As soon as Cassidy stepped in the doorway of the group home, she felt a firm hand on her shoulder. "Shit," she mumbled under her breath. She looked up to find Mr. Cramer standing beside her. He was the "supervisor" of the home. Mr. Cramer was a man in his forties, and tall and muscular with a clean cut look. He always dressed professionally and his brown hair was always neatly groomed. Mr. Cramer was new to the job and had only been working in the home for a couple weeks, but he promised that things were going to change. He wouldn't allow the girls to "run wild" any longer and there would be consequences to their behaviors.

"Cassidy Fraser, my office, now," his voice boomed.

"But I'm late for my barn chores," Cassidy protested.

"Your chores can wait," he replied sternly. Cassidy rolled her eyes and headed down the hallway with him following close behind. Cassidy stopped outside his closed door and waited for him to open it. "Sit in the black chair," he ordered as he swung the door open. His office cold and unwelcoming. The walls were still bare and only a large desk sat in the middle of room. Cassidy took a seat in the chair across from his desk and folded her arms across her chest. She watched as he took a seat across from her. "It appears we have a problem Miss Fraser," he stated.

"Oh yeah, what's that?" Cassidy questioned, playing dumb.

"Well, the school said you never arrived today and I know I saw you get on the school bus," he replied. Cassidy's eyes met his from across the desk. She wasn't about to let him intimidate her.

"I had other things I needed to do," Cassidy replied matter of factly. "Besides, school's not a big deal. I already know how to read and write." She watched as he stood up and paced back and forth behind his desk.

"I will not tolerate truancy," his voice boomed as he stopped and looked over at her. His stance was firm and intimidating, especially to an 11 year old child, but Cassidy would never show him she was afraid. A knock on his door interrupted them. "Come in," he called out. Cassidy turned around and was surprised to see Heather enter his office. "Thank you for joining us Miss Delator," he said. Cassidy and Heather eyed each other suspiciously. "You can take a seat next to Miss Fraser." Heather quickly took a seat next to her friend. "So...as I was saying to Cassidy, I will not tolerate truancy."

"But Mr. Cramer, I was at school today," Heather interrupted. Cassidy sensed the panic in her voice. "I swear. I've never skipped."

"I know, he replied, "But interestingly enough, the school received a note from you Miss Delator saying that Cassidy wouldn't be in school because she was sick." Heather and Cassidy quickly exchanged worried glances. Heather sighed nervously.

"I wrote the note," Cassidy announced abruptly. Mr. Cramer raised his eyebrows and nodded his head disapprovingly. "So STOP trying to scare my friend!"

"Miss Fraser, stay out of this, and stand in the corner!" Mr. Cramer ordered as he pointed to a vacant corner on the right side of the room behind her. Cassidy scrunched her face with confusion. "Now!" his voice boomed. He approached her quickly to let her know his seriousness. Cassidy jumped up as he hovered above her.

"I'm going, sheesh, relax," she sassed as she threw her hands up in front of her. Cassidy had no idea what he wanted from her, but she went to the corner anyway and stood looking over at him and Heather.

"Nose in the corner," he ordered firmly. Cassidy huffed and turned around awkwardly, thinking how weird the punishment was. Typically when she got into trouble, she would just have to write an essay about what she did wrong and how she could improve her behavior. "Miss Delator, you have earned five swats with the paddle for lying," Mr. Carmen announced firmly.

"Excuse me?" questioned Heather worriedly. Her hands began to tremble in her lap. "I don't understand."

"Have you ever been paddled before?" he questioned sternly.

"No," Heather's voice squeaked as tears filled her eyes. "Please Mr. Carmen, I won't do it again, I promise," she pleaded.

"Well...it is my understanding that the girls here have had no discipline and have been causing a lot of problems for the last few years," Mr. Carmen replied. "They hired me to make some changes and that's exactly what I plan on doing...starting with you." Cassidy felt panicked. Her best friend was in trouble because of her and she knew she had to do something.

"Mr. Carmen, please," she pleaded as spun around. "This is all my fault. You can't punish Heather!"

"Miss Fraser, you may go to your room," he ordered. "You're on restriction for 5 days. You will not leave your room except to go to school and chores. I will personally escort you to and and from school. Am I clear?" Cassidy's eyes met Heather's. Cassidy could see the worry on her friend's face and she felt terrible. She couldn't understand why she wasn't receiving the same punishment as Heather, and why he was using her as the example.

"Please Mr. Carmen, I'll take both punishments," Cassidy pleaded. "This isn't Heather's fault! What I did was a lot worse."

"Go now," he ordered, "Or I will remove you myself." Cassidy felt helpless and when she still didn't budge, Mr. Carmen approached her. He towered before her and then took a hold of her arm firmly and led her toward the door.

"I'm sorry Heather!" Cassidy called out as he shoved her abruptly into the hallway and then locked the door behind her. Tears filled Cassidy's eyes but she wasted no time and hurried to her room. There was no way she was going to be a prisoner. Within seconds, she had her backpack filled with her few belongings and then she ran for the front door. She heard Heather cry out as she passed by Mr. Carmen's office and fought the urge to bang on his door, but knew she had to use the time to make her escape. She knew that's what Heather would want. She swung her backpack onto her shoulders and continued toward the door.

Cassidy stepped outside into the hot, humid evening. She knew where she had to go, but how to get there was the problem. Stealing one of the horses crossed her mind, but she knew that would attract a lot of attention. She spotted a bicycle leaned up against the garage and made a run for it. She had researched the location of the church ruins and found that it was a 3 mile hike on one of the trailheads outside of town. Cassidy pedaled as fast as she could, praying Mr. Carmen wouldn't hop in the car and come looking for her. Sweat dripped from her chin and drenched the front of her t-shirt, and she was parched, but it didn't stop her determination.

Cassidy sped down the sidewalk through Main St. noticing a few police cars along the way. She started to worry that maybe Mr. Carmen would contact them when he saw that she was missing. Within 10 minutes, Cassidy made it out of town. She had estimated that the trailhead was about a mile up the road, but from what she had read, the trailhead was closed, so it was overgrown and difficult to locate. Keeping her eyes focused on the wooded areas beside her, she continued to pedal quickly. Her heart began to race and panic set in when she heard police sirens in the distance. Just as the sirens appeared to get closer, she noticed a trail and quickly turned her the bike toward the woods, hoping it was the correct one. She didn't realize there was a small ravine leading to the trail and the front tire of her bike banged up against a boulder, launching Cassidy into the weeds, knocking the wind out of her. Cassidy gasped for air, and then heard the sirens go speeding past her. After she caught her breath, she checked herself over and found several cuts, but nothing serious, and then quickly headed into the woods on foot.

Cassidy moved quickly, running at times, and after about 40 minutes, she made it to the ruins of the church, just as the sun was beginning to set. She couldn't believe that they perfectly resembled her dreams. She went to the same spot as her dream and was face to face with the beautiful cross carving. All the hopelessness she had been feeling, was suddenly gone, and she felt at peace as she admired the beautiful carving.

"I see her!" echoed a voice. "Over there!" Cassidy remained calm and closed her eyes. She reached out and touched the carving, and just like her dream, her hand went through. She took a deep breath, and then stepped forward with her entire body, still keeping her eyes closed. To her surprise, her body was able to pass through the brick wall. She stumbled through and landed in a puddle of mud, and opened her eyes to a whole new world.