Exousia (Karass Chronicles Book 4) Read online

  It wasn’t just missing Leif that was bothering her. There was something else going on. It was times like this that she missed Leif the most. What would he say? Perhaps it was just spring fever that made her feel a tiny bit restless and worried. Time would tell.

  In the meantime, she would pay more attention to what was going on around her. It seemed like a good recipe for moving on. Not forgetting, just moving on.

  Fourteen

  Clearing Emily’s land was put off for another week. A snow storm had rolled in covering the ground with three inches of wet, heavy snow. But it melted quickly in the warming spring air, and one beautiful April day Hank and his crew moved the equipment out to Emily’s hill. First, they cleared a driveway up to the stand of trees where the parking lot would be. It would first be a staging area where they could park their machines when they weren’t in use. When the construction was over, they would turn the staging area into the parking lot.

  Hank’s crew didn’t have any of Grant’s, or Lenny’s, or even Sam’s people in it as it always had in the past. This time they were his crew, just for construction, not for spying on each other. Hank’s hand-picked team liked him. They had watched Hank turn from a hard-headed, withdrawn, and often terse boss, to one that cared about each of them personally. He promised them all work. If there weren’t any jobs in Doveland, they would work in nearby towns like Concourse.

  But this job was one they had all looked forward to over the winter. It was a beautiful piece of land, and they liked that they were going to respect both the contours of the property and the trees that lived there.

  They also appreciated that Hank was going to feed them once a week using Sam’s catering company. Sam was discounting the price, partially because Hank was his friend, but also because he wanted an opportunity to build his reputation and skill.

  Because this was just a setup day, they had all brought their lunch. During the lunch break, the entire crew sat on the hillside looking across the valley. Some of them had moved to the area after being chosen by Hank to work with him a few years before. A few of them had kids in Emily’s dance classes. The fact that they were part of the building of this new arts center made them heroes in their kid’s eyes.

  Emily sat with them, her long legs stretched out in front of her, her baseball hat keeping the sun off her face with a few escaped strands of long blond hair catching the wind. She kept trying to tuck them up into her hat, and they kept escaping. It made Emily laugh thinking that her hair wanted to be free, just as she did.

  It was a momentous day, and she wanted to be part of the first turn over of dirt. As much as possible she hoped to be on the site every day. She planned to take pictures and videos and to document the process. Perhaps someday a film student would decide to turn her collection of videos into a real documentary. Emily envisioned one of her students writing the music for it, another editing it, and perhaps another doing artwork. She had big plans to go with her big dream. However, Emily hadn’t forgotten why she was in Doveland, even though the fact that a childhood dream was coming true overshadowed its importance. She would get back to it someday. What Emily didn’t know was that someday was just a day or two away, and would come in a form no one expected.

  ********

  That same day, Ava and Hannah decided to have lunch together at the Diner. The weather was beautiful, and it was spring break. It was a perfect day to do something different. Evan had work to do at home, so he was watching Ben. Ava said it was a girl’s day out which Hannah thought was the best thing ever.

  Hannah asked to go to the Diner because she said she hadn’t seen Pete and Barbara for far too long, even though it had only been a week. Besides, Johnny was working there that day, and she had a teeny, tiny, crush on him. Hannah knew he was too old for her, for now. But she was counting on that someday he would see her as more than a little kid.

  Plus, she reminded herself, she wasn’t really just ten. She had memories of her past life, which made her much wiser. Those memories had faded a bit. Hannah knew her mom was happy about that, and honestly, Hannah was also glad that she couldn’t remember things as well anymore.

  She would never forget her past-dad and past-mom, but she lived in this lifetime with Ava and Evan, and she loved them with all her heart. Those memories, like all memories held to, kept her from living entirely in the now. Or that’s what Sarah had said the last time they talked. Hannah figured that Sarah knew what she was talking about. She had to move on too.

  When they got to the Diner, Lex was also there eating lunch with his mom and dad, Valerie and Harold. When they saw Ava and Hannah, they called them over to sit with them at their table. Hannah was glad. Lex was fun, and they did lots of things together, including going to dance classes at Miss Emily’s.

  Everyone at school knew Miss Emily even if they weren’t taking dance classes from her. For one thing, the sixth-grade class got to take social dance classes from her as part of their school work. Not everyone liked it, but Hannah and Lex were looking forward to going next year.

  Miss Emily and Valerie, who was the principal of the school, said it would help them all learn how to act with each other. Besides, they would learn how to dance, too, even if it was just the waltz.

  Johnny took their order, looking nervous. Hannah figured it was because he was hoping to impress his mom and dad, but he did take the time to turn and wink at her, causing her to giggle. Valerie and Ava looked at each other knowingly. Hannah missed the look because she and Lex were talking about all the homework they had over the holiday.

  “Hey, Hannah,” Pete said coming out of the kitchen to hug Hannah. “Do you have room on the seat for me?” As they moved over to let him in, Pete asked Lex and Hannah if they were excited about the new arts center being built out of town.

