Eternal Oath

by Jewel Quinlan

  Linda followed Falk up it and then stopped with him as he paused to listen. After a moment, he turned his head to grin at Linda. Puzzled, she strained to hear whatever it was he’d heard. A light buzzing caught her ear, which explained Falk’s amused look.

  Beyond the wall, Sarah lay snoring, asleep in bed.

  “Do you want to wake her? Or should I?” Falk whispered in her ear.

  “I’d better do it. You’ll give her a heart attack.”

  Linda eased the tiny door open and crept forward to Sarah’s bedside. Inside the room, the door was disguised as a panel on the wall that no one would have thought twice about. She strained her ears to listen for any noises within the house, but that was made difficult by the buzz of Sarah’s snore. Falk stood at the entrance of the doorway and illuminated her path with the small flashlight.

  Sarah lay on her back, her mouth open and her hair bound up in rollers. Linda couldn’t remember ever having been in Sarah’s room before. How small it seemed compared to the rest of the family’s rooms. On the nightstand next to the bed stood various pictures of family that Linda would have loved to peruse, but she had to focus. With no way to ease the shock of waking Sarah up, she opted to shake her and had a hand ready to cover her mouth if she screamed or anything.

  Nothing happened when she first tried to rouse her. So she tried again, and again with no result. Linda then put some muscle into it and grabbed both of Sarah’s shoulders and shook her hard.

  With a snort, Sarah bolted awake.

  Linda quickly rested her fingers on Sarah’s lips. “Shh!”

  The old housekeeper clasped her hands to her chest and blinked as she adjusted to the light. “Oh, my goodness! You children almost frightened me to death! What in the world are you doing in here?”

  Linda cringed at her loud whisper.

  “You have to listen carefully, Sarah.” Falk had come forward to stand by the bed as well. “You need to get up and get dressed right now. Jensen and Andrew are looking for us. We think they’re going to try and kill us.”

  Sarah gaped. “What? Why would they want to do that?”

  “We don’t know,” Linda said. “We saw them running through the house, looking for us, and they just came and searched the greenhouse where we were hiding. They had weapons in their hands, a cleaver and a knife.” Her voice choked on the last word, her fear rushed back to her. “We have to get out of here. We need to call the police.”

  “I still don’t understand,” Sarah said. “Oh, my Lord. Why would they—”

  “There isn’t time to explain.” He turned his head, listening. “We need to go now!”

  Linda looked toward the door as well and could hear the faint sounds of someone moving through the house, of two male voices talking.

  Sarah rose from her bed. “Where do you suggest we go?” She pulled a robe over her nightgown and tied the sash.

  Linda and Falk looked at each other.

  “They’re going to search the road if they haven’t already,” Falk murmured, his eyes bright as his mind turned over the problem of what to do next.

  “Right,” Linda said. “Sarah, where is your phone? Let’s call the police.”

  Sarah motioned toward the small desk in the corner of her room where one of the house phones sat. “It’s there,” she said, as she stuck her feet in slippers, “but the phones went out as we were going to bed. Something must have struck the cable again.”

  Even so, Linda went to the desk and tried the phone, but no signal of any kind met her ear. This sort of thing had only happened once before. Lightening had struck near the house that time and fried the cable line. They’d been without TV, phone, and Internet until a repairman could come fix it.

  “Do you have a cell phone, Sarah?” Falk asked in an urgent tone.

  She shook her head, her eyebrows lifting in fright. “No. Never needed one.”

  “It wouldn’t matter if she did,” Linda said. “The cell signal is connected with the cable as well. Remember?”

  Understanding registered on Falk’s face.

  The area they lived in had been a virtual black hole for cell service for a long time until cell companies began selling devices designed to boost the signal. They had purchased one several years ago and, from then on, had been able to get a good signal at the house. However, the boost units functioned by using the Internet. If the Internet was down, then so were those units. Good thing we didn’t try to get to a phone first.

