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EARLY DINNER DONE, Brenda corralled the kids into the yard. Trying to keep one eye on them and one eye on the sky, she showed them how to recover damaged plants from the smashed piles in the clearing. “Bring it over here, Beau.”
The sky was empty. Not one cloud could be seen. Brenda leaned her hip against the largest boulder and bit her fingernail.
Beau dropped the plant by Brenda’s feet. He squinted up at his aunt. “Where’d Kayli go? I’m bored.”
Brenda squatted beside him. “Kayli’s over there looking for plants, like you.” She pointed toward the center of the clearing, but kept her eyes on Beau.
He shook his head. “No, she’s not. I was just over there. That’s where I got this.” He pointed at the wilted plant at his feet and beamed like he’d invented gold.
“She’s not over there?” Brenda stood and scanned the clearing. The little brown-haired girl couldn’t hide under boulders smashed so far into the ground they had skirts of dirt and trees.
Her nephew knelt beside his plant and waved the leaves around like dancing arms. “Nope. Can I get something to drink?”
Brenda grabbed his hand and walked him into the house. “Don’t leave this spot. I’ll be back.” He didn’t even acknowledge her as he moved around the kitchen getting a cup. Brenda tucked the butt of her sister’s gun into her palm. The next thing she’d do is shoot whoever the hell was interrupting the relative safety of Rachel’s home.
If she could find Kayli first.
Rather than run outside yelling for her niece, Brenda swallowed and ducked out the door. She edged around the front of the building, snuck through the lean-to, and out into the trees bordering the clearing. Kayli had better be sitting somewhere napping or pulling apart a flower. Disappearing crap isn’t funny.
The late afternoon sun shot long shadows from the boulders where any small child could hide. Tension in the moment enhanced Brenda’s sensitivity to the fresh spring smell of dirt rising from the damp forest floor.
Every step Brenda took seemed to snap or crackle and pop. Like a damn cereal.
Kayli’s hair exactly matched the browns of the trunks and Brenda squinted through the rows and rows of trees spreading out from the circle. Where would a kid that small go? She knew the situation wasn’t safe. Smarter than most other 6-year-olds, in Brenda’s opinion, Kayli would know not to stray far. Right?
Brenda shoved her backside against the nearest tree. She lowered the gun to her side and gasped. She’d been holding her breath and finally, biological need had forced her to breathe. She leaned forward and in a loud whisper, called, “Kayli? Kayli Parker, you better get over here.”
The lack of reply brought back all of Brenda’s anxiety from the last few weeks. Sweat ran down her neck, the salt stinging her aggravated neck wound. Damn branding. She hunched over and ran to the next tree. And the next. Nothing moved in the clearing except the occasional misplaced tree root in the breeze.
Kayli laughed. The sound echoed through the trees to Brenda’s right. Laughter meant she wasn’t dead. Yet.
Brenda moved toward the direction of the sound. Murmurings whispered between the trees, but Brenda couldn’t figure out the exact location. “Kayli? Where are you, honey?” She froze, waiting for an answer, an indication of which way to move.
The murmurings stopped and Kayli called out, “Over here, Aunt Brenda.”
Brenda turned to her right and moved behind a thick grouping of bushes she’d passed on her way around the clearing. She tightened her grip on the gun. She needed to be prepared to shoot, if it came to that.
But behind the brush, Kayli knelt in the damp grass and mud. She gripped a stick with moss wrapped around the tip. “Aunt Brenda! This is my friend. She’s reading me a story.”
Irritated? Yep. Relieved? Hell, yeah. Brenda exhaled and lowered her gun, loosening her grip. “Kayli,” she sighed. “I thought someone had taken you.” Kneeling, Brenda glanced around the unfamiliar forest.
Kayli’s laugh tinkled, and she jiggled her makeshift doll. “Aunt Brenda, you’re silly. There’s no one out here.”
Brenda smiled at her niece’s bent head. “I guess you’re right.” Comfortable silence fell between them. Oddly, birds chirped in the background. The moment had a surreal flavor Brenda couldn’t quite grasp yet she didn’t want to leave either. Sitting there with Kayli, her sister’s miniature copy, sparked memories of growing up and hiding.
A page rustled in the slight breeze. Two small, thick notebooks lay open on top of a dark backpack Brenda somehow recognized. “Honey, what do you have?” She leaned forward and grasped the books for a closer look at the odd shaped symbols and incomplete verbiage.
As the words came more into focus, Brenda brushed the dirt and loose grass blades from the pages. She flipped one, then another.
Kayli shrugged. “I found the bag by the door. I think it’s Tom’s. He left it here. Finders keepers, right?” She glanced up and rubbed the tip of her nose. “Sorry, I didn’t find more plants. I wanted to but I found my dolly. And...” She shrugged.
Brenda couldn’t focus. Between Kayli talking and the secrets she’d discovered, too many thoughts whirled through her head. Suddenly ominous, the birds seemed to whistle back and forth about the codes in the first book. The forest became closed in and Brenda gasped against the sudden claustrophobic feel tightening around her chest.
She stood. “Kayli, we need to get back. Grab your stuff, let’s go.” Brenda wiggled her toes. Her fingers tapped against the cold metal of the gun still in her hand. She shifted her eyes between her niece and the gaps in the trees. They could run, if attacked, but how far? How fast? How close were the people looking for Rachel?
The distance to the house wasn’t as far as Brenda had thought. Inside, Beau sat at the table dropping rocks in his cup of water. He offered a sheepish smile and tried covering the small puddle beside his cup with his hand.
Rolling her eyes, Brenda pulled Kayli through the door and shut it... tight. The clock on the wall showed it’d only been about seven hours since Rachel and Josh had left. It wasn’t long, but one of them had to accomplish their goal. Rachel had left on foot, with town being a short three hour hike straight through the woods and people’s backyards. Josh had taken the other four-wheeler and disappeared toward the south.
Kayli’s loud yawn broke through Brenda’s calculations. She tossed the bag and books on the table and waved her hand at Beau. “Okay, guys, let’s get ready for bed. I’ll tuck you in, okay?” Then she’d figure out what the hell she should do.
According to what she’d read, Rachel was the one leading the attackers.