The Deep Dark Stone Path

Chapter 43 *Sam*

I wake up to Dalilah shaking me. She pets my head and says, “Get up Sam. I am going to ask my dad if I can keep you.” I follow her downstairs and she leads me into the living room. Mr. Daniels comes in with James behind him. What’s going on? “Dad, James and I found this dog and he was hurt and we fixed him. Can we keep him?” He thinks about it as he sets his bag down and examines me. “Sure, as long as he is potty trained and wont bite.” He pets my head and I lick his hand. “He got a name?” “Sam.”

Later on, Dalilah, James, and I are in Dalilah’s room on the veranda. “What happened today, James?”, I ask. He tells us about how a cop took him down to the station and questioned him and took pictures of his scars. “Terry is definitely getting convicted. I just know it.”, James states. Dalilah smiles and takes my hand. James doesn’t even care. “We did it, you guys!”, Dalilah says excitedly. She grabs James and pulls both of us into a group hug.

Right before dark, the three of us climb down the veranda and walk down the path. With the sun setting behind the trees it actually looks beautiful. When we get to the house we see yellow tape and tire tracks where the cops came. I look over and see a backroad that I didn’t notice before. So that how the cops found the place. We walk in the house and look for the bloody boot print we missed.

After about half an hour, we find the bloody boot print in the kitchen behind the door. James kneels down to examine it. “That is the imprint our boots left. It was Terry.” He gets up and glances behind me. “Sam.”, he says. I turn around and see Dalilah walking up the stairs. “Dalilah!”, I call out, but I can tell she can’t hear me. James and I follow her to the second floor. She goes left into a room we haven’t been in before. It seems like it was the parent’s bedroom.

The room is in good condition. The fire barely even reached this room. Dalilah goes and sits on the bed. She is looking next to her and I think there is someone there. “Of course, forever.” Then she shakes for a moment and looks at me. “Peter, the Meyers youngest, he wanted to thank us for helping his family. Their funeral is this Saturday. His parents thanked me downstairs. They were so happy to see their children. Once the cops brought all their bodies outside, they finally saw each other.”

“Why did you say ‘Of course, forever?’”, I ask. “Peter asked me if I would remember them.” She closes her eyes and runs her hand along the wall. “After the funeral, this house will be torn down and the town will forget this ever happened. They won’t build anything here because now that the people know what has happened they would never come out here. Let’s go, you guys. They need time before they move on.” With that, we all leave.