my clothes as he pulled sticks and leaves out of my hair. "That was quite a fall. Very graceful." He grinned.
I let out a snort and rolled my eyes.
"Lucky for you, we don't have to run any further.” He nodded to the light streaming across the river. It was his uncle's house. Normally this dilapidated mess of a house would make me cringe, but tonight I was very relieved to see it. The only problem would be...getting to it. The river was not very high
this late in the season, but the current was still very fast.
Will noticed my apprehension about crossing and hooked my arm through his. "Just hang on.”
I inhaled deeply and nodded.
He slowly stepped into the rushing water. When he was sure he had a good footing, he tugged me forward. Instantly, the weight of the current tried to pull my legs out from under me. I hugged his arm tighter. The water was knee deep and shockingly cold. My entire body began to shiver uncontrollably. Each step brought a more intense sting to my legs.
When we finally reached the other side, everything in my body was telling me to lie down. I was still clinging to him when he swooped me up in his arms. I didn't complain this time because any weight insecurity that I had no longer mattered; I was drained and in pain.
I was half dreaming already when the front door of John’s house swung open, John’s anxious voice pressing Will with questions. What happened? What was wrong with me? His tone was almost accusatory.
“Her leg is hurt,” Will said, carrying me through the house and laying me on the couch. My cold, soggy jeans continued to refrigerate my legs. I shivered internally, falling deeper into my dream world. I could no longer make sense of what was real. More anxious voices surrounded me, speaking in a tongue I couldn’t understand. I fought against exhaustion to open my eyes. I lost the battle.
My chattering teeth woke me a few hours later. It was still dark out. I sat straight up, finding myself on my porch swing again covered in an unfamiliar blanket. Will was asleep sitting up against the corner of the porch and my jeans were crumpled on the floor next to me. My pants! I flung the blanket off me revealing my legs naked mid-thigh down. They had been cut off.
“Sorry about that. They were wet, and you were turning horrible shades of blue,” his sleepy voice chuckled.
I grabbed the blanket and covered up again, completely humiliated. I tried to collect my thoughts in the early morning quiet. It wasn’t going so well; I was still extremely tired and the burning in my ankle was getting stronger. I laid back on the swing.
Will stood up and slowly walked toward me, eyeing my foot that was sticking out from underneath the blanket.
“You should go inside and get some more sleep. That ankle doesn’t look so good. It’s starting to swell.”
More sleep sounded fantastic, but I didn’t want him to leave.
“What happened last night? With those guys…did they—”
“You were right. They were just a couple of punks messing around. Let’s get you inside.”
I reluctantly sat up. He took my hand to help me stand and then scooped up what was left of my pant legs. His strong arm supported me as I hobbled inside the house.
We both froze at the creak of the floorboards upstairs. Our terrorized eyes met and completely in sync, our breathing stopped. Dorothy was up. I twisted my head to look at the old grandfather clock that stood in the hallway. 4:42 A.M.
“Good night,” I thought I heard. I swung back around to see Will half way out the front door. Just as Dorothy’s irritated voice called down the stairs. “Camille?”
My head swung back toward the stairs, my eyes meeting the puffy elderly eyes of my grandmother. She looked from me and then toward the body half out the front door.
“Who’s there?” She asked making her way down the stairs.
Will’s head dropped and he turned around. “It’s me, Mrs. Fisher.”
“You should not be here this late, William Dalca. It’s far too late.” Her eyes flashed on the clock.
“I know ma’am, and I’m very sorry. We were just talking on the porch earlier and we fell asleep. It won’t happen again.”
I wasn’t sure if she was buying his story; she hadn’t noticed the blanket I had wrapped around me or the mess of denim I was slowly trying to tuck under it. Who knows what horror story would enter her mind. She stopped at the last stair, pointing her finger at Will.
“You’re right. It won’t happen again. Because there will be no more of this!” she waved her finger between the two of us. “None at all!”
Will’s eyes diverted to the floor. “I understand ma’am.” He turned slowly and walked out onto the porch.
“Cami, upstairs. Now,” she demanded as she walked to the door to shut it behind Will.
There was no point in arguing. I’d been caught and I was honestly ready to be upstairs. My bed was calling my name. Apparently so was the floor because when I took a step forward, my sore ankle gave out and I fell.
Will rushed back through the door, wrapped his arm around my waist and lifted me up. Not good.
“Take your hands off her,” Dorothy spat.
He let go instantly.
She broke her death glare on Will and focused in on me. “What in heaven’s name has gotten in to you? Were you drinking out there? Did he bring you alcohol?” she interrogated.
“No, we fell asleep out there just like he said. My leg fell asleep too, I guess.”
