The Enemy's Son

  ***

  She woke with a start in complete darkness. Nick must have turned the lamp off.

  He was asleep!

  She jumped up and felt her way to the door. It creaked as she opened it, and the entire cabin complained at any movement. Nick didn’t wake up. She stepped outside into more darkness and took a deep breath of fresh night air. It could have been midnight, or two, or four. She had no idea.

  The frogs and crickets were even louder out here. The moon had set. There was millions of endless stars suspended above, amazing her with their brightness. Staring straight up, she felt as if she could reach up and touch them. After a minute spent in awe, she looked down and found herself in complete darkness. Her breathing sounded very loud. She heard soft footsteps coming toward her.

  She froze.

  “Cora?” His soft whisper caused her to jump. “Cora? You’ll scare yourself silly. Come on, let’s get inside.”

  Nick guided her through the door so quickly that she didn’t speak until they were inside. “Why are you sneaking around like that?”

  He shut the door behind them and said, “Someone else could be sneaking around out there, besides the two of us.”

  She felt his hand on her arm as he guided her back to the beds.

  “Let’s get some rest.” That’s all he said as he sat her on the bed. She lay down, feeling relieved that she didn’t have to make a run for it into the black night. She needed to escape… but she knew she wouldn’t be able to find her way under a moonless sky, through the forest.

  Her relief quickly turned into irritation. She wasn’t doing anything to get away from Nick, and back to her father.

  She felt a blanket fall over her and realized he was pulling her blanket up. A strange guilt hit her when she thought about her plan to sneak away from him. His bed creaked when he sat down.

  “Goodnight…And Cora, somehow I’ll fix this.”