All My Tomorrows by Al Lacy

Author:Al Lacy [Lacy, Al]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-56439-9
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2012-01-04T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Deena Mitchell slid off the bed and went to the closet. She took her worn cloth bag from the shelf and laid it on the bed. She removed her few dresses from their hangers, laid them next to the bag, and folded them. When she had placed them in the bag, she shoved it under the bed.

She doused the lantern that sat on the nightstand and lay down on top of the spread, fully clothed.

Looking out the window at the starry sky, Deena went over her plan again. “Well, it’s not much of a plan, but since I’m alone in a strange place and don’t have many options for getting away, it’s the best I can do. It’s just got to work.”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I feel bad about leaving Mrs. Dexter. I hope my running away won’t make her life harder. That brutal husband of hers is going to be mad and may be worse to live with than ever. But somehow she seems to have resigned herself to it, and that’s her business. But I don’t intend to stay here another day.”

With that resolved in her mind, Deena closed her eyes, and after a few minutes, sank into a light sleep.

Even her surface slumber was fitful. Less than an hour after she had fallen asleep, she found herself dreaming about Donna, and just being in her twin’s presence in a dream was enough to bring her awake.

She sat up with the vision of Donna’s face in her dream and pressed her hands to her cheeks. “Oh, Donna, I need you so desperately! Where are you? I need you!”

She lay back down, but sleep eluded her. She wept for her twin, calling to her in a whisper over and over again as the hours passed.

She was awake when the first hint of dawn touched the eastern horizon. Moving quietly, she sat up and threw her legs over the side of the bed. Reaching under the bed, she grasped the cloth bag and made her way to the door. She turned the knob ever so carefully, swung the door open, and stepped out into the hall.

The house was quiet as a tomb.

Tiptoeing down the hall, she descended the stairs, made her way quickly to the kitchen and out the back door. The air was fresh and sweet to her lungs as she moved off the back porch. Glancing nervously behind her, she made sure she was alone and dashed across the yard on the opposite side of the house from where the bedrooms occupied by Ralph, Norma, and Rex were situated.

Some of the cattle and horses in the corral were watching her as she moved through a gate, closed it behind her, and ran across a field. Twice she glanced behind her, making sure all was still at the house. When she was out of sight from the house, she angled toward the road, running hard.

By the time the sun peeked over the eastern horizon, Deena entered the deep shade of the forest, panting.

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