The Wandering.

Chapter 6

Ten years gone
Ten years long
Another child taken
Another child gone

1

Shari Davenport watched the bus leave her behind at the centre of Sachem Bay, longing to hop back on and escape back to New York all over again.

But she was here for a reason. For Gracie. And blood ties meant everything to her.

Shari stopped in the diner for coffee - luckily it must have opened in the ten years Shari had been gone, so she felt comfortable there, with the lack of unwanted nostalgia. She ordered a cappuccino, they gave her it in a foam cup and she slid into a booth in the corner to read her book in private.

She didn't even get to stir her sugar when a voice interrupted her from the first page.

"You're Shari Davenport, ain't you?" An old woman said.

Shari raised her eyebrows. "How'd you know me?"

The elderly woman grinned and slid into the booth with her. "Look at that fire red hair of yours! You're a Davenport girl if I've ever seen one! I'm Winnie McFarlane, short for Winnifred."

Winnifred. Poor soul with a name like that. Shari thought guiltily.

She didn't need to ask Winnie how she knew her first name. For there was only two Davenport girls. And one of them was dead.

"You're here for Gracie, aren't you." Winnie said with a sure nod, as if she already knew the answer.

"I am." Shari replied, finally taking a sip of her coffee.

Winnie was almost squealing in excitement. "As soon as I heard the news, I knew you'd come. Everyone knew."

Shari had to suppress an eye-roll. "Of course, she's my niece."

Mrs McFarlane gave Shari a sure tap on the arm. "Don't you beat about the bush, Miss Davenport. You sent that Thing into hiding, for a good ten years too!"

The word thing sent shivers burning up Shari's spine.

"I didn't do shit. This ignorant fucking town didn't do what it's supposed to." Shari retorted, losing her temper momentarily.

Winnie McFarlane looked taken aback, but unlike most old folk in Sachem Bay, she shook it off. "I believe in you, Shari. Not everyone knows the truth about what lurks deep in this town, but I do."

Shari's anger quickly changed to a warm appreciation for the old woman, as she slid out of the booth and staggered back to her own, retreating into the The Sachem Daily.

Shari gave a sigh and stared out of the window, thinking about the events of ten years ago. What she went through with her brother Scotty, Prue Harris (apparently she was married as Rivers now), Logan Ledger, Diana Jet and Tobias Wainwright.

It all seemed an eternity away.

Shari's mind wandered, trying to distract herself and thought about how she would get to the place she would be staying:

Sachem Bay Boarding House by Secular Woods, East Side.

She shoved the book in her bag, deciding she would start it later, picked up her foam cup, which was mostly still full and made her way for the exit.

The coffee almost flew out of her hand.

"Woah, whatcha-" The guy that almost walked straight into her froze. He had blue eyes, thick brows and a shaven head, just enough hair to see - and he suited it.