Alora Funk- The Deliverance: Book 1

by Stephanie Daich

  Chapter 17

  The summer break-

  Sunday morning, I was awoken by London. I was getting tired of her early morning visits. Maybe now that summer had started, we could change the visit times. I bet she would even appreciate not having to get up so early.

  “So school is out for the summer. I bet you are so very, very excited. Summer break was always my favorite time of the year. I just loved playing outside, and I would always get so tan. How did you do in school? What were your final grades? Did you find seventh grade hard? What did Peggy think about…” London kept talking but I had stopped listening. She talked so fast, my mind went numb. I actually fell back to sleep. When she noticed, she shook me awake.

  “Wake up, you sleepy head,” she said. Before she could start talking again, I cut into her rambling. “Can you take me to the home they found me in?”

  The color in her face disappeared and she looked frightened. “Why would you want to go to that awful place? I am not sure what type of tortures they did to you, but there isn’t a good spirit in there. I think they should bulldozer the place down. It really isn’t fair to sell it to anyone.”

  “Please,” I said, interrupting her. “I really want to remember who I was. Since they found me there, maybe going in that house will bring back my memories. It is really important to me.”

  London shuttered at the thought. “I don’t know, Alora, I am not sure I can handle going in there again.”

  “Please,” I pleaded. I tried to make myself look pitiful and desperate, because I really was.

  “Why don’t you have your foster parents take you?”

  “Mike will only get off the video games for three things: soccer games, work, and church. There is no way he will take me. Peggy is too lazy to take me. I really need this chance to see if I can get my memories back.”

  “Let me think about it.”

  We both could hear the crunching of the grass as footsteps approached the shed. London looked at her watch.

  “It’s Peggy. What am I going to do, she can’t find me here?” London looked like she was in a real panic.

  I looked around. “Hide in the boat, quick. There are blankets in there, crawl under them.” London squeezed past the four-wheeler and tucked herself into the boat as Peggy walked through the door.

  “Well, look who’s up. Are you ready for church?”

  “Please tell me that it’s not fast Sunday.”

  “Yes it is, and what a blessing for us to be able to participate in it. Hurry inside,” she said as she left the shed.

  It took London some effort to climb out of the boat. She hit her knee and silently growled.

  “London, why don’t you want Peggy to know you are here?”

  London looked at her watch. “Peggy is expecting you inside, and I have to get back to a meeting. I will tell you next Sunday.”

  “Wait,” I said as she reached for the door. “Please no more early morning Sundays. School is out now, so can we do another day?”

  “What are you thinking?”

  “How about you come pick me up sometime this week and take me to Bountiful to see my home?” I asked.

  “You still want to go?”

  “The Russians are no longer in it, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Please?” I begged.

  “Okay, if you so desire, but I did try to warn you it is a bad idea. I will meet you at the Country Store June tenth, two Wednesdays from now.

  “Sounds good,” I replied as we both left the shed.

  …

  I was already tired of summer by the end of the first week of June. There wasn’t anything to do. The kids ran amuck in the house, and so did all five hundred of their friends. Alright, maybe not five hundred, but it sure felt that way sometimes. I guess in the Sanibel home during the summer, every night except Saturday night was sleepover night. I wondered if the other parents in the neighborhood ever saw their kids in the summer. I had moved out into the shed, because there were always kids sleeping in my room.

  I didn’t mind the shed. In fact, I loved it. It was the one place I could call my own. The only other person that ever went in it was Peggy, and that was only to get the boat. With having the shed to myself, I spent a lot of time in it to escape the mayhem of the Sanibel home. When I was lucky, the freezer was full of fish. If Peggy would let me, I would sleep in there year round. Taz and I had gotten pretty close. Really, I was the only one who paid any positive attention to him. Sure, sometimes the younger kids would tease him, but that was negative attention in my opinion. I started taking Taz on all my walks. We would go to the camp ground, or the reservoir. There were times Taz didn’t go on walks with me, because I didn’t know where to find him. The Sanibels let him wander the neighborhood. I hated when I couldn’t find him.

  One day, I was walking alone along the busy highway in the canyon. I didn’t have Taz. I hadn’t been paying attention as I walked and was startled when a car full of teenagers pulled up to me.

  “You want a lift somewhere?” the driver asked.

  “Where you going?” I asked back.

