CHAPTER 14

This morning I came downstairs ready for our run only to find that there had been a change in plans. Nick needed to do a wellness check on a few residents who lived in the area. And so when he'd asked me if I wanted to go with him, I'd jumped at the idea.

True, I would be spending most of the day with Nick Monroe; however, after the last three days of him running with me every morning without a single complaint. I was starting to think that perhaps I'd misjudged him. Sure he could be a pain in the butt at times, but then again, I had been pretty hard on him. Besides which this was my chance to get out of the house for a few hours, and nothing was going to mess that up if I could help it.

I ran back upstairs to change into my usual daily attire of jeans, boots, a tank, and a flannel shirt. When I got back downstairs, Celeste handed me a lunch that she'd packed for the two of us before Moose, and I headed outside to meet Nick, who was standing in the courtyard with two horses, saddled and ready to go. For some reason, I'd just assumed that we would be driving, but horseback riding sounded more fun.

Today was starting out a little cooler than usual, and there was a definite hint of fall in the air. It was one of those misty dreary mornings that just made you want to curl up in front of the fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book, But I knew that the afternoon sunshine would burn away the fog soon enough.

I handed our lunch to Nick to stow away in his saddle pack and went over to meet my horse. His name was Pepper, and as horses go, he was very friendly and inquisitive as he checked both Moose and me out before bumping me gently with his head.

"He's looking for a treat," Nick said and handed me a sugar cube for him.

"He's a smart boy," I replied and held my hand out for Pepper, who eagerly lipped it from my hand before bumping me with his head for another.

"Sorry, boy, that's all we have," I said with a smile and rubbed his velvety soft nose.

"He's just a little bit spoiled," Nick said as he handed me the reins. "So I would imagine that the two of you will get along very well."

Struck speechless for once in my life, all I could do was glare at him.

* * *

Our first stop of the morning was to check up on a very independent older couple Mr. and Mrs. Ford, who lived on a small farm a few miles west of Celeste's home. Mr. Ford (Joe) was having problems with some run-away cows, so while Nick was helping him fix some fences, I spent some time visiting with Mrs. Ford (Clara) while she baked cookies and sweet rolls for her grandkids. The morning passed by quickly, and spending time with Clara reminded me of all the good times that I'd had helping my grandma in the kitchen. Afterward, they insisted that we stay for lunch before sending us off with some fresh homemade cookies and a promise to visit again.

Later that afternoon, as we were riding side by side down a winding trail and talking about mundane things from our childhood, I realized that we'd managed to go several hours without bickering, which was a new record for us.

I turned my head and started to say something to Nick when I heard something whiz by my head; seconds later, it was followed by the sound of a gun being fired.

Nick yelled, "watch out." And the next thing that I knew, he'd crashed into me, and we both fell from our horses into the tall grass beside the trail.

"Stay down," he ordered and pushed me down as he crawled through the grass to reach his binoculars that were hanging on his horse's saddle.

"Did you see anything?" I asked, popping my head up to study the treeline a few hundred yards away from us.

"Don't you ever listen!" He exclaimed in exasperation, pushing my head back down.

"Stop it!" I pushed his hand away and popped back up. "Look over there by the big oak tree; I saw something moving."

Nick trained his binoculars on the enormous old tree in time to see a flash of movement. "Dammit," he swore under his breath. "I didn't get a good look at him, but he's on the run now."

"Well, what are you waiting for?" I said and ran for my horse.

Nick reached out and grabbed the reins for a minute, "I don't suppose you'd listen if I told you to wait here?"

"You suppose right," I replied with a smile.

Nick shook his head in defeat and handed me back the reins, "just try and stay behind me, and if I say get down, you're to do it with no questions asked." With that, he wheeled his horse around and took off into the wooded area after the fleeing figure.

Because of the thick shrubbery and timber, we were forced to slow to a walk before long. Finally, just as I started to fear that we'd lost the elusive figure, the growth began to thin out a little. And in the clearing ahead, we saw a magnificent old mansion. It appeared to be abandoned as the area around the house was unkept and overgrown. However, despite its neglected appearance, the large two-story house framed by a row of old oak trees was still beautiful with its tall, stately columns and air of mystery.

"Did you know this was here?" I breathed.

Nick shook his head, "I've lived here my whole life and never heard a word about it."

"Let's check it out," I said and headed for the front door.

Nick reached out and grabbed my arm, "hold on a minute, are you forgetting that someone just took a shot at us?"

"And that is why we have to check it out," I said the words just slowly enough to irritate him and saw by the slight flush on his cheeks that I'd succeeded.

