Anna: A Short Story (Part 3)

Soaked branches whipped and nicked her face and hands as she ran through the heavy undergrowth that obstructed the entrance to the forest. The soil underneath was slippery as she fought to maintain her footing.

Once through, the forest opened up and Anna made her way along an old dirt path that snaked through the dense woodland. The child was quiet in her arms, still overrode with the shock of what he had seen and heard, his blond hair bobbing as she negotiated the unsteady terrain.

The forest ran parallel with the school over a vast area and Anna knew the clearing would be the best place to leave her vehicle. She remembered briefly how Seth had frowned when she tried to explain this to him.

In the distance she could hear the sirens. Still faint but growing with every step she took. Her clothes fused to her slim frame with a mixture of perspiration and rain. Disorientation now began to creep in, so she stopped briefly to gauge her whereabouts. Knowing the woods since childhood, she was quickly back moving along the path.

The rain seemed to cease slightly as she spotted the clearing up ahead, her beat up old Cherokee jeep still where she had left it. Upping her pace, the boy groaned slightly before opening his eyes and staring a glazed stare in her direction. “We are nearly there”, she told him returning his gaze.

Her keys were already out of her jacket pocket and in her hand when they got to the jeep. She opened the trunk and sat the boy on the torn mat that lay across the otherwise empty interior.

“Don’t move”, she commanded as she went to the front of the vehicle and grabbed a small rucksack from the passenger seat. When Anna returned to the boy was sitting, trembling with cold and fear, his knees defensively brought up to his chest. She pulled him toward her and retrieved a roll of grey duct tape from the rucksack. “This won’t hurt I promise”, she said before placing a section over his mouth. Tears now rolled from his eyes.

Anna clasped his small hands together and bound them tight with black industrial tie wraps. She proceeded to do the same to his feet, all of which meet with no resistance from the blond boy. Finally she placed a cloth sack punctured with two small air holes over his head. Laying him on the mat she placed a blanket over him as she whispered “This is for your own good.”

Clambering into the jeep, exhaustion now seeped into Anna’s being as she sat in the driver’s seat of her beaten up old jeep. She noticed for the first time how quiet everything had become with only a slight rustle of the trees disturbing this. Turning the key and igniting the engine, the Cherokee pulled out of the clearing onto the road that would take them out of the forest.

About a half mile from the clearing, the jeep took a sharp left onto a larger road which was busier than where they had just been. Anna reduced her speed to under the limit as to avoid any unwelcome attention. She turned on the radio and a tune from a by-gone era filled the Cherokee with its harmony. Hating the song, she hastily turned the dial and was greeted with the end of a news broadcast about the shooting.

“…at present the location of the suspected shooter and a five year old pupil at the school are unknown”, the broadcast announced before Anna shut off the radio. She glanced back at where the boy was hidden but he did not stir. Focusing back on the road she pushed the gas pedal down nervously.

Up ahead a red light forced the jeep to a stop. Anna saw a police cruiser was also stopped in the small line of traffic two cars ahead. She reached across and opened the glove compartment. The black metallic Glock 19 sat inside hidden by a stained white handkerchief. Leaving the compartment open she waited anxiously for the light to turn. Never taking her eyes off the car two in front, after a couple of minutes the light changed to green and the police cruiser took off at speed.

After a mile the police car veered right down toward a small town as the Cherokee kept a steady pace behind. When the car was out of sight Anna closed the glove compartment, overtook the car in front of her and increased the speed.

An hour passed and the rain returned as Anna drove through the town of Kensington, a pretty little place full of brightly coloured houses and shops. She was hungry now and knew that she should probably get some food for her and the boy. After the radio broadcast and the police car earlier she did not feel comfortable pulling up in such a built up area so decided to press on.

Shortly after she had passed the town the red gas light on the dashboard started to flash. “Damn it”, she muttered, hoping she would see a gas station in the next few miles.

A sign for Coyne’s Gas & Food came into view a couple of miles down the road and Anna pulled up at the antiquated pumps that stood out in front of the run down looking gas station. Observing her surrounding she noticed that her jeep was the only one parked there but still hid the Glock 19 in her waistband as a precaution.

She filled the tank as quickly as the pump would let her, keeping a close eye on the outline of the boy hidden by the blanket in the back. When it was full she put back on the cap and went to pay.

The young attendant seemed more interested in the magazine that he had badly concealed under the counter than he did with her. “That will be 22.80”, he informed her. She put three crumbled ten notes on the counter and told him to keep the change before leaving to return to the jeep.

Noticing everything in the Cherokee was as she had left it, Anna pulled back onto the road and continued her journey which she knew would be soon at an end.

The light was fading out of the day when the battered jeep turned left at the crossroad and down the small lane. Thick hedge grow lined either side and the jeep bounced and bumped on the uneven surface. The cabin now came into view with the light on in one of the front windows.

The front door swung open and a tall, thin bearded man stepped out onto the porch, a shotgun draped down by his leg. He waved at the approaching vehicle as it came to a stop.

Anna stepped out of the jeep and smiled at the man. “I got him Seth, I got him”, was all she said.