Author note: Hi everyone! I want to thank Ocean Sun for reviewing my
story. I'm being stingy and only posting more when I get a new review.
Because what's the point of posting if no one is reading it, right? So if
you want more of the story, please review!
Chapter Four - "A Botched Meeting"
Lily trudged down the still unpaved road, congratulating herself on thinking to wear jeans and a t-shirt in this heat and dust. She adjusted the knapsack she carried over her shoulder and peered into the dense trees that lined the road, hoping to spot movement. Every time she did, however, it turned out to be a squirrel or some other animal.
She didn't know quite what she expected to see. She certainly wasn't being quiet enough to sneak up on anyone, even though she was trying, and neither of the Tucks would come out to greet her if they heard her walking by. In fact, they would probably turn around and head in the other direction, and they would do it a lot more quietly that she was.
Lily sighed and stopped to brush some of the dust off her face and to take a drink from the water bottle she carried in her knapsack. In the silence this produced she thought she heard something. She remained very still and strained to hear. It sounded almost like music in the distance. The harder she listened the more certain she became that it was music. Music that sounded slightly tinny, as if coming from a music box.
She continued forward down the road, watching the ground ahead of her to avoid stepping on any twigs and making noise. The light music grew louder the further she went down the road, and eventually she decided to turn off the road and onto a small path through the trees. Lily hadn't wanted to venture into the woods without knowing where she was going, but she had the music to guide her. She just followed the sound of it. She knew the real problem would be finding her way back.
As the music grew louder she made her steps lighter, until she came to a wall of trees that clearly looked out on a small clearing. She took a few small tentative steps forward and peered through the trees.
In the clearing was Jesse. He was sitting with his back to a large, ivy covered tree. In his hands was a small music box that he was continuously winding to produce the melody Lily had heard. He was gazing morosely at a headstone in front of him.
"Funny place for a grave." Lily thought silently. She squinted at the writing and saw "Winnifred Foster Jackson". "So this is where Grandma Winnie is buried." She thought.
The funeral procession hadn't gone to the burial site because, as Lily's father had put it, Grandma Winnie had asked to be 'ridiculously buried in the woods like a family pet.' Lily had not been taken to see the actual grave. She doubted if her parents had come out here, either. It didn't look like a spot many people had seen.
Lily started slightly as she saw a small tear roll down Jesse's cheek as he looked at the grave.
"So she really was his one true love. " Lily thought. "And he has been living without her these past ninety years."
The thought was so sad that Lily almost started crying right along with Jesse. She knew she couldn't bring herself to break the spell of Jesse's reverie. Besides, would he want his thoughts of his time with Winnie interrupted by a reminder that she had met someone else and had the large sprawling family that Jesse never had?
Lily slowly backed away from the clearing and then head back out of the woods. It wasn't as hard to find her way out as she had thought it would be. There was a bit of a path that she knew just her passing couldn't have created. Maybe it was from member of her family, but she suspected that it was more due to Jesse.
"At least I know a good place to find him now." She thought with a small sigh. She wondered if she would ever find the right time to talk to him. Was there even a right time to have such a conversation?
Lily returned to her hotel room and sat on the bed, thinking. She wouldn't be easy to track. She had paid for all her travel and accommodations in cash, and she hoped she had been discreet about it. But her parents would be worried, and eventually they would find her.
She had left them a note the night she left. She hadn't wanted to, at first, because it would at least tell them to start checking bus stations, airports, and train stations. But then she had imagined them thinking she had been kidnapped or murdered, and she knew she couldn't do that to them. So she had left the note. All it had said was, "I have to leave. Please don't come after me. Love, Lily." But it would at least give them a track to start on.
Chapter Four - "A Botched Meeting"
Lily trudged down the still unpaved road, congratulating herself on thinking to wear jeans and a t-shirt in this heat and dust. She adjusted the knapsack she carried over her shoulder and peered into the dense trees that lined the road, hoping to spot movement. Every time she did, however, it turned out to be a squirrel or some other animal.
She didn't know quite what she expected to see. She certainly wasn't being quiet enough to sneak up on anyone, even though she was trying, and neither of the Tucks would come out to greet her if they heard her walking by. In fact, they would probably turn around and head in the other direction, and they would do it a lot more quietly that she was.
Lily sighed and stopped to brush some of the dust off her face and to take a drink from the water bottle she carried in her knapsack. In the silence this produced she thought she heard something. She remained very still and strained to hear. It sounded almost like music in the distance. The harder she listened the more certain she became that it was music. Music that sounded slightly tinny, as if coming from a music box.
She continued forward down the road, watching the ground ahead of her to avoid stepping on any twigs and making noise. The light music grew louder the further she went down the road, and eventually she decided to turn off the road and onto a small path through the trees. Lily hadn't wanted to venture into the woods without knowing where she was going, but she had the music to guide her. She just followed the sound of it. She knew the real problem would be finding her way back.
As the music grew louder she made her steps lighter, until she came to a wall of trees that clearly looked out on a small clearing. She took a few small tentative steps forward and peered through the trees.
In the clearing was Jesse. He was sitting with his back to a large, ivy covered tree. In his hands was a small music box that he was continuously winding to produce the melody Lily had heard. He was gazing morosely at a headstone in front of him.
"Funny place for a grave." Lily thought silently. She squinted at the writing and saw "Winnifred Foster Jackson". "So this is where Grandma Winnie is buried." She thought.
The funeral procession hadn't gone to the burial site because, as Lily's father had put it, Grandma Winnie had asked to be 'ridiculously buried in the woods like a family pet.' Lily had not been taken to see the actual grave. She doubted if her parents had come out here, either. It didn't look like a spot many people had seen.
Lily started slightly as she saw a small tear roll down Jesse's cheek as he looked at the grave.
"So she really was his one true love. " Lily thought. "And he has been living without her these past ninety years."
The thought was so sad that Lily almost started crying right along with Jesse. She knew she couldn't bring herself to break the spell of Jesse's reverie. Besides, would he want his thoughts of his time with Winnie interrupted by a reminder that she had met someone else and had the large sprawling family that Jesse never had?
Lily slowly backed away from the clearing and then head back out of the woods. It wasn't as hard to find her way out as she had thought it would be. There was a bit of a path that she knew just her passing couldn't have created. Maybe it was from member of her family, but she suspected that it was more due to Jesse.
"At least I know a good place to find him now." She thought with a small sigh. She wondered if she would ever find the right time to talk to him. Was there even a right time to have such a conversation?
Lily returned to her hotel room and sat on the bed, thinking. She wouldn't be easy to track. She had paid for all her travel and accommodations in cash, and she hoped she had been discreet about it. But her parents would be worried, and eventually they would find her.
She had left them a note the night she left. She hadn't wanted to, at first, because it would at least tell them to start checking bus stations, airports, and train stations. But then she had imagined them thinking she had been kidnapped or murdered, and she knew she couldn't do that to them. So she had left the note. All it had said was, "I have to leave. Please don't come after me. Love, Lily." But it would at least give them a track to start on.