We pulled up to a small cottage, even smaller than our house, and I helped Dad out of the car going against his pleas that he was fine.
"Is this where Sam lives?" I asked my Dad ominously as we stepped up to the front stoop to knock on the door. He just nodded. I looked behind us at the dying day and I tried to take in the beauty of nature. It had been so long since I'd been able to see a sun set against the backdrop of evergreen.
"Mr. Black," I heard the deep voice of Sam greet my father and I turned around just in time for my eyes to pop out of my head. He was massive. He must have bulked out a good two clothing sizes and grown a good three inches. His face was nothing like the playful Sam I'd once remembered. The silly boy that I'd grown up with. This was not him; it couldn't be!
"Rachel?" Sam rasped out and I heard my father give a bark of laughter.
"That's her all right." My Dad confirmed looking towards me to give me a small wink.
"You didn't tell us she was coming back." Sam's tone colored with disapproval, much like my own earlier this evening. I felt embarrassed like my father was going backwards in maturity level the more he aged.
"There isn't that much to tell. I'd just decided to help out a little." I told Sam sweetly, falsely.
"Well, come on in." Sam widened the door and I grabbed my father's wheel chair to help roll him, but he swatted my hands away.
"I'm fine."
"If you're sure." I murmured and looked to Sam who was smiling slightly.
We were fully situated on the couch before I heard the bustling in the kitchen. Oh! No wonder Sam wasn't living with his Mom anymore, he was probably married to his high school sweetheart. Duh, Rachel.
"Oh? Is that you Leah?" I leaned a little to the side to get a better look at her moving the pots and pans around, but at my comment the noises stopped suddenly. "Leah?"
"Leah's not here." My father directed at me sharply and I turned to look at him. He hadn't used that tone with me since I was eight and climbed up a tree nearly splitting my leg bones in two.
A woman walked out of the kitchen, she was still smiling or half-smiling. When I saw her face I had to hold my hand over my mouth to stop the gasp that wanted to escape. Her face was marred completely on her left side leaving all her features in the area that the pink lines tainted, incapacitated.
Sam got up quickly to place his big hands on this woman's waist. He looked towards her with concern, like she might break down or something at any moment. I bit my tongue at my stupidity as my father glowered at me. Well, I guess he was the one who deserved to be embarrassed now.
"Rachel, this is Emily, my fiancée. Rachel Black went to school with me." Sam's tone implied that I was obviously ignorant of current events, but Emily didn't seem to mind too much. She was cordial at least. I probably would have been slightly more offended if the guest in my home had stared at my flawed face and called me by my fiancées ex's name.
"How's the college life?" Emily asked my nicely after my father explained my absence to her. He'd been more than generous as all parents are with their kids saying that I excelled in all my classes (which wasn't that true) and how I loved helping my family (it's kind of an obligation). It's just that the University of Washington offered better promises to my major. That
also was false. I think Emily and Sam knew that Dad wasn't telling the whole truth, but if they suspected anything they didn't voice it.
Somehow in the midst of pleasantries my Dad and Emily carried on I started to wonder, just what the hell was my Dad doing here? Since when had he become best friends with Sam Uley? When he requested me to bring him here I thought he'd loaned Sam a tool from our large shed or he needed to pick up some papers for the town meeting, but no, we'd actually just came here to chat. Nowhere in the conversation did anything come up about my Dad needing something from Sam. I tried to alleviate my concerns with the blatant fact that my Dad was lonely now-a-days, but coming to see Sam didn't really make a whole lot of sense. I knew he had other friends.
"So what brings us here tonight?" I asked to the general area and everyone sort of shifted uncomfortably trying and failing to hang onto the previous topic. It didn't really work.
"I just wanted you to get back in the feel of the town." Dad told me innocently. I gave him a stern look. Good Lord, I feel like my Mom. "Don't you want to reconnect with your old friends?"
"I suppose," I said, but I didn't really. What I wanted was my own life. Not to pretend like I belonged in my old one because that just wasn't who I was. I wanted to forge my own path, yet it felt like something was missing, like a chain link I hadn't located.
I didn't know what I wanted out of life yet, but I knew it had something to do with running a business. That was my major anyway.
"Good, maybe Emily can show you around tomorrow or something." Dad looked at Emily hopefully and she nodded brightly.
"I don't know about that just yet." I confided in them meekly. I'd really been planning to just hideout at my house and wait for the news to break that I'd come back. Then I'd wait for the rumors about why to calm down before I would emerge. I had myself being a recluse until about the time school started in which then I wouldn't even have time to go in town. It was a brilliantly thought out idea, which my father promptly ruined.
88888888
Everybody was around me. I couldn't believe that this was probably half my graduating class and most of them were still here. Emily and I'd walked into town just to do a little domestic shopping here and there when all of the sudden there was Becky who sat next to me in biology and then she was followed by Henry, then more and more until the circle around me was three feet thick with people.
"How was California?"
"Was it different?"
"Did you like it?"
"Why'd you leave?"