  Footsteps sounded louder as they came down the hall, and Linda’s anxiety level leaped to high alert again. “Let’s go. We’d better go.” She grabbed Sarah’s arm and pushed her into the passageway after Falk then shut the door behind them. They paused on the stairs and listened, and Linda felt déjà vu sweep over her at the similarity between now and a few minutes before.

  Sarah’s bedroom door creaked as it was opened and then someone flipped on the lights.

  “She ain’t in here,” Andrew said.

  “We’ll find her,” Jensen said in a gruff voice. “Let’s go check the library.”

  Linda wrapped her arm around Sarah’s shoulders and squeezed her in a comforting gesture.

  The men left soon after, and she breathed a sigh of relief as Sarah’s bedroom door slammed shut.

  “Children,” Sarah’s voice quavered, “you have to get to town and get help. If you cut through the woods on Bryman’s Loop, you can avoid the road and save some time.”

  Panic rose inside her. “You have to come with us. We can’t leave you here. Didn’t you hear them? They’re going to kill you, too!”

  “Yes, Sarah. You have to come with us.” Falk held the flashlight aimed at the wall so none of them would be bothered by its light.

  “Think. I won’t even make it past the old church. How long of a walk is it anyway? Ten miles? Fifteen? I’m too old. I’ll slow you down. You have to run,” she said.

  “No!” Linda cried in a low anguished whisper, clutching both of Sarah’s hands in hers.

  “I’ll be all right,” Sarah insisted. “Neither of them know about the passageways. I can hide here for days and they won’t find me. Maybe I can get to one of the cars….”

  “No, don’t,” Falk said. “Then they’ll for sure come after you with a vengeance and kill you.”

  Linda imagined the sight of Sarah, with her curlers in her hair, dead on the side of the road, blood pouring from where they’d stabbed her. “Promise me you won’t, Sarah. Promise. I couldn’t take it if anything happened to you.” She fixed Sarah with a solemn look.

  The old woman searched her face for a moment and then straightened. “You have my word. I’ll wait right here.”

  Linda hugged her, and Falk enclosed them both in his arms.

  “We’ll go as fast as we can,” Falk said. “Stay safe.”

  With that, they made their way back through the passageways to the exit and sprinted into the fresh morning air.

  Chapter Ten

  Bryman’s Loop was a meandering, roller-coaster-like trail that cut through the hills into town from the Hartmann property, away from the main road. It was easy to feel like it was any other day as they walked under the shade of the forest rising on both sides of the path. Thankfully, they were both in shape and wearing tennis shoes. That was something to be grateful for at least.

  But after mile six, he could see Linda dragging. After the stress they’d been through, he felt the same way himself. He clasped her hand in his. “Just a few more to go. Want me to give you a ride for a while?”

  She shook her head. “I can make it.”

  She had a haggard look on her face. But he couldn’t help thinking she was beautiful no matter what. Wisps of dark hair had escaped from her ponytail, framing her cheeks in a romantic way.

  Ahead on the trail loomed what they’d called the ghost church when they were kids. It was old and abandoned, and its fading whitewashed wood curled up from the surface like scabs. It was simple and square wit
h a pointed roof, small bell tower, and stained-glass windows. Boards crisscrossed the entrance, sealing it from visitors. He pulled her to the steps leading up to the doors and made her to sit down with him.

  “I need a rest.” He gave an exaggerated sigh.

  She looked at him sideways then scoffed. “Liar.” But she went ahead and sat anyway.

  “I do,” he said. “You’ve run me ragged with all this intrigue stuff. You’re lucky I didn’t faint back there. How good are you at the fireman’s carry?”

  She laughed. “You’re out of luck. I don’t even know what it is.”

  “We’ll have to work on that right away, then. You never know when I’ll become useless. I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

  “There’s no way I could ever carry you.” She eyed his form. “You weigh about twice what I do.”

