Cast Away

A Dark Past (part 1)

...12 years ago...

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. Pain shot up my legs as every muscle screamed in protest as I ran faster and harder than I had ever ran before in my life. Sweat glistened off my forehead and my heart pounded in my chest. The more distance I was able to put between myself and the house were I received the worst news of my life made it seem less like a reality and more like a bad dream. And even though I had no idea what I was running towards, I had to get as far away from the terrible men and their lies, and in order to do that, I had to seek out the truth and prove them wrong for myself. But no matter how much I tried to forget what had happened the events that happened only minutes ago, they just kept replaying themselves in my head as I ran...

The moment the sheriff and his deputy had knocked on Lady Rachel's front door I felt my heart drop in my chest.

"I'm sorry to disturb you at this hour my Lady, but there was a fire..."

The sheriff's mouth was hidden by his thick mustache, and he looked tired and his uniform was covered in several dark black and brown stains. For a moment I stood there listening, too shocked to move. Lady Rachel pulled her shawl around her nightgown tightly, bracing herself for the next piece of information. The sheriff shifted uncomfortably. I remember that neither he, nor his deputy could keep eye contact with me longer than just a few seconds.

"Some folks in town... they told us that we could find the eldest child of the Jones estate at this residence..."

My throat ran dry and I remember thinking that I had heard him incorrectly. Surely he wasn't talking about me. Lady Rachel inhaled deeply and paused for a moment before she looked down at me. Even though I was very young at the time, her vast years had hunched her over into a small and frail old lady so she didn't have to look down far. She said nothing, only looked me over, with a confusing mix of emotions crossing her soft wrinkled face. She almost looked like she knew something I didn't, but before I could think on it a moment longer, the sheriff bent down to address me directly.

"I'm sorry lil miss there was a devastating fire... we did everything that we could but your parents and brother... they're -"

I closed my eyes and shook my head violently. No. He was lying. I didn't hear his next few words because I knew exactly what he was going to say. I couldn't bare to listen to him any longer. So instead, I pushed past him nearly knocking him backwards into his deputy as I sprinted into the dark woods that covered the few miles in between my childhood home and the home of the lady I had been working for as long as I could remember. I had been helping Lady Rachel with her gardening and cleaning up around the house when it became too late in the day for me to walk back home. This wasn't unusual for me and I had stayed the night at her house many times before. But tonight was going to be different, and I felt sick to my stomach. Tonight was the night that my life changed forever and I knew that I'd never be the same.

I ran through the dense forest as fast as I could. I couldn't take the well-beaten path that connected my family's estate to the Lady Rachel's because it took me too far out of the way. It was faster to cut straight through the trees. On any other day, I was a very sure-footed child who could easily navigate through tight and crooked spaces with ease, but in this instance, as I plowed through the brush and foliage as hard and fast as I could, several low hanging branches and thorn bushes tore at my flesh and clothes. I stumbled in the mud, over rocks and fallen timber and after only a few moments of running, my dress had acquired mud stains clear up to my knees. My dress grew heavy as the mud, water and my own sweat clung to it. As the weight of my hem increased, it pulled the rest of my skirt down around my legs and I found myself tripping and falling more frequently the further I went. But I didn't care. I kept running, barely wincing as each branch cut into my skin, the only thing that mattered to me in that moment was seeing my father, mother and brother with my own eyes.