Exousia (Karass Chronicles Book 4) Read online

  Table of Contents

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-One

  Twenty-Two

  Twenty-Three

  Twenty-Four

  Twenty-Five

  Twenty-Six

  Twenty-Seven

  Twenty-Eight

  Twenty-Nine

  Thirty

  Thirty-One

  Thirty-Two

  Thirty-Three

  Thirty-Four

  Thirty-Five

  Thirty-Six

  Thirty-Seven

  Thirty-Eight

  Thirty-Nine

  Forty

  Forty-One

  Forty-Two

  Forty-Three

  Forty-Four

  Forty-Five

  Forty-Six

  Forty-Seven

  Forty-Eight

  Forty-Nine

  Fifty

  Fifty-One

  Fifty-Two

  Fifty-Three

  Fifty-Four

  Fifty-Five

  Fifty-Six

  Fifty-Seven

  Fifty - Eight

  Fifty-Nine

  Sixty

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  EXOUSIA

  Beca Lewis

  Copyright © 2018 Beca Lewis

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

  Published by:

  Perception Publishing

  https://perceptionpublishing.com

  This book is a work of fiction. All characters in this book are fictional. However, as a writer, I have, of course, made some of the book’s characters composites of people I have met or known.

  All rights reserved.

  One

  Emily Sands thought she had never seen anything more beautiful than the view from the hill. It was a view she had visited almost every day for the past year. A sight she dreamed about practically every night.

  To get to her favorite spot on the hill, she’d park her car at the bottom of the rise and hike. In the rain and snow she often slid down as much as she moved up, but the view was always worth the effort.

  It was the middle of February in Pennsylvania, so Emily had dressed for the cold. It had snowed the day before, leaving about a foot of snow on the ground. But with chains on her boots, the trek up the hill hadn’t been as hard as the first time she had tried to climb it in bad weather.

  Emily was not a fan of cold, and given the choice of hot or cold, she would choose hot anytime. However, she had learned that good things come from the cold and the winter season. It was a time of retreat, of planning, of preparation. And she was doing all three.

  Emily thought that February was both the worst month of the year and the best. It was still winter, but as the season wound down, instead of snow sometimes there would be brown mud and chilly winds. Those were the days Emily liked the least. On the other hand, spring was right around the corner, and that vision was on everyone’s mind. No matter where you went, someone would be talking about the weather and the coming season of green and growing things.

  During her weekly grocery shopping trip, Emily had struck up a conversation with a friend about picking out dahlia bulbs for planting in the spring. Within minutes, four other women had joined them talking about the wonders of dahlias. If it wasn’t dahlias, it was tulips or roses. Browsing through bulb and seed catalogs was a favorite February pastime in the village of Doveland.

  For Emily, winter had been full of a different kind of browsing. She had been blueprint browsing. She had taught herself to use Google Sketch-up and drawn a version of what she was going to have built in the spring. This year, instead of a garden, she was going to plant some buildings. At least that was the dream, one that had been with her as long as she could remember. If all went well, this was the year it would come true.

  As she gazed out over the snow-covered hill that she had just climbed, she thought about another reason to put up with the cold and snow. She loved to look out her window in the morning and see which animals had crossed through her yard during the night. It was incredibly exciting to see the visible tracks left behind by creatures who at any other time of the year were mostly invisible. In winter, she could see where they had been and where they were going.

  Still standing, and looking down the hill that she had just come up, she could not only see her zigzagging footprints, but also the tracks of the six deer she often encountered and the fox who sometimes allowed Emily to see her. Yes, winter did bring many blessings, she thought.

  It was hard to tell that it was midday. The clouds hid the trek of the sun across the sky. Emily could never understand why some people thought that only sunny days were beautiful. She loved cloudy days and the feeling of being embraced by the sky itself.

  Emily swung her backpack off her back as she sat down on the flat rock that jutted out from the hill, brushing the snow off before sitting. Six more weeks and spring would be here, and the snow would be mostly gone. Better than that, another few months and she would be building on this piece of heaven.

  Nothing about her dream had been easy. Well, nothing about life had been easy. However, as a young girl, she had been given a gift that had saved her life. Now, she was only months away from giving other children that same gift.

  Opening her backpack, she took out a sandwich and a jug of hot water. There hadn’t been time to eat before coming out to the hill. Working part-time while teaching classes in the space she had rented in town kept her busy. But her schedule enabled her to carve out the time to visit this place and watch it change with the seasons.

