Forsaken An American Sasquatch Tale - By Christine Conder Page 0,22
the entry to the guest chamber only renewed her fervor.
“He’s a liar, Katie. He knows what happened,” her screams bounced off the limestone. She didn’t recognize her voice. “Where is she, Adrian? Huh?”
Nathaniel picked her up, covered her mouth, carried her the rest of the way to their bed.
She looked into Nathaniel’s eyes for the first time that night and noticed they were red-rimmed, moist. She wondered how she could be so selfish. She hadn’t even considered how badly he must hurt. He loved their girl as much as she did.
She couldn’t find the words to comfort him, settled on stopping her outburst and pulling him to her. Her chest jerked with spasms against his. Finally her body decided it was done and she fell asleep.
Gabriel, Katie and Adrian stayed a few extra days after the disappearance. Liberty knew in her heart it was out of guilt and shame. Whenever Katie had come into Liberty’s bedchamber, with food and drink, she’d tried to hide the contempt in her eyes, but Katie hadn’t succeeded.
Liberty knew she’d been heavy with accusations and distrust on the hellish night of Sage’s disappearance, but she had no regrets.
Katie seldom spoke to her and when she did, the words were short and clipped.
She hated Liberty almost as much as Liberty hated Adrian.
* * *
Liberty awoke in a state of eerie calm. Nathaniel turned to her and gently took her hand. The lantern on the nightstand was dialed down, giving the appearance he had two faces. The one in the light, pure, and the one in the shadow, sinister.
She shivered. She preferred candlelight in the cavern. The flicker of the flames made the chambers seem warm and alive. The battery-powered light froze it all, made the shadows cold and motionless.
“What time is it? How long have I been out?”
“It’s almost morning. You didn’t get much rest though.” He brushed the hair from her forehead. “You tossed and talked in your sleep most of the night.”
She tried to sit up when the previous night’s events came back to her—Sage was alive—but she got up too quickly, became lightheaded. She leaned back against the pillow.
She closed her eyes, willed the spinning in her head to stop. Her mouth felt like a field in the middle of a summer-long drought. She asked without opening her eyes, “Water?”
She felt him lean over and bring a cup to her lips. “Here you go.”
She took a few swallows. Some of the water ran down her chin, a tiny ice stream. “Ooh, cold,” she said through a shiver.
His hands were there to catch the droplets. She melted at his warm touch and smiled, took his hand in hers and moved it to the buttons on her gown.
She tried to remember the last time she and Nathaniel had shared an intimate moment and couldn’t recall. Weeks? A month? She’d been emotionless for so long, her heart probably hadn’t been in it whenever it had been, so the memory of it was gone.
The loss had killed a part of her, and she’d lived the better part of a year in a fog. Not known an hour without a thought of Sage. Awake, asleep, she’d been consumed. She hadn’t forgiven herself, and for that Nathaniel had suffered.
But now her hope was renewed.
She pulled him nearer. “Our girl is alive.”
A sad smile tugged at his mouth as he stroked her hand. “I know you want to belie—”
She yanked her hand away at the patronizing tone. “You heard what Adrian said.” She started to get out of bed, growing angrier by the second. “He said he saw her.”
“Shh, please try to understand.”
She blocked out his words. His mouth moved, but she refused to listen. She’d heard it all before. She wasn’t being unreasonable and she certainly wouldn’t give up. They’d all heard what Adrian had said.
“…he said to tell you he is sorry he upset you and he knows he was mistaken.”
She tuned in to Nathaniel’s one-sided conversation. “Who said?”
“Lib, you know who. Adrian. He’s sorry.”
“Let him tell me himself.” She shoved Nathaniel off the bed and flung the blanket back. Standing, she shot Nathaniel the deadliest look she could muster and headed for the doorway.
“They’re gone.”
“What?” They couldn’t have just left after such a huge revelation. “When?” If she hurried, maybe she could catch them.
“Not long after you fainted.”
Her heart sank. They were miles away, if not already back at Proem. “Why?”
“Katie couldn’t bear to stay, said she’d had enough and insisted they all leave right away.” Nathaniel