Follow Me, into the Mist (#OnceUponNow)

Chapter 2 - Danger Everywhere

       Jenna's eyes flew open when she felt a rush of hot air on her neck. Atsadi had a smile. Slowly she turned her head. A beautiful American Paint Horse was standing behind her, sniffing at her and snorting. Rubbing the horse's face with her hand, she whispered, "Hello beautiful."

       The horse walked around all of them, stood for a couple of minutes and then took off into the woods. Standing, she nodded towards Derrick, took a folding table out of the trunk and set it up beside Atsadi. Quickly getting the older gentleman's medicines and instructions out, she read through them. Thankful her foster mother, an RN, had helped her to puree food for Atsadi, she waited until Derrick blessed the food, and then poured the warm mixture from a thermos into a bowl and began feeding Atsadi.

       She was able to feed him most of a bowl before Derrick insisted on finishing feeding his grandfather while she ate her salad. Making sure everyone had enough tea to drink, once finished eating, carefully she packed her car before taking her binoculars and walking to the cliffs edge. Sitting on the rock cross legged, Jenna surveyed the valley.

       Derrick pushed his grandfather to the edge of the woods to take advantage of the ever moving shade, then sat on the ground by his wheelchair. "Grandfather, you know how mom remarried after my father passed when I was little?" Glancing, he waited for the nod. "I never understood my step-father or his dislike of me. I prayed for him to like me a little, and I asked mom. She told me to not bring up my dad or you. I was so torn. I never understood him so I stayed out of his way. I moved out when I turned eighteen, even before I had graduated from high school. I decided I would live my life alone, until I met Jenna Raye."

       His grandfather placed his hand on his shoulder and gave him a light pat before resting it there. "She took my loneliness away. She understood my pride of being Shawnee and my hurt at not being loved by my step-father. She made me see I was blessed to have the love of my father and you. There are times I get mad at Jenna, but I cannot stand it when she is away from my side. Forgive me for not spending more time with you. You were always on my mind."

       Glancing, he saw pride, forgiveness and love looking back at him. Atsadi's jet black hair had turned grey, but they still looked like each other. And then he knew he was where he was meant to be, in his heart, in his mind and in his soul. "If you happen to see my father in the happy hunting ground before I do, will you tell him I love him and I miss him?" Placing his head against his grandfather's knees, Derrick drifted off to sleep.

       Jenna glanced over at Derrick and his grandfather who were both taking a nap. Hoping Derrick was healing the hole in his heart, she thought about their friendship. He never said much, smiled because she chatted constantly, and always seemed to show up when she needed him. Holding his hand today, she realized how much he meant to her. Somehow she had managed to grow close to a man, something she had never done in the past. She even enjoyed their arguments. She didn't agree with his desire to live totally off grid. She did like living green. Lifting the binoculars, she resumed studying the valley below.

       Glad Derrick never teased her about wanting to see Mothman, she believed the river was important and Mothman was trying to tell everyone something about the river.

       Looking again, Jenna saw her friend Kelsey's car turning down a gravel road and heading towards the river's edge. Her heart began to race. Kelsey had shared she was going to meet someone she had only met online. So why on earth were they meeting in this remote spot? Watching via the binoculars, she saw a man walk up and Kelsey get out of the car. And then he covered her mouth and dragged her off behind a tree. Texting her step-mother what she had just seen, she called 911, giving the location. Upset the dispatcher couldn't decide which county, she gulped air.