by Lisa Glenn
I decide to turn around and put a stop to all this nonsense and prove to myself that he’s not there. My knees got weak, and I felt my stomach sink just as I saw a shadowy figure coming out from behind a tree. I can’t make out what he looked like with the sun shining in my eyes, but something was definitely there, and here we are, stuck in the middle of nowhere. The chance that someone is just out for a stroll in the middle of nowhere between mile marker 116 and 117 was more than unlikely. I pressed on even faster now trying to think what to do, where to go, how to survive one more time in this life that seemed to keep throwing curve balls at me. Will these be the last thoughts I have? What will he do to me if he catches me? My mind is racing. I’m not even sure I can remember to breathe.
Don’t look back, just look forward and keep going. Maybe it will go away.
Daniel can see the fear on my face, I’m sure. José is oblivious to what is going on behind him.
“Hey!” A stranger hollered. I stopped cold; frozen to the ground. “You guys haven’t come across a German Shepard on your walk, have you?” The man asked cheerfully.
Daniel shook his head, “No sir...no dog, just a bunch of deer.”
“Alright, sorry to have bothered you.” The man waved offhandedly and turned, disappearing back into the trees.
I stood there panting, my eyes wide with fear and shaking uncontrollably. Daniel looked at me sympathetically. “Shelby, it’s okay, he’s gone.”
My eyes are locked on José. He stopped and turned when the man spoke. He read the fear on my face and knew something was terribly wrong. The shock still held me for a moment.
He found me! was my only thought.
José looked over at Daniel, “What’s going on?”
I jumped when Daniel touched my arm. “Shelby, it’s alright, he’s gone.”
“No, it’s not alright, Daniel. It was him.” I knew that voice... it haunted my dreams at night and consumed my days when awake. I now knew he had been following us.
“You mean your step-dad?” José asked, baffled. “That was him? How did he find you?” In the back of his mind, he wondered if that were so, why didn't he just grab her or something?
I nodded my head. “He must have been following us the whole time.”
Daniel took my hand again. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why didn’t he stop you?” he asked, reiterating what José had just thought.
Pressing a hand to my nervous stomach, I replied, “I don’t know.”
Daniel wrapped his arm around me. “He won’t get you; I won’t let him, don't worry.”
José chimed in, “We won’t let him get you, Shelbs. He’ll have to get through us first.”
Why Jack didn't attack or come after me here in the middle of nowhere was a mystery to me. What was he up to? Why didn’t he say something to me? My stomach clinched in fear, knowing exactly why. Daniel. If Daniel hadn’t been here, he probably would have, but he didn’t want witnesses or a fight, no matter how much one-sided it may be. José, he could handle with one swipe of his hand, Daniel, not so much. But still, he wanted me to know that he had found me.
“Come on, let’s get out of here,” José mumbled as his eyes scoped the area.
We all three walked faster. It amazed me how José could walk so fast for one so small. I carried Oreo this time, feeling just a little safer with her in my arms. Every few minutes, I looked back. I knew he was following. I could feel him, the evil of his shadow.
Chapter Twenty-One
Laurel Hill, Florida
“It’s only ten more miles, Daniel; I can make it!” I told him for the umpteenth time. He wanted us to stop and rest until I felt better, knowing that it wouldn't take much of a push to make me relapse into being sick again, but I felt so close that I didn't want to stop. I did feel like crap, but I thought not from being sick, just a general tiredness. Also, I was afraid if we stopped Jack would get me when I was right at the finish line, like some evil Jack-in-the-Box popping out from behind a tree or something. I wanted to get there before he stopped me.
My fever was gone, or so I thought. The aspirins I had been taking seemed to be working just fine...at least for the time being, but recently my skin had taken on a sheen of sweat and I was shivering constantly, despite the warm weather. I had put on my jacket earlier although the sun was beating down on us in the mid-afternoon Florida heat. My eyes darted in every direction, and now my ears were ringing. I kept hearing the idle of the engine. I didn't know if it’s just me hearing things, or if it was Jack still following. The fear was now there as constant as the chills that ran through me.
An hour later, I pulled off my jacket, suddenly over-heating. I counted in my head my steps to keep myself from collapsing. Each time I took a breath, my lungs gurgled noisily. My ribs hurt, my head was pounding, and my vision was pulsing in and out, but I didn't want to stop. I needed to keep going. We’re almost there. We passed a few farms with horses drinking out of the trough. More houses came into view. I’m too tired to keep going. All I really wanted is to sleep in a warm bed. I know I had walked farther than the ten miles the sign stated back there.
José is lagging, now the Oreo-bearer. He’s so afraid he might catch something. He had been keeping a vigilant distance of at least ten feet from me at all times.
Daniel came up beside me, obviously not sharing José's concerns. I am so tired and weak by now I just leaned in against his side. My head pounded, and the pain stabbed behind my eyes with every heartbeat.
“Shelby, you’re burning up. We need to stop,” Daniel said, concern etched in his strong features.
All I could manage was just one word. “No.”
“Alright. Just hold on then...it’s not much farther.” Daniel sighed, resigned for the moment and leaned back against me to support my weight.