  Today the bare tree limbs stood out in stark contrast to the snow and gray clouds. It was like looking at lace growing into the air. Every squirrel nest was visible sitting high in the branches. The bones of the tree were beautiful. In the summer, it was hard to see the structure of the tree beneath the leaves.

  It reminded Emily of watching her dancers in their practice clothes that showed every movement and line of their bodies. She preferred that view, although audiences loved the costumes as much as people love leaves on trees.

  At that moment the sun made a surprise visit streaking through an opening in the clouds and sliding across the white landscape. Its warmth probed beneath the surface where all the green and glory of summer were still a few more months away.

  Below, in the village of Doveland, the bells in the chapel rang out the hour. They were a new addition, gifted to the church from the Anders family. Hank’s family.

  Emily knew that she would be seeing a lot of Hank Blaze in the coming months. He was going to build her dream for her. As soon as the ground was soft enough, he and his crew would be out on the hill digging foundations. She had visited him a few times out at Melvin’s place in Concourse to talk over her plans
, and they had become good friends in the process.

  All of it was a new beginning for her, and she hoped for the children of Doveland. Sitting on her rock imagining her dream, a deep thrill ran through Emily, bringing with it a heady rush of joy.

  What Emily didn’t know was that beneath the ground lay not only the seeds of plants and grasses that were waiting to sprout in the warmth but a secret that had been buried for over forty years. A secret that would tear the town apart. A secret that threatened to destroy her dream. It was only a matter of time. Spring was coming.

  Two

  Melvin Byler’s living room had seen better days. Filled with mementos and decades-old furniture, it was stuffy but comfortable. While waiting for Melvin to wake up so they could have breakfast together, Hank Blaze sat in an old chair, the springs of which had also seen better days, staring out the window at the snow on the ground. He was tired of winter. He had big plans for the coming year, and he was itching to get them started. At the same time, Hank was grateful for the downtime that winter offered. It gave him a chance to look over his life and decide what he wanted to do with it. Grant was dead. Hank was free.

  For the first time in his life, Hank felt safe enough to plan a life that was not haunted by his past deeds. He knew he would never forget what he had done, or what was done to him, but now he had a chance to make up for the past.

  As he watched the wet snow fall and coat the tree limbs so that they looked as if they had icing on them, Hank ruminated over what had happened last summer. Many good things. Ben’s christening. Pete and Barbara Mann moving to town and running the Diner. Grace Strong and Mandy Minks opening the coffee shop and bookstore called Your Second Home.

  Hank had also discovered the generosity of the town of Doveland. Members of the community had rebuilt Melvin’s barn after Lenny had blown it up to divert attention from what he had planned for Jay Kalin’s birthday celebration. Jay was Hannah’s “past-dad,” as she called him because they remembered each other from their past life. However, the party had turned into a tragedy for Jay and Hannah.

  Hank was haunted by the memory of Jay stepping in front of a bullet meant for Hank. He vowed that Jay’s sacrifice would not be in vain.

  Upstairs, lying in bed, Melvin was doing the same thing as Hank. Reminiscing. Although Hank had stoked the fire, the house was still cold. He was taking advantage of the fact that Hank had moved in with him after Jay died. He could wait until the house warmed up before heading downstairs, something he had never been able to enjoy before.

  The loss of Jay had brought Hank and Melvin together. Melvin hadn’t minded the barn being destroyed, but he grieved for his friend, Jay. Although Jay had only been in his life for a few months, it had changed everything. Melvin had stopped drifting through life until his time to die so he could see his wife Sally again. Instead, with Jay, he had looked forward to every day.

  However, even in the midst of his grief, Melvin couldn’t help feeling happy for Jay. In the end, Jay had overcome the temptation to take revenge on Hank for what he had done to Jay’s family in his past life. Instead, Jay had saved Hank’s life by sacrificing his own. He had shown the world the good man that he always had been. His goodness had just been buried under all that anger.

  The fact that Melvin knew that Jay had been reunited with his wife Maggie, also helped ease his heart a bit. Melvin knew that Jay, Maggie, and Sally most of all, were waiting for him. He hoped that they were enjoying themselves in the meantime. He intended to do the same.

  Nope, the barn blowing up was a blessing and Melvin had kept the promise to himself to write to Lenny in jail and thank him for sparing his house. He had never heard back from him, so he didn’t know if Lenny actually got the letter. It didn’t matter. He had thanked him.