Nick scowled, "just stay behind me and try not to cause any trouble."

"And when have I ever caused any trouble," I quipped with a smile and reached for the doorknob.

* * *

I stepped through the door, and my eyes widened in awe. Everything around me, from the marble flooring to the beautiful chandelier overhead and the double staircase leading up to the 2nd-floor, screamed luxury and a lifestyle that was almost unimaginable in today's world. I had read some about how the wealthy and elite lived before the apocalypse, but it was hard to relate as their lives were so different from the way we lived today.

Sure, things had gotten better for us over the years as the zombie outbreaks had become smaller and happened a lot less often than before. But, that was most likely because there were fewer people left in the world and not because of something that we had done to stop it.

"I can't imagine living in a house this large," Nick remarked.

"Me either, it is beautiful though," I replied, opening the door to an ornately decorated drawing-room.

"I don't think that anyone's been here for a long time," Nick said, indicating the thick layer of dust on the floor.

"They were probably all killed during the outbreak."

Nick nodded in agreement, glancing around the room," this part of the house seems to be free of zombies ." He walked further into the room and started looking at some pictures on the wall as I checked out an elaborate set of dollhouses that any little girl would love that was sitting in one corner of the room.

"Hey Kaley, come here and take a look at this," he called, motioning to one of the pictures on the wall.

"What about it?" I asked, glancing at an old painting that looked to be from the 1920s of a beautiful young woman, her fiery red hair was cut in a short bob, and she was wearing a jeweled emerald green gown with a matching headband that almost matched the color of her eyes perfectly.

"Don't you see it?" He asked in surprise, " except for the fact that her hair is a brighter red and cut short, she looks exactly like you."

"What, no," I protested. "I look nothing like her, and my hair is ginger, not red."

"It looks red to me," he said and laughed when I scowled at him.

I looked doubtfully at the picture, "I've always heard that everyone has a twin somewhere, but I just don't see it."

"If you think that is weird until you see this," he said and nodded at a picture that was sitting on the fireplace mantle.

It was a family photo of a mom and dad with their two kids; a teenage boy and a girl. This photo, which was a lot more recent than the painting, had probably been taken shortly before the zombie outbreak. The boy had a familiar look about him, but what really stood out about the image was the girl; without all of the fancy clothes and makeup that the woman in the first picture (probably her grandmother) had been wearing, she looked enough like me to be my twin, right down to her light ginger hair and the scattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose.

"That is weird," I breathed in astonishment.

"Very much so," Nick echoed. "Do you or did you have any family from around here?"

I slipped the photo into my backpack, "Not that I know of but, I'm just starting to realize that there's so much I don't know about."

"What do you mean?"

"I've never really thought about it all that much, but I know virtually nothing about my dad's past. All that I was told is that he was estranged from his family. So much so that he even took my mom's surname when they married. And he completely refuses to talk about his family."

Nick nodded his head, "So for all, you know, the people that lived here could have been your relatives."

"Maybe,"

"Let's look around some more and see if we can find some papers or something that will tell us more about them," Nick offered.

"Let's look for the study," I replied. "That's where most people used to keep their important papers."

After trying several different rooms, we found the study, and after searching through the desk, I found a few bills and letters addressed to Dr. Gordan St. James. Realizing that this might take a while, I sat down to take a look at some of them.

"Except for their last name, none of this even tells us anything," I remarked in frustration.

"We're going to have to leave before long if we don't want to get caught out after dark. So why don't you bring some of the letters back to read later," Nick suggested.

"You know, that sounds like a good idea," I replied. "Just give me a couple of minutes."

"No problem, I'll be outside getting the horses ready."

After he left, I gathered up a few of the letters and stuck them in my backpack before wandering around in the garden as Nick watered the horses and Moose, who could never resist the chance to get wet from an antique well pump over by the barn.

I slipped my backpack on and started to join them when I heard the faint sound of someone crying. It was coming from deeper inside the overgrown garden. I walked around a large scraggly bush to see a young girl sitting on a bench and crying as if her heart was breaking.

"Hey, are you ok?" I called.

Immediately she stopped crying, and I saw her whole body stiffen in surprise before she raised her head to look at me.

I gasped in shock and took a step backward at what was revealed when she raised her head; the entire left side of her face was missing. Actually, it was there, but it looked as if it was either burned or rotted away, exposing the bone and muscle. But, the right side of her face looked identical to mine. It was impossible; she was the girl from the photo somehow untouched from time.

"Oh, no," I whispered, knowing that she must be in so much pain to have to live with an injury like that.