Finding Jane

Lost

Finding Jane

 

Chapter One

When she first noticed them, the woman wasn’t even sure they were really people. She’d been walking along the windy two lane road through the forest for at least an hour now, hoping to see some signs of life. So far she’d seen three deer, two squirrels, and about a hundred birds. Where in the world am I? she thought. The air was crisp, and the low lying sun was warming the dew of the autumn leaves. Her legs were tired from walking, prompting a time-out on a tree stump. For all she knew civilization was the other way, but at least she could finally see people. As the two cyclists drew near, she stood up and put up her hand to get their attention. Looking at each other with wonder, they pulled off to the side next to her.

“Mornin’” the female cyclist said.

“Morning,” the stranger responded, smiling in relief.

“Taking advantage of this perfect day I see,” the cyclist said as she sneered toward her male companion.

“I guess,” she responded, an answer that took the cyclist by surprise.

“Everything ok?” the female cyclist asked her before her partner could get a word in. 

“Actually, I think I’m not sure,” she answered apprehensively.

“Oh.  Um, well, do you need help? Did your car breakdown or something?” the cyclist asked the woman. 

“I don’t think so,” she answered vaguely. The cyclist was confused by the uncertainty of the answers to such an easy question and looked at her partner with concern.

“What do you mean, you don’t think so…?”

“Well,” the woman continued, “I was just walking down the road, and I realized that I have no idea how I got here.” Noticing the panicked look on the woman’s face, the cyclist swung her leg off her bike, unclipped her helmet and walked closer to the woman.

“Ok. Well, you don’t look like you were out at a party or anything,” she said, looking the stranger up and down. Both of the women seemed to notice that the woman was pretty casually dressed in jeans and a white long sleeve t-shirt, with traces of dirt and debris all over her. The cyclist looked up and pulled a twig out of her long brown hair. 

“Thanks.” As she tried to dust herself off a bit, she was obviously a little embarrassed by her condition. “Here’s the thing,” she continued, “I can’t seem to remember much before I wound up on this road.” This was certainly not the norm in Phoenicia. Things around there were pretty quiet.

“Ok, well don’t worry.  My man here doesn’t leave the house without every modern luxury.” the cyclist said. “Hey, Billy? Think you could call the Sheriff for us?” she asked, unsuccessfully trying to sound casual.  Opening his bike pack, Billy moved his GPS, a can of pepper spray, anti-bacterial hand sanitizer and a pack of gum to get to his cellphone.  “See.  He’s always prepared,” she said, clearly mocking him.

“Ha, ha.  But I have what you need, right?” he quipped back.  “Sheriff, it’s Billy...” he started, with a sense of urgency to his voice. “I’m out on Rosewood Drive. There’s something here you need to see. No, no ambulance, but---yeah, Ok.” He closed his phone and tucked it back into its place in the pack before turning to his wife and the woman. “Sheriff Trimble said he’ll be here in a few minutes. Want some water?” he asked, offering the woman a sip from a spare water bottle anchored to the side of the bike.  

“Thanks,” she said politely, trying not to obviously gulp the bottle down in one serving.  “Guess I was thirsty,” she tried to joke, noticing how they watched her.   “Is it always this chilly here?” 

“Yeah. Fall mornings.  Sorry, my frozen water probably didn’t help that much. Wish I had something warmer for you to drink.  Hey, Sue? Did you remember to take the sweatshirt I put out for you this morning? She seems a little cold”. 

Sue pulled a sweatshirt out from her backpack and gave it to the woman. “What would I do without you,” she joked with a smile.  “Told you. He prepares for everything,” she said handing the sweatshirt over. 

“Thanks,” She said as she pulled it over her head.   

“Here...come have a seat,” Sue said, gesturing to the downed tree.

“I’m so glad that I saw you. I feel like I’ve been out here forever.” The woman paused, looked down at her hands and began to fidget nervously. “It’s pretty bad that I can’t remember how I got here, huh.”

“Well, I’m almost fifty, so don’t go asking me about remembering things.  Clearly I would have left the house completely unprepared today,” Sue said, trying to lighten the mood. 

“So, do you guys ride every morning?” the woman asked.

“No, actually we haven’t been out in a while,” Sue said. “We own a restaurant, so having a day off is a luxury. I love the fall foliage, so I got someone to cover breakfast and made this one over here get up and get out of the house for a bit,” she said playfully, leaning over and bumping her husband. “He was being so lazy this morning, he almost made us late.”

“I keep telling you,” Billy interrupted. “How could we have been late when it was barely six a.m. when you were waking me up?”

Sue challenged back, “Well, I finally had a morning off, and didn’t want to waste it.”

“You call it waste, I call it relaxing,” Billy said, trying to rebut, but there’s no use. They were very endearing together. Their bickering was very playful and obviously loving. It helped to distract the woman if only for the moment; that is, until they decided to include her in their conversation.

“Are you married?” Sue asked, wishing she could suck the words back in right as they came out.

The woman paused and her face dropped. I don’t know, she thought. She looked down at her hand. No wedding ring. Not knowing if you’re married or not can’t be a good thing. Before she could attempt to answer the question, the sound of a truck coming closer took everyone’s attention.                                            

Author's Note

All critiques are welcomed. Thank you for taking the time.

Reviews

[Julie Beth]

this is really good i can't imagine what it would be like to not remember anything at all, i think i would go insane everything looks good awesome job :)

.novelists.elite.info.
.display. JulieBeth
.memberID. 038
.division. IV
.division.leader. Uc
.name. Elizabeth
.username. polarjulie82
.novels.----
.status.Early Reader
.join date. 07-15-11