  Color came back to her cheeks, and the weary look left her face. Sitting here with the sun rising over the trees and the birds singing their morning song, it was easy to forget they were on the run. They’d walked this trail many times together and the peaceful familiarity of it almost made him forget the dire circumstances they were in.

  “You’d be surprised what you can do in an emergency.” He felt the easy smile fade from his face as the comment brought back a memory to him. He had been working in the forest with one of their crews during a logging. They’d split up in teams and worked in different spots during the day. One of the trees he and his partner had felled had dropped at a ninety-degree angle from what they’d targeted. It had brought down a neighboring tree with it, and its branches had struck Cal, his partner. Though Cal was spared being crushed, he’d sustained substantial injury from the branches and had started bleeding profusely.

  Falk had tried to radio for help, but the signal was bad in their location. Although Falk had patched Cal up as best he could to control bleeding, he hadn’t felt right about leaving the guy there alone. Wild animals roamed the forest, and he would be exposed and helpless. They were five miles away from the work site and the others in either direction.

  It had brought back memories of when he himself had been lost and alone in the forest. He remembered how scared and desperate he’d felt, and he couldn’t do that to Cal. The man had been larger than Falk, and he’d doubted he could carry him. Nevertheless, he’d given the fireman’s carry a try. To his surprise and Cal’s, he’d somehow found the strength to stand with a full-grown man draped over his shoulders. And then, one step at a time, carry him five miles to where they could get help.

  He glanced at Linda leaning back with her elbows on an upper step. Even though he’d joked with her about the fireman’s carry, he hoped it wouldn’t come to that. In fact, if it did, he would rather Linda leave him.

  He put an arm around her shoulders and, with his fingertips, turned her chin to his. “Linda, if they catch up with us and something happens to me, make sure you run. Don’t try to save me.”

  Worry radiated from her, and she searched his face. “Falk, I could never—”

  “Promise me.” He knew what she was thinking, how she felt. But he couldn’t let her risk her life for his.

  After a moment, she gave a weak nod.

  In the morning sun, her eyes glowed the gentle gray haunting his dreams. She had long dark lashes and graceful, curving eyebrows, and he would never tire of looking at her face. His eyes drifted down to her pink lips, and he couldn’t help himself.

  He kissed her roughly, his tongue plunging deep. His fingers slid across her cheek, and he cupped the back of her head in his palm as he tasted her sweetness. So different than when they’d been young. Sure the same millions of hormonal reactions fired within him now as then, but there was more. His heart and soul flared with the awareness she was the one, and it filled him with an excitement that hadn’t been there before.

  She moaned in his mouth, her lips responding to him. Her hands stole around his neck and clutched at his shoulders as she pressed herself against him, making his passion rise to a new height. What would it be like to make love to her? His heart was already so full it was difficult to imagine how much more an intimate union would bring.

  He wondered what Dad would say when he asked for his blessing for them to marry. Would their father be surprised? Probably not, he was a discerning man. He’d most likely seen their love developing long before.

  Linda trailed kisses down his cheek to the skin near his ear, and he wanted to melt at the sensation. Her touch aroused feelings in him he was sure he would never have with anyone else. Even now, as she snuck her fingers beneath his shirt to his bare skin, his midsection tensed into a fine hair trigger tightness that spread down to his groin, causing stirrings there.

  He could think of no greater heaven than to have all of her. He tugged the elastic band from her hair, freeing it from its ponytail. He wound the wavy, dark strands around his hand and pulled her to him again and kissed her hard. Linda whimpered beneath him. He pulled back. Was he being too intense?

  “Sorry. Too hard?”

  She smiled, lips parting over white teeth, her eyelids still low as if lost in a dream. “No,” she sighed. “It feels good. No, it’s more than that. It makes me feel alive. Don’t stop.”

  The corners of his mouth quirked in pleasure, and he lowered his lips back to hers. They’d just brushed each other when a noise caught his ears. He jerked his head up to listen and then stood. He scanned the path behind them, the forest around them, and then farther in the distance.

  “What is it?” Linda stood as well.

