I bumped along the winding trail up into the mountains. Dense forest expanded all around under the soft, yellow, northern light. Daisy sang an old Dixie Chicks song behind me as she rode. Daisy’s voice rose over the pines in a broken, out-of-tune rhythm that put my nerves on edge. I wanted her to stop, but I couldn’t say anything that wouldn’t hurt her feelings.

Morgan rode silently. Every so often, she pointed out a plant to tell me what it was. “That is a huckleberry bush; that is a pine cone full of pine nuts.” She pointed out medicinal plants and told me the best way to trap a squirrel. I got the feeling I was being tutored in wilderness survival by a seven-year-old. 

My legs and butt already felt sore, and we had only been riding for about half an hour. According to Daisy, we would ride up the ridge to where we could see the entire ranch.

I wished I had brought my cell phone with ear buds, so I could shove them in my ears and drown out the sound of Daisy’s voice. She was such a sweet girl, but her singing was terrible.

Morgan pointed out a woodpecker thumping on a tree and explained how they hid acorns for winter. She went on to tell me about how to leach the tannic acid from the acorns to make them palatable. I interrupted her in the middle of her speech.

“How do you know all this Morgan?” I asked. Even Daisy stopped singing to listen. Morgan turned around in her saddle, placing her hand on her horse’s rear. She glanced at Daisy and sighed.

“Mommy taught me,” she said before she turned back to face the trail.

I let it drop. We rode in silence up a rocky outcropping. Morgan kicked her horse’s sides to encourage it up the hill. My horse balked. It didn’t want to go. I tried to kick my horse as Morgan had, gently at first, and then harder. The horse still didn’t budge. I flushed; heat pricked my neck. Daisy’s horse pushed up behind me, and my horse dipped its head down and whinnied. I could see Morgan already up the ridge, waiting patiently for me to join her. She stared down at me, her face dark and blank.

“Something’s the matter,” said Daisy, “Get down and walk her.”

I started to lift my foot out of the stirrup when the horse reared and flew up the rocky trail. Stones tumbled down below the horse’s feet as it jutted up the hill. I gripped the reins while trying to push my foot back into the stirrup. As the horse flew past Morgan, I realized I had no control.

Dread sunk down my throat as a cold panic pierced my skin. Daisy shouted behind me about the wolf’s scent, but I could barely hear her over the pounding in my ears. The horse charged up the trail to the top of the ridgeline. I could see the sheer drop-off approaching. The expanse of the valley below lay before me.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion, like being deep underwater. I went numb as the horse charged toward the cliff. Somewhere deep in the fog of my brain, I knew I should throw myself from the horse and take my chances with a short fall to the ground. However much I tried to throw myself down, I couldn’t pry my hands from the reins.

The horse pushed forward, the cliff coming ever closer. Blackness filled my eyes as I nearly passed out from fear. Just as Tannin reached the cliff’s edge, she reared up on her hind legs. I gripped the reins, but I slid from the saddle. My weight pulled the horse’s head back as I fell. My head cracked down on a rock as the horse stumbled backward onto my stomach.

Everything went black. In the distance, Morgan screamed. But it didn't matter. I was sinking.

 

I found myself in the garden. But the cherry blossoms had turned gray, and Owen looked drawn and sad. His face matched the gray of the once bright garden. I ran to him and threw my arms around his waist.

“Owen, I missed you so much.”

“You shouldn’t have come Melody. It isn’t safe here.”

“What isn’t safe? What’s happening? What’s happened to our special place?”

“Our time is short my beloved. Evil wants to keep us apart. The same evil that always seeks to keep us apart. You must come with me now.”

He took my hand, and we ran through the gray mist. I felt my head throbbing, and my feet scraped as if we were running over glass. I panted hard as he pulled me.

“I can’t keep up, Owen. Please stop.”

He stopped and turned to me, taking me in his arms. His embrace felt warm, and I buried myself in the deep rich scent of his skin. He leaned down to press his lips against mine, his hands caressing my hair.

“We can’t stay. My brother will find us. We must go.”

“What do you mean your brother?”

“He loves you. He doesn’t want us to be together. He’ll do anything to prevent it.”

“How could your brother possibly prevent us from being together?”

“He can, and he will. Come!”

