“Goodnight, Sarah Serenity,” he said gently as he walked to the closed window and began to step through it as if it were open to the outside world. He looked back one more time at the girl who held him captive. “I wish you could dream of me. I would dream of you if I were capable of such a thing.”
Chapter 1
“Indeed God speaks once, or twice, yet no one notices it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when sound sleep falls on men while they slumber in their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction.” Job 33:14-16
Serenity stared out of her window as she watched the sun begin to break over the horizon—the reminder that once again she hadn’t been able to sleep past sunrise. The disturbing dream had started four nights ago. Well, disturbing wasn’t really the right word. There was nothing disturbing about the actual content of the dream. There were no monsters or terrible falls or anything like that. Rather, in the dream, Serenity was nineteen, though how she knew that little fact she didn’t have a clue, but she was sure of it. Despite being nineteen, she was still living in Yellville, Arkansas, the tiny town of 1,204 people nestled in the Ozark Mountains. This disturbed her greatly. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the town. It was just that she felt as though the rest of the world was moving on, growing, and changing while she stayed stuck in the little quaint town in the middle of nowhere. She was eighteen and only five months from graduating from high school. And regardless of the persistent dream, she had no intentions of staying. There was a part of her that felt so very guilty for leaving when she had so many responsibilities, most of which she had yet to relinquish. She was attempting to prepare not only herself but also those in the community for her departure.
Serenity had not come to the decision to leave easily. She hated to leave her Aunt Darla and Uncle Wayne. They had raised her since she was nine after her parent’s death, and they had been nothing short of amazing. She worked a part time job to help them make ends meet because there weren’t a whole lot of riches to be had in Yellville unless you came to it with your pockets already lined. Serenity didn’t want to put them in a tight spot by leaving, but she also didn’t think she could spend the rest of her life in the small town. She wanted to see the world, to experience things that she never would in the mountains of Arkansas. Her attention was drawn away from the golden rays of the morning sun when she felt Mr. Whitherby, her obnoxious albeit strangely comforting cat, winding himself around her legs. She looked down at him and couldn’t help but smile at the huge fuzz ball.
“Another day in paradise, Mr. W,” Serenity told him as she reached down and scratched behind his ears. He made a swipe for her hand when she pulled away but, being clawless, caused no harm. “I can’t sit around and pamper you all day no matter how much attitude you give me. I’ve got things to do, people to see.” Her cat plopped down on his haunches and stared up at her with an almost bored expression. She laughed. “Okay, so maybe there isn’t really much to do, but I do have school and then work, so make yourself useful and go fix me some breakfast.” Of course, he didn’t do anything other than yawn and flop over on his side, making it perfectly clear just how unimportant her day was to him. Serenity shook her head at the defiant little beast and headed for the shower.
“Made your favorite,” Aunt Darla said as Serenity entered the eat-in kitchen―showered, clean and dressed―way too early if she did so say herself. “Cheese and ham croissants. Your uncle is already gone; he’s going to help hunt down a mountain lion that is killing the Thompson’s goats. They’ve planned to be out overnight and then go to Bill’s house for supplies before they head out again.” During the summer months, Wayne was a guide on the White river. But not just a guide, he was one of the best. Wealthy people from all over the world came to Cotter Trout dock to get to spend a few days on the river in hopes of catching the big one with Uncle Wayne. She’d been out with him a couple of times, and though some girls her age might think being on a fishing boat for hours on end would be boring and tedious, it was anything but with Uncle Wayne as the guide. He was one of those people that could make anyone feel at ease. His easy going attitude and ability to talk to just about anyone made him very likable. Not to mention he had a certain love of dirty jokes and was eager to share his material on new, unsuspecting victims. Serenity was beginning to believe he liked the shock factor as much as he liked delivering the punch line. During the winter months, when the fishing season slowed down, he did odd jobs. Sometimes he cut firewood or helped others with their goat or cattle herds. He stayed busy to be sure.
“So they’re going to be out in the cold overnight?” Serenity asked.
“They gotta do whatever they can to kill whatever is killing off his goats. That’s the Thompson’s livelihood; every goat killed represents bills not paid,” Darla told her. “I’m going to get dressed; don’t leave without saying goodbye.”
Serenity gave her a ‘thumbs up’ as she filled her plate with the wonderful goodness that was her aunt’s cooking, too focused on her food to turn and look up at her. She was amazed that they weren’t all severely overweight because her aunt was a firm believer in feeding anyone and everyone as often as possible. Homemade food was her version of a hug and it didn’t hurt that she was a fantastic cook. Twenty minutes later Darla reemerged dressed as cave woman.
“Story time today?” Serenity asked around a bite of croissant.
