4. Finding Courage

It's Emily's turn to be brave and put herself at risk.

Emily's heart was in her mouth as she crept across the meadow toward the road almost on all fours. She couldn't remember ever being so scared. But she didn't want to let Chrissy down. Chrissy was the bravest woman in the world to Emily.

Chrissy had given her a simple, yet dangerous, task. The woods they had been traveling through finally ended at the edge of a meadow. After about forty yards the meadow bordered a road. On the other side of the road was another woods. Chrissy said they needed to cross the road and continue into those woods. But she needed to know if the coast was clear before taking the motorcycle out into the open. She instructed Emily to creep up to the road and check while she waited in the woods with the motorcycle. Once Emily gave her the 'all-clear' signal, Chrissy would drive the motorcycle across the meadow and they would proceed into the safety of the woods beyond.

Emily occasionally peeked over the weeds toward the road as she crept along. Her greatest fear was seeing the green SUV coming down the roadway. After what seemed an eternity she finally reached the road and ducked behind a bush that was growing there. Her heart was beating so hard it felt as if it would burst out of her chest. She timidly peered down the road from behind the bush. She saw a vehicle approaching and quickly ducked back down. It wasn't the green SUV but a large, white pick-up truck with dark, tinted windows instead. She crawled under the bush as the truck approached. It was moving very slowly.

Through the leaves of the bush she could see the truck slowly pass less than eight feet away from her hiding place. Then, to her absolute horror, it stopped. She heard the doors open and then a man's voice said, “Why are we stopping?”

Another man answered, “Something came across that meadow. See the trail it left where the weeds are bent down?” Terror grabbed Emily's heart! They saw her trail where she had crossed the meadow! They were going to catch her for sure!

The first man replied, “Aw, that could be anything. A deer or a fox maybe.”

Emily nearly wet herself when she saw a pair of legs appear right outside of her hiding place. She heard one of the men ask, “What are you looking for?”

“Motorcycle tracks in the dirt next to the road,” answered the other man.

“See any?”

“Nah. You're probably right. It was a deer or something. Let's keep looking.”

Emily heard the doors shut and the truck continue to drive down the road. She didn't even realize she had been holding her breath until she let it out. She was shaking almost uncontrollably with fear. Crawling back out from under that bush was the hardest thing she had ever done, but Chrissy had given her a job to do.

She looked down the road in the direction the pick-up truck had gone and could still see it moving slowly along. When it was almost out of sight she stood up and gave Chrissy the signal, then she ran to the other side of the road. Almost immediately, Chrissy came across the field on the motorcycle. Once she had crossed the road, she stopped and said, “Okay, get on. Let's move!”

“Wait!” said Emily. Then she ran back across the road and, with her foot, wiped out the tire tracks that the motorcycle had left. As she returned, she stopped and wiped out the tracks on that side, too. She climbed on the motorcycle and said, “Okay, let's go.”

Once they were inside the woods Chrissy stopped the motorcycle and they got off. She looked at Emily and gave her a little smile. “You did good, Squirt,” she said, “I'm proud of you.”

Emily gave her a nod and acted nonchalant.

But inside she was beaming.

Author's Note

Suggestions and constructive criticisms are always welcome.

Reviews

[Tina Kline]

Great chapter. Emily is learning to be brave like her mother.
Still can't help wondering what is going on here.

[Craig2591]

You will meet the enemy soon. Thank you.

[Nienor Niniel]

What a close call that was; who are these people? But good for Emily! It's amazing how great a motivator love is. You did a wonderful job relaying her emotions and fears.
Looking forward to the next installment.

[Craig2591]

Thank you very much.