He pulled me into the thick fog. I couldn’t breathe. I wanted water and tasted the metallic tang of blood in my mouth. My memory slipped. What was happening? What was I doing? Was this a dream? Owen seemed strange. Not like the last time. He seemed changed somehow. The garden was all but gone and all I could see in every direction was a thick, gray mist.

Finally, he pulled me into a small clapboard house at the edge of the mist. Inside, was a single bed with a patchwork quilt. A wood stove already warmed the small room. On a table in the corner sat a pitcher and bowl of water for washing, and a small table was set for tea.

I went quickly to the table with tea and sat myself down in front of the simple antique china. I poured tea in a cup and sipped. I needed to wash the taste of blood from my mouth. Owen shut the door and sat beside me. I poured him tea and suddenly everything seemed completely normal.

He put his hand on mine as he sipped his tea. I smiled up at him, and he brushed a stray lock of hair from my face. I leaned my mouth into his hand and pressed my lips into his palm. All my confusion melted away, leaving me in that simple moment. I felt safe and warm in his little house. It felt as if I knew the place, and I had been there a hundred times.

I looked down at myself and found I was wearing a brown gingham dress over a tight corset. Owen wore a work shirt with his suspenders holding up dusty black slacks. I wasn’t supposed to be here. I wasn’t supposed to come. My daddy wanted me courting with the older brother, not the younger. I just couldn’t make up my mind which one I wanted more.

Owen’s hands encircled my cinched waist, and he pulled me to his lap. I could feel his manhood below my skirts. It sent hot prickles of excitement down my legs and up between them. Moisture seeped into my drawers. I felt a flush of embarrassment as his hand glided up my side and over my chest. He buried his head in my breasts and inhaled the scent of my body. All I could do was stroke his hair. I was torn between my attraction for Owen, my love for Nathanial, and fear of being caught by my father.

He squeezed me tight and ran his hand from my ankle all the way up my leg, finding the moist place in my drawers. I gasped down at his head, still buried in my breasts. His fingers stroked the delicate flesh between my legs as he held me tight. I clung to his neck, not knowing what to do. Not caring what happened.

He picked me up and flung me down on the bed. His hands moved like a whirlwind, plucking at the buttons on my dress, pulling at the fastenings on my corset. My breast fell out of my chemise. My dress was hiked up my legs, revealing the bare flesh above my stockings.

Owen knelt in front of me, his face primal, his eyes dark. He stared at me for a long moment before moving. His hand glided over my erect nipple. The contact sent a wave of pleasure through my body. He fell to me, his mouth hot against mine. I felt his hungry desire, yearning to know me. His thick member pressed mercilessly against my soft womanhood. I gasped under the force of his touch. His tongue sought my mouth. I allowed my lips to part, and I took him inside.

The feeling of his tongue against mine caused a surge of lust to boil up from within me. The bulge of his manhood against me suddenly made perfect sense. It was meant to be inside me; deep inside the soft, moist, dark place I was to always keep secret. I did not want to keep it a secret any longer.

My hands crept down to feel his hardness. I grasped him over his pants, and he looked down on me. He smiled, open mouthed, his eyes bright. I fumbled with the hooks on his pants but finally found my way through. I wanted to hold his firmness in my hand. I wanted to feel it pulsate between my fingers as I gripped it tight.

My hand sought his member between the folds of his clothing. I found it. The smooth skin of the shaft surprised me. It was so sensitive for how hard it felt pressed against me. I slowly stroked it with my fingertips, caressing it as if it was the sweetest thing I’d ever touched.

Owen growled and drew back. My hand still touched his shaft while he tugged at my drawers. He pulled me out of my clothes until I was naked except for my thigh-high white stockings. I leaned back, waiting for him to take me. He pulled his suspenders off forcefully and ripped off the rest of his clothes while his eyes never left the curves of my flesh.

When he was naked, I could see his towering manhood, erect like a thick tree. His young body glistened from a slight sheen of sweat over hard, lean muscle. Owen worked long hours on horseback, herding cattle and falling trees. His shoulders were broad and taut. His stomach rippled under tanned skin.

I beheld him like a vision, taking in every glimpse of his exquisite form. I wanted nothing more than to give my body to him. Thoughts of my promises to Nathanial, and to my father, and to God melted away at the sight of Owen’s flesh.

He came to me, slowly inching over my vulnerable body. He lowered himself between my legs and nerves pricked over my skin. Owen pressed gently against my stomach, kissing my mouth and squeezing my breasts.

