Belonging

by Karen Ann Hopkins

  We were blazing a new trail now and the going was slower. Summer stopped several times to hold up a branch for us to slip under. Luckily, we reached the bottom of the hill in a few minutes, and with the force of gravity pushing us, we practically jumped into the grassy clearing.

  “Are we having fun yet?” Suzanna said, her voice louder than I wished.

  We continued on, trudging through the wet grass behind Suzanna, who seemed to know exactly where she was going. I hustled to keep up. Now that the going was clear, Suzanna wasn’t wasting any time heading to wherever her destination was.

  “Why don’t we bring something with us to prune that trail next time?” Summer directed her question to Suzanna, working hard to keep up with the taller girl’s strides.

  Suzanna kept on walking but barked out, “Are you kidding? And give my parents a road map to our private place? Nope, we hack through the wood a slightly different way each time so no one’s the wiser about the escape route.”

  Made sense to me, and was more proof of how smart—and diabolical—Suzanna could be. I got some comfort knowing that the girl was seriously trying to keep our butts covered.

  “Ah, where exactly are we going?” I couldn’t hold the question in another minute.

  Summer answered me. “Don’t be thinking it’s anything fancy, but we’re almost there, so keep your panties on,” she said, looping her arm through mine.

  Except for Summer humming the, “We’re Off to See the Wizard” tune, we traveled the rest of the way in relative silence. There was definitely a spring to everyone’s step; we all wanted to get to wherever we were going quickly. Suzanna kept us close to the tree line, for cover I imagined, but at one point we did sprint across the corner of the field at full speed before entering the trees again on the other side. Here, there was a definite trail, and once Suzanna’s bare feet touched the path, she slowed.

  When we reached an ancient boulder formation, Summer grabbed my hand, tugging me into a run again. The other girls joined us as we left the path, jumping obstacles like gazelles—even in dresses. I was proud of myself. I didn’t wipe out once.

  There it was.

  We all came to an abrupt stop. The old, falling-down log house had definitely seen better days. But the picture of the building nestled away in the woods with the moonlight casting a shadowed light over it was charming—and oh, so creepy.

  “What do you think, Rose?” Suzanna said, motioning her arm to the house.

  “Well, it could use a paint job, but besides that, it’s a perfectly secluded getaway,” I said, taking the lead up the warped steps to the door with its rusted doorknob. After a glance at Suzanna who nodded enthusiastically, I turned the handle and entered the dark room.

  Suzanna passed me and fumbled around for a minute or two before a light suddenly illuminated the space. She held an old lantern in her hand, the glow matching the brightness of her happy face.

  Within minutes, Summer and Miranda had a small flame rising in the rock fireplace, which had been used frequently, if the pile of ashes was any indication. There was an assortment of lawn chairs and turned-over buckets fanned out before the warm blaze. I quickly sat on one of the more comfortable-looking canvas chairs as the girls pulled up seats around me.

  “This is very cool, Suzanna,” I said, complimenting the hostess while pushing my shoe around in the dusty dirt that covered the floor. The immaculate cleaning skills of the Amish had definitely not touched this place.

  “Thanks. I came across this old house a few years back when I was hunting with one of my brothers.”

  “You hunt?” I hoped my voice didn’t sound too judgmental. But I was a PETA person all the way, and the thought of the slender blond girl in a dress beside me hunting Bambi was unexpected.

  “Yeah, course I hunt. So does Mira,” Suzanna stated plainly.

  “Why?” The heat from the burning logs flowed over the front of me, stroking the skin on my arms, making my whole body feel wonderful. I leaned back in the chair reveling in the warmth and glad for the rest after the marathon hike through the countryside.

  “What do you mean?” Suzanna asked, sounding truly perplexed.

  Summer jumped in. “I think what she means is, why do you go out and kill innocent little woodland creatures when you can buy hamburgers at the grocery store.”

  I couldn’t tell if she was joking or not.

  “Why, you should talk, Miss Summer Sage, bringing down the biggest buck I’d ever seen last year when you went out with us to the Chippery property.”

