Chapter 2
Breeze sat on the top step of the cabin porch, deep in the woods of southern Kentucky. Her mind was on the young man whom she had met on the cliff, Jeremy. She was mentally kicking herself in the butt for falling for a stranger. She was especially mortified that she had been so brazen as to kiss him. Plus, she had been weeping when she ran away. He must have thought her a silly little girl, much different from his 'prom queen'. At thought of this other girl she burned within. It was her first experience with the green monster of jealousy and she decided that it was an unpleasant companion.
"How arrogant she must be to set a quest for a guy to perform as a key to her favor!" She spoke the words aloud, involuntarily. "If Jeremy were that interested in me, I'd certainly make it easy for him to make me his girl." Then her face flushed red at the memory of how she had flung herself into his arms.
Wasted time, she thought. How could she obtain a guy like Jeremy? She felt herself an outcast, a hick, compared to the school girls like Sancha.
"I hate her!" Breeze said aloud with heavy bitterness. As she had done several times that morning, Breeze took the binoculars and examined the rocky outcropping on the cliff where she was wont to sit. If Jeremy was to come to see her, he would surely come to that spot. "Our spot", she said dreamily.
At that moment, she saw a figure step onto the ledge and recognized Jeremy's tall, slim form with its crown of thick brown hair. He was so good-looking, she thought. Breeze leaped to her feet and ran across the small field toward the woods. It took 15 minutes of strenuous effort for her to get to the top of the cliff. She was relieved to see that Jeremy was still there. At the moment when she stood before him she was suddenly backward and self-conscious, unable to do what she wished to do. He seemed likewise reticent and reserved.
"I hoped you'd come", he said.
"I saw you from the porch with my binoculars. I ran all the way."
Chapter 3
Samuel Bennitt never really thought of himself as a nut or a fanatic. He had chosen to 'drop off the grid' when Breeze was very young. Breeze's mom had flatly forbidden him to put his strange plans into action, largely because of their daughter.
That had been the wedge that had driven them apart and split their marriage. The rift between husband and wife made it necessary for Sam to make new plans.
He pretended to adhere to his wife's wishes for two long years. Years that allowed him to build a rough cabin on government land. It was built many miles from any town and in an area where even a park ranger was unlikely to see it. Of course, he was a 'squatter' on the land. He had no right to be there.
When his preparations were complete, he simply took Breeze and left. The girl's mom lived in another state and had no idea where they were.
Sam was the leader of a militia group. They had no real agenda, like many larger groups. Nor were they particularly militant. They just wanted freedom, guns and no taxes. These things they had achieved, mostly due to the fact that no one cared about them. They were insignificant.
Today, Sam was splitting wood behind the cabin. He paused to wipe his sweaty brow and saw Breeze sitting on the porch, reading a book. Always with a book, he thought.
Sam deeply regretted the loneliness he had forced on his child. The other members of the group had kids her age, but Sam would not allow her to socialize with the boys. She was nearing her 17th birthday. She was a dreamer, a romantic and a really sweet kid.
Sam felt inadequate to raise his girl. He felt a pang of conscience for the wrong he had done the girl's mother. He could see it all now. He had made a horrible error. It had occurred to him to send the girl to her mother but there were problems with that. Breeze could tell people of his whereabouts. People like the FBI and the police. He would go to prison for a very long time.
Besides, hadn't she grown up fine and clean here in the woods? Would video games and parties and dating have been better for her? He shook his shaggy head.
"Yes," he said to himself. "With all the good and the bad, she would have been better off with her mom." He could see that now. Like many men his age, he could see the truth about his mistakes, now that it was too late.
"I could never go without seeing her," he mused sadly. He went back to work with the sun warm on his muscular shoulders, a troubled man.
Then he saw Breeze lay down her book and rush away toward the mountain. He swung the ax in a gleaming arc and it smacked into the stump he used for splitting wood. He always left it embedded so that the blade wouldn't rust. He walked to the place where Breeze had been sitting. He moved her book and picked up the binoculars. He trained them on the girl and then scanned along the cliff face. He saw a tall boy standing on the brink. Waiting. Sam put the binoculars down and went in the cabin for his rifle. Then he set out on foot in the same direction his daughter had gone.
From the author's green retreat, I'm CE Wills.
Comments
Post a Comment