by Willow Rose
"Have you met Benjamin Rutherford?" Leslie asked.
Savannah felt herself blush even though she tried to fight it as his green eyes landed on her. Benjamin Rutherford wasn't tall; that would be a lie to say. He was barely taller than Savannah, and she was short even for a girl. His shoulders were broad and almost made up for his lack in height, Savannah believed. And what he didn't have there, he held in his smile and sparkling eyes, full lips, and blond hair that reached his ears and sometimes fell into his eyes before it was brushed away with a swift movement.
"This is Savannah," Leslie said addressed to him. "You might have seen her around school. She's new in town."
"Nice to meet you," Benjamin said with a smirk. He reached out his hand, and she briefly touched it before she turned away.
"Anyway, I have to pick up some food," she said, rushing away so he wouldn’t see her flushed face. She shivered lightly as she felt his eyes on her. It was late summer in North Carolina, but it didn't seem to get very warm in the mountains.
"Do you bike? A bunch of us are going biking in the mountains this weekend," Benjamin suddenly said as she had made it a few steps away. "Maybe you’d want to go with us?"
Savannah stopped. She stood for a few seconds and thought it over, then turned around and looked into his glistening eyes.
"I don't have a bike."
"Sure, you do. My brother doesn’t use his anymore," he said. "You can have it if you like."
Savannah lifted herself on her tippy toes for a second, then smiled shyly. "I won’t take it to keep, but if I could borrow it, then that would be fine, and I would love to go."
6
It was a lot later than expected that we arrived at the cabin that I had rented. It was dark out and way past Tyler's bedtime when we drove up the long driveway and got out.
I took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air, then shivered in the cold. It had recently snowed, and everything was covered in white powder. The children all gasped happily when they set their feet in it and heard the creaking sound it made under their feet. Abigail bent down, gathered a handful of snow, and threw the ball at her brother. She hit him on the shoulder, and Austin complained. A second later, they were both in the pile of snow next to the car, fighting and laughing.
Tyler had fallen asleep in his seat while we finished talking to the local police, and Shannon took him in her arms, ready to carry him inside the cabin. I found the key in the mailbox as the owner had promised me it would be, and unlocked the door, then turned on the lights.
"It's gorgeous," Shannon whispered as she walked past me, and I held the door for her. "I love the thick wooden beams."
It was perfect, just the way I had hoped it would be. Thick, heavy wood was everywhere, along with a beautiful stone fireplace and a strange bear figure standing by the door. I was just sad my family didn't get to arrive while it was still light out and they could see the creek in the backyard. But at least we could still hear it.
"I'm gonna find a bedroom for him upstairs," Shannon said and kissed my cheek.
"It's supposed to have five bedrooms, so you can choose any of them. I expect the three A's to sleep together while Betsy Sue will probably want her own room away from the younger kids."
I smiled at Betsy Sue as she walked past us, holding her backpack in her hand. She had grown so much the past year that she was almost unrecognizable. She was two years older than the three A's, and I knew that was important at that age. She felt more like one of the adults than one of the kids, and she hung out more with Emily back at the house than she did with the kids. Turning eleven had changed her, and she was going to be a teenager soon, even though there were still times when her childish innocence came forth, mostly due to the fact that she lived the first ten years of her life trapped inside of a house she wasn't allowed to leave. Her skin had gotten used to the sunlight by now, and she was over the shock of coming into the real world with everything it contained, but there was still so much that was new to her…like snow and like having a family. She kept mostly to herself, and I often tried to engage her in the family more and have her join us when we played board games, but she usually wasn't very interested. For the most part, she just wanted to listen to music and read books. We still played Black Jack every now and then, just the two of us, and that was the way I could get her to socialize a little, which I felt was important for her. She hadn't made any friends in school as far as we knew, and it worried me.
"They think I’m weird,” she would say if I asked her about it. "They don't want to be friends with me. But that's okay. I don't really need friends. I have Billy."
Billy was the ghost with the yellow skin that she had brought with her from Savannah when we found her. He had died from yellow fever and, apparently, he was her best friend and had been since she was a child. I was hoping he would go away soon and that she would hang out with real living friends, but so far, it hadn't happened. I was worried that the fact that she still had an imaginary friend was one of the reasons why she wasn't making any real friends, but Shannon had told me to relax. Betsy Sue would get friends when she was ready for it, and Billy would become less important over the years.
"It's not something you can force away," she had said and kissed my forehead lovingly. "I used to have an imaginary friend too."
"How long did he stay with you?"
"Who says he ever left?" she said with a glint in her eye.
As I watched them all carry their suitcases and bags up the stairs, Abigail dragging hers, so it bumped on each step, I chuckled to myself. Once more, I sent a grateful glance toward the sky, thanking my guardian angels for keeping us safe today. Then I turned around and walked back to the car to carry the remaining few suitcases inside. As I opened the back hatch and grabbed two of them, I turned and stared at the house next door. There was a small light in the top window, and it looked like someone was sitting there, looking out…a dark figure rocking back and forth in a chair.
