Crissa's Mate

Chapter Thirty

While Crissa was waiting for Julie to finish bathing, she heard a knock on their door. But when she opened it there was no one there, only a small slip of paper which had been slipped under it. She retrieved the paper and looked up and down the empty hallway.

The little note read:

Crissa—Meet me in the barn in 15 minutes. We can talk there. I need your support. And your assurance about something—David.

She wadded up the paper and threw it into her suitcase which had been unzipped for packing. Going to the bathroom door, she heard the water running strongly and shouted loudly over it.

"Julie?  Are you OK? Do you need anything?"

"No, Crissa. Thanks. I'll be OK. Just need to get about five days of dirt off my body."

"Alright then. I'll be going down . . . with the others for a while, OK?"

"Sure.  But don't count on me packing. I'm not going with you all."

Julie . . . are you sure about that?  It's not wise or safe to stay here."

Who said I care about . . . wise . . . anymore? I have reasons to be here now."

"Yeah, OK. But Julie . . . we need to talk. I'll be back for that later, OK?"

"Sure. Whatever. God . . . I'd forgotten the smell of shampoo! It's like heaven!"

"Julie, I'll be back in a little while. Just stay away from the professor, OK?"

"Don't you worry about that!  I'll scratch his eyes out if he tries to touch me again."

"OK. But just wait for me to get back."

Crissa moved from the bathroom door to the main door of the bedroom. She opened it slightly, and seeing no one in the hallway, she quickly passed down to the stairwell leading to the dining area. Seeing that no one was there either, she assumed they were all in their respective rooms, packing, as the professor had ordered.

Quickly and quietly, she moved across the large room to the lodge front door, opened it, and stepped out along the pathway toward the barn. She felt especially vulnerable being so exposed and singular outside, but was relatively certain she would find David just inside the door of the Barn, as he explained in his note.

As she reached the large wooden structure, she could see the security bar had again been removed from the door, signaling someone was definately inside. Crissa opened it slightly and peered gingerly in—preparing to run back to the hotel if she did not see David right away. Fortunately, once inside, he appeared out of the darkness into the light of the open doorway to greet her.

"Thanks for coming," he said quietly. "So how's Julie?"

"She's taking a shower. And getting back to herself, from what I could see."

"Good."

"I need to ask you . . . about what we talked about, Crissa . . ."

As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she could see David's face had a sincere expression while he moved closer and gently took her into his arms. She allowed this and hugged him back warmly.

"Did you check if . . . we have noisy neighbors in here again," Crissa asked cautiously.

"Yeah I just did. No more young lovers . . . to give us . . . any ideas." He smiled, but Crissa did not.