The Siren's Prisoner (Completed)

Chapter Two

 Chapter Two

After I had finally stopped crying, I had left Leonard. I was now pacing in my living room. I was having a brainstorm. I refused to let Leonard die in this horrible place. For goodness sake's, he had a wife and a child out there somewhere. Leonard was my only friend and I went and talked to him often. Thirty years is a long time to get to know someone. He told me about his wife, Carol. They had married young. He was twenty and she was nineteen. He said that he'd never heard more beautiful words than Mr. and Mrs.  Leonard Nolen. They had barely been married a year when when he had decided to join the Navy. His wife had written him saying that she had found out she was pregnant. My mother had plucked him right off his airship before he had even gotten to go back to his wife. I knew if he stayed here any longer that he wouldn't be able to enjoy what was left of his life. I desperately wanted to return him to his wife. I was afraid of what would happen to me or him if my mother found out. Before I could return him to Carol, I had to make sure she was still there. 

 I closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes, I was in front of a sign that read Welcome to Roma, Georgia.  I started walking towards town. I had walked barely a mile when a blue car pulled over next to me. I looked over to see a red-headed woman looking at me. "Need a ride?" she yelled. You gotta love the south. I walked over to the car and climbed in. The woman was beautiful. Her hair gleamed and almost seemed to have a life of it's own. It flickered like a fire as the sun hit it. She had a spattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. She was looking at the road and it might have been my imagination, but her blue eyes looked sad. 

We were driving in silence. I hated silence, reminded me too much of home. "Not that I'm not grateful, but what would your daddy say if he knew you had picked up a hitchhiker?" I asked.

  "Oh, my daddy died a long time ago never knew him", she said.

  "I'm sorry," I said.

  "It's alright, not your fault. I just felt sorry for my mom seemed like she never got over him. Every time someone said his name, she'd flinch like somebody'd hit her. Why were you walking on the side of the road anyways? Not a killer are you?" she chuckled nervously.

 Not by choice, my kind friend, I thought.  "My car broke down a ways back", I lied easily. "How did he die, if you don't mind me asking?"

  "Not at all. My dad joined the Navy right before I was born. He died before I was born. I think that was some of the reason why mom was so heartbroken. I guess It wasn't his fault, but their wasn't anybody to help her." 

 It couldn't be! I could not be that lucky! "What is your mother's name?" I asked quietly.

  "Oh, I'm sorry my name is Gemma Nolan, my mom's name is Carol." My hand flew to my mouth.

  "Oh my gosh!" I whispered.

  "What's wrong?" Gemma asked.

  I looked at her in surprise. I had almost forgotten that she was there. I thought fast, trying to figure out how I could convince her to take me to Carol. "I know you might not believe me, but I really need to see your mother."

  "Why?" she asked.

  "My dad was good friends with your dad, and he told me that they told each other things to tell their family if something happened to either of them."

  She looked at me suspiciously. "What Airship was he on?"

  " The S.S. Hoover", I answered easily. I was so glad that I knew most everything she could know about Leonard.

  "How did my father die?" I knew she was smart.

  "Trick question. Nobody knows, he just up and disappeared. Everybody assumed he fell overboard, since he couldn't have walked off. They were in the middle of the ocean."

  Gemma's eyes went wide, obviously not expecting me to get that right. She probably thought I was pulling her leg. What are the odds that my father knew hers? Slim to none, even if I did have a father. "I'll take you to her."

 We pulled into a driveway in a prestigious neighborhood. "My mom lives here with me and my family. She said that she got lonely in a house by herself. I'm also not one to turn down a live-in sitter", Gemma said, smiling cheekily. We both walked into the beautiful brick house. "Mom, I'm home', yelled Gemma. I smiled, silently wishing I had some sort of family that would care if I was home.

  "No need to yell, Gemma", said a woman's voice from a different room,"I'm just in the kitchen." 

Gemma walked toward the back of the house and I followed quietly. We reached the kitchen and as soon as I saw Carol I knew I'd  found Leonard's wife. Leonard happened to have a picture of  Carol in his uniform when my mother had snatched him. He showed it to me one day about a year after he had gotten kidnapped. "She's beautiful", I had said.

  "She is", Leonard agreed," and she always will be." Leonard was right. Carol was still beautiful, pushing fifty and still beautiful. The older woman hadn't looked up when we had entered and she seemed to be cooking. Eggs, flour, and other various ingredients were strewn across the granite counter space. 

"Mom", said Gemma, looking a bit nervous. She didn't look like she was sure she wanted me to be here now that I was.

  Carol looked up from the mixing bowl she was holding. "Hello, dear, who do you have here?" Gemma looked a bit uncomfortable as she realized that she had never asked me for my name. Of course, after the bomb I had dropped on her, who could blame her? I decided to come to her rescue.

  "My name is Reaka, ma'am," I said politely.

  "Are you friends with my Gemma?" Carol asked pleasantly.

  "Mom", said Gemma," Reaka says that her father knew Daddy and that she has something to tell you."