Shannon came back outside and stood next to me. I could see her breath in the porch light when she spoke.
"Tyler is down for the night, and the rest are on their way to bed too. I told them to get ready right now, even though Abigail complained loudly. I want them to be rested for tomorrow when we’re going skiing. What's wrong?"
I shook my head. "Nothing. I just…there's someone in the window up there."
Shannon glanced toward the neighboring house. "You're right. There is someone sitting up there in the tower window. That is a little creepy. Let's hurry up and get inside, shall we? It's below freezing out here. My skin is hurting from the cold."
I shrugged and closed the back of the car. It blinked and lowered slowly. I grabbed two suitcases while Shannon took the last one. We walked inside and put them down, then closed the door behind us just as it started to snow again. Shannon and I put the kids to bed, then laid under the covers in our own bed, cuddling. I closed my eyes and held her tightly in my arms, wondering how I got so lucky to have all this.
Shannon shivered.
"Are you cold?" I asked.
She shook her head. I looked into her eyes.
"You're thinking about what happened today, aren't you?"
She nodded. "How can I not? It was so close, too close for my comfort. It was scary. Do you think she'll survive?"
I exhaled and rubbed Shannon's arm. I hadn't been able to get it out of my mind either. I didn't want it to ruin our family vacation, so I tried to not think about it, but it was hard not to.
"I hope so. I think I'll call the sheriff tomorrow and check if they have any news."
"I'd like that," she said and shivered again. I pulled her closer. "It's just…I looked into her eyes, Jack. Right before she crashed, I looked straight into her eyes. And I can't help thinking she looked scared, Jack. She looked terrified, and there was nothing I could do to help her. I keep seeing that face and those eyes again and again and wondering what went through her mind in that instant."
"Probably not a whole l
ot," I said and kissed her. "Now, let's get some sleep, okay? Big day tomorrow. We need our rest too."
7
Tyler woke us up early. He came storming into our room and threw himself on top of us, then giggled. I blinked my eyes, then moaned tiredly. It was barely light outside yet.
"It's too early, Tyler,” I moaned.
The boy chewed his pacifier and glared at me like he had no idea what I was talking about. Then I chuckled, leaned over him, and lifted my hands in the air.
"Early bird gets the tickle monster," I said.
Tyler shrieked joyfully, and I tickled him till he begged me to stop, then he jumped down and ran out of the room. I was sitting up now and turned to look at my wife next to me. Then I snuggled up behind her and kissed her neck. She moaned and kissed me back. I put my hand on her breast.
"You do realize we're on a family vacation, right?" she asked and looked deep into my eyes. "As in…we have children everywhere, hearing us."
I groaned. "So, nothing for the entire week?"
She shook her head, then regretted it. "You think the walls are soundproof?"
"I’m positive they are," I said and hammered on it. "They won't be able to hear a thing."
She laughed. "Okay. If you say so."
"So tonight? When they're all asleep?"
She kissed me again. "It's a date."
We stayed in bed for about fifteen minutes more, just cuddling and talking, then got dressed in our ski clothes and walked downstairs where all the kids were hanging out. Tyler had found a box of Duplo Legos and emptied it on the floor, and now he was building something.
"Dad, we're starving," Abigail said without even looking up at me.
"But are you dressed?" I asked. "For skiing?"
They all looked at one another.
"We don't know how to," Austin said.
"I'll show you,” Shannon said. "Come with me. All of you. You too, Tyler."
Tyler whined, annoyed because he had to leave his Legos. He looked at me like I could save him. I shook my head and signaled for him to listen to his mother, and so he went. I walked to the living room and turned off the TV, then knelt on the floor to pick up the Legos. I glanced out the window and saw the creek, then opened the door and walked out on the porch to feel the cold air on my face. As I stared at the rippling water, I couldn't help but look toward the neighboring house. There was still someone sitting in the window, rocking back and forth, and now that it was daylight, I could see that it was a woman. She seemed to be in the exact same spot as the night before.
"Hello there!" a voice said coming up behind me. "You must be Jack Ryder and family."
I turned and spotted a small woman with her gray hair in a ponytail. Her smile was sincere and exited.
"Just Jack Ryder," I said. "The family's inside."
"I’m Bridget Westwood. Welcome."
I smiled when I recognized her name from the emails I had received with information on the cabin and where to find the key.
"Thank you," I said, still unable to keep my eyes off the woman in the window. Bridget saw it.