  “Dirt bikes,” he replied. “Hear them?”

  She cocked her head, lips a rosy pink from their kissing.

  “Someone is riding fast. And in our direction,” Falk said. It had to be Jensen and Andrew. There was no one else it could be. This part of the trail was on their private land.

  Her expression turning frantic. “We have to hide!”

  Falk shook his head. “Not yet. They’ll be able to read our tracks. We have to lay a false one first. Come on, follow me.”

  He took off down the trail, and she fell into stride next to him. He tried to set a pace she could keep up with even though he was alarmed. It was hard to do, though, as the noise of the dirt bikes grew louder with every second. It felt as though they were bearing down on them this minute, and Falk did all he could to calm his nerves. They wouldn’t get out of this alive if they didn’t keep a clear head.

  A few hundred feet down the path the trail went over a creek. A small bridge made of stone had been built there so hikers wouldn’t have to wade through it. In the middle of it, he stopped and hopped into the water.

  “Come on.” He reached a hand up to help Linda.

  She grasped it and jumped into the water next to him, making a small splash. Then she shivered as the icy water flowed over her feet and ankles.

  Falk pulled her upstream. “If we go up a ways, we can come back out where they won’t see us and cut our way through the forest parallel to the trail.” They were so close to town, yet so far. At the next rise, they would have been able to see the small scattering of buildings two miles away. But even if they ran, Jensen and Andrew would catch them, and no one would hear their cries for help at this distance.

  Linda resisted, pulling back on his hand. “Wrong way. We have to go downstream.”

  Falk shook his head. “It runs back by the house.”

  She tugged at him even harder. “It runs behind the church. Don’t you see? We have to hide there. Remember my vision? When they run out of tracks they’re going to come back here. And how long do you think it will take them, on those bikes, to find us if we go upstream?”

  Falk thought for a moment. He felt uneasy about trusting her visions. “Didn’t you say all those visions were of gloom and doom? What if your vision means that if we hide in the church, we’ll for sure get caught? I mean, isn’t that what you saw? Us hiding and men coming in to find us?”

  “I wish I knew for sure,” she s
aid after a moment. “But I don’t think I ever will. I just feel it somehow. That’s where we’re supposed to hide.”

  Her tone was emphatic. Falk sighed, unsure what to do. His mind raced, trying to figure out how to keep her safe. There were no guarantees no matter what he did. In every direction lay forest. However, there was no denying Linda had saved them once before. Should he trust her instinct again? Finally, he shrugged. “Hell, it’s as good a plan as any. Let’s go.”

  They slogged their way down the creek, keeping to the water to obscure any tracks. When they reached the point where the back of the church butted up against the creek they made their way to shore on the rocks. Falk paused and scrutinized the rock bed then tossed leaves and dirt over the few remaining signs of their crossing.

  They picked their way through the bushes to the back of the church and eyed the wooden siding with its peeling white paint.

  Linda ran her hands over the side. “How are we going to get in?”

  The sound of the bikes became even louder, Andrew and Jensen would be here any second. From what he remembered of his childhood days, the church had two doors. The main one at the front and then a side door. Both had always been locked, and to force them open or to break windows would give away they were there.

  “How did you get inside in the dream?” He scanned the wood of the structure’s side. For what, he wasn’t sure. A secret panel perhaps? Wishful thinking.

  “I don’t know.” She searched also, moving through the bushes to peer at the area opposite from him. “In my dream, we were just there…inside.”

  He was determined not to give up. “Well then, that means there is a way in. We just have to find it.”

  The engine noise of the dirt bikes roared with new life as they emerged from the forest into the clearing near the church.

  He and Linda exchanged glances of fear and then their hands moved even faster as they searched for a way in.

  The bikes roared to a halt in front of the church, and Falk leaped over a couple bushes to Linda’s side. Together, they knelt in the dirt behind the bushes, leaning against the church. It was the greenhouse scenario all over again. But this time, with the bright sunshine and thin bushes, they would be discovered.