| |
INSTEAD OF HEADING back to the highway, Avalon directed Mitch to continue down the dirt road, following the twists and turns of the sunken river. At one point a covered bridge presented itself and they rattled across the wooden floor to the other side of the river, following a road that had existed as long as the town. Mitch knew the oldest farms and the oldest families lived across the river. It was with a growing suspicion, as they passed farm after abandoned farm, that he drove to the only possible destination left - Gainsborough Manor. Set high on the hill, the manor had been a landmark for two centuries. It had sat empty for five years, ever since their mysterious disappearance. Everyone had vanished without a trace, on a quiet summer’s evening much like this one, only a steady drizzle had accompanied him on the long drive.
He had received an emergency call from the manor from a little girl who had said some bad men were at the house and hurting her mommy and daddy. She had whispered into the phone as though she were talking under blankets in a closet, the voice muted and muffled. When they had arrived, the manor lights had been blazing but the house was empty. They’d searched it top to bottom and the only clue that they had uncovered were tire tracks in the soft mud. A vehicle, possibly a Hummer, had been at the location. They’d followed the trail back to the main highway and lost it on the drying pavement.
The family had never been located.
Mitch turned into the lane and the empty-eyed house stared at him, the door agape on failing hinges. The sad condition of the once stately manor saddened him. He drove his Mustang up the circular drive and stopped in front of a crumbling stone staircase. Turning off the engine, he looked at Avalon.
“You are the one who called me on the emergency line five years ago. You are one of the two Gainsborough children, aren’t you.”
Avalon blinked at him, and then looked out her window at the manor. “Yes,” she whispered.
“Where is your sister?”
“Safe. I care for her.” She turned her face back to him, meeting his eyes and he saw fierce loyalty and love in her challenging gaze. “This is our home. We never left. We do not live in the house though, it is a target for vandals and raiders and gangs. We have made our home elsewhere.”
“Where?” He leaned toward her, anxious to know the truth after so many years. How in the world have they survived? It’s a miracle. He wondered, but he did not voice the thought aloud.
“The barn by the river.” She looked longingly at the picnic cooler. “Alexa is there. Can I take her some food? Please, she will be so hungry. I promised her last night that I would bring her food.” Avalon hated the pleading note that entered her voice, but she needed the food, badly.
“Of course you can.” He reached back and grabbed the cooler handle then opened his door. “Come, let’s give this to your sister.” Avalon scrambled out of the opposite door and then ran towards the back of the house. The yard was thick with burrs and wild raspberry vines that clutched at his sweater as he passed. Suddenly he understood all the small tears in her sweater and his heart went out to this brave little girl - young woman, he corrected himself. She had been fending for herself and her sister for all this time. But what had happened to her parents? The cop in him wanted to halt her flight and drag the answers out of her, but he knew it was unwise to trample on her fledgling trust at this time. Plenty of time for that enquiry when we are on the road to the capital, he reminded himself.
Avalon ran down the hill and took a stone staircase down the hillside with the agility of one who has passed down its broken face many times and memorized the best footing. Mitch slowed, picking his way carefully lest he slip and break his leg. At the base of the hill, an old stone barn stood, with a thick thatched roof in need of repair. The windows were long gone, and open to the wind. Avalon disappeared inside and as he entered the barn with his flashlight, it lit up the black interior to reveal Avalon pulling down a ladder from the ceiling with a rope released from its hold on a peg. The attic staircase flopped to the floor, stirring the dust into a swirl that danced like smoke in the beam of the flashlight. Everything was silent in the attic. Avalon headed up the stairs. “Alexa, it’s me, I’m back. Alexa?” Her head disappeared into the attic and Mitch set down the cooler then began to climb up behind her. As his head cleared the attic floor, he heard Avalon shout “Alexa, NO!” just as a cast iron frying pan connected with the side of his head. Mitch lost his balance and tumbled back down the stairs to land on his back. The impact was so hard, that he lost his breath, gasping like a fish out of water to get it back. He lost his flashlight in the fall and it rolled away from him to rest against the wall. The barn swam in his vision and as it steadied, two faces appeared, bent over his prone form.
“Alexa, this is Captain Mitch. He gave me a ride home.” The four girls resolved into two and Mitch gasped “Hullo Alexa. That is quite the swing you have.” His hand found a large lump swelling on his skull just above his left ear. “Ouch!” He rolled onto his side and pushed himself up to a sitting position. The motion made his head swim again but it steadied after a moment. Alexa was blonde haired to Avalon’s black and was just as short. She wore a ragged floral dress that fit like a tunic, over too short of pants, that would not fit at all if the girl was not starving. They ended well short of her ankles and her feet were stuffed into boots two sizes too big. The soles had holes in them. He wondered where she had found them.
Mitch gestured toward the cooler. “Help yourself to some food, Alexa.” Alexa’s faced brightened and she ran over to the cooler and flipped the lid. With a squeal of delight she fell on the food much as Avalon had, stuffing it in faster than she could chew and swallow, so that she looked like a chipmunk. “Hey, slow down! Your stomach will reject it if you don’t.” Avalon made Alexa sit down away from the cooler but she did not stop shoving the food in.
“Twhak you tho mush,” she said around the huge mouthfuls. Avalon opened a bottle of juice and Alexa gulped down the liquid.
Mitch pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at the lump on his head. “I bet you do more defense with that frying pan, than actual cooking.” Alexa grinned at him in agreement, eyes twinkling. Mitch decided he liked both girls very much.
“So, Alexa, Avalon is going to help me with a project. Do you want to come with us or stay here?” He held his breath, but let none of his concern show on his face.
“She is?” she swallowed the food in her mouth “Where are you going?”
“To the capital. She is going to help me gather some fertilizer for the greenhouses.” Avalon scowled over at him, knowing that he was sealing her fate by bribing her sister to come along. “I will take care of the food for the trip. What do you say?”
“What’s the catch?” asked Alexa, pocketing three apples before he could answer.
“No catch. I can pay for the food no problem.”
Alexa popped her last bite of sandwich into her mouth and looked at her sister, a question in her eyes, unsure how to answer. Avalon nodded that it was OK, and Alexa said, “OK then, but I’d like some new clothes like Avalon’s. I can’t go to the capital dressed like this. And new shoes too.” She stuck her toe out the front of her shoe and wiggled it at him.
“Deal struck. My sister should have some things that will fit the pair of you. Is there anything here that you want to get before we go?”
Both girls shook their heads. “I can lock up the attic, no one knows it exists, with the staircase missing,” said Avalon.
“OK then, let’s go. I’d like to be well away from here by daylight.” Mitch stood up and was happy to see that the barn remained steady. Outside the blush of dawn was lightening the eastern sky, the promise of another hot, dry day in the offing.
He picked up the lunch cooler and his flashlight then headed back out the barn door, as Avalon secured the staircase. The two girls followed him as he retraced their steps of an hour earlier. Reaching the top of the hill, he lead them back to the front of the house and held open the door to the back seat to let Alexa into the rear, placing the cooler beside her. She smiled her thanks, flipping open the lid again as soon as she was seated. Avalon climbed into the passenger side. As the first rays of the day split the horizon, the Mustang gathered speed on the straight highway that lead to the heart of the capital city of Erlea.