  “We haven’t figured that out yet. But you see, I am kind of like the third wheel here. If you came along, I wouldn’t be left out. You could be my date,” the driver said.

  I was shocked. Was he really asking me on a date? I really didn’t know how to answer. I didn’t know anything about guys or dates.

  “Come on,” he said coaxing me.

  The passenger door opened, and the male teen in front ducked in the back to be with his girlfriend.

  “Oh, look, a spot opened for you,” the driver said. “Get in.”

  I felt apprehensive, but I decided to join them. I had never been invited to hang out with anyone before. I walked over to the passenger side and climbed in. My nerves were burning. Adrenaline was surging through me. It was so risky and exciding at the same time.

  “I am Joe,” the driver said.

  “Hailey,” the girl in the back said.

  “Traydon,” the other boy said.

  “What is your name?” Joe asked me. He had long black hair, covering some of his eyes. He was wearing a black music T-shirt. Both of his ears were pierced. He looked different than my foster brothers. He intrigued me.

  “Oh, I am Alora Funk.” The words were hard to say for I was so worried about saying something wrong, something stupid.

  “Alora Funk,” he said. “I like your name. Well, Alora, where should we go?”

  I shrugged.

  Joe turned around and faced Traydon in the back. “Shall we?” he asked.

  Traydon looked very jittery. “Yes, let’s do it.”

  Traydon and Joe put their head’s out the window and howled in excitement. Joe peeled away from the shoulder of the highway, kicking up a lot of dust behind us. After we got out of Sardine Canyon, we drove through Logan, then through Logan Canyon.

  If I thought Sardine Canyon was beautiful, Logan Canyon blew it away. The trees tripled the amount in the canyon, thickly growing, full of green life. The road was surrounded by very high mountain sides, reaching the clouds. They were rugged and majestic, full of power and control. Something inside beckoned me to get out and climb to their summit.

  As Joe sped dangerously fast along the narrow, winding roads, their chatter never ended within the car. They seemed interested to have me along, as if I was a new audience to share all their stories with. Some of the things they bragged about made me uncomfortable. Regret quickly entered in me. Why had I gone with them? I had no idea who they were. As I watched them, I noticed all three had brown auras, which made me even more nervous. I wish I had recognized their auras before I had gotten in. Brown usually meant restless and troubled in a bad way. I wanted to get out. My stomach churned in worry. Why was I with them? I didn’t even know where we were.

  With my stomach still protesting, we reached the summit of the canyon.
At the top we over-looked the valley and lake below. Bear Lake was a brilliant turquoise color, erasing my fears, inviting me to its edge. The rest of the area was sparse in trees. But that lake. It was stunning. I wanted to dive into it from the top of the mountain. I looked ahead at the winding road. We still had a ways to travel. The lake excited me, and the teens frightened me.

  …

  Joe pulled up to a small, A-frame house right on the beach of the lake.

  “Let’s go,” he said as he climbed out of the maroon colored car. My muscles were stiff, I reached to the sky, stretching them out. The others seemed to be doing the same.

  “Ah, this is the life,” Joe said. He draped his arm over my shoulder, as if we were a couple. I felt so awkward, out of place. Should he be touching me like that? The sun shone brightly sending heat through my black shirt. The air smelt clean and fresh. There was a calming effect to the area. I relaxed. I couldn’t wait to see the water. Maybe I had been overreacting, nothing bad was going to happen. It was just a few friends getting together and enjoying being a teen, something I knew nothing about.

  “Indeed,” Traydon agreed.

  “Let me go get the hide-a-key,” he said as he ducked around back and quickly appeared with a key. Traydon and Hailey clapped their hands as Joe put the key in the lock and opened the door. We went into a dark room. It had heavy golden curtains, blocking out all the light. There was a musty, mildew smell in there. I didn’t liked the closed feeling. I wanted to run back outside. Traydon went around opening the curtains while Joe sprayed the room in a cinnamon sent.

  “Whose house is this?” I nervously asked. I wasn’t sure if we should be there.

  “This is my grandma’s place,” Joe answered as he continued to spray.

  “Does she know we are here?” I asked.

  “No, and she ain’t going to find out either,” he said with a smirk.

  I didn’t like the sound of that. My skin was crawling, because I didn’t like being there. Something inside me wanted to scream and run. But I didn’t.

  “What should we do first?” Joe asked.