"She's waiting for her son to come home," she said with an exhale. "He's been gone for three weeks. No one knows where he is. It's been upsetting to the entire town. Beatrice has been sitting up there ever since the day he disappeared. I guess she wants to be the first to see him if he shows up. They fear that he might have drowned himself in Jonathan's Creek. I guess she watches to see if he turns up."
"Her son has been gone for three weeks?" I asked. "That's awful. How old is he?"
"He's seventeen."
"Ah. I see. Could he have run away with a girl?" I asked.
"Sure, except the girl is still in town living right down at the campground. Her mom runs the place, and she hasn't seen him since that same day either. Lots of people think she knows more than she's saying, though."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"She was the last person to see him alive. Some say they believe she killed him. Others that she drove him to suicide. She broke up with him on that night."
"Why would she kill him if she broke up with him?"
"Maybe he broke up with her first; who knows?" she asked. "Maybe he screwed up and made her mad. It happens."
"Still fairly rare that a girl kills her boyfriend," I said. "It's usually the other way around. Besides, no one knows if he’s dead, right? He could have just run away. Did he have trouble at home?"
"The pastor's son? No. He was spoiled rotten by those parents. They have three children, yet they loved Benjamin the most. Especially the mother. She’d do anything for him, jump at his every wink. Even his dear sister adores him."
"And the third child? Does he love him too?" I asked.
"He's a little trickier, Charles Junior. No one ever liked him much, not like they love his brother. He's always been a little to a side. He was a teenager when they moved here, practically an adult. An angry type, not very friendly like the two others who would always meet me with a smile or wave and say hallo. A shame what happened to him, though. Ended up in a wheelchair after some accident."
"That sounds terrible," I said, wanting to end the conversation there. I was never very comfortable around gossip and rumors. I had a feeling Bridget might be the center of information around this town. Every small town had one person who made sure everyone else was up to date on the latest, even if it was just speculations.
"Sure was." Her eyes settled on my clothes. "So, you and your family are going skiing today?"
"We hope to, yes. They're all in there, getting dressed."
"You couldn't have picked a better time to come. It's been snowing for days now, and the slopes should be perfect."
"Say, do you know where we could get a good breakfast around here? We need to get some solid food in us before we get there."
Bridget smiled. "I most certainly do. Joey's Pancake house on Soco Road. That's our main street that goes through the entire town; you drove it when you got here because it's the only way in and out. If you go right on it and continue, then just before you turn to go up the mountain, there's the pancake house. Best pancakes you'll ever get. I know because I work there as a hostess."
8
Shannon sighed with satisfaction and looked at all the kids in the back. It wasn't easy, but she had managed to get them all ready, and now they were finally on the road heading for a breakfast place. She wasn't that hungry but looked forward to a cup of coffee and a break. Getting five kids ready for skiing had turned out to be quite the challenge, especially Tyler, who had complained about the many layers of clothes she wanted him to wear.
"I'm not cold," he kept saying.
"You will be," she argued.
"I won't. I’m never cold."
"That's because you live in Florida. This isn't Florida; this is the mountains, and there is snow. You want to play in the snow, right?"
The discussion had continued well beyond what Shannon had patience for, but finally, the boy had given in and put on the layers. Now, he was complaining again that he was too hot in the car.
This is going to be a long week.
Jack was on the phone as they drove down the main street and Shannon looked out at this small town surrounded by mountaintops with its many restaurants and souvenir shops. It also had a big campground and a couple of small hotels and cabin rentals for the tourists who came to ski or hike in the mountains.
"What do you mean the sheriff isn’t in right now?" Jack said angrily. "It's nine-thirty? How about Deputy Winston, is he in yet? Ah, I see. No, you can't take a message. Thank you."
He hung up and grumbled.
"So, no news?" Shannon asked. She felt terrible for the poor woman in that car the day before and couldn't stop wondering about her. Was she still alive?
"Apparently, the sheriff doesn't come in till later," Jack said with a snort.
"Wasn't there someone else you could talk to? How about that deputy that we talked to?" she asked.
"Not there
either."
"Well, maybe they're out patrolling or something," she said as Jack left the main road and turned into a parking lot that was packed with cars. He found a small spot at the end of the lot.
"Joey's Pancake House," Jack said and killed the engine. "Supposed to be the best pancakes we've ever tasted. Are you ready for the best pancakes of your life, kids?"
They didn't even look up from their phones to answer. Only Tyler glanced at him, but he was so enveloped in his own anger that he had no time to cheer. Jack sent Shannon a look and a shrug.
"Let's just eat," she said and got out. She grabbed Tyler in her arms, and he struggled to get away from her, so she put him down but kept his hand in hers, tightly gripped. Ever since he was kidnapped back in Savannah, she had kept an extra eye on him constantly when going places. The fear still lingered beneath her skin.
Inside, they were greeted by a woman who seemed to know Jack. Her face lit up, and she put the menus under her arm before she announced, "Jack Ryder and family. Welcome."