“Miranda,” her mother asked when they were finally alone. “How did you meet these people? I mean how come we’ve never seen them around before. You never know what you might find in the woods, are you sure they’re safe?”
Her mother looked nervous, she didn’t want to stop Miranda from finding and new friends but she also didn’t want her to get hurt.
“I know at first, I wasn’t exactly in the mood for new friends, I wasn’t the best person in the beginning of the week, and we both know I even thought about ending it all. I wanted the pain to stop, I wanted the visions to stop, and I just needed everything to stop.” She looked at her mother; she knew her mother had been worry about her.
“Sweetie, you really didn’t want to die, now did you?” Her mother knew the real answer before she asked the question, but she was hoping Miranda would lie to her.
“Yes, and you know I did. I can’t lie like you want me to; I need to get it all out. You see I went to the woods with the intention of not coming back out. However, the ranger must have known it to, he sent his cousin. You and I knew him as Jared, and his friends Mattis and Carma. They check out. He’s the ranger I spoke about before, the married one, he came by every day to check on us. He told me yesterday he was worried about me when he first saw me that day. His wife was with him and she didn’t like the way I looked either so they called Jared and asked him to bump into me in the woods. He told me he didn’t want to be looking for me or taking my dead body out of the woods. He knew Jared and the others could talk some sense into me. I guess he was right; Jared had some problems like me with his wife because she had died too. I don’t want to get into details that aren’t mine to tell, but it was cancer. Anyway he helped me and I do feel better.” She smiled at her mother.
“I haven’t seen that smile in so long. It’s good to see it back, I hope your friends are from around here, where are they from?”
“They live on the other side of the forest, it’s far but not that far, and they have a cabin at the half way point. They are done with their work and are going to be there for the next three months. They work in books and stuff, all three of them, so they take off this time of year because it gets slow. Great job, huh.”
Miranda was still smiling because her mother was walking right up to the bait and was ready to grab it.
“Are you going with them?”
Her mother asked nonchalantly, as if she wasn’t going to suggest it to them.
Score, though Miranda, now slow and easy, dad’s not here yet.
“They asked me, but I wasn’t sure how it would look. I’ve just meet them, and I know they’re good people but I’m just now sure. What do you think? Is it ok? I know they told me to take off three months at work, and I’ve been fighting it, but maybe it is time. What do you think? What will dad think?”
“I’ll take care of your dad. I think you should go, it’ll do you go to get out of here. You need a change of scenery, get your feet back under you, and live a little. I’ll handle your dad.”
I did it her mother thought, maybe that Jared guy is ready to get her out of this funk she’s been in. I just hope she doesn’t start acting crazy again.
That last thing burned Miranda up, but she couldn’t say anything, she had to keep her mouth shut. Her mother would know she could read her mind and might start to wonder if she had been manipulating her all long.
“Maybe I will then, oh but you can’t get cell reception out there, I would have to call every so often from a pay phone and let you know I’m ok. Are you going to be alright with that? If not I’ll just stay around here, you know maybe I just should.”
She was watching what she said; she didn’t want to lay it on too thick. Her mother wasn’t hard to fool but she wasn’t dumb either.
It wasn’t too soon before everything was cleaned up and they were talking about how to shut the place up, when the other came back in with the wood. Her mother walked outside to meet her father and have a little discussion before he would come in and find out his only daughter was leaving for three months with four strangers.
Miranda told the others what had happened and the whole time Jared just stared at her, “You are going to do this to me, aren’t you?”
She had manipulated her mother into thinking going on the trip was all her idea. He knew the rest of his immortal life he would be wondering if he even had a choice anymore or if Miranda was choosing for him.
“Yes, I am, but I will tell you I’m doing it. I want you to know when it’s happening.” She was laughing out loud now, and it brought her parents to tears outside.
“See, she’s finally ready to move on, besides it was my idea. She told me about their trip and I asked her if she was going too. She told me they asked her to go, but she wasn’t going to, she wasn’t sure she was ready. I told her it was time to go and find out, she would never know unless she went. Now listen to her, she hasn’t laughed since the accident, and that’s not healthy.”
“Ok, maybe you’re right. Are you sure these people check out? I don’t want to send her off with the worst of our society?” He was really only a little worried, there were far worse things out there, and he knew that.
“She told me they check out, she had checked them out herself. She said she wouldn’t bring people back to her house that would damage anything in it. She was still talking about the stuff; it was all she had left of her old life. I’m worried if she doesn’t do something she never come back for this, and she admitted to me she went up there to end it.”
Her mother was very serious. “That’s why she called and didn’t come see us first, she didn’t want to be stopped, and she knew I could tell.”
Her mother went to with the rest of the story, even thought she had new information about Jared.
Her father laughed, “Shh, it’s wasn’t just cancer, it was leukemia, but we’re not suppose to know. They all have the same story at least, so I guess it might be ok. I want her to make a list of times to call the house or our cell phones. I want her to check in with us so you don’t drive me crazy worrying, ok.”
