The Key to Frasnati

Chapter One

Chapter 1

Kayla drummed her fingers against the door of the van, staring impatiently out the window and fingering her necklace, a treasure she’d owned since her eighth birthday. Would they never reach their destination? She frowned, and shoved a dark curl out of her face. Her brothers, Terry and Jason, were arguing over something, and she tried to block their noise from her head.

Kayla Innes and her family were traveling from their farm in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan, back to their former home in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. Kay was excited, and nervous to. She missed the mountains, the rolling hills, and, yes, even the sudden weather changes. She missed the bald eagles, the deer, the moose, the hawks and other birds, the coyotes, the foxes, the familiar streets, everything. But most of all, her friends- of course. She had not been here in the two years since she left, and was afraid they might not even recognize her. Would they be happy to see her? What if they had changed, and didn’t even want her around?

“Ka-ay!” her thirteen year old brother’s voice interrupted her thoughts, “Kayla! Tell Terry to give me back your ipod!”

“You know Jason, I’d think you should be old enough to settle your own arguments.” She snapped back harshly, and then glared at her other brother, who was a year older than herself. “Terry, come on. Give it back to him, and use your own.” He only grinned at her, and she shifted in the seat to look back at Jason, shrugging. “Hey, you can’t say I didn’t try.” He scowled, and turned his attention to the scenery around them.

Kayla brushed a soft brown curl off of her rosy cheeks, sighing with frustration at the suspense of travelling. The sixteen year old was a pretty girl, not anything striking, but neither would she consider herself ugly. In addition to her rosy cheeks and long brown hair that fell in waves and curls, she had a pair of gentle hazel eyes. Well, usually gentle, but did she ever have a temper.

If a person had never seen Kayla Lynn Innes before, they would see a silent girl, who didn’t really fit in with any crowd. A girl with perhaps a couple close friends, someone who was extremely hard to get close to, and who didn’t look particularly interesting. And yet, if you knew Kayla, she was a whirl wind of activity, her brothers would swear she could run ten kilometers straight, and not be winded. Her mother was always exasperated with her for the clothes she tore, her father for the tools she lost. Then there were other times, where she would find a quiet place outside, completely alone, and burry herself in a book. She would stay in that world for hours, dreamily experiencing everything her poor characters went through. Kayla had a gentle heart, and was loyal to her friends. Any promise made would be kept till the day she died. You would never guess she was not an ordinary person.

Looking to the window for distraction, and wishing she’d brought another book along, Kayla started. “Sylvan Lake!” she exclaimed, “Really? Are we really so close?” she bounced in the seat.

Her mother laughed, “Yes Kay, we’re almost there.”

Terry straightened up in his seat, and absently tossed Jason the iPod over his shoulder.

“Humph!” was Jason’s reply, but he too was eager to arrive.

As they grew closer, Kayla grew more nervous, and began shifting restlessly. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Terry also seemed nervous and uncertain. Their parents began speaking of their plans for the next couple days. “…and tomorrow morning we’ll go to the church, I wonder who will be there? ...Tuesday we could run down to visit Benjamin and Theresa…”

“It’ll be fine Kay.” The whisper and reassuring squeeze startled her, and she looked up at Terry, giving him a quizzical look. “I can tell you’re worried, but you don’t need to be, it’ll be fine.” He tried to be reassuring.