  I turned to see Summer shrug her shoulders. She looked down at the floor when she said quietly, “Well, that was a heap of luck for my first time—but I’ll not be doing it again.”

  “Oh, come on, Summer. Everybody feels a little bad the first time—except my brothers. They really enjoy killing stuff. But I did. You get over it, though,” Suzanna said forcefully.

  “I don’t want to get over it.” Summer turned to me. “It was so awful. The one instant the buck was staring right at me, his beautiful face up high and proud, and the next, he was on the ground. He writhed around for a minute or two before he finally stopped moving.” She sniffed. “As soon as my finger hit the trigger I regretted it.”

  “But your mother was proud to have all that meat in her freezer for the winter,” Miranda said and then added, “We buy most of our meat from the butcher shop or grocery, but when hunting season arrives, all the kids that are old enough, boys and girls alike, take to the woods. Most of the girls do it for the opportunity to get away from the house.”

  “Yeah, as long as your shitty brother, Levi, isn’t going, right?” I was shocked to hear the words spill from Suzanna’s mouth—for more than one reason.

  “Levi Zook is your brother?” I searched her face for any resemblance to the evil carrot-top.

  “Yes, unfortunately,” Miranda said in a whisper. The warmth in the room was pushed back by the Amish girl’s mood.

  “Wow, I didn’t suspect that.” Focusing on the jumping flames, I could almost see his malevolent face leering at me from his horse in the cornfield.

  Reaching her hand out and placing it on my arm, Miranda said softly, “I’m real sorry about what he did—ratting on you and Noah like that.”

  “It’s not your fault.” I patted her hand as if she was a child. Wanting to change the subject that had chilled the room considerably, I said, “So you actually hunt to put food on your dinner table?” The question was directed to Miranda, but Suzanna answered.

  “Sure we do. Miranda and I both help with the butchering, too.”

  “I did not do that. Suzanna’s daddy did mine in exchange for the head to mount on his wall,” Summer said as she wrinkled her nose.

  “That’s kind of sick,” I added before I could stop myself.

  “Are you saying my father is sick, because he helped Summer with her kill?” Suzanna was stirred up now.

  “No. Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just that I feel bad for the deer, that’s all.”

  “How do you think I feel every time I go into her family room,” Summer said, thumbing at Suzanna, “and see my buck’s head staring at me with its glass eyes?” She shivered.

  “You English girls are so wishy-washy about stuff like that. Then you’ll go watch one of those movies where everybody gets shot up. But that isn’t sick?”

  It was very interesting what analogies these people came up with, prompting me to think about some of my conversations with Noah. I wasn’t about to agree with her, but she had shut me up for now.

  Not Summer, though. “That’s just dumb to compare a movie to killing some poor animal out minding its own business,” Summer declared, adding another log to the fire in a spray of sparks.

  “So you think killing people is okay, but not animals to eat.” Suzanna shot the words back at Summer.

  Before Summer got the chance to go another round with the debate, Miranda stood up. With one hand out toward the bickering girls, and one hand to her mouth, s
he shushed them.

  “Did you hear that?” Miranda whispered.

  Dead silence filled the room after her words. I craned my neck to listen for any sounds, turning my ear in the direction of the doorway that Suzanna had said led to the stairway.

  “Was it coming from up there?” I pointed at the black opening in the wall.

  Miranda shook her head, “Outside.” She spoke so low that I had to pretty much read her lips to understand her.

  The four of us moved closer together until our arms were brushing. Summer reached out, taking my hand into her sweaty ones and holding on tightly.

  I was not usually a scaredy-cat sort of person, but at that moment my heart was pounding madly in my chest. The sudden dawning that here we were, four teenage girls out in the middle of the woods in a spooky old broken-down house, sent an adrenaline rush coursing through my veins. My sharpened senses caught the scraping against the outside wall, followed by a wailing sound as if a cat were having its heart carved out. Instantly, our arms all tangled around each other, and I could feel Summer shaking beside me. Her face was pressed against my shoulder.