  Hank and his crew had been in that morning on their way to work and told him about what they were doing.

  “Yes!” both Lex and Hannah said together.

  “Oh, I missed that it was really being built,” Valerie said. “I heard rumors about it last fall but didn’t realize that it was actually happening. Where is she building it? Who’s it for?”

  Hannah couldn’t help herself. She had to tell her everything. “It’s for everyone, but mostly for kids. At least for now. Dance and art first, then Miss Emily says it will grow into all the arts. That is if she can get enough kids to come. Mom says I can definitely go this summer. It’s going to be like camp only a thousand times better. At first, a bus will pick us up every day and bring us home at night, because this year she won’t be able to build the places for us to sleep yet. Doesn’t it sound wonderful? Lex can go, can’t he?”

  Out of breath, Hannah paused, and Valerie said, “I don’t see why not. We’ll have to see what it costs, but we’ll work out something. A bus will pick you up? So this place is out of town?”

  “It’s going to be beautiful,” Hannah said. “She is building a huge deck off the side of the hill. Where is it, mom?”

  Ava laughed. “It’s north of town about five miles. The land used to belong to Dr. Joe, but now that he is retiring he has been selling some of his lands. We bought some of it along the road going west so we could build a bike trail to Concourse.”

  Harold hadn’t been paying a single bit of attention to the conversation. Instead, he was trying to catch the eye of other people in the Diner to see if he could have a conversation with them about something he was interested in. Harold loved his son, but dance? He wouldn’t stop Lex but it didn’t seem very manly to him.

  However the words “Dr. Joe” did get his attention.

  “What did you say about Dr. Joe?” he asked.

  “He sold the land to Emily Sands for her art retreat,” Ava answered. “It’s about five miles out of town. Go north, and it’s on the left. A pretty hill that looks back onto the town.”

  “And she’s building
something there?” Harold asked barely choking out the words.

  “Honey is there something wrong?” Valarie asked looking at her husband who had turned completely white.

  Harold didn’t answer. He just got up and stumbled out the door mumbling something about forgetting he had an appointment.

  “What was that about?” Pete asked.

  They all looked at each other and shrugged.

  “Probably did just forget something,” Valerie said as Johnny brought their food to the table.

  They all tucked into their food, pretending that nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Valerie resolved to get Harold to talk to her about it when he came home. She would have to be careful how she asked, and he probably wouldn’t tell her anything, but she had to try.

  Fifteen

  It was chaos. Not at all what Emily had envisioned for the beginning of building her dream. In reality, there was no way she could have envisioned what happened. Not in a million years.

  Emily wasn’t the only one in shock. Everyone was. She thought back to the day before when she had turned over the first shovel full of dirt, when she and the crew had celebrated with a shout and hugs were exchanged. It had been a joyful day for everyone, the beginning of something beautiful.

  For the past week, Hank’s crew had been busy bulldozing a drive up to what would become the staging area. It would be muddy until they turned it into a regular driveway, but they needed a way up the hill. Even in its beginning stage as a slash in the dirt, it was beautiful, slowly curling its way up the rise.

  Yesterday, they started building the staging area. First, Emily’s shovel of dirt. Next, the dozer had to clear off the vegetation. That took all day.

  Yesterday, when the clearing was done for the day, she and Hank sat on her rock and let the feeling of starting something beautiful wash over them. The crew had built a bonfire where they burned the cleared vegetation in preparation for digging deeper. Flames leaping, reaching for the sky echoed Emily’s joyful feeling of reaching for her dream.

  That was yesterday. Joyful and celebratory. Today, Emily was sitting on the same rock, surrounded by chaos and fear. Nobody sat with her. This time she was alone.

  Emily could see Hank talking with his friend Sam at the edge of the meadow, gesturing at the equipment. Even from this far away she could tell they were tense and worried. Who wouldn’t be?

  The bulldozer that had been leveling the ground for their staging area was sitting as if it was a massive dinosaur waiting for its next meal. Its bucket raised just a few feet off the ground. Emily could see something caught in the teeth of the bucket. She shivered at the thought of what it might be. The truck filled with the rocks that would be put down first as a base for the parking lot sat idle. The driver was leaning against the door, probably wondering if he should stay or go.

  Someone had put a blanket over her shoulders, but even though the sun was beating down on her, she couldn’t stop shivering. All she could think about was that her dream was now a nightmare. A nightmare that had just begun. There was a chance it would never end. Please, God, she said to herself, make this go away. She knew it wouldn’t, and she hated herself for only thinking about her dream at a time like this. For someone else, this was going to be so much worse.

  “Emily?”

  Emily looked up to see Hank’s niece, Ava, standing by her, a baseball hat on, squinting at the sun in her eyes.

  “Hank called me. Do you mind if I sit down?” Ava said.

  Emily nodded mutely and moved over a bit on the rock. Ava handed her a bottle of water, and said, “Drink this.”