Darla nodded. “Favorite day of the week.” She smiled warmly and Serenity loved knowing that her aunt enjoyed her job so much. She had worked multiple jobs most of her life, not having any time for herself. But since she had begun working at the Marion County Library, she had been able to quit her other jobs, and Serenity had seen a distinct change in her aunt’s demeanor. Suddenly, she was bright and eager for the day because she truly enjoyed her job―not just because it was the only way she could get through the long days.
“What’s the story today?”
Darla began washing the dishes left over from making breakfast as she spoke. “It’s a book version of the Disney movie, The Croods. Have you seen that movie? It’s so hilarious.”
“No, I haven’t seen that one, but I’ve heard it’s good,” Serenity admitted.
Darla turned and looked at her as she wiped her hands off with the dish towel. “You work too hard for someone your age, Sarah Serenity.” Her aunt had a habit of calling her by her first and middle name. Serenity had decided it was a Southern thing. “Why don’t you cut back on your hours at the vet clinic? I know you think we can’t get by without the money that you contribute, but we’ll be alright.”
Serenity shook her head. “I don’t want to cut back on my hours. I love working with the animals. There’s no drama with animals and they love unconditionally.”
“I imagine that college boy that just started working there isn’t hard on the eyes either,” Darla said with a grin.
“Please,” she huffed. “I don’t have time for the nonsense called boys.”
The look Darla gave her told her that she didn’t quite believe her. In truth, Serenity just hadn’t found anyone that she would want to put the energy into that a relationship takes. Sure she noticed good looking guys, and Darla was right, Jackson, who had started working two months ago at the vet clinic where she worked, was definitely easy on the eyes. But other than that, he did nothing for her. She wasn’t willing to give her heart to anyone who didn’t make mountains move for her. She wanted the heart pounding, toe tingling, stomach dropping kind of attraction that took her breath away every time he walked into the room. Until that happened, she was not available for any type of relationship with the opposite sex.
“Okay well, have a good day and be safe.” Darla gave her a quick hug before heading out.
“Have fun being a Crood,” she hollered over her shoulder. Serenity glanced at her phone for the time and saw that she still had an hour to kill before she would need to leave for school. She let out a low sigh as she slumped down in her chair. She was tired. The lack of sleep
caused by the dream was definitely beginning to catch up with her. But she didn’t know how to make it go away. She’d never given much thought to dreams and whether or not they actually meant something or were simply the result of an unconscious mind being given free reign during slumber. Perhaps, it was time to do some research on dreams. She did know there were many religions that believed very firmly in the idea that dreams could be prophetic. Even in the Bible she read dreams had often been a message from God to his people. She’d been raised with a Christian background, and while she was still attempting to find where she stood in her own faith, she figured a book that had been around for a couple thousand years might have something important to say about the subject. She decided she would include it in her research along with some other sources. Unfortunately, she would have to wait until she could use the internet at the school or library because her aunt and uncle’s house was far enough out that the only internet they could get was dial up. She snorted out a laugh as she considered her aunt doing the cave woman look and how appropriate it was considering the distance their house was from civilization. It often made her feel like they lived in the Stone Ages.
Serenity pulled into the parking lot of the high school and sat staring as her classmates filed into the school. The bitter cold of the mountain December was enough to keep her from wanting to leave the comfy warmth of her car. She had five months until she graduated—five more months of teachers, high school drama, and terrible cafeteria food, though that was her own fault because she was too lazy to make her own lunch and unwilling to let her aunt make it for her. She was eighteen for cripes sake; it would make her feel like a bum if her aunt was making her lunches. Serenity rubbed her eyes, attempting to push away the drowsiness, still battling the sleepiness that threatened to overtake her. The warm air blowing from the car vents wasn’t helping. Finally with a resigned sigh, she grabbed her book bag and climbed out into the frosty winter air. It stung her lungs and immediately did the job of waking her up. She knew she had better have her wits about her if she wanted to navigate the ice covered parking lot without ending up as the morning entertainment. It never failed that at least once or twice a week one of the students ended up on their backsides like an overturned turtle with their limbs flailing in the air as they skidded across the ice. Most took the good natured ribbing given by their classmates pretty well, laughing along with them. Frankly, when your tailbone hit that ice it was either laugh or cry because you instantly felt a distinct kind of pain, which was often accompanied by a string of curse words.