I felt cold and small, under his embrace. I’d never experienced love with a man. Not even Nathanial. I had wanted to, but he never brought me to his house. He never tried. Owen pressed his kisses down my neck and cupped my breasts in his hands while he kissed and sucked at my nipples.

I arched my back and let my legs fall open. He pulled himself down my body, kissing my ample flesh as he moved. When he reached my pink flower and pressed his mouth against the curly red hair over my mound, I gasped. He pressed my legs further open and tickled my slit with his tongue. He pushed deeper until his tongue reached inside and pressed against my bud.

I called out as he lapped at my body like a kitten drinking milk. His firm hands kept my legs hinged apart. I couldn’t move. All I could do was take his precious pleasure. I ran my hand over his head. Instinctively, I pushed my body up into the source of pleasure, his mouth. He pressed his tongue deeper inside me until my body dripped with moisture.

He withdrew and rose up to cover me. His cock pressed the slick flesh of my pussy, and he slipped it slowly inside. I gripped his shoulders, my mouth open in surprise. My breast heavy and pulsating. He reached his hand under the back of my head and gripped my hair as the last inch of his cock sunk deep inside me.

He pressed his mouth over my surprised, open mouth and gushed his lust into me. His hips rocked. I surrendered. I accepted his flood and the drowning pleasure it brought me. He connected with the desire inside my body, and my hips rose to meet his.

We fell into a rhythm of pumping flesh. He held me so close and so tight I wanted to weep with joy. Suddenly, I knew what my body was made for. Suddenly, I knew the deep, dark pleasure they’d warned us about in Sunday school.

I felt the pleasure rise. It wanted to escape my body and return to God. I clung to Owen as he clung to me, pounding his benediction into my pussy. His mouth panted hot against my neck as I moaned to the beat of his hips crashing into mine.

Hot desire trickled over my body, threatening to erupt like an angry volcano. I had to let it go. I had to let it loose. Owen felt my yearning and pushed himself into my body with increased momentum. The volcanic magma erupted from my core, sending sparks of fire flowing from my pussy.

I pulsated over his cock, and he thrust back his head. His face contorted as another eruption of pleasure shot into my darkness.

* * *

 

Nathanial woke late in the morning to the smell of fresh coffee sitting on the table beside his bed. His head felt clear for the first time in days. He sat up and found his overnight bag sitting next to the bed on the floor. He reached over and grabbed the coffee mug, drinking down the invigorating brew.

There was still a slight heaviness in his body and mind, as one might experience after an extended flu. Overall, he felt himself again and ready to drive the hundred miles back to Bear Creek Ranch.

He smelled himself. His body reeked. He would definitely need a shower. That meant finding Mona and asking to use her bathroom. Staying in this cabin meant using the outhouse to relieve himself and washing in Mona’s mobile home. Joseph didn’t like Nathanial in his house, bothering his wife and scaring his children.

Nathanial understood why Joseph was wary of him. Nathanial was a werewolf, a dangerous beast who visited his grandmother at least once a month. Even with the money Nathanial brought in, the danger made it almost not worth it. He had to respect Joseph for his protectiveness of his family.

Nathanial slipped into his clothes and shoes, grabbed his bag and walked across the compound to Mona’s house. He knocked on her door and waited. He heard shuffling inside, and finally, the door opened. Mona stood in the door with a sly smile.

“How are you feeling Nathanial Ellis?”

“Better Mona, much better. I could use a shower and perhaps another cup of your fantastic coffee.”

“Come in,” she said, stepping aside to let him pass. He went to the bathroom and inspected the bandages on his arms. Fresh bandages sat on the counter top, but he decided to change them after the shower.

He turned on the water, undressed, and stepped under the warm stream. It felt good to absorb the steaming liquid into his lungs and skin, but it seeped through his bandages and stung the burn on his chest. He quickly washed his hair and body and stepped out of the shower to towel himself dry.

Nathanial pulled on his boxer-briefs and peeled the bandages off his wrists. He recoiled slightly from the sight of the angry, purple gashes. They reminded him of the deep cuts on his wife’s wrists when he found her dead in their bathtub. It disgusted him.  

He poured hydrogen peroxide over the wounds to clean them and winced from the pain. Then he rubbed antiseptic cream into the wound to help it heal faster. He took discrete bandages out of a box and stuck them to his wrists. He’d have to wear long-sleeve shirts until they healed.