  I was afraid, but I was also pissed off. We were supposed to be having a fun girls’ night out, but instead, we’d ended up in low-budget horror movie. I was not going to let whatever was out there ruin my evening—or kill any of us.

  I pulled away from Summer about the same time a loud stomping started on the front porch. I took up the long skinny board that was beside the fire in my hand and ran to the doorway. I didn’t have to wait more than a second before the door flung open to reveal three dark figures who came crashing into the room. I wasn’t sure if the screaming was coming from the intruders or the girls, but either way it was too loud to think. That’s when I swung the board as hard as I could manage. The thud of hitting something solidly jolted my arm, causing some pain, but I didn’t care about that. The human sob that followed my well-placed blow brought me to my senses.

  “Damn it. I’ve been attacked. I think I’m bleeding.”

  The voice was mildly familiar.

  “Oh, you poor dear,” Suzanna cooed to the psychopath, wrapping her arms around him as she led him to the fire. Her voice changed to a shrill yell when she addressed me. “What are you, Rose, one of those Amazon women Summer’s always talking about?”

  Everything happened rather fast at the point she said my name. Before Suzanna had even finished her sentence, I was being swept up into a bone crushing embrace—by Noah.

  I knew his arms, his chest and his scent.

  I squealed in delight as he picked me off the floor and swung me around, my face buried in his neck. When he stopped, his mouth found mine and the urgency of the kiss left me breathless. This was turning out to be a better night than I could have ever imagined.

  “Can’t you do that later—I think my skull is broken.”

  Now I remembered that panic-filled voice; Volleyball-Boy.

  Noah’s mouth left my lips and trailed along my cheek to my ear as he put me down. He breathed out heavily when he smoothed the hair away from my sweaty forehead. Holding my face between his calloused hands, he said, “What are you doing out here? You’re supposed to be safe—asleep at the Hershbergers.”

  Irritation swelled inside of me. “I could ask you the same thing—why would you be sneaking up to a run-down house in the middle of the woods to scare some unsuspecting girls?” I still kept my body pressed against him, not wanting to move away even though I was upset.

  Noah’s voice was husky and honey combined as he leaned down close to my face, his warm breath heating my nose. “I had no idea you were here—or anyone for that matter—until right before we reached the house.” He nodded over at Timothy, who had a crowd babying him, which I could now see included the bashful Matthew Weaver.

  “It was Timmy’s idea to check out this dump. We were on a night ride when he began pestering us about it. Rose, you have to believe me about this,” Noah pleaded.

  I did believe him, and I was going to show him I did with a big sloppy kiss when Suzanna jumped to his defense unnecessarily. “He isn’t lying, Rose. It was me and Timmy that planned it all out.”

  Still snug in Noah’s arms, I said, “You all knew they were coming, and no one told me about it?” My anger was suddenly redirected.

  Summer shouted out, “I didn’t know anything. About scared me to death, it did.” She was telling the truth. No one could lie with that twang going on.

  “No, Summer wasn’t in on it—just me and Miranda.” She was touching Timothy’s head, playing the nurse, when she continued. “We thought it would be the best surprise for you and Noah to see each other, unsuspecting like, out here in the night.” She stood up, stepping back with her hands on her hips. “The scaring part was not part of the deal.” Suzanna’s voice sparked.

  “Oh, man, Suzanna. I just thought we’d have some fun with you girls. I didn’t mean any harm by it.” Timothy held out his hand to Suzanna and my eyes were probably bugging out as she took it, sliding down onto his lap.

  Noah laughed, repositioning me under his arm and moving us both toward the group and the light of the fire. “Looks like you’re the one who got harmed,” Noah said as he leaned over Timothy and, placing his hand on his friend’s head, began feeling around.

  Noah hadn’t released me, putting me uncomfortably close to my victim. I probably should have said I was sorry—but I didn’t want to. After all, the jerk had brought it on with his actions.