  “Swim,” Hailey and Traydon said in unison.

  “Does that sound good, Alora?”

  “I don’t have a suit.”

  “That’s okay. My grandma has a drawer full of them for all her grandkids.”

  At first I didn’t like the idea of wearing someone else’s swimsuit, but then I remembered all my clothes were given to me from someone else. I went with Joe and picked a suit out of the drawer.

  …

  Although I knew we shouldn’t be there, I must admit we had a blast in the lake. There was a garage next the beach and it was full of kayaks, rafts, and all sorts of water toys. We dragged everything out. I was taken aback by how cold the water was when I first walked in it. It was even colder than Mantua Reservoir, taking my breath away. I couldn’t breathe. The coldness seized up my muscles. The more we swam around, the warmer we got. We stayed in the water for several hours until everyone had blue lips and fingers. Finally Joe called the swimming to a close. We dragged all the toys back into the garage and went into the house.

  Inside, we stood wrapped in our towels in the kitchen. Below us, puddles of water formed. All of us had chattering teeth. I couldn’t wait to get my clothes back on and warm up.

  “I have the perfect thing to warm us up,” Joe said as he reached into a top cupboard and pulled out a bottle of Vodka. “This is what the Russians use to warm up, and it is colder there than here.”

  Traydon and Hailey got hyper to the thought. Hailey was shivering out of control. “Let me get changed first,” she said.

  “Yes, everyone get changed and meet me out here in five minutes.”

  I went into a room and closed the door. I felt sick. I really shouldn’t have taken a ride with those kids. I didn’t like what they were doing. I knew drinking was bad. At school, we had learned about the ill effects of alcohol on the body, especially young bodies like our own. My science teacher had given all of us a contract to sign, promising him we wouldn’t drink until we were twenty one. I had signed that contract. I also remember some things being said about drinking at Peggy’s church. Drinking was something I didn’t want to do.

  I quickly got changed. I could hear the party start through the door. I wasn’t brave enough to tell them no. What was I going to do? I paced around the small room, nervous and scared. I felt sick. I must have been in there too long, because I heard pounding on the door.

  “Hey Alora, what is taking you so long?” I couldn’t tell if the voice belonged to Traydon or Joe.

  “Give me another minute,” I replied.

  “Hurry!”

  I noticed a large window in the room. It easily slid open. I had to get out of there. I crawled out the window, and ran.

  …

  I kept running until I came to a small gas station, my limbs shaking from fear, lungs gasping for breath. I was angry for getting into a situation like that. They were not my type of crowd. I was a good kid and didn’t like breaking the law. I went into the gas station to settle my nerves and think. The smell of hot dogs and warm bread tempted my senses, and I realized despite the knots in my stomach, I was hungry. In the refrigerated section, I found a pre-wrapped sandwich. I had a little cash on me that London had given me some time ago.

  I had seen Peggy buy a few things and thought I could do it by myself. As I was buying it, I asked the clerk, “Can I use your phone?”

  “Sure,” he said, as he pulled it out from under the counter. My fingers were shaking as I dialed home. No one answered. I called again, and again. Still no one answered. That made me so angry. I knew everyone was home.

  As I was dialing home for the sixth time, I saw Joe’s car in the median, getting ready to pull into the gas station.

  “What’s wrong?” the clerk asked. I must have turned as white as a ghost. My hand was jerking the phone around as it shook.

  “Those kids are after me,” I said shaking.

  The clerk looked at them as they got out of the car. “Here, come hide behind the counter,” he offered.

  I quickly ducked behind it before they walked in.

  “I’ll check the girl’s room,” I could hear Hailey say.

  “Go look behind all the shelves,” Joe commanded.

  I heard feet shuffle around, then they congregated back together in front of the counter.

  “How could she stand me up like that?” Joe growled. I could hear disgust in his voice.

  “Where else would she go?” Traydon replied. “We have checked everywhere. There really isn’t anywhere else to go.”

  “Can I help you with something?” the clerk asked.

  “No, we are fine,” Hailey snapped at him.

  “Are you going to buy something?” the clerk asked.

  No one replied.

  “Hey, I am sick of teens coming here and loitering about. You may buy something, or leave,” the clerk said.

  “Your customer service sucks,” Joe barked.

  “Will you sell us some cigarettes?” Traydon asked.

  “Do you have ID?” the clerk responded.

