Page 4 of Dark Flame

She walked for days, hiding in the shadows of the woods along the roadside. When she was able, she would start a small fire and wait in the darkness.

She wished she were back at the military base where George and Dolores once worked. She liked being there. There were other children to play with and always something to do.

Deciding to stay off the main roads and away from any towns, Nadine worked her way into the woods, hiking all day and finding shelter at night. It was easy to build a fire, and in time, she learned how to trap rabbits and cook them herself. For nearly four months, she moved non-stop until she came upon an abandoned cabin.

The door was nearly falling off, and the roof leaked, but it had a bed and working water pump. The cupboards, although old and falling apart, were filled with canned goods, and there was even a small stash of knives and a shotgun with shells.

As she settled in for the night, her tiny mind moved in a million directions. She would repair the roof and door, and she would make this her home. She would survive.

Staring up at the night sky, she looked down at the small journal George had given her and smiled.

“Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me,” she sang through tears, “Happy birthday Nadine… no, Nat… I’m Nat now… happy birthday to me.”

Nine years old, alone in a cabin in the woods, and nowhere to go.

Eight years later, Nadine reflected on that fateful day. On the eve of her eighteenth birthday, she was amazed by her own tenacity and resilience, having survived all these years with very little help. She congratulated herself but knew that the party would be short-lived.

She traveled more than two hundred miles by foot, on her own, those first few months. Although terrified and hiding most of the time in the first years, she made friends with an elderly couple a few miles away who helped her get food and clothing. They never questioned the little girl but always kept an eye out. They gave her books to read and helped her learn the basic things she would need to survive in the world.

Sally Jenkins, a retired fourth-grade teacher, home-schooled Nadine and thereby helped her receive her high school diploma. Sally and her husband Chet were both blind and hard of hearing by the time Nat met them. But they were the only friends in the whole world for Nadine. She cherished their time together and the evenings they spent around a campfire or just talking about books. It never occurred to her that she was the only friend they had as well.

Within the year, Sally and Chet would be gone. Leaving Nadine with their sizeable cabin, a small savings, and a place to call home forever. She owed them everything, and yet she could only think of revenge on the man that cursed her. The one man who cursed all the children. Colonel Weston Moore.

It had taken years of research to find out why she possessed her abilities. Eventually, Nadine tracked it down to the pink fairy dust she played in as a child.

Her horrid mother had been a cleaning woman at the Sierra Depot. She was given free room and board and, more importantly, an endless supply of men to entertain her. But Dolores’s drinking ended her days of employment, and Nadine’s favorite home was taken away as quickly as it was given.

George would be the only man who was ever kind to Nadine. He showed her respect and caring, even when her mother did not. Nevertheless, George was gone now, and Nadine wanted to rid herself of this curse.

In her youth, she was just learning to use her gifts. In puberty and then into her teens, it was nearly uncontrollable. The tiniest frustration would set the room on fire and don’t even talk about the hormones of a teenager. As she learned to control it, she was able to use it to survive, but that didn’t mean she wanted the damn abilities forever.

Finally, she was closer than ever to ridding the world of Colonel Weston Moore. She’d tracked him and the woman to the ranch in Southern California and did what no one else seemed able to do. She ensured that Moore would be wiped from the planet.

From her place in the crowd, standing on the dirt road, she watched as the flames licked the sky above the huge ranch house. People scrambled below, some running for safety, others running to put the fire out. It was then that she saw the huge dark shadow of a man. He was a mountain with black hair and dark eyes, and those dark eyes locked onto her blue ones.

He knew. Somehow, he knew she had set the fire.Damn!

CHAPTER THREE

Two Weeks Later

“Not to sound like a five-year-old, but are we there yet?” asked Nat through sleepy eyes.

Flip looked at the beautiful woman beside him, her shining blue eyes filled with sleep, her blonde curls tangled around her own body. She was everything he was not – small, delicate, and perfect.

When he’d focused in on her face at the fire, he immediately knew – she’s mine. Her tiny frame and elfin features drew him in. When he looked at the two of them standing side-by-side, the only thing he could think was how much he looked like a troll, and she looked like a fairy princess.

“Flip?” she asked, staring at him lost in thought.

“Oh, sorry,” he said, blushing, “we have at least another day, maybe two days’ ride. We probably need to find a spot to pull over and camp for the night. It’s not a good idea to be on the roads too late into the night, and I’d rather find somewhere for us to rest and eat.”

“Okay, let me see what I can find,” said Nat, pulling out her phone. “Looks like there might be a small campground about twenty miles from here. I think it’s inside the Thunder Basin, so it could be a state park facility, probably really nice.”

“No go,” said Flip, “we don’t want anything where they might track us down. We’d have to register the vehicles and give our licenses. Find something more remote.” Nat nodded and looked down at her map.

“Okay, it’s kind of out of the way, but near Hulett, there’s a small private camping area. Looks nice. Clean lots, electricity, and water.”

“Then that’s where we’ll go. Put it in the GPS.” Before Nat could even lift her fingers to the screen, a voice came over the speakers, and the GPS flickered, finding their target.

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