The Silver Doe, Audrey Parker [best time to read books .txt] 📗

/> The corridor that she had exited the room from led to another hallway, and another after that. They were never-ending. A labyrinth of whiteness and shadows, and Caroline had grown tired of the mazes tricks. She had so far run into no one, though she knew civilization was around.
A pool of red stood out against all the white. It was at the end of the particular corridor Caroline was in, and once she spotted something dissimilar to her surroundings she was able to distinguish a pair of French doors behind the puddle. They were as tall as the sloped ceiling above and were only as wide as the person entering them.
Caroline approached the spreading puddle near the doors. Specks around the red group towards the middle like the liquid was too heavy for the floor to hold. As she moved around it to the doors, she notices that the crimson tiles are sloped inward.
The doors open easily at her touch, and she doesn’t shudder as she passes through them.


25,

A large ceramic bowl filled with water was pushed near the doe’s head by the caramel-haired girl. Since the night that she had come here, she had learned that the girls names were Sari and Clara, and the man was called Uncle Joel.
The Silver Doe had been allowed inside the farmhouse as soon as she could support herself, which did not take long, because despite the does old age, she was remarkably strong and her wound had healed quickly.
Sari probed expectantly at the bowl with one hand and inside, the water rippled at the slight motion. The doe dipped her head inside the bowl, only to take it out. The water tasted stale to the doe, with her heightened senses. She preferred running streams and brooks and creeks.
Sari’s mouth formed into a line. She wasn’t pleased that the doe refused to drink the water that she was offering her, and knew that it wasn’t the best water around. The doe gazed unblinkingly at her and she could feel her eyes follow her movements as she crossed to another tree to dump out the unappreciated water.


26,

Kaz’s kidnapper had returned from wherever he was before. He could imagine the heavy footsteps on the rotting porch outside. But now he was back and Kaz knew enough of this person’s power to be afraid of him. As if the ropes tied around his wrists and ankles and the gag in his mouth wasn’t enough indication of who’s in charge.
The door slammed against the wall before rebounding back into position. The man instantly dominated the room, but this specific man was not one that Kaz was expecting.
Then the one that he reconized stampeded inside. His presence was not reassuring to Kaz, nor did it increase his odds of escaping his captors. Kaz felt his hope of escaping deflating like a needle had popped it.
“Is he the one?” the newer man asks the original captor. “He doesn’t look like I remember seeing him.”
“Yeah,” he responded. “I’m positive that’s him.”
The men leer over Kaz, inspecting him. They were so near his face that if it were made of glass, their breath would fog it up. Kaz cringes away, but his attempt at it was stopped by the wall behind him.
“Don’t be afraid of us,” the new man sneered. “we’re not the real danger here."


27,

“Now, where do you think your brother could be, Sari?”
Uncle Joel, Sari and Clara were gathered around the dining room table, each picking at a bowl of stew. It had long since cooled to room tempeture, but they all were anxious about how they would explain the doe’s presence to Kaz. But their fretfulness soon switched to worry. Kaz never appeared and in their minds, possibilities of all the horrid things that could be happening to him at that moment with nothing that they could do to stop it. The doe sensed the tense atmostphere and lay listening with keen ears by the harth.
“He’ll be home soon,” Sari finally answers. “He always is.” She reached up a hand and flipped a strand of hair that was dangling near her mouth out of the way. “Besides, he’ll be angry if he comes home to the farmhouse while it’s this messy.” She stood up and swiftly strode around the spotless kitchen, spun about, and went to the living area, which was equally clean.
Clara, being the comforting friend that she was, left the kitchen table and followed Sari to the couches and the coffee table and sat down. But she didn’t relax. Her back was stiff and she obviously worried more about the stability of Sari than that of her brother.
Uncle Joel then sank into the match of Clara’s couch. He rested his feet up, resigned to waiting.
Sari was organizing the dresser full of numerous packs of cards, all of them scattered around and missing the other fifty-one that they are supposed to be grouped with. It was a long task and would take all night for Sari to complete.
Uncle Joel realized this. “Sari, do that another day. Take a nap while we wait for your brother.”
Sari agreed because she saw the sense in his proposition, not because she wanted to, and soon fell into the deepest sleep that she’s had in a long time.


28,

Beyond the door was Caroline. Her wait wasn’t long, but it was extended enough to make her anxious. The doors had opened up to another small white room like the one she had just exited, but the only change was an additional set of french doors across from the first pair.
She had tried to open them as soon as she saw them, but they hadn’t budged, and neither had the first pair of doors when she went and tried them. She was trapped. Again.


29,

Kaz’s mind kept wandering. It kept questioning his every move, wondering what would be considered right or wrong. One mistake and he was out.
Three times a day, a small metal tray was passed through the door. His meals were two slices of brown wheat bread, an apple that didn’t taste as fresh as Kaz would have preferred, and a bottle of water. Twice a day he was let out to relieve himself, and he was followed by one of his captors.
Growing up, Kaz had always been in control of his life. Olivea had allowed him to do what he wanted, to learn not to make the same mistakes twice. When she was gone, he was the adult in charge. But being here in Dalton’s hands, made him feel as powerless as a mosquito. Anything they wanted him to do he had to do it right, otherwise they would squish him between skin. Kaz had to tread carefully, because once you’re a prisoner, the ice you stand on is always thin.


30,

A man entered through the solid French doors. Immeadiatly, Caroline reconized him as an important figure, and stood to her feet. The man was average height – slightly shorter than Caroline – and radiated the kind of confidence that people would easily envy. His hair was cropped short and brown and his eyes reflected green the color of seaweed.
Like his height, his weight was also nondescript, but he was clothed in a tailored suit that matched the room, except for his shirt’s button and his bow tie, which were a contrasting black.
The figure stopped two yards before her.
“Caroline Bowers, your assistance as an angel of The Almighty is required,” he stated.
So many things were stooting through Caroline’s mind that all that she could do was stare.

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Publication Date: 12-21-2011

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