As she entered the building, having made an uneventful trek through the parking lot, Serenity headed for her locker nodding to several of her friends. She hadn’t grown very close to any of them because her time had been so limited over the course of her high school career. As soon as she had learned to drive she had started working, volunteering, and helping as much as possible. Deep down she thought her desire to help others was her penance, a debt owed because of the death of her parents. She wondered if they had been taken from her so soon before their time because of something she’d done, or not done. Perhaps, God was punishing her for not being good enough, for not obeying more, or for not being the model daughter she could have been. Because of her lack of involvement at her school, she didn’t have a best friend that went to her school. Her best friend had already graduated and was now twenty-two years old and working at the local tourist-attracting restaurant called The Fireside Restaurant and Mountain Store. Serenity had met Glorious Day, and yes that was really her name, one day at the library when Glory had been looking for books on Multiple Sclerosis. Her mother had been diagnosed with the devastating disease and Glory and her father were her caretakers. Glory and she had immediately hit it off despite the four year age difference. Since then they had hung out as often as possible and texted relentlessly. With Glory she had finally found someone she could be completely herself with. Glory accepted her no matter what. Serenity knew her aunt and uncle did as well but it was different with them. She felt like they had to love her because they were sort of her parents, and didn’t parents have to love their children unconditionally? But Glory didn’t have to, yet she did anyway. Although she loved Glory like a sister, she also desperately wanted to escape the fate that had been given to her best friend. Glory was stuck. She would live in Yellville probably for the rest of her life. The idea made Serenity feel trapped and if she thought about it too long, she would begin to feel like the walls were closing in around her. Serenity never mentioned it to Glory because she didn’t want to hurt her, but every now and then she would see the sadness in her friend because she too knew that she wouldn’t be going on any grand adventures. Glory didn’t hold it against her mother. She loved her mom and was completely willing to help take care of her, but Serenity knew that it still wasn’t enough to take the sting away from the lack of a future ahead of Glorious.
The rest of her day was as uneventful as her walk from her car to the front doors that morning. She didn’t have much homework, which was a definite plus considering she was desperate to do some research on her dream. Her phone rang as she was climbing into her car, and she searched through her bag until she found it.
“How goes the wonderful world of waitressing?” she asked Glory.
“Let’s just say that it’s a good thing you chose the vet because, girl, you could not handle the excitement that goes on at the fire pit.” Glory had nicknamed the restaurant the fire pit after the massive fire place that took up one whole wall of the dining area got out of hand one day after a waiter had dropped a grease filled bucket on it when he tripped on the leg of a chair. They had managed to get the fire out before it did too much damage, but from that day forward the Fireside Restaurant was deemed the fire pit.
“Let me guess,” Serenity said as she considered the many scenarios that had previously happened to her friend. “One of the male tourists got handsy with you when you offered him some pie? Or perhaps Shelia finally fell out of one of those low cut tops she’s always wearing while she was bending over after she conveniently dropped the silverware in front of the male customers?”
Glory laughed. “I think I’ve shared way too much with you about the goings-on of the pit if those are the things you think of first.”
“Well, if it isn’t one of those then it’s hardly worth mentioning,” Serenity teased.
“Then I guess I don’t need to tell you that Tommy Peaping hit on Shelia, and she accidently spilled his water on his head.”
Serenity let out a bark of laughter. “Awe man, poor Tommy Peepers,” she breathed out using the nick name that everyone in town had used for him for as long as she could remember. “When is he going to learn that girls like Sheila only go for a certain type of guy, and it isn’t guys with names like Tommy Peaping?”
“Well, I don’t feel sorry for him. What do I always say? The definition of insanity…”
“Yeah, yeah I know...doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” she finished for her.
“It’s true. He keeps hitting on that hoochie thinking she’s suddenly going to think he’s the best thing since tampons but it isn’t going to happen.”
“Maybe he likes the abuse,” Serenity pointed out.
“Maybe so. Whatever the reason, it keeps the customers entertained. You headed to the flea hospital?”
Serenity rolled her eyes at her friend’s quirkiness. Serenity guessed she came up with nicknames for just about everything in an attempt to entertain herself. “Yep,” she answered giving the ‘p’ a slight pop as she finished the word. “I’m going to try and get off a little early because I want to hit up the library before it closes.”
“Why on earth would you hit up the library? They definitely don’t have any money to be taken. If you’re going to rob someplace, at least go for something worth your time, like the armored truck that goes to the bank each week.”
“I’m not going to even ask why you have thought of something like that, Glor
y.”
“Puuhlease, you’re the one who said you were going to hit up the library,” Glory pointed out.
“You must be exceptionally bored if you are turning my statements into absurd scenarios,” Serenity pointed out. “Why don’t you come to the vet and help out. You’d get to meet Jackson.”
“Hmm, tempting, because you know I completely appreciate the hotness of the opposite sex, and he seems to be the talk of the town since he moved here a few months ago. But, I just don’t feel like attempting to put on the whole happy face, notice me, let me try to convince you I’m the greatest girl you’ll ever meet front. It’s exhausting.”
“One of these days you’re going to have to put yourself out there. You can’t hide forever.” Serenity had to admit that part of the reason she wanted Glory to find a man was because she was leaving, and she didn’t want her best friend to be alone once she was gone.
“Okay, enough counseling for one conversation. Get your butt to work and try not to drool too much over your fellow flea lover.”
“Bye, Glorious,” Serenity chuckled when her friend growled at her for using her full name; she hated that.