These Hills Called Home | ONC 2024

[2] On the Trail

    Streaks of delicate cloud rippled across the blushing sky, the last shafts of sunlight haloing the feathery wisps with an amber glow. Swept up by the ATV's bulky tyres, gravel shards clattered against the vehicle's undercarriage, and streams of dusty dirt rained over the bristling grasses beside the road. Light winds shared the late afternoon's warmth in soft, dancing breaths.

    The lone dirt track wandered into the clutches of a tall, swaying woodland, and Nathan rolled the quadbike to a halt along the roadside. "This is as far as the bike's going to take us," he said, looking over his shoulder as he pocketed the vehicle's key. "Still with me back there?"

    "Just about, though my spine's not so sure," Gemma answered, and she stumbled off the ATV onto the grass. She stretched the aches out of her body, her back cracking to betray the true toll of the ride on her unprepared skeleton. Down the road behind her, the journey had reduced Milnhome to a tiny cluster of huddled buildings. "We've come out pretty far. What's my brother doing up here, again?"

    "Complaining, mostly. Maybe mixing in some whining," Nathan said with a glowing grin. Leading Gemma into the forest's shade, he rapped his knuckles on a sturdy fencepost. "This fence here marks out the Cox family's land. Every week or so, Jake has to walk this perimeter and patch up any holes he finds. Nice shot of exercise to start the day, if you ask me, but Jake's...not a morning person."

    "You got that right." Hearing a stranger call out Jacob's difficult character struck upon wounds Gemma did not know she carried. For all her efforts to adjust to his absence, her brother had existed, moved, and lived every day of the past five years. He had not simply disappeared like she had told herself; Jacob had withheld his real self from her, leaving his ghost to haunt her instead.

    Pushing past a bulging bush, the pair followed the fence into the woodland. Dense webs of twisted oak branches knitted together to block out the sky, breaking the fading sunlight into scrapped shards over the murky forest floor. The stench of wet mud emanated from deep puddles swilling between gnarled tree roots, each one a scar from the overnight storm's assault.

    Without a word, Nathan stuck his arm out in front of Gemma. A patch of thick black mud sprawled over their path, and Nathan took one look at the sludge before climbing onto a nearby swollen tree root. "So, not to bug you with stupid questions or anything," he began, striding his way between trees. Hitting the firm ground with a grunt, he turned and nodded for Gemma to follow suit. "But Jake knows you're here, doesn't he?"

    "He's the one that reached out to me in the first place. I wouldn't have even known where to find him if he hadn't contacted my support worker," Gemma said, keeping a steadying hand on nearby tree trunks as she hopped past the mudslide. As Nathan's eyes glimmered through the inky shade with a mix of concern and alarm, she rushed to clarify herself. "I was in the foster system. We both were, actually."

    "I know Jake grew up in care, but he's never mentioned he had a sister with him." Reaching out to help Gemma down, Nathan's tone softened to a choked whisper. "Did they split you up? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

    Gemma clenched her fists and landed beside Nathan, ignoring both his outstretched hand and his sympathetic stare. "You could say that's what happened." The urge to drop the truth at the man's feet flickered in her gut, yet Nathan was not the one that needed to hear her story.

    Mercifully, Nathan detected the steel in her voice and left the door to her past untouched. "The top's coming up now," he said, motioning towards a shred of brightness ahead. "We'll be able to spot Jake from up there, and we should catch the sunset too. Perfect timing, right?"

    The tree cover broke apart as they chased the light, and the steep incline levelled out into a flat, open hilltop. Silver dewdrops dangled from blades of undisturbed grass, and young wildflowers painted small colourful strokes across their rolling verdant scene. At the foot of the far slope, a large manor estate unfolded between the hills, teardrops sparkling along its sombre granite walls.