The small white church came into view just as we rounded the corner. My breath hitched in my throat on seeing it. It was the same as in my dream!
A small white church sat back off away from the road surrounded by walnut trees. We stopped there, but I could only stare. I had been here before; I could feel it deeper down inside me; stronger than a dream, stronger than any sense of deja vu. This was real, no longer a dream. The church was real, after all. The only difference from my dream was the parking lot. It was gravel.
My legs decided to give out on me. I couldn’t walk another step. I moaned out thickly. Every breath I took felt like fire. I was too weak to go on.
“Catch her, she’s going to fall!” screamed José’, hopping from one foot to the other.
Daniel caught me just before I hit the pavement. I heard him whisper in my ear, “Ah, Shelby, you’ll be just fine. You made it. You’re home now.”
José left Oreo outside the church and he followed Daniel who carried me into the church through the front doors, laying me gently down into one of the pews. He signaled for José to watch me, and then he quietly turned away and without an explanation, walked out.
At first, José assumed Daniel was coming right back that he had gone to get help... but as minutes went by turning into hours, he felt the disappointment deep down.
José yelled for help. “Is anyone here? Please help!” He soon heard footsteps fast approaching. José looked toward the sound. From a side door in the back of the sanctuary came a tall, wiry gentleman.
“How may I help you?”
“Please help! It’s Shelby; she’s real sick. Can you help us, sir?”
The man’s eyes found me as I lay helpless on the cushions of the pew. I can barely make out his features. He quickly kneels beside me, and I felt a cool hand on my forehead.
“She’s burning up,” the man exclaimed. I can sense the worry in his tone.
“Yes sir, she’s been sick for a while. Please, can you help us?”
The man reached into the front of his jacket pocket and pulled out a cell phone. After punching in some numbers, he spoke briskly to José.
“We need to get her to the hospital. It’ll be faster if we take
my car. What’s your name?” the man asked him.
“I’m José, sir and this here is Shelby, my friend. Just please help her.”
“Hello, José. My name is Pastor David Williams. We’ll get her some help, don’t worry.”
An older man came in through the front doors. He took in a small group. “Pastor, the van is ready.”
With gentle hands, I’m being lifted and then carried out to the waiting white van. “We'll meet you at the hospital,” Pastor David said to the older gentleman.
“José?” the Pastor asked, “do you want to ride with me to the hospital?”
“Yes!” José scrambled catching up to him as Pastor David made his way to an older model Chevrolet.
The drive to the hospital took all of ten minutes; José too worried to notice any of his surroundings. When the Pastor and José arrived at the emergency room, the man who first brought the van up was standing in front of the reception, signing some papers.
He glanced up at them then his eyes found José.
“They already took her into the back,” the man said to him.
Pastor David nodded. “José, come. Let’s sit down here and wait.”
José followed and sat next to him in a large waiting room. He twisted his hands together and looked down at the floor, his legs swinging back and forth nervously.
“She’ll be okay," The Pastor assured José, "don’t worry, she’s in God’s hands now. They have good doctors here.”
José didn’t answer. He kept his head bowed.
“Is she your sister?” Pastor David asked.
“No sir, Shelby is my best friend, well... besides Daniel.”
“How did you get her inside the church?”
José furrowed his brow and looked up. “Daniel carried her in, but then he had to leave.”
The Pastor frowned a little. “Who is Daniel?
“He’s our friend. He helped Shelby, and I get here.”
“Get here?”
“Yes, sir. We've come a long way, already. Shelby is looking for her Momma.”
“Ahh... I see. Where did you travel from?” The Pastor asked.
“Wyoming, sir.”
“You came all the way from Wyoming...how?” he asked, fascinated.
“We mostly walked, but sometimes we got rides. Not often, though. Shelby doesn't trust strangers and..."
José bit down on the rest of that, not wanting to reveal anything about her step-dad in case the nice Pastor decided to not be nice and call Jack to come get her, as she was a runaway.
"Once we even rode the train.” José finished lamely.
“You said Shelby was looking for her mom. Who is she...do you know her name?”
“Shelby doesn’t know. All she knows is what her other mom told her, and what town she had been taken from and your church...well, it was in her dream. She was taken when she was just a baby. Her fake mom told her all of this in a letter right before she died. Shelby came here to find her real mom.”
The Pastor raised his eyebrow, trying to absorb this tragic and moving tale. “How old is Shelby?”
José fidgeted in his seat. “She just had her fourteenth birthday.”
“Fourteen is awfully young to be out on her own. How old are you, José?”
“Me, sir?” José lifted a brow. “I’m sixteen.”
Before the Pastor could question him further, the large doors in front of them swung open, and a man in a long, white jacket walked out. He walked right up to the Pastor and held out his hand.
“Pastor David! Did you bring the girl in?”
“Yes, Paul... how is she?”
The doctor looked down at José and spoke matter-of-factly, “The young girl is severely dehydrated, and she has a fever of a hundred and four. We took her blood, so I’m waiting to hear back from the lab on what we're dealing with. I have her hooked up to an IV now to get fluids in her and started a round of antibiotics. I’m waiting on x-rays on her chest, as well."
