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“Do you trust me?”
I laughed as she gave me her mischievous look. “With all my heart and soul. However, you need to tell me what you’re doing.”
“Nope. Follow me.” She slipped her hand from mine, taking long strides over the fallen limbs. The woman had no fear, which could be a problem.
“You’re a danger junkie,” I told her as I followed.
“Ha! Come, little boy. You’ll see.”
Then I knew what she was talking about.
She’d found an active brook, water trickling over rocks. After giving me an I-told-you-so look, she moved to the side, crouching down. I advanced slowly, the ache in my heart entirely different than it had been all those years go. While still painful, it was slowly fading, replaced with more moments of happiness than nightmares.
I noticed she was picking at the rocks.
“What are you doing, looking for gold?”
She laughed, the sound floating toward the bright sky. “Hardly. Something much better. Come here.”
How could I not smile around her? She had so much life. I moved to her side, hunkering down. When she pointed toward the water, a strange tingling sensation shifted through me.
“Life,” she whispered, pointing to two perfect purple flowers that had been protected from the fire by mud and water. “This is the spot.”
“For what?”
She rose to her feet, peeling away the tissue paper surrounding the flowers. As she started to pick the petals off one at a time, I watched in fascination. Then she held out her arm, allowing them to float in the light breeze toward the water.
“Where there is death, there is life. Where there is hate, there is love. And where there is despair, there is happiness. They can coexist, but only one can flourish. I choose life, love, and happiness.” She tilted her head and a stream of sunlight shifted down from the sticklike trees, showering her skin with a luminescent glow. And for a few minutes, I knew I’d been right that she was an angel.
No, she was my angel.
Together we pulled the petals, allowing the light breeze to cover the brook with vibrant colors of the rainbow. She’d brought me back to my life. Now she was bringing it to the barren forest.
Six young men had ventured into a forest, underestimating the power of nature.
Six broken boys had left, angry at the world around them.
Anger.
Guilt.
Sadness.
Denial.
There was no way to change the past, but there was a chance at altering the future.
For me, the time of healing had begun.
* * *
Wren
Three weeks later
Life had a funny way of keeping you on your toes. Just when you think you know what’s going to happen, everything changes. Often, the changes are painful or unwanted. In my mind I was celebrating the possibility of a wonderful future while mourning a past that had never been kind to me. The two were colliding, but I was determined not to dwell on things I couldn’t change.
Besides, on this day Riggs Phoenix Wentworth needed me. I knew Gage and Hawk, Bryce and Snake were already here, promising to give testimony regarding his character since the Fishers had challenged him on his reckless and dangerous behavior, using that against him as well as his long hours in their affidavit. Their kindness and friendship gave me a needed sense of comfort since we’d learned the Fishers had pulled out all the stops, hiring a top-level attorney. Still, I felt confident we would be successful.
