New Beginnings

Chapter 14

"Anna I can't reach!" Kinlee cried. She was on her toes doing a little dance trying to reach the limbs up above her. I shook my head and smiled at the little girl. It had been her idea to climb up into the tree and jump out into the pond below. But first she needed to get up into the tree. She stopped reaching and turned around to smile sweetly at me.

"What would your mother say if she knew what you were up to Kinlee?" I asked her putting my hands on my hips. Her bottom lip protruded and quivered at my words. She widened her eyes. She looked positively heartbroken that I hadn't lifted her up into the tree.

"Fine!" I said throwing my arms up into the air and she revealed a toothy grin. "But we need to take our dresses off so they don't get soaked." We striped down to our underclothes and climbed up the tree together.

Once up in the tree my common sense started to wear at me but my excitement quickly drowned it out. Growing up I had seen boys jump into ponds and lakes from out of trees or off of rocks. Being a girl I wasn't allowed to join. My mother had claimed that I was far too delicate. But now looking at my arms that had grown strong from fighting and my hands with their callouses I didn't feel delicate anymore. I didn't feel defenseless.

We inched towards the end of the branch and stood trying to keep our balance. We were probably only fifteen feet from the water but from up in the tree it felt like triple that. Kinlee reached for my hand. Her shaking fingers clutched at mine. She had been brave up until this point. I gave her an encouraging smile.

"We don't have to jump Kinlee." I told her then without warning she leapt into the air and off the branch pulling me with her. There was a split second of falling my shrill shriek interrupted just as we hit the water with a splash. We surfaced and Kinlee giggled like a hyena. Our short jump was exhilarating.

"Again!" she cheered and swam towards shore. Once we reached the water line I felt the back of my neck prickle and immediately I scanned the trees. About one hundred paces away across the pond I spotted a man's face semi-camouflaged in the bushes. He was facing us directly.

"Kinlee..." I said quietly as I pretended to not see the man crouched in the greenery. I reached for her hand but she was gone. I spun in time to see her disappear up into the tree that we had just leapt from. I walked to her and grabbed her ankle. She turned to look at me with a wide smile on her face but then the smile faded. What had she seen when she looked at my face? fear? anxiety? maybe she just saw that I was deathly serious.

I held my arms up to her and she leaned out of the tree to be lifted down. There was a nearby crunch in the trees and I took off running with Kinlee's hand clenched in mine. She stumbled but I drug her along with me keeping her upright. I didn't care that we were only in our drenched under clothing. I didn't care that our dresses had been left completely forgotten under the tree. All that I was concerned with was running.

To Kinlee's credit she kept up with my quick pace and didn't make a sound as we crashed through the forest towards home. Her hand was a vice on mine refusing to let go of me. There were shouts behind us. We were being followed. I sprinted even faster and pulled her up into my arms. I held onto her as tight as I could as I clutched her to my chest.

It was like a bad case of déjà vu. All I could think about was that night. Flashbacks were flying through my mind. Once again I was running from a possible future that I would do everything in my power to outrun. This time I was stronger. This time I was faster. I refused to be captured again. This time I would win.