Then he pulled the wet bandage off his chest and found the radiating circles around the wound had deepened in color and continued to progress outward. He looked in the mirror, amazed. He’d never seen anything like it. He quickly cleaned and bandaged the wound. He knew antiseptic cream wouldn’t heal it. He needed something else entirely, something he intended to have clarified by Mona.

He came out of the bathroom, dressed, fresh and clean. He found Mona sitting at her kitchen table opposite a spot with a cup of coffee waiting for him. He slid into the seat and sipped, leaning his elbows heavily on the table.

“Do you have a question for me Nathanial Ellis?” She asked with her supernatural premonition.

“I do. I wanted more clarification about what I’m supposed to do with the girl, and the spirits you mentioned.”

“The dead walk unburied. It opens a portal that spirits can get through. Your ranch is haunted.”

“The werewolf curse is from a spirit?”

“Perhaps.”

“And this girl, she can help me put these spirits to rest?”

“She can, but the question is if she will.”

“Why wouldn’t she?”

“She’s beginning to remember.”

“Remember what?”

“Remember who she is.”

“Who is she?”

“You must find that out for yourself. Ask her. Show yourself to her. You need her.”

“OK. That’s as clear as mud,” he said, taking another sip of coffee.

Mona smiled at him and winked. She pulled herself up from the table and walked in small strides toward her recliner, where she sat, and turned on General Hospital. Nathanial sighed. Mona wouldn’t say anymore once her stories were on.

“Thank you Mona. I have something for Joseph. I’ll leave it with you. Can you give it to him?”

“Of course,” she said, not looking away from the TV.

Nathanial pulled a brown paper bag full of cash out of his overnight bag and set it on the kitchen table. He walked over to the old woman and bent down to give her a kiss on the cheek. She looked up at him and patted his arm.

“I’m going to be on my way. Hopefully, I won’t need your help again, but I’ll be back to visit and let you know.”

“Good boy,” she said looking back at her show.

Nathanial left the shaman’s house with his bag and walk across the compound to where his SUV was parked. He opened the driver’s side door and threw the bag on the passenger seat. He still felt weak, but he’d make it back to the ranch. After that, he might have to sleep for another day.

He hopped in and turned the key in the ignition. His car rumbled to life. He turned around in the driveway and headed down the long dirt road.

* * *

 

“Get her inside!” I heard a voice scream. I was being rushed into the darkness of a building. A woman’s voice sounded frantic behind me. A child cried in the distance.

I was laid on a soft bed. A light shined in my eyes. I could taste blood in my mouth.

“Everyone get out.”

A scruffy looking man kneeled over my bed staring into my eyes. I blinked, my senses clearing. My head pounded, and my body felt heavy. I tried to sit up, but I found it hard to move. The man who stared down at me pressed his hand against my chest to keep me from moving.

“I’m just checking for a concussion.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Clive. I was an EMT in a previous lifetime. Let me check your ribs.”

He moved his hand down to feel around my ribcage. He pressed into my side and pain shot through me. I winced and pulled away.

“Could have a fractured rib or two. We should get you into town to have you seen by a doctor.”

“Shit,” I said, putting my hand to my forehead. “I don’t have health insurance.”

“No worries, Nathanial has you covered. I can get Joshua to drive you. I don’t go to town as a rule.”

I tried to push up on my elbow, but the pain was too intense, so I stayed down on the bed. Clive looked like a typical backwoodsman. He had a full brown beard, a dirty baseball cap, and camouflage coveralls. Something about the way he spoke conveyed a completely different culture.

“What are you doing out here?” I asked, trying to keep the blackness around the edges of my sight from taking over.

“I just wanted a new life. I’m a wilderness guide now. I lead the hunts.”

“I see. And you never go to town?”

“I go down to the village some, but not to town, no.”

“Why? Are you running from the law?”

He glared at me as if I’d hit a nerve. I had been joking. I’m sure there were a lot of reasons not to go to town. I tried to take deep breaths to soothe the pain radiating from my ribs and the massive bump on the back of my head.

“Joshua will pull the car around. I’ll get Patty to put some pillows and blankets in there to keep you comfortable. Then we’ll walk you down. Take this for the pain. It’s a heavy-duty Tylenol.”

