Outlaw (46 page)

We had gotten married almost immediately after I got
to California. It was just a small ceremony. My newly wealthy husband offered
me my choice of honeymoon destinations. He was a little amazed when I told him
my choice. We went back to Big Sur, and stayed in the very same cabin we’d
stayed in years ago. It had to be cabin number nine, my husband told the woman
when we checked in. It was, and it was perfect.

We got the children tucked in, and headed back
downstairs. Cole, to lock up, like he did every night, and me, to wipe the
granite counters down in our beautiful kitchen. I was standing at the kitchen
sink, rinsing out the dishrag, when I felt his arms slide around me from
behind, the warmth of his body coming up against my back. I felt his head dip
to the side of my neck, and his mouth hovered over my ear, and he whispered,
“My baby got something to tell me?”

I froze.

He knew. How could he know? It wasn’t that I didn’t
want to tell him. I did. I just was holding my little secret for just a little
while. It had only been a day, really. Suddenly, I was choked up. My throat
closed, and I couldn’t say the words.

“Mama, you gonna share?” he asked softly.

I nodded.

“Some news, a man gets from his woman, it’s a
moment
in life. We havin’ a moment?”

I nodded again, my throat closing even more at his
sweet words.

“Kinda wanna hear you say it, mama.”

I took a deep breath. “I’m going to have your baby,
Cole.”

His arms tightened around me, and we stood that way
for a moment. He took a deep breath. “Peace, baby. All the way down to my soul.
All that dark? It’s gone. Just light now. And that’s all because of you and the
kids.”

“Oh, Cole.”

He held me in his arms for a while.

“How did you know?”

“My baby loves her Bloody Mary’s. Crystal made you a
Bloody Mary today. Saw you take it, and thank her. Saw you put it aside later,
untouched.”

“Oh.”

He held me close, and his hand slid low to cover my
stomach. “Gonna get to see you carryin’ this one, babe. Gonna get to feel it
moving inside you. Can’t wait.”

I broke down into sobs.

He gently turned me in his arms.

I buried my face in his chest.

Surprised, he stroked the back of my head. “Baby
doll, you’re happy about this, right?”

I nodded, my head moving against him.

“Then what is it?” he asked, his head dipped to the
top of mine.

“I’m scared.”

Both his hands slid into my hair, and he tilted my
face up to his. “Why you scared, baby?”

“Melissa. What if this one’s sick, and-”

“No, mama, don’t go there. The bad is all in the
past. This family is not lookin’ back. We’re only lookin’ forward, and forward
is all good, mama.”

“Okay, honey.” And it was. It was all good.

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SNEEK PEEK at RUBY FALLS

By

Nicole James

Coming Summer 2013

Chapter One

The birds were the first things she heard upon
regaining consciousness. They called to each other with their singsong
chirping. The approaching dusk heralding an end to the day’s activities, as
they settled down for the coming evening.

The young woman rolled over onto her back, and
opened her eyes. Tree branches, swaying slightly in the breeze, and patches of
gray-blue sky peeking through them, all came into focus for an instant before
the ache in her head exploded into full force. She moaned, and squeezed her
eyes shut trying to block away the pain.

It was no use.

The pain remained, increasing and decreasing with
the rhythm of a heartbeat, giving her only a moment of respite before taking
her into its grip again. She pressed her palms against her forehead hoping to
ease it somewhat. She felt the lump, large and painful, stretching up into her
hairline, and she winced. Forcing her eyes open, she examined her hand, looking
for traces of blood, but saw none.

Lowering her hand, she looked around her, taking
care not to move her head anymore than necessary. She saw forest all around
her.
What had happened?
She must have
fallen. Maybe she tripped, she told herself. Slowly, she tried to sit up,
bracing herself for another wave of pain. When it came, she felt dizzy and
nauseous. She concentrated on breathing, slowly, evenly. Count, she told
herself. One breath, two breathes. In a few moments the nauseous feeling had
passed.

Finally, when she felt strong enough, she eased
herself slowly to her feet using a tree trunk for support. Again, the pounding
in her head and another wave of dizziness took hold of her, though this time
not as bad. She looked around in all directions searching for a house, a road,
something…anything to indicate where she was or which way she had come.

Nothing.

Only forest for as far as she could see.

Where am I? What am I doing
out here?
She asked herself. She couldn’t remember how she got there. She couldn’t
remember…anything. She couldn’t think clearly. How could she think with this
incredible pounding in her head? But she had to think, she told herself. She
couldn’t stay here. She had to find her way out of this forest, and back to…to
what?

It was then that she heard a noise, like the
snapping of a dead tree branch under someone’s foot. It came from behind her.
She turned, and searched for the source. It was a distant sound. She couldn’t
yet see who or what it was. She stood listening, completely alert, barely
breathing. And then the sound of another piece of wood snapping carried to her,
closer this time.

Suddenly, an instinctive but overwhelming fear took
hold of her. Her heart began pounding, her mouth went dry, and her palms began
to sweat.
Run! Get away! Now!
The words
screamed though her brain. She wasn’t sure what she was afraid of or why. She
didn’t stop to consider the question. She had nothing now to go on but her
instincts, and she followed them, knowing only that she had to get away, and
quickly, from whatever had made that noise.

She ran as fast and quietly as she could. Her
pounding headache and dizziness slowed her down, and forced her to grab on to
tree trunks for support. She desperately wanted to sit down, but she forced
herself to keep going. The surge of adrenaline pumping through her veins gave
her the reserve she needed.
Keep moving!
Keep moving!
Her mind screamed the command over and over.