Her parents walked into the house everyone was smiling and having a good time. They didn’t know it was at their expense, and they didn’t need to, before long she was waving goodbye to her parents. Things were going better then even she had expected them to, her mother talked everybody into the trip for her, and now they only needed to get her out of work. A place who had been begging her to take time off, so how hard could that be?
Jared jumped on her pretty cloud, “How are we going to call your mom once a week? What if there’s trouble? We don’t need the National Guard up in the woods looking for you, do we?”
He was a little mad but more concerned, “that’s a lot of humans to kill, as much as I love my work, even I don’t want that job.”
“Oh I lied about the cell phone, I called the movies from Gage’s house to see if it worked when I was there. The only problem is how am I going to charge the phone? I think I have a battery operated charger thing here somewhere.”
Miranda was hunting through a drawer of what looked like junk, “aha I got it, now I just need a lot of batteries, and I’ll be ok.”
“Ever heard of caller ID? Your mom knows your cell number?” Carma was impressed that Mattis had though that far ahead, he normally never really thought at all.
“Yeah but if you push a few buttons, *67 or something before you call the number, it come up either unlisted or unknown.” Miranda laughed, “I should have it come up the unknown one.” Soon everyone was laughing again; they started playing game and then had dessert.
Miranda was very quiet and Jared wondered, “What’s wrong, you were so happy before? Did I do something wrong?”
Carma added, “Did we do something? If it was one of us let me know, and I’ll hit one of them for you.”
“Guys relax, I just having been thinking, it’s time to box this place up. I’m not going to be here much longer and if something happened, you know a break while I’m gone
. Well that would be worse than doing it myself, someone touching their things.”
She pointed to a picture on the wall, “Also Jared if you, Michael and Mattis can go upstairs you’ll see a new mattress and box spring on the floor next to the bed. Could you please switch them? I’ll come up and make the new bed and tomorrow I’ll call the Goodwill and they can pick it up the one old.”
Miranda was sad but ok with it, she was ready to move on, a new life awaited but she needed to finish packing up this one.
“I know if I don’t do it, in the back of my mind I’ll always wonder and I’ll always have an escape to run to, and that’s not right. Jared I would like you and I to work on my closet later. I can’t do it alone, and you’re the one I need to get me through it, is that ok?”
“I told you when you’re ready I will help you with that wall, this is just the beginning of it, one brick at a time.” Jared’s smile comforted her.
“If you want we’ll take the furniture out of the kids rooms and break it down to be taken tomorrow too, but only if you’re ready, it could be done later.” Carma knew that wasn’t true, but she didn’t want to push her too far.
“That would be good, you can take the closets too if you want, but I need to deal with the toys. I can’t promise how I will be through this, but there is no more time left, I’m leaving for three months now. I will be coming back but only to leave for good next time and I think that time I’ll be leaving faster, and I’m worried I won’t have a week to get ready.”
Miranda knew what she had to do, so she went into the kitchen with Jared to make some calls.
“The only thing I can’t do is clear my things out of here, my parent will check on the place, so I can’t sell the house yet.”
“Anything else I can I do? Is there anything that needs to be done?”
Jared was trying very hard to be helpful and it was working. Miranda wasn’t exactly happy but she was feeling much better, and things were moving along.
“No, I’m just going to use the money in my account to pay the last few bills, for the next three months. That won’t look strange because I am going away, so at least when I come back I won’t have any of that to deal with. I’ll just need to get rid of some furniture and sell the house.”
Soon they were knee deep in things to do. Michael, Carma and Mattis had most of the giveaway furniture ready to go in the center of the rooms, and Miranda and Jared were locked in the bedroom. She was crying more then he thought she would as she packed things up. She worked on the toys in the kids rooms before she started on her husband’s things. Jared was with her each step of the way; he dried her tears, and listened to her stories.
When it was all done they unlocked the door and went downstairs to get Mattis Michael, and Carma settled for the night, when that was done Jared sent her back up and he told them what happened, by the time he got upstairs she was crying again, so he put her into bed and he held her until she fell asleep.
Michael, Carma and Mattis checked in on them a few times, got water, tissues, talked and anything else that she needed. It was hard for them to see her like this but it was necessary for her to go back and move on. She fell asleep around three a.m., and they left Jared with her and went downstairs to sleep.
That night her mother had a weird felling and another strange dream. She wasn’t sure what was wrong but she needed, almost urged to see Miranda, the daughter she had avoided so many times before. She drove carefully, slowly to her daughter’s house not knowing what she was going to find. It might be nothing, she kept thinking to herself hoping of the best, but the whole time she was thinking about those people. Could they be hurting her? There was something in Wendy’s gut telling her that she needed to go, something was different about them.
Chapter 11
As Wendy got there and walked straight up to the door, the door opened immediately, where she was met by Carma. Carma looked tired or worn down, Wendy wasn’t sure which, but Carma didn’t look happy.
“I wanted to call you, but I didn’t know how,” Carma spoke softly and calmingly she didn’t want to upset her. It didn’t work; she forced her way past only to be meet up with Mattis on the stairs.
“Carma, I told you not to bother her parents.”