Question after question was fired at me like I knew it would be. This was exactly why I wanted to stay home, forever. I couldn't keep up with the chatter and soon I was seriously about to fight my way out of the circle, but then Emily saved the day. Thank goodness.
"Rachel, do you think that you could come to the post office with me? It closes in an hour. Sorry to steal you away from everyone." I could see Emily's right side of her mouth twitching with amusement. Yes, yes, this was just so amusing.
"Of course!" I excused myself out of the mass of people. "I'll catch up with everyone later, but for now, I've got to go." I jerked my thumb in Emily's direction. Everyone understood
of course, no one protested, but I did get a few new phone numbers to 'call them if I wasn't busy'. Yeah, that was the first thing on my agenda.
"Thanks," I breathed in relief as the people started to disperse behind us.
"Don't mention it. I can read emotions unlike others." Her eyes deliberately flickered to everyone back there. I laughed slightly because really, only one of her eyes moved entirely and that kind of freaked me out. Emily must have caught my stare again, but this time instead of ignoring it she simply shook her head in exasperation. "You can ask you know."
"Ask what?" I feigned innocence perfectly, trying to put on the polite face I could do so well. Emily stopped walking and chuckled without any real humor in her laugh.
"My face," she stated and then she looked at me queerly for a moment as if maybe I did know something more, but the moment passed and I almost wondered if I'd hallucinated because her face was blank once more.
"Oh that." I said and she truly laughed then.
"Yes, that. I was mauled by a bear a while back."
"On the Makah reservation? We haven't had that many bear attacks over here."
"Er, no it was here." Emily told me quickly and involuntarily my hand went up to stroke her face gently. I tried to do it with all the gentleness I could, like I was Sam or something and she was fragile.
"That's terrible." I whispered and then both our eyes met. Hers warmed at my gaze, but then something must have caught her eye because they flickered towards my exposed bottom forearm.
"What's that?" Emily was too quick for me and she snatched my wrist to pull it away from her face. She twisted it face forward and stared at the purplish bruise that was healing.
"Oh just a bruise, I'm a little clumsy." I tried to laugh it off and Emily didn't seem to concerned because she let go almost instantly.
"You don't strike me as the clumsy type."
"Yeah," that was the only thing I knew to say to that. "Can I ask you a question?" I tried to change the course of our conversation so she couldn't stew on whatever she was really thinking about.
"You can ask me another."
"Good one, well I was just wondering, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to…Leah?"
"She just walked out of the bakery." Leah said from behind us as I heard a door clang shut. Well, I must have the best luck in the world. "Why?"
"Ah, Leah!" Emily managed to sound a trifle cheerful and to make her face look happy that we'd been eavesdropped on. I, on the other hand, couldn't fix my horror-struck face.
"Rachel Black?" Leah breathed out in disbelief. "I thought you were gone for good."
"I thought I was too." I muttered under my breath, but that's the breaks.
"Leah, that's not a nice thing to say." Emily admonished to the ebony haired beauty. I let my breath catch a little bit at just how beautiful she was. When Leah was younger she'd always had a cute face, but the teenage years had been kind to her. Yet, no matter how beautiful she was, her face seemed frozen over. Not one ray of happiness seemed to radiate from it.
"I'm just back for a few months to help my father out." I explained civilly. Leah didn't seem to notice my respect towards her.
"The tribe would have taken care of him. You didn't have to worry yourself." She sneered and turned around to stalk off.
"Yes, but he's my father. So you don't have to worry yourself." I spat back, all the respect thrown completely out the window. I was her elder anyway! "I take my question back, Emily. I figured out what happened to her and Sam." I commented loudly.
Leah was in my face quivering from head to toe in a flash. "You know nothing." She hissed viciously and I actually took a step back. Her stone face and wild whipping hair reminded me slightly of Medusa. Her fierce gaze would make any admirable man's will crumble. It wasn't fair that she became better looking the angrier she got.
"Rachel, don't. Leah calm down." Emily commanded with authority. We both looked towards her. I decided that maybe she was right and taking another step back from the situation was a good idea, but that didn't help much when Leah decided to take a step forward.
"You listen to me Rachel Black and you listen good. I serve this community, not you, you left! I'm the one that had to suffer while you went off and did whatever your heart desired. Can I do that now? No, so don't you dare pretend like you know anything about anything!"
I was actually a bit frightened. No, scratch that, I was petrified.
"Don't listen to her." Emily whispered to me sympathetically as Leah stormed off. Her hair whipped around her like she was a villain in a cape. I was a pretty pathetic superhero though because I'd barely held my own in that argument.
"Is she right?" I asked Emily still staring at Leah's disappearing form.
"She is, but that doesn't give her the right to speak to you like that." Emily said seriously. I turned to look at her absolutely disheartened. Maybe this wasn't a good idea to come back.
Then again at least Leah's verbal assault wouldn't leave a bruise.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who's reviewed. I know this chapter isn't that interesting, but it is important to the story and I'm just easing Rachel back into the town a little. Tell me what you think! Like it so far? Hate it?