  It was the voice of one who knew what to do, so Emily took a few sips of water. Although they were almost the same age, it was Ava who had the experience of taking care of children, and at the moment, Emily desperately wanted someone to take care of her. She barely knew Ava. Ava’s daughter, Hannah, was in her dance classes, but it was usually Hank or Evan who brought her and picked her up. Once in a while, it was Ava, but Emily was always busy rounding up kids for the next lesson and making sure the children in the last class had their rides home, so they never had time to talk.

  Ava put her arm around Emily’s shoulder and pulled her close. With a slight hesitation Emily put her head on Ava’s shoulder and let the tears run down her face. Although both women were tall and slim, Emily’s blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and Ava had kept her dark hair at chin length after cutting it into a pixie a few years before. It was easier to take care of, and Ben found it harder to pull her hair when she leaned over to kiss him.

  After a few minutes, Ava said, “Emily, I am going to take you to our home. You are going to stay with us for a few days while we figure out more of what happened here. Hannah will be delighted, and a few of my friends are bringing over some comfort food.”

  “What about my car?” Emily whispered.

  “Hank will take care of it. He and Sam will come by later and tell us what is going on. We’ll put you up in the bunkhouse so you can have some privacy. We’ll stop by your house on the way so you can collect a few things.”

  Emily stood up reluctantly. This was her land. She was responsible for it. How could she leave and let other people take over?

  “I know you are worried, Emily. But I promise you that Hank and Sam will not let anyone destroy your property. But there’s probably more that’s going to have to be done before they can stop, and I don’t think you need to witness it.”

  As Ava led Emily to her car, she glanced back at Hank. He tipped his hat in acknowledgment. He knew what Ava and Emily needed, and he would take care of it. Ava felt a rush of emotion and tears forming. This was a horrible situation, but she knew that they had each other. For that, she was eternally grateful.

  Ava also knew that the women’s council was on full alert. She had called them on the way out to the site. Grace and Sarah would already be at her house, and Mira and Mandy would come later. Mandy needed to be at the shop until closing time, and Mira had been at Melvin’s home, helping him with his vegetable garden when Ava called. Once Mira was finished, she would head over to Ava’s. Besides, Mira thought she could ask Melvin if he knew anything about Emily’s property that would be helpful.

  Although the news of what was happening would probably be all over the town before evening, they didn’t want to be the ones spreading it. They wanted to be the ones paying attention. Listening. Looking at patterns. Did anyone know about this? And if so, were they responsible?

  So many questions needed to be answered, but for now, Emily needed the comfort of friends. It’s time to welcome her into our circle, Ava realized. Although they barely knew her, Ava knew that Emily had been brought to them for a reason. Or perhaps, it was the other way around. They were there for her for a reason.

  And I thought she was just going to be my daughter’s dance teacher, Ava thought. Apparently, it’s more than that.

  As Emily huddled in the passenger seat, Ava started making plans. They would find out what had happened. She was sure of that. But she was afraid. What if the answers turned out to be something they didn’t want to know? Something better left buried.

  Ava shook her head. Too late. It was out in the open now.

  Sixteen

  The town was buzzing as if it had a current of electricity running through it, like lightning in the air. But, it wasn’t a storm that was causing the excitement. It was something happening north of town. Police cars and ambulances had raced out earlier that day and not returned. The two-lane road traveling north out of Doveland was blocked off leaving just one open lane. Someone stopping at the gas station to get snacks and gas had said that even the Concourse police were heading up north. There was also speculation that the FBI would be returning to help find out what had happened.

  Good for business, Tina thought and then clapped her hand over her mouth. God,
she needed to clean up her act. She didn’t really feel that way. It was a habit left over from years of survival. It would take some time to recover from what her husband Frank had put her and her children through.

  In spite of the fact it felt heartless to think about making money in times like this, Tina Jacks had to admit that an increase in business would be very helpful just about now. It wasn’t her fault something terrible was happening.

  In the same way, it hadn’t been her fault that Frank had turned out to be such a terrible and frightening monster. It wasn’t her fault that they had to run and hide from him for so many years.

  On the other hand, it was her fault she had married him, the jerk. They met in grade school. He was a jerk then too, but everyone told her that boys acted that way because they liked you. Whoever made up that bull crap ought to have known better. What a terrible thing to teach young girls. She would never, ever, say that to her daughter Lynn. She would never let her son Manny treat a girl that way. What an excuse. Because he likes you? No. Never.

  Because if they were jerks when they were young, they most likely would continue to be jerks when they got older. And if they mistreated people when they were young, it was a strong probability that they would only get worse. Which is exactly what had happened. Frank was charming, when he was around other people and when he wanted to be. In private, he was cruel.

  Tina hated that people believed that being charming was an indication of inner goodness. In fact, she could attest to the fact that often it hid an ugly way of thinking. She didn’t want to make it an absolute since nothing was ever absolute, but when she met people who acted all nicey-nice and charming, especially men with their smiles and smooth-talking ways, she was immediately on high alert.