He handed me a pill and a glass of water, and I swallowed it down. Clive left the room, and I was alone in the swimming black and white swirls of my vision. I shivered and pulled a throw blanket over me. A tear crept down the side of my face, and I wanted to call my mother of all people.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement. I tried to look in that direction, but the movement shifted to the other side. When I glanced again, I could see the outline of a young man. His form hung translucently in front of the dormer window. I squinted, and the form took on weight and filled in.

Owen’s face looked worried. He ran to me and grabbed my hand. I could feel a cool breeze brush over my skin as he touched me, but nothing more. He knelt beside my bed caressing my hand and arm.

“Not again!” I could hear him say. The sound vibrated inside my mind. His face wavered like the ripples on a pond, but settled into form again.

“I’m fine,” I said. I wasn’t sure what was happening. I assumed I was cracking up. The memories of my dreams and the memory of the time I spent blacked-out surfaced slowly. I knew it was Owen. I knew we had a relationship. I even intellectually understood Owen was the ghost of a long-dead cattle rancher. On the same intellectual level, I knew that I was his Melody, a girl from another time.

“You aren’t fine. That damn horse could have killed you. I can’t let that happen. I can’t lose you again.”

“You never lost me, Owen,” I said, the words slipping from my lips.

He bent down and pressed his lips to mine. The caress of his ghostly form brushed over my mouth like a soft breeze.

The door swung open and Joshua and Clive stood in the doorway. I looked back to Owen, and he was gone. The men approached my bed and helped me stand. There was more than a little pain involved in getting downstairs to the truck, but finally, I was buckled in, propped up with pillows and blankets.

Clive shut the door of Joshua’s old pickup while Joshua turned the key. The motor rumbled alive, and he turned around in the parking area. The crunch of the gravel beneath the wheels made my head and ribs throb. The idea of making the seventy-five mile trek into the nearest town overwhelmed my senses. I grasped my ribcage and tried to stay strong.

The pain pill Clive had given me took over by the time we made it to the paved road. I leaned my head against a pillow over the vibrating window and tried to relax. Soon the rhythm of the road lulled me into a deep, black sleep.

I awoke to Joshua nudging me. We sat parked in front of a long, one-story building with sliding glass doors. It was already dark outside. I blinked and looked around. The parking lot was half-empty. We seemed to be on the edge of a residential area in a small town. A nurse stood behind him in his open truck door. She had a wheelchair. The woman’s scrubs and no-nonsense expression made me feel safe. I had to hold back tears when I saw her. I hadn’t realized how freaked out I was until then.

“Come on now,” said Joshua.

The nurse moved the chair around to my door and helped me slowly lower myself inside. Light from the doors glowed on the black pavement. The nurse wheeled me through the automatic sliding doors into the reception area. There was only one other patient there, a young boy with a broken arm.

The nurse handed Joshua a clipboard with papers to fill out as she wheeled me into a private room and helped me into a hospital bed and a hospital gown. She took my vitals and checked my eyes, head wound, and ribcage. Then she asked me to touch my nose with both index fingers while my arms were held out to the sides. I missed.

She left, and a white-coated doctor entered the room. His stethoscope hung around his neck. Salt and pepper hair framed his friendly face. He looked at a clipboard as he approached, then looked up to smile at me.

“So you had a pretty nasty fall and got stomped on by a horse.”

“Yes.”

He performed most of the same simple tests as the nurse, and then picked up the clipboard again.

“I’m going to order you a CT scan. You’ve probably suffered a mild concussion, so we want to make sure you don’t have any bleeding. OK? Press this button if you need anything.”

Joshua came in the room and sat near the bed. He looked bored. The nurse prepared me for the CT scan and wheeled me to a room with a big white machine, with a hole at the center, and a narrow plastic slab in front of it. She helped me into the slab and instructed me not to move while the scan took place.

The nurse stepped out of the room and into the booth with the technician. The slab began to inch back into the hole. Red lasers flickered over my ribcage. When that scan was finished, the slab inched outward and the lasers flickered over my head. The slab returned to its original position, and the nurse came into the room.

She helped lower me into the wheelchair and took me back to my room. Joshua was watching TV on the small old television anchored above the bed. He looked even more bored than before. All I wanted to do was sleep. The nurse helped me into bed and covered me with heavy blankets to keep me warm.

I snuggled against the pillows and closed my eyes. I heard her speaking, saying something about waiting for the CT scan results. I felt like I might blackout again, but the nurse handed me a pain pill, and I took it.