The doctor looked directly at José. "What happened to her that you know of to let her get to this state of health?”
José looked up at the Pastor, hoping he would answer the doctor for him. He didn’t like hospitals.
Pastor David answered the doctor as best he could, considering he really didn’t know much. He explained how the two urchins ended up at his church. When he was finished explaining, something clicked; something from his memory. His eyes widened.
“Wait! José, you mentioned that she was looking for her real mom?”
“Yes sir," José nodded.
“Do you know her mother’s name? What is Shelby’s last name?”
José shook his head and shrugged, not having a clue and knowing even Shelby couldn't have answered that one.
The Pastor looked back at the doctor. “Listen Paul, can you run a DNA test for me?”
“Sure Pastor, I can do that.”
“Great, I need to make a phone call. José, I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”
José watched the Pastor walk away. The doctor looked back down at him. “José, can you tell me anything else that might help in finding out what’s wrong with your friend?”
“No, sir, except I got sick a while back before Shelby; a month ago, or maybe two. I got sick after I ate some soup from a can. It kept coming back up after I ate it, but I don’t think Shelby ate any of it.”
The doctor nodded at him. He smiled down at José and patted him on the head. “We’ll take good care of her. Don’t worry.”
José sat back down and stared at the tiles. He didn’t want to cry, but the tears slipped out anyway of their own free will. He couldn’t stop them. He wiped at the traitors and sniffed, just knowing they were going to put him back in foster care. He should just leave now while he had a chance, but no, he knew he couldn’t just leave Shelby...at least not yet; not until he knew for certain she would be okay. It wasn’t fair that Daniel just left like that. What was his problem anyway? The closer they got, the more withdrawn he had become. José decided he didn’t like him anymore. He was a strange one, indeed.
José sighed. Who was he kidding? Daniel was like a brother. He wished he were here. He would know what to do.
“José?”
José jumped when he heard his name. He turned around, and the Pastor was holding out a bottle of water. “Here, you better drink this. We don’t want you admitted, as well.”
“Yes, sir,” José answered. He thanked the Pastor and took the water. He chugged it down and before he realized it; the bottle was empty. He had been thirstier than he had thought.
The Pastor smiled. “Here. I also brought you a Danish from the machine. They don’t offer much else in those vending contraptions...nothing good, anyway.” The Pastor handed José the sweet roll and José tore into it with relish.
“How long have you two been on the lamb?” the Pastor asked, sitting down.
“The lamb?” José repeated, lifting a brow as he took another bite of his Danish.
“Yes, you know...on the run.”
“Oh," José said cautiously. Well, he had trusted him this far, and if was going to call the cops, he figured he probably would have done so by now. "I met Shelby at the beginning of summer. So then, I guess.”
“You mean the beginning of last summer?” Pastor David asked incredulously.
“Yea... April, I think.”
“José, that was like six months ago. You two have been out there for six months?”
José just nodded his head, not seeing himself how that would be such a big deal. He took another bite and just nodded without answering.
“Where are your parents?”
José kept his eyes on the floor as a sense of panic set in. He knew it! The preacher man was going to put him in a home!
Pastor David noticed the panic on José’s face and lowered his voice. “José, it’s alright. I’m willing to help you and Shelby, but only if you want me to. I’m not going to force you to do anything. You can trust me, okay?”
>
“They didn’t want me!” José blurted out, puffing up his chest. “That’s okay, because I didn't need them, anyway. I’ve been on my own for a long time now. I was tossed around from one foster home to another. I think I’ve done pretty well on my own.”
The pastor looked José in the eye and saw past his dwarfism. Whatever else this boy was, he sensed this was about the bravest young man he had ever met. “Son, you’ve done really well for yourself. But you don’t have to anymore...not if you don't want to.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Discovery
I opened my eyes and squinted up at the light above my head. I would give anything right now for a tall glass of cold water. The room was quiet except for the closing of a door and a quiet cough somewhere far off. I turned my head and looked up at the man in a white coat. A doctor, I presumed.
“Where am I?” I croaked. I cleared my throat and tried again, pushing the question past my dry, scratchy throat.
“Where am I?”
“You’re awake! Good! You’re in the hospital. You caused quite a stir, young lady, but you’re going to be fine. How do you feel?”
“Thirsty,” I said. Thirsty was an under-statement. The doctor was completely gray-haired with small, wire-rimmed glasses that perched on the end of his nose.
The doctor poured a glass of water from a pink pitcher that sat on a table and handed me a glass.
I drank it down swiftly, gulping and held it out for more.
“Shelby, slow down... too fast will cause you to throw it all back up,” he said wisely.
I handed him back my glass. “Thank you. How did I get here?”
“I believe your friend brought you in here. You were very sick with a fever. That was two days ago.”
I smiled impishly, “Yeah, I haven’t been feeling too good.”
“No, I bet you haven’t.” He sat down on a stool beside me.
“Shelby, my name is Doctor Paul Morris. I've been the lucky one taking care of you. Do you remember anything at all?”
I nodded my head. “Yes, my friends. Daniel and José brought me here, right?” My head was still a bit fuzzy, but I remembered the church and someone carrying me.