Page 3 of The Hidden Guardian

“Yeah, then she would send me into the woods alone to ‘listen for the call of the wolf,’ whatever that means.” I roll my eyes and a small smile appears on my lips at the memory of our Mother.

“You’re more like her than you could possibly imagine,” he states reverently. His pointed gaze searches mine for a moment before he shakes his head.

“I hope you’re right.” I mean it, my Mother was a strong, independent woman who raised us both without our fathers. She never complained, always made us thank the Earth for providing, and even though she was a terrible shut-in, she would do anything and everything for her children. It’s an honor to be compared to her.

“I know so,” he mutters more to himself than to persuade me.

Colton inhales one of my remaining two slices, and I take control of the conversation, “Have you been applying to colleges?”

His smile fades. “I was going to talk to you about that …” He drops the half-eaten slice in the box.

“About what? Colton, you know we have been starving ourselves and busting our asses, and now you want to blow it?”

“It’s not that …” He looks away, fighting some internal dilemma.

“Then what is it?” I throw the crust of my slice back into the box.

“I just feel like we need a change of scenery. There’s a house I’ve been looking at for sale in Lexington, and they are looking for workers in the power plant down there.” I clench my fists as he continues, “Matteus says he’d move, too, and pay us rent for the third bedroom. Between the three incomes, I think we could make it work. Who knows, we might be able to save up to move to the coast and start that nursery one day.”

“Colton, what about school? I thought we agreed–”

“Things have changed,” he cuts me short in that demanding tone he used on the phone. That type of assertive tone I don’t appreciate, and I won’t tolerate the disrespect. Mother never did.

“Things? Oryou?”

“Both.”

We glare at each other for a long time. A silent test of wills until I sigh, defeated, “Colton, I can’t think about this right now.” I throw my hands up in the air before climbing to my feet and heading for my room.

“Autumn …” he calls after me.

“No. I wanted better for you.” I spin on my heels and point at him. “I wanted you to go to school and be better than this place. Get out of this town and make something of yourself.”

“I ambecomingsomething,” he screams, punching his fists into the table before climbing to his feet. His eyes glare in a wave of anger that I’ve never seen from him before. I take a step back, suddenly filled with apprehension. “Who says I have to go to school to become something? It’s my life too. I’m allowed to decide my own fate.” He pauses to take a deep breath as I stare at him. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him talk like this; we’ve always been on the same page—always been a team. Why the sudden change?

“And what about you, Autumn? What happens toyouwhen I go away? Am I just supposed to leave you behind? If we move somewhere together, we start a new life,together.”

“You don’t have to worry about me.”

“If I didn’t, who will? You won’t. All you care about isme.”

“I promised Mother,” I whisper, looking down at my feet.

“I made promises too …” He waits until I lift my eyes again to make sure his words sink in. I open my mouth, but don’t know what to say—I don’t think it ever crossed my mind that he would have had a conversation with Mother. He was so young; what could she have possibly said to him? Turning away from him, I open my bedroom door.

“This conversation isn’t over, we need to leave this place. I can’t stay here any longer!”

At that I slam the door behind me. This place was good enough for Mother, it should be good enough for him.

Climbing into bed, I pull the covers up before reaching over to wind up my alarm clock. Before I do, I pet my little orchid plant that sits beside my bed. When Vicky threatened to throw it away at work, she called herself a plant murderer and ranted about how useless potted plants were when long-stemmed roses do just fine. I couldn’t let her just throw it away. At first, when I took it home, I thought she might be right. Its leaves were all brown, but I refused to give up. I took it home, removed all the dead roots and leaves, and instead of potting it again, I placed it in a simple cup of water. With plenty of sun, it came back bright pink and better than ever. Now it sits beside my bed so I can look at it daily. Today it’s in full bloom, petals open wide to wish me goodnight, the scent of sweet vanilla filling the room and calming my soul. I smile before rolling over.

My head doesn’t even hit the pillow before I hear Colton pacing around outside my room. Then the front door opens and closes behind him.Typical. I scamper out of bed and pull the curtains back. Watching as Colton makes his way to the edge of the forest and disappears into the line of trees. Not toward the street, but into the forest.Ugh Gods, why are all my plans going to hell?

ChapterThree

AUTUMN

I’m running, running fast. I’m in the forest. Trees are whipping past me as the crescent moon trails behind me. I leap over a fallen tree in a single bound. Someone is chasing me. I must go faster. I can feel them on my heels. Faster! They are coming. They are coming.

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