He seemed annoyed. He looked at his sister, Miranda’s mother couldn’t see that Carma was smiling; Mattis knew they had to play with this to make it work for Miranda.
“I didn’t, I guess her mother just has good instincts like Miranda, so I guess her mother could feel something was wrong.” Carma turned to Wendy, “You probably though it was us though, I guess you thought we were hurting her or something.”
By now she mother was getting upset not knowing where her daughter was, and why were they playing around like that, it was like they were toying with her emotions.
“I need to see Miranda, now!” With that Michael came out of the kitchen.
Mattis and Carma looked at her; they realized they better start talking before she starts screaming.
“I’m sorry, it’s that she just got to sleep, she was up all night. She called us after you left and asked us to come back and help her.” Mattis continued on, “Can we sit on the couch it’s been a long night for everyone. I promise when I’m done you can peak in and see that she is fine, and that no one was hurting her.”
Michael stood at the kitchen doorway, her mother realized Jared wasn’t around.
Carma chimed in quickly, “Jared is with her now, and he knows what she’s going through, you know his wife died a few years ago of Leukemia, that’s why I guess Miranda wanted him to help her.”
Her mother looked at the people in front of her; she wasn’t sure want was happening, but she knew somehow they weren’t who they claimed to be. “
What did she do? What help did she need from Jared that she couldn’t get from us?”
“It’s not that you couldn’t work with her and do the job. It’s that you never lost your husband or your children, then needed to pack what was left up, and give it away to strangers.”
Carma looked as if she would cry. She remembered Miranda’s face last night when she walked to the closet and put on the light for the first time.
Mattis spoke up, “Jared’s been there, neither of us could have help her either, she needed someone who’s been through it. She cried most of the night until she was done and Jared held her through it all. He finally got her to go to sleep about five or six hours ago. Carma wanted to call you, but I wasn’t sure how you would react, if she hadn’t gone to sleep we would have called.”
“I better look in on her so I can call my husband or he’ll have the police down here.” She walked across the living room and stopped at the first step, “Thank you for being here for her, and I’m sorry I thought you were going to hurt, kill her or something.”
Mattis walked her up to the bedroom, and quietly opened the door. She did look peaceful, as her mother walked in, Jared’s eyes opened immediately and he tensed, when he saw who it was he smiled. He didn’t want to move he was afraid Miranda would wake; he whispered it to her mother.
She whispered back “It’s ok, I’ll wait downstairs until Miranda gets up, just stay with her. I’ll go with the others and clean up from last night. She won’t feel much like doing that later anyway.”
She left the room with Mattis and Carma they walked toward the kids’ room and stepped in. In each room there were boxes, the beds were dismantled and everything was packed. Michael was in the toy room bringing things downstairs. It looked like they were moving, going to a new home, a new place. Her mother knew that wasn’t true but it helped to think they were just somewhere else. She was almost happy, Miranda was finally moving on and she might even be ok. Was it this new man? He could understood her in a way no one else could, he too had lost someone very dear, he lost a wife maybe this was all Miranda needed, to be understood.
They walked downstairs, she and Carma started on the dishes, and sent Mattis and Michael to the store with a list of food for
the house.
“Thanks for being there. About Jared, did he have any children?”
“No, his wife was sick when they got married, but he always thought they could get through anything, as long as they had each other. They wanted to have kids when she got better so they could take care of them together. He was devastated when she died. He hid in the woods all the time, it took months for us to find him and bring him home. I think that’s why he understands Miranda so well.”
They finished up in the kitchen and the phone rang, “Oh no I forgot to call my husband! Hello! Oh hunny I’m so sorry, I gave the boys my cell phone, can you believe they don’t have one! Amazing to me, I thought I was the last person in the world to get one, oh anyway, she’s fine. No wasn’t wrong, she wasn’t fine last night, but she’s just fine now, she’s sleeping. She called her friends over after we left; she wanted them to help her pack up Ben and the children’s things. Yeah, I couldn’t believe it either, it’s done. No Jared was the one who stayed with her, I guess she thought he could help her because he lost his wife, he could understand her better then we could. I’m going to stay a little while until she wakes up, she had rough night, but I’ll be home for dinner. Ok, I love you to, bye.”
“That was close, Carma. He was getting ready to call the police. Apparently, we forgot to show the boys how to use the cell phone, he never answered it!” She was laughing just as they walked in.
“This damn thing kept ringing and I couldn’t figure it out. Here take it.” Mattis gave the phone back; he was pretending to be mad at it, he knew if had never had a cell phone he figured he shouldn’t know how to operate one and they would have a good laugh about this later.
Before too long Miranda was up, she looked directly into Jared’s eyes and smiled, for night that was so bad, the morning was that good. She looked around and after a few minutes she knew she heard her mom.
“What is she doing here?”
Jared whispered into her ear, “She had a feeling all night that something was wrong. It took a lot for her to wait until morning to come, Michael, Mattis and Carma are with her, she came to check up on you. I wonder who her parents are, did you know them? I get the hint that she might…nah forgot it, maybe it’s just my imagination.”
Between Shadows Page 12
