“I promise.”
“Thank you, Amy. You’re the best.”
She smiled, obviously pleased, and I turned to go.
“Wait, Morgan.”
I stopped and turned back, a questioning look on my face.
“What’s his name?”
“Uh.” I glanced at the book in her hand—Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. “William.”
“William,” she said, a dreamy look on her face.
I watched as she went back into her room, then I went to the top of the stairs and listened. I heard Mom’s voice coming from the kitchen and I knew I was in the clear. I made my way down the stairs, making sure to avoid the creaky spots. When I reached the front door, I stopped, briefly considering what I was about to do. Did I really want to run away? I pictured Mom’s face when she’d basically told me I had no control over my life. The complete assurance she seemed to feel that I would just go along with the program irked me. And then her demand that I apologize to Shelby.
Wouldn’t she be surprised that I had followed my own plan? And what did it matter if tomorrow was a school day? I was suspended, remember?
Scowling, I opened the front door. A gust of cold air blew in, snapping me back to reality. I hesitated, but I wasn’t going to let a little cold air keep me from doing what I wanted. I had to prove to Mom that I was in charge of my own destiny, that I could make my own rules.
I listened for Mom’s voice and could tell she was still in the kitchen. I shrugged off my backpack, opened the hall closet, and took out my jacket. I quickly put it on, then tossed the backpack onto my shoulders and walked outside, closing the door behind me.
I hurried away from the porch and toward the dark green picket fence that surrounded our oversized front yard. My breath formed a white cloud—the air was colder than I had expected and I desperately hoped my gloves were in my backpack. Not wanting to stop to check until I was out of sight of the house, I blew warm breath on my hands and rubbed them together.
“Whoa,” I cried as I nearly tripped on a furry bundle that had flung itself against my legs. “No, Goldie, you can’t come with me.” The yellow lab danced around me. “I’m sorry, but no dogs allowed this time.”
Reaching the gate that led out of the yard and onto the road, I pushed Goldie aside with my foot and squeezed out of the gate without letting the dog escape. Quickly glancing over my shoulder to see if Mom was looking out the window, I smiled. No one seemed to have noticed my departure. Not yet anyway. Just wait until later when they realize I’m gone. And since Mom had taken my phone, they wouldn’t be able to call me. Add to that Amy’s sure confession that I was off with some boy and they would be frantic with worry.
Smiling in grim satisfaction, I glanced toward the garage, tempted to take the car. But Mom hadn’t let me get my license yet, so driving with only a permit, not to mention grand theft auto, would be a mistake. Plus I’d have to go back into the house to get the key.
I kept on walking.
Once around the bend that hid my house from the main road, I turned onto a foot path that led into the woods surrounding my house. The trees swayed gently in the cold breeze. I stopped and took off the backpack before unzipping it, then I dug around until I found my gloves stuffed in the bottom. Pleased that I had actually put them in my backpack, I knew the matching knit cap and scarf were in there too. “Yes,” I said in triumph as I found them. After tugging on the gloves, hat and scarf, I hauled the backpack over my shoulders.
“That’s much better.” My breath came out in little puffs as I spoke. Noticing the sun beginning to dip toward the mountain, I knew I didn’t have a lot of time before the night-time freeze set in. I didn’t know the weather forecast, but the gray clouds didn’t bode well for someone who was going to be outside. And I didn’t know where I would spend the night. I figured I had another hour before dark and decided to make the most of it. Pulling my cap lower over my ears, I headed down the foot path, not sure where I wanted to go.
In the short time we’d lived in our house I’d spent very little time exploring these woods, so it was with some trepidation that I ventured farther down the path. As I walked, I considered turning around and going out to the main road and hitching a ride to town, but then decided I didn’t want to go quite that far from home just yet.
Best to take my chances near home—that would give me more options. Maybe I’d just stay away for a few hours, give my parents a little scare. That would make them realize their rules were unreasonable, make them understand my point of view.
Visualizing the look on Mom’s face when she discovered my disappearance brought a grim smile. But when I pictured Dad’s worried expression, my smile faded. Dad wasn’t the problem. He would have understood what had happened, understood that I’d needed to strike first. He probably wouldn’t have grounded me either—unless Mom talked him into it.
Deep in thought, when I heard someone whistling a tune, as well as the snuffling of a dog, I startled. Hurrying off the path, I nearly stumbled over a fallen tree branch. Most people didn’t put their dogs on leashes in these woods and I was afraid the dog would bring his owner right to me. I didn’t want anyone to find me. What good would it do to run away if someone knew where to find me?
Hustling into the woods, I tried not to make too much noise, but then the dog began to bark. Thick underbrush forced me to step over fallen branches, slowing my progress.
“What is it, Max?” the man called out.
Stepping behind a wide tree, I carefully peered around to see what the man was going to do about his dog, which had either picked up my scent or heard me tromping through the underbrush. About a hundred feet from where I hid, the dog barked wildly and pranced around in place, clearly wanting permission to go after his find. With the one eye I allowed to be exposed, I saw that the dog was a German Shepherd. Gasping in fear that I would be attacked, I flattened myself against the tree trunk and tried to slow my breathing.