She turned to Will again. Her tiny frame seemed to grow just as tall as his. Her finger was back pointing to his face. “My granddaughter is a good girl, William. A good girl. Don’t think that because every other breathing female in this town is beating down your door you can have this one!”
“Grandma!”
“No, ma’am,” he whispered.
“Because you, child, are not good enough for her!”
“Grandma, no!” I reached for Will’s hand, but he shifted sideways past Dorothy toward the door.
“It is okay, Cami. Good night.” The hollowness of his voice was heartbreaking. He’d been defeated. With all my recent feeble attempts to break him of his arrogance, Dorothy had done it in one sentence. He was gone before I could snap out of my stupor.
Dorothy slammed the door behind him.
I felt the tears began to burn my eyes as I hurried up to my room, trying to ignore the lecture following me up the stairs. This discussion was to be continued.
5
Although I’d tried my best to mask my sore ankle when I stumbled, nothing slipped by Dorothy. Before I was even out of bed hours later, she had Hazel Lewis examining it. Hazel took over in the absence of our family doctor. Many years ago, she tried attending nursing school but her overwhelming dislike for people in general made it easy for her to quit. While she prodded my ankle, I pretended to be asleep to avoid the impending cross-examination. I tried my best not to kick her in the face as she poked.
“Looks like a sprain,” she guessed.
It was a good thing that I was fast healer because I had to go find Will and no way was I going to let my stupid ankle keep me down. I didn't know where he was but I had to talk to him. He needed to know Dorothy didn't mean what she said. She was being over-protective, not to mention ridiculous. I was the one who crept silently while she slept and fled out the door into the night. Not Will. In fact, he stayed with me on the porch all night risking the chance of getting caught by an ornery old woman. He did that for me, for my safety. He had more in common with Dorothy than she knew.
“How did this happen?” Hazel asked when they thought they were safely out of earshot.
Dorothy’s terse reply shot down any hope I had of gaining her permission to leave the house later. “William Dalca.”
“He hurt her?”
“Don’t be silly. She’s being a hormone-ravaged teenager. I found them coming in the front door this morning. The sun hadn’t even risen.”
A small and, of course, inexcusable giggle echoed in the hall.
“What? Oh come now Dorothy. She’s young and you’ve raised her right. I think you can trust her to be a lady.”
“It’s not her I don’t trust.”
“Did you see something?” Rhoda’s voice startled me. I didn’t know she was outside my door. Did Dorothy call in the whole town to point and stare at the rotten child that snuck out?
Dorothy spoke again. “Something. But it’s unclear at this point. She cannot see that boy again.”
“Really? B
ut I—.”
“There will be no more discussion on this, ladies. I know what’s best for her,” she ordered.
There was a long pause. No one moved, spoke, or even breathed from what I could hear.
“Well, it is a lovely day today. Why don’t we let her sleep and go outside?” Hazel said.
The mood lifted as they made their way down the hall.
Once again, I had snuck out of the house without her noticing. Even with my injury, I was becoming a skilled at it. Dorothy, Hazel and Rhoda sat on the front porch discussing the festival that was fast approaching before heading off to church. When they did see that I wasn't in my bed anymore, they would no doubt start looking for me. All of them.
I had a good head start, only a few minutes away from his house. I quickened my pace even though my lungs were screaming for air. As soon as she thought I was awake, Dorothy was going to put a stop to whatever it was she saw between Will and me. I didn’t even know what was happening between us, but it was something. It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced and I wasn’t ready to give up on it yet. Just a couple of minutes was all I needed to be sure that he wasn’t going to give up on me either. And then I would return home, hopeful that Dorothy hadn’t missed me, and I’d hire my Shawn, the escape artist, to help me figure out how to see Will again. It wasn’t best plan, but it would have to work.
I shoved the gate open in front of his house and ran up the stairs to the porch "Will?" I knocked on the door as I caught my breath. There was no answer and no movement from inside the house either. To my surprise, the doorknob twisted easily in my hand, and the door opened with a loud squeal. "Will?" Again-no answer. I searched the tiny house quickly before convincing myself that he was not there and also concluding that while it was a safe house for me last night, I was still thoroughly creeped out by it.
I stood on the porch and looked around as if I'd find the answer to where he was printed in the scenery that surrounded his house. Where are you? I trotted down the front porch and began to run again. As I made my way down the street, I noticed a few pairs of curious eyes that followed me as I passed. With one quick phone call, my grandmother wouldn’t have to check in on me to know my location. It was more likely though, that they would dismiss the idea that they had just seen me running by. Still, I had to find a different path to be on the safe side. I ducked into the park and ran along the tree line and up the mountain to my destination, the dock.