  “Wow, Rose, you have a killer swing,” Matthew complimented me as he sat down on a bucket next to Miranda. I thought the chair and bucket were kind of close for a platonic relationship, but the two of them weren’t being all touchy-feely like the other couple was. My mind was still reeling that Suzanna and Timothy were an item, and I hadn’t even had a clue about it. Combine that surprise with being in Noah’s arms, and I was overwhelmed, to say the least.

  “You look all right, buddy.” Noah pulled the nearest chair to him, and in one fluid motion had me sitting on his lap. “Just don’t be sneaking up on my girl again, you hear?”

  “Yeah, yeah—I learned my lesson right good.” Timothy placed his arms around Suzanna’s waist, and she leaned back against him.

  “That was really impressive, Rose. The way you got ready at that door so fast, then, bam, took him out like that. Weren’t you scared?” Summer took the chair beside me and Noah, and I felt a twinge of discomfort since she was the only one without a love interest in the bunch.

  Noah’s arms tightened around me, and he laid his face against my back. It felt so wonderful that I closed my eyes for a second to revel in the soft fluttering feeling spiraling through me.

  “I was just trying to save our butts, taking the offensive, that’s all.” Then something occurred to me, turning my head to Noah’s. “And what are you thinking, riding a horse in your condition?”

  In the firelight, his bruising was hardly noticeable. “We were taking it easy. No running or trotting. I even rode old Maisy.”

  “And your parents know that you’re out in the woods riding a horse?” I said, thinking that the doctors were dead-on right to have kept him in the hospital those extra weeks.

  “Of course they do. I’m being extra careful to be good now that we have a real chance to be together.” He leaned back and sighed. “And here, I end up with you in my arms and I didn’t even arrange it. I think the fates are trying to get me in trouble.”

  “Are you calling us fates?” Suzanna asked.

  “Not exactly—but when did you two get together, anyway?” Noah sounded as amazed as I still felt.

  Good question, Noah.

  Timothy looked at Suzanna for help, and she said, “It’s been about a month now, I reckon. You’ve been pretty tied up lately, Noah, with your accident and all.” Suzanna smirked in my direction, sending a warm heat over my face.

  “So when are you going to join the church, then?” Noah asked. He started swirling his fingers along my arm with his one hand while
the other held my hand firmly.

  “Hey, hey, don’t go jumping the gun there, Noah.”

  “What do you mean?” Noah’s hand had stilled on my arm.

  Suzanna answered for Timothy, “We aren’t jumping into a courtship just yet. You know how we’ll be watched as if we’re little babies. We won’t get to have any more fun.”

  “You should be thinking about making an honest woman of your girl, Timmy.” Noah’s voice sound harsh. I took his hand between mine, trying to keep him calm.

  “I don’t need a courtship to be an honest woman. You’re just as bad as the old farts that make up all the rules,” Suzanna snipped.

  “Really, I think it’s nice that they can get to know each other in secret first—then if they decide they don’t like each other, they can move on without upsetting the entire community over it,” Summer jumped in with her opinion.

  “And I’m not sure I want to join the church,” Suzanna said.

  “Oh, don’t go saying that, Susie. We’re going to eventually join up and get married like we talked about,” Timothy said, in the voice of a man trying to convince a woman to do what he wanted, but not sure whether she actually would or not.

  “Nothing’s for sure, but since we only have a few more hours until sunup, we’d best get some time alone, or else we’ll be making Matthew here turn into a tomato, considering his already red face.”

  Suzanna giggled as she pulled Timothy up and dragged his still-wobbly body through the dark entrance that led to the stairs.

  Were they going to do what I thought they were going to do?

  This night had shattered my image of Amish girls. When I looked at Summer, she just shrugged and poked at the logs in the fire with a stick, before picking up another log to toss on it.

  “Shouldn’t do that, Summer, we want the fire to be out when we leave,” Noah advised.

  “So it’s going to be an all-nighter?” Matthew asked, bringing my attention back to him and Miranda. They were still sitting close, but neither one had moved to touch the other. Maybe they were just childhood friends. I had to admit that if they didn’t have anything going on yet, they really should have. They would make a cute couple.