House of Secrets by Tracie Peterson

Author:Tracie Peterson [Peterson, Tracie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Christian, General, Romance, Family, Contemporary
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2011-10-01T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

I was a small child again. It was my old nightmare—one of several. My mother was hurrying me along a tree-lined path. It could have been our driveway in Bremerton. It could have been almost anywhere. I struggled to keep up. My legs were so tired, but at her urging I found the strength to follow.

Momma was carrying a baby in her arms. I heard the baby crying, but Momma quickly hushed it. “We have to hide. We have to keep them from knowing where we are.”

“Who, Momma?” I remember asking the question over and over. “Who’s gonna come? Who’s gonna find us?”

“It’s not important. What’s important is that we stop them,” she declared. “They want to take you away. They want the baby.”

I was never at all sure who was after us. In the years right before Momma died, it was her fears of a serial killer that drove her actions. But my child’s mind crisscrossed memories and thoughts with my adult dream state. The serial killer didn’t come up until years later when Piper was born. I was six by then—much older than my counterpart in the dream.

———

I awoke with a start and sat straight up in bed. There was a hint of light on the horizon, but it wasn’t truly dawn yet. I slipped on some drawstring sweats and a bulky sweater and tiptoed downstairs.

Someone had thoughtfully put up a hammock on the deck, and I made my way to it. The canvas looked damp from dew, so I threw a blanket over it and crawled atop. I liked the way the sides rose up to hug me. It was like being wrapped in a cocoon. I felt the swaying lull me into a state of drowsy relaxation as I watched the sun creep up over the horizon. Seattle’s skyline could be seen glinting in the morning light. Across the sound the city would be awakening. People would be setting out for church or breakfast or a day of leisure.

I thought again of the repeating dream. Remembering my mother’s desperation. Why did that particular memory continue to haunt me? Dinah, my therapist, believed these were memories trying to break through, but I wasn’t convinced. To me they seemed like strange collages of my biggest fears.

The baby, I thought. The baby was key. My inability to keep the baby safe made me feel so helpless. I didn’t want to let Momma down. I didn’t want her to be disappointed in me. I didn’t want to fail.

But fail what? In my nightmare she was carrying the baby to safety and I was following. Although I’d been slow, I’d managed to keep up. Why then did I feel that I hadn’t done my part?

I knew there were other dreams where I couldn’t find the baby. Maybe it was all tied together. Maybe there had been an incident that I couldn’t remember fully. But with the gentle sway of the hammock soothing me, I found my eyes growing heavy. I drifted off to sleep wishing I knew the truth and fearing it at the same time.

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