I slumbered in the hospital bed to the sounds of cable TV. Later, the doctor returned and patted my arm. My eyes opened, and I saw him holding x-rays.

“Ms. Elder, we have your results. You have a fractured rib, which should heal nicely with some bandaging and plenty of rest. You’ve sustained a mild concussion. We don’t see any bleeding and only minor swelling, but we want to keep you here overnight for observation. You should be able to go home in the morning.”

The nurse moved in to insert an IV in my arm, and Joshua groaned. I felt bad for him being stuck with me over night. He stood and stretched.

“I’m gonna get a hotel room Miss Jane. Patty packed some of your things in your backpack. Your phone’s in there. I’ll bring it in for you. You can call me if you need anything. OK?”

He left and came back a few moments later with my backpack. He told me where he’d be staying and gave me the hotel number to program into my phone. Then he left. I rummaged through the bag. There was a sweater and clean underwear. Patty had also packed the book I’d been reading. I took it out and lowered the backpack onto the chair next to my bed. I opened the book and soon fell asleep.

 

In the morning, the nurse came and checked my vitals. They told me I could leave so I called Joshua’s hotel and told him he could come pick me up. The nurse helped me into a wheelchair and wheeled me out to the front door where Joshua’s truck was parked, waiting for me.

He hopped out and helped me inside with my bag of bandages and pain medication. He looked hung over, and I guessed he’d had an enjoyable night out on the town.

We got back on the narrow highway headed north, listening to country radio. What was it with everyone around here and country music? I literally hated country music, but I couldn’t say anything to Joshua. I was tired and in pain and didn’t want to upset him.

It took us two hours to drive back to the ranch. When we arrived, Mr. Ellis’ Range Rover sat parked in front of the house. Nerves ran through my body at the thought of his dark eyes inspecting me after my injury. I hated that I’d cost him the hospital bills, and wondered if he would want to take it out of my two weeks pay.

Joshua helped me inside and up the stairs to my bedroom. Everything was tidy inside as if someone had cleaned up and done my laundry. A fire flickered in the fireplace. Joshua helped me out of my shoes and into my bed. My whole body ached, even with the pain medication. All I wanted was sleep.

As soon as my head hit the pillow, Daisy burst into the room. Her face was pale, and her eyes looked red. She knelt by my bed and grabbed my hand.

“Are you alright? Tell me you’re alright!”

“I’m fine. Minor injuries. I’ll survive. It mostly just hurts.”

“Thank God! Nate is pissed. I’m afraid he’s going to fire me.”

“Why would he fire you? I’m the one that cost an overnight stay in the hospital less than a week after getting here.”

“I’m the horseback riding and horse trainer. It’s my responsibility to make sure nothing like this happens.”

“Has anyone else ever fallen off a horse here?”

“Well, no…”

“See, my fault. I’m a big, clumsy idiot.”

“Don’t say that. Tannin was spooked. She got the scent of the wolves or something. She ran off and didn’t come back to the stables until sundown.”

“Then it’s no one's fault.”

“I guess not. I just hate for Nate to be mad at me.”

“I take full responsibility, alright? I won’t let him fire you over me.”

Daisy leaned in and hugged me gently. She left the room, and I settled back down into my pillow hoping for some sleep. I didn’t get it, not yet. My head swam from pain and medication, and I spotted Owen out of the corner of my eye. He hovered in my peripheral vision.

There was a knock at my door, and Mr. Ellis pushed it open. He walked into my room, awkwardly. He looked pale with dark bags under his eyes. He wore a high-end black sweat suit and slippers. I wondered if he was ill.

He pulled the chair from the fireplace next to my bed and sat down. He looked at me with a hesitant expression I hadn’t seen on his face before. Owen’s form flitted around the room, and I felt I might faint. I could see Owen’s face. His expression was dark.

Mr. Ellis cleared his throat.

“I heard you were injured Ms. Elder. I was worried.”

“Why?” I said. It came out all wrong. I was surprised he was worried about me, but it sounded sarcastic. His face looked wounded.

“You are an employee and of course Morgan is quite attached to you already.”

Owen loomed behind Mr. Ellis, his eyes wide, his mouth open in a silent scream. I sank into my bed. Memories of my time in Owen’s little house surfaced. I remembered myself as his Melody. I loved two brothers. One of them was Owen and the other was named Nathanial.

“Ms. Elder. I need to speak with you. I have a… problem, and I was hoping you could help me.”