Chapter One
It wasn’t the first time a knife had been held to her throat and it wouldn’t be the last. The memory of her ex-husband crept up on her like a lion hunting its prey. She remembered the utter fear she had felt that night. Though she knew he wouldn’t actually kill her, he was drunk enough to make a mistake. Sasha had known better to fight with him. Instead, she lay there and waited for his bout of anger to pass.
While she waited, she thought of her daughter Tara. If something awful happened, what would happen to Tara? Would he hurt her too? The thought of her daughter having to face the torment she did during his drinking fits scared her to death. It was the biggest fear of her life.
“Tara, sweetheart,” Sasha started. “Are you comfortable back there?” Her daughter said she was fine but complained the trip was taking too long. Sasha smiled and shook the awful memories from her mind. “I know, honey, but we should be there very soon.”
“But why are we moving so far away?”
“You know why, sweetheart.”
“But I don’t want to leave my life behind.”
“Sometimes we need to do things we don’t want to do. Sometimes we have to.”
“Ok.”
Tara stopped questioning her mother and continued playing on the tablet in her lap. Oblivious to her were the tears her mother now wiped away silently. Sasha felt like an awful mother. Making her move away from her school and all of her friends seemed like the worst thing to do to her. She was being uprooted from her life, from the only house she had ever known. All of her friends would become distant memories. It was upsetting for a girl of nine. Hell, it was upsetting for a woman of thirty-seven. But it was necessary. Sasha told herself she had to do it.
No one knew where they were going, not even Sasha’s own mother. The abuse had become apparent to her in the end. In fact, it had been her idea for Sasha to leave. “Don’t tell anyone where you’re going,” her mother had instructed. “It’s best if we not know.”
Sasha had taken her mother’s advice and loaded a small trailer with anything that would fit. Taking Tara, they headed off to a small, New England town she could barely find on a map. They would be all but living off the grid like some sort of doomsday prepper family.
Up ahead stood a weathered sign with an overgrown tree hanging low enough to obscure it. The brown paint and yellow letters seemed faded and ignored. The beauty of the golden yellow and red leaves in the tree was lost on Sasha. Instead, she read the sign to herself. Welcome to Carlisle, Maine. Est. 1692 Our Lands Whisper with the Echoes of the Past.
The quote on the sign had been oddly beautiful. It was a poetic notion that only the early settlers of the country could have possibly written. She found herself inspired to learn as much about the town history as possible, once she was settled in of course.
Finding this small town had been a mere coincidence. When the plan to take Tara and run away had solidified in her mind, Sasha had called several real estate agents miles from her home. None could assist her due to the lack of funds. In fact, many had even laughed at her and hung up. Before she could feel defeated, however, she was given a tip to try a real estate company in Maine. Supposedly, their specialty was finding the right house for anyone on any budget. Naturally, Sasha had been skeptical but was left with no other choice.
The overly excited man nearly talked her ear all the way down to the floor. He would not shut up about the beautiful countryside and how gorgeous Maine was. Finally, he told her of a small house, which was more like a cottage, in a small town in Maine. Without much hesitation, Sasha had said she’d take it.
“Don’t you want to see it first?” The man had asked. But it didn’t much matter what it looked like. Sasha knew a Godsend when she saw one. This was her opportunity to leave her old life behind.
As the town rose into view, Sasha slipped a Xanax into her mouth and swallowed it dry. The thought of meeting everyone and explaining where she had come from, what little she could really share, did nothing for her stress levels. When she had told her psychiatrist about the move, she had prescribed extra medication, on top of the two pills she had to take daily for her depression. Psychiatrists really love their pills but they worked so Sasha didn’t complain.
“Mommy, are we there?” Tara asked, placing the tablet in the seat next to her. Sasha nodded at her through the rearview mirror. She could see pure joy in her daughter’s eyes. Not excitement for the new life she was being forced to create. Not for the joy of seeing their new home. No, her excitement was with ending her cramped existence in the backseat of the car.
Sasha pulled into the driveway and stared at her new home. It was small. Except, small wasn’t the right word. The whole building could have fit inside a studio apartment. But what it lacked in indoor space it more than made up for with the yard. The backyard stretched for several yards before disappearing into the surrounding forest. A Thomas Kinkade painting came to mind as she stared at the cottage. Despite the size, it felt perfect.
Before Sasha could protest, Tara tore off down the driveway and into the cottage. Clearly, she was excited to get out of the car, stretch her legs, and probably pee. Sasha smiled and hoped there were other little girls in the town her daughter could get to know.