“Max. Calm down, boy. It’s just a squirrel. We don’t have time to chase squirrels today. It’s near dark and we need to get back.”
Ignoring his owner, the dog continued barking.
Daring to peek again, I turned my head ever so slightly so I could see around the trunk.The dog must have seen me because his barking became more agitated and he took several steps toward me.
“Come!” the man said.
When I heard the man and his dog leaving, relief flooded me. Not wanting to run into them again—or anyone else for that matter—I decided to avoid the footpath and to venture farther into the woods. Even though my gut told me it was probably not the best idea, I did it anyway.
Feeling clever, I decided to mark my path so I could find my way back when I was ready to come home. I took off my backpack and in a side pocket I pulled out my favorite red lipstick. Frowning, I put it back in, then rummaged around some more and found a fat purple marker.
“Nice.” I’d forgotten that was in there, left over from a school project I had recently done. I took the lid off and smiled. I backed up a few steps to make sure I could see the path from where I stood, then I dragged the pen across the smooth tree trunk, leaving a wide purple streak that I would be able to see when I came back but no one on the path would be able to see.
Pleased with my resourcefulness, I continued into the woods another twenty feet or so and made a mark on another tree. I kept going like this for half an hour—until I realized it was nearly too dark to see the marks. To top that off, I had been so focused on marking the trees that I hadn’t really paid attention to where I was going.
The chill in the air began to feel like small bugs biting my cheeks.
Was it possible for me to freeze to death?
A branch cracked like something had stepped on it. Something wild. Something coming to get me.
Home suddenly sounded like a good place to be and running away didn’t seem like such a great idea. I turned around, ready to go back the way I had come. A purple stripe on a nearby tree
trunk caught my eye and I headed that way, congratulating myself for my cleverness. I strode past it, confident I could find my way home. I even found the marked tree after that, but then complete darkness descended, and not only could I not see my purple streaks, I could hardly even see the trees.
Panic crept up my throat. I couldn’t breathe.
Turning in slow circles, squinting into the dark, I wasn’t sure which way to go. I thought I had planned so well, but I hadn’t thought to bring a flashlight. Why would I when I always had my phone with me—a phone that had a flashlight app.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” I whispered. A distant howl made me scream and I slapped my hand over my mouth, not wanting to draw the creature to me. I looked up at the sky as if doing so would make the sun appear. The gray clouds briefly parted and the moon shone, dimly lighting the area. Taking advantage of the faint light, I scanned the area.
Nothing promising in view. I took several steps in one direction, then in another, fearful that the moon would be covered in clouds at any moment, extinguishing my only source of light.
Forcing myself to calm down, I concentrated on thoroughly studying each direction. After a moment I thought I saw something. Peering more intently into the dark, I smiled.
Yes.
A small structure stood a short distance away.
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Books by Christine Kersey
Pandemic Series
Pandemic: The Beginning (Pandemic Book One)
Forced Exodus (Pandemic Book Two)
Parallel World
Dare to Resist (Parallel World Book One)
Dare to Endure (Parallel World Book Two)
Dare to Defy (Parallel World Book Three)
Dare to Oppose (Parallel World Book Four)
Dare to Prevail (Parallel World Book Five)
Witness Series
Witness (Witness, Book 1)
Retribution (Witness, Book 2)
Ashley’s Billionaire
Snowed in with the Billionaire
Assistant to the Billionaire
Trouble with the Billionaire
Ever After with the Billionaire
Billionaires Find Love
The Protective Billionaire
The Missing Billionaire
Fair Catch Romance
Illegal Procedure
False Start
Blindsided
Pass Interference
Pass Protection
Game On
Park City Firefighter Romance
Rescue My Heart
Hearts On Fire
Emerald Falls Romance Series
Crushing On You: Travis and Gabriella (An Emerald Falls Romance, Book One)
Dangerous Lies: Sawyer and Amethyst (An Emerald Falls Romance, Book Two)
Chance Encounter: Gage and Melanie (An Emerald Falls Romance, Book Three)
Searching for Love
Falling for You (Searching for Love, Book One)
Finding Reese (Searching for Love, Book Two)
Surrender My Heart (Searching for Love, Book Three)
Bring Me Home (Searching for Love, Book Four)
Lily’s Story
He Loves Me Not (Lily’s Story, Book 1)
Don’t Look Back (Lily’s Story, Book 2)
Love At Last (Lily’s Story, Book 3)
Life Imperfect (Lily’s Story, Book 4)
Over You Series
Over You
Second Chances (sequel to Over You)
Standalone Suspense
Suspicions
No Way Out
About the Author
Christine has always loved to read, but enjoys writing suspenseful novels as well. She has her own eReader and is not embarrassed to admit that she is a book hoarder. One of Christine's favorite activities is to go camping with her family and read, read, read while enjoying the beauty of nature.
I love to hear from my readers. You can contact me in any of the following ways:
www.christinekersey.com
[email protected]
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Forced Exodus (Pandemic Book Two)
Copyright © 2019 by Christine Kersey
All rights reserved
Cover by Novak Illustration
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
eBook Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people.
Discover other exciting titles by Christine Kersey available through her official author website: ChristineKersey.com or through most online retailers.
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