  Yes, Lenny had done Melvin a favor. After Jay’s funeral, the town of Doveland held a barn raising event for him. It was Hank who had made all the arrangements for the construction. Melvin knew that Hank was trying to make up for Jay’s death and doing something tangible helped. But Melvin knew that Hank desired more. He wanted to settle down and do as much good as possible in the hopes it would erase some of his guilt and pain.

  So Melvin asked Hank if he would like to move to the farm. It didn’t take long for Hank to say yes. Hank thought he did it to keep Melvin company, but soon learned he had done it for himself. They were the perfect fit. Both of them were quiet, private men, but in need of good company.

  As the leaves dropped from the trees in the fall the two of them would often walk Melvin’s property talking over their lives. Sometimes Hank would bring Hannah out to the farm for the weekend. Hannah’s mother, Ava, was happy to let her go. She knew that it was the three of them that needed the most healing and that doing it together would make it easier for all of them.

  During the winter, with a storm raging outside and the wood-stove blazing away, Hank, Hannah, and Melvin made their own little world. Sometimes they played games. Sometimes they read books to each other. And as time passed, and their hearts had healed a bit, they started making plans.

  They had spent many evenings bent over the old kitchen table talking about what they would like to do. It was Hank who brought up the idea of providing a space where kids could come out to learn the construction or farming trade with Melvin and Hank as their guides.

  Hank decided to design it as if he were a boy in trouble. What would he want? Hank knew what he would have wanted because he had been a kid in trouble. But he never found a place to get help. Instead, he was on his own until Grant saw him on the streets. Hank had already thought of himself as a bad person, so it was easy for Grant to convince Hank to let him be his mentor. The problem was, Grant had no desire to turn Hank into a good person. Instead, he taught him the hidden ways of an evil man.

  Hank didn’t want other kids to suffer under someone like Grant. He wanted to offer something better. Not pity. Not punishment. He wanted to give them a way to find themselves.

  Not all the kids in trouble came from bad families. In fact, most of them didn’t. But the pressures in school to take drugs and join gangs existed even in the small towns in the country.

  So the three of them enjoyed their time together as they schemed and planned. They had the perfect property to use to put the idea into action. Melvin’s farm. Melvin’s new barn would be the beginning.

  Hank spoke to the police departments in both Concourse and Doveland and explained what they wanted to do. The police in both towns liked the idea and agreed to help them by pointing out some of the kids who were in the greatest danger.

  However, the kids didn’t have to be in trouble to come learn with Melvin and Hank. Everyone was welcome. What wasn’t welcome were drugs or violence. Hank knew that learning how to say no to those things was a matter of education and of building up a purpose big enough so that they could not be tempted. They needed a community and connection.

  They wanted each child to become their own authority. Each one of them would be given the opportunity to experience the possibilities that life had to offer. Construction and farming were the skills that Melvin and Hank knew. They would use that knowledge to share life skills that would translate into whatever the kids chose to do.

  In spite of all their planning and the healing it was bringing, sometimes at night, Hank would scream in his sleep, lost in a nightmare. Melvin would wait in his room to see if Hank would wake himself up from the dream. If he didn’t, Melvin would gently wake Hank and remind him that he no longer lived the life governed by someone who had authority over him. That nightmare was over.

  That part was true. However, a new nightmare was just beginning.

  Three

  Grace Strong and Sarah Morgan sat comfortably beside each other on the church pew. For seven months they had spent hours every morning sitting together, side by side. Sometimes weeping. Sometimes praying. Sometimes whispering togethe
r.

  Both of them knew that it couldn’t continue forever. In fact, Sarah and Grace knew that the time had come for them to rejoin the circle of life going on all around them. Seven months ago they both had to make a decision. It had been a painful one for both of them. Each had to let go of the love of her life.

  It had been hardest for Sarah, and both of them knew it. But Sarah hated the moments when she became angry with her friend, Grace. She would feel the wall of anger building and then it would become reinforced by the guilt she felt for feeling that way in the first place.

  All her friends, even Grace, told Sarah it was normal to go through this stage. But that didn’t make it any easier for her when she realized she was angry at her best friend and at her husband, Leif.

  Rationally, Sarah knew that there hadn’t been any other choice for Leif. And that was another reason Sarah would get mad. She would think how selfish it was for Eric to ask her to give up her husband so that Eric wouldn’t have to die. What right did he have to ask that? He knew what Leif would say.