  “Uh, I left it at home.”

  “Do I have to call the police on you?” the clerk said.

  Those were the magic words. They cleared out real quickly.

  After a few minutes the clerk turned and looked down at me. “They are gone,” he said.

  I stood up. I couldn’t see them in the parking lot, or in the street. “Thank you,” I said. I went around the counter.

  “Do you still need the phone?” he asked.

  I looked out the window and noticed it was dusk, almost dark. I was scared. I shouldn’t be at Bear Lake. Peggy was going to kill me. I picked up the phone and called again, and again. Still no answer.

  I tried Mandy. She answered on the second ring. I didn’t know I was going to be emotional, but with the firs
t words out of my mouth, I cried. “Can you please come pick me up? This is Alora.”

  “What’s wrong?” Mandy asked sympathetically over the phone. I could hear the worry in her voice.

  “I’ll tell you later,” I said.

  “Okay, I will be there in ten minutes.”

  “Um…I’m not home. I am actually…” I paused for a moment. “I am at Bear Lake.”

  “BEAR LAKE? What are you doing there? Did your family’s van break down? I don’t have room for all of you.”

  “No, it’s just me.”

  “What are you doing in Bear Lake?”

  “Can I tell you later?”

  “Sure, give me a few minutes and I will head out. Where am I going to?”

  I really wasn’t sure, so I had the clerk explain the directions to Mandy. The clerk was compassionate enough to let me wait in the store until Mandy showed up.

  …

  I could hardly look Mandy in the eye when she picked arrived. It was fully dark by then. Shame filled me.

  “I almost hit four deer on the way here. I am really not comfortable making a long drive back in the night. We are going to have to get a hotel. I hope you don’t mind,” she said.

  I felt horrible. I had really made a mess of things. I handed Mandy the rest of my money. “I know this doesn’t even cover the gas,” I said.

  Mandy handed it back. “Don’t worry about it,” she said.

  Mandy checked us in at a cute inn. I spent the rest of the night trying to call the Sanibels to tell them where I was. They never answered. I wanted to at least leave them a message, but their voicemail was full. That night, Mandy didn’t ask me to explain to her what I was doing in Bear Lake. She was tired from the drive. We quickly fell asleep. In the morning, we got up early and left.

  …

  As she drove, I explained everything to her.

  “I am sorry. I messed things up,” I said through my tears when I had finished telling my story.

  “Don’t be sorry,” Mandy said. “I am proud of you.”

  “How can you be proud of me?”

  “I am. You stuck up for yourself. It is hard to do the right thing sometimes. You could have stayed and drank, but that would have only led to more bad places. I bet it took a lot of courage for you to climb though that window and run away. I am so proud of you!”

  “Yeah, but I shouldn’t have been there in the first place.”

  “I am not sure anyone can blame you. In a way, you are like an infant, everything in life is new to you. You don’t know when situations are bad. Most kids your age should know better than to take rides from strangers, but who has taught you that? I doubt the Sanibels have. These are things you learn as you grow up. You learn a lot about it in elementary when they teach stranger danger. They really stop teaching it by the time you are a teen, because they expect you to already know it. Since you can’t remember your past, it also means you can’t remember some of the past lessons you were taught. No one can blame your for trusting others for rides. I hope from this point on, you take this as a learning lesson and never do it again.”

  “I promise,” I said.

  Mandy stopped at a little diner in Logan and we got breakfast. It was 11:00am when she dropped me off at the Sanibels’.

  “You be sure to explain everything to Peggy like you did to me. If she is angry, then you have her call me.”

  “Okay, and thanks for coming to get me. I am sorry you had to get a hotel.”

  “Alora, you made a good choice last night. If me driving all the way to Bear Lake kept you innocent and virtuous, I would do it again. Please, call me if you ever need me.”

  I slithered into the home, expecting a full tongue lashing from the Sanibels. Peggy glanced my way from her recliner, but she didn’t say anything. She didn’t look mad, or happy, just zoned to the TV like always. No one said anything to me. I realized no one had even noticed I had been gone. I was a bit relieved they didn’t know, yet simultaneously disappointed they didn’t know. It made me feel unimportant.

  My trip to Bear Lake had been a real life lesson, but after that, the summer dragged. I sure wished it would end soon and I could get back in school. I can’t say I particularly loved school, but it did give me an outlet, something to do.