Chapter 1 - Fourth Installment

Deborah moved along the narrow path as quickly as she could. Again, she could hear the little creatures scramble away from her, except this time it was she who felt intruded upon. It was intensely dark, and extremely cold. With every sound she wanted to drop and hide. She had to control that urge and keep moving forward. It was too late to back down to fear and guilt now.
When she reached the truck she used her T-shirt to wipe the door handle, both inside and out. She paid close attention to the seat belt and buckle. She looked around the cab of the truck one more time, and closed the door with a graceful bump of her hip. Her pulse was racing and her nerves were raw. She half expected to hear someone yell “Freeze!”
She quickly headed down the dusty road towards town. She had not gotten far when she heard voices. Pausing, she determined that they were the voices of the teens Travis had passed on the way in. Either these kids had no curfew, or did not care. Deborah quietly slipped into the shadows of the trees and moved silently through the tall, dense grass. She slowed her pace considerably for fear of being heard, but as she put distance between herself and their little party, she realized they were far too intoxicated to notice her.
Once she reached the highway, she stayed just inside the tree line, approximately twenty yards from the side of the road. She did not want to risk being seen by anyone if a car should pass by. She kept her pace at a safe, but fairly quick jog, as she made her way into town. The terrain was difficult and cumbersome, but she focused on her son’s sleeping form and sweet face, and pushed on as quickly as she could.
Just inside of town, she made the decision to take a detour from her previously determined route home. Although costly on time, it would later prove imperative to her survival. She turned and carefully made her way through ally after ally, and through several ditches. She avoided any signs of life and all forms of light. She completed the last task and headed for home. Over two hours after she left Travis at the river, Deborah reached the empty field behind her home.
A short barbwire fence guarded the pasture that ran the length of the entire neighborhood. Deborah tried to use her leather coat as protection as she climbed through a hole in the fence, but snagged her thigh none the less. She bit her lip to avoid yelping as the rusty thorn tore into her flesh.
Deborah knew that it would be daylight soon, and one of her neighbors was an early riser who liked to drink his coffee on the back porch every morning. She would have to run past his back yard to reach her own, and the pasture offered no cover in which to hide. Taking a deep breath, she ran at full speed through the field to her back yard. She carefully placed her foot into one of the holes in the lattes fence she had put up to create more privacy in her yard. It was only five feet high, but covered the barbwire, preventing Parker from getting hurt while playing. It proved helpful this morning. When she finally reached her back porch, she did not slow down, though her body screamed for rest.
Instead, still standing on the back porch, she stripped to her underwear, and placed all her clothes into the wood box to be burned later that morning. Deborah knew that if she was ever a suspect, she could have no evidence of being with Travis. Burning her clothes was the safest option. She had seen to many movies where some idiot had tried to wash out the stains of their sin and failed. She also knew it was silly to look to Hollywood for assistance in planning a cover up, but she had nothing else to go by.
Deborah took her keys out of her jacket before adding it to the pile in the wood box and meekly stepped into her kitchen. She quietly made her way to Parker’s room. He was sound asleep, and showed no sign of ever being awake. Deborah thanked God for keeping him still and safe.
She then proceeded to take the second longest shower of her life. The water was near a boil as she scrubbed and re-scrubbed every inch of her body. She used a nailbrush and methodically attended to every nail. And although she did not find any blood on her, she decided to scrub the shower too.
Once out of the shower, Deborah inspected the wound on her right thigh. It was fairly deep, but superficial. She treated it with the medicine that Parker hated so much. He was right, it stung like hell. Deborah threw it away and swore to never put him through that pain again. She also promised to pay more attention to his opinions, as he obviously had a justified and knowledgeable view on things.
After dressing in her nightclothes, she went around the house, checking that things were as they should be. She placed her keys back on the hook, and moved Parker’s photo from the table where Travis left it, and placed it back on the mantle where it belonged.
Feeling that everything that could be done, had been, she slipped back into Parker’s room and leaned over his bed. Deborah hurt all over, more now with fear and love, than pain and fatigue.
She pulled back his covers and carefully crawled into bed with him. Cuddling his small form, she thanked God for him and asked for forgiveness. She buried her nose in his auburn hair and repeated her prayer over and over again. Slowly Deborah drifted to sleep, exhausted and resolved in the belief that she only did what had to be done.

- posted by Cindy @ 12:53 PM |