Finally, when she couldn’t go on any further, she
stopped to catch her breath. Her eyes frantically searched the trees behind
her. Had whatever made that noise followed her? It was hard to hear anything
other than her own labored breathing, and her heart pounding in her ears.

She waited. Her breathing eventually slowed. Still,
there were no sounds.

Then, from ahead of her, she heard the unmistakable
sound of tires on pavement, a car driving down a highway. It had to be, she
thought, from the speed in which the sound went past. She started off again
toward what she hoped would be a road.

By the time she broke through the tree line, she was
exhausted. Stopping to lean against a tree to rest, she raked her fingers
through her long, golden brown hair, pushing it off her face. Her hand came
away smeared with blood. When she saw it she froze. The fear and panic seized
her with full force again.
Oh, my God!
What happened to me?

She felt the back of her head, locating the wound,
about two inches long. She felt the sticky wetness of blood seeping down her
long hair. She had to get some help, and soon.

She looked down the road, wondering which way to go.
It was a two lane, blacktop highway. There was a shallow ditch between the
pavement and the tree line. She looked to the right, and left. She saw no road
signs or markings of any kind, just a long stretch of blacktop curving up around
a bend to the right, and down a hill to the left. She chose the left. Whether
it was her instincts that subconsciously told her the way, or an exhausted body
that preferred a downhill walk to an uphill climb, she wasn’t sure.

She crossed the road, and began walking along the
gravel shoulder. It was dusk now, and the light was fading rapidly. She hoped
to reach a road sign before it became too dark to read it.

How long would it be before another car came along,
she wondered. Maybe she could get a ride into the nearest town. Maybe it would
be safer to walk. If only she knew how far she had to go.

Behind her she heard the distant sound of a car or
truck. Turning, she saw two headlights moving far down the road behind her.
They appeared to be moving very slowly.

As she watched, a searchlight flipped on, on the
driver’s side of the vehicle. The beam of light moved along the tree line of
the opposite side of the road. The side she had just emerged from. Someone was
searching for her! Relief flooded through her for a moment. Then she looked
down at the blood on her hand, and a chill came over her. Did she really want
them to find her? Was the person in that vehicle responsible for these
injuries? She wasn’t sure she wanted to find out the answer to that question
here, alone on a darkening, desolate highway.

She sank back into the tree line, and crouched down
behind some thick bushes. Peeking through the branches, she watched silently,
as the headlights grew closer. The spotlight scanned one side of the road, and
then the other, moving slowly along the road. As the vehicle approached, she
saw that it was a light colored pickup truck. There was only the driver, a man,
judging by the breath of his shoulders. He was wearing a light colored cowboy
hat. In the dim light she couldn’t make out any of his features.

She held her breath as the spotlight flashed across
the bush she was hiding behind. When it moved on past, down the road,
continuing its search, she breathed a sigh of relief.

As she watched the two red taillights getting
smaller and smaller in the distance, she had second thoughts. Could it be a
friend out looking for her? But why hadn’t he called out her name? Wouldn’t
that have been the logical thing to do if you were searching for someone you
knew?

She continued watching the truck from her hiding
place until it disappeared down the hill.

Silence enfolded her, and she became aware of the
evening sounds of the forest, cicadas, crickets, frogs and mosquitoes. Still
she waited, afraid to go back out on the highway until she was sure the truck
wasn’t going to double back. Besides, she needed to rest. The pounding in her
head was so painful; it was hard to concentrate on anything.

Leaning back against a tree, she waited, slapping at
mosquitoes, until the last traces of light faded from the sky. Hesitantly, at
first, she crept out of the bushes, and stepped back through the tree line.
Shaking off the leaves and twigs clinging to her hair and clothing, she
searched the highway in both directions.

Nothing.

She crossed the shallow ditch, and started walking
downhill, along the side of the road. She felt a slight breeze on her arms. The
temperature had dropped a couple of degrees, but it still had to be close to
seventy degrees, she judged. It was a good thing, too, since she was only
wearing a pair of khaki shorts, a white tank top, running shoes, and ankle
socks.

She walked for close to an hour, and no cars passed
her. Finally, she crested a rise, and the forest opened up, and she saw for the
first time where the highway was leading. It descended into a valley that was
spread out before her. She could see, far off in the distance, the twinkling
lights of a small town. The clouds moved to reveal a full moon hanging low in
the sky, and the valley became illuminated.

She started walking again, heading toward the
nearest lights, which appeared to be about a mile down the road.

It was some time later when she finally reached her
destination. She stopped to rest, and catch her breath before starting up the
gravel drive that led to what appeared to be a farmhouse, barn and several
large sheds.

Taking a deep breath, she started up the long gravel
drive. She was almost to the house, when suddenly a large German Shepard came
charging at her from out of the shadows, barking loud enough to wake the dead.
Knowing she didn’t stand a chance of outrunning it, she froze, hoping it
wouldn’t actually attack her.

The dog stopped about ten feet from her.

She didn’t dare move. She could only stare at the
white fangs, gleaming in the moonlight.

It growled low and menacingly.

The dog had her full attention now. She was afraid
to take her eyes off it, so she failed to notice that someone had approached
until she heard the deadly, unmistakable sound of the slide of a pump action
shotgun being primed. Her eyes flew up to study this new threat standing in the
shadows.