The Ocean’s City
Chapter 26

My throat constricted as I waited for him to answer. My mind rushed to a million answers. Each one fell short as if I couldn’t see behind a glass ceiling. Death is the ultimate end unless, of course, there actually is life after death. Civilizations, since the beginning of time, all had theories of life after death. Could any of them be right?

If there is life after death, then I guess dying wouldn’t be so bad. Could… it be possible that both Dalton and Huston are correct? Could Dannie have passed and still be alive?

I refused to let my stare leave Hutson’s in fear that if I looked away even for some second, he would become like the robotic people back at the seaside. “Hutson,” I warned. “What’s more dangerous?”

The silence between us could slice atoms, and it was almost deafening when he spoke. “Nonexistence.”

I searched his face, trying to read in between the lines. I watched every twitch of his jaw like I was cracking the Davinci code. “Is… Dannie in danger?”

He let out his masculine rage through a frustrated huff of air. He nodded once. So precise I couldn’t mistake it for anything else. “You should go back inside. Dalton doesn’t want you out here.”

As I stood, I crossed my arms like it was suddenly winter. “Good night, Hutson.”

“Good night.” He didn’t bother to look my way as I made my way back to the house. “And Silvestia… We didn’t have this conversation.”

I nodded my head, not daring to speak. He couldn’t see me yet, yet somehow, I knew he knew what I was doing.

My feet crunched, and the sound of clay screeched across the floor as I entered. I noted the mess of dirt and shattered plates. I could only muster a shaky breath as I looked for a broom and a way to process my thoughts.

As I swept, I tried to make sense of everything that had happened. Trying to read between the lines and search for hidden clues that could give me the answers to the universe, knowing that the man who could answer every question I ever had sat outside staring at the false starry night sky. Nothing in my way of asking him except for our mutual fear about Dalton finding out.

Once everything was cleaned up, I sat on the rocking chair, waiting for Dalton to return, lost in my thoughts that swiftly took me to dreamland.

I used to like dreams, but now I hated them. It’s difficult to differentiate whether it is Dalton’s reality or dream reality. If they are even different at all. The sunshine shone through the currents, giving me a blanket of warmth as I shifted in my chair, stretching the achy parts of my body, regretting I fell asleep here.

With a bit of urgency, I looked at my hands. Inspecting, I have five fingers, and they look like my own. I rubbed my fingertips together, noting how it felt, and took a deep breath. I was awake.

I thought of the dust cloud last night. It was unreal and dreamlike. No doubt Dalton’s doing. At the thought of him, I stood and began searching the house for him. He was nowhere in sight, and neither was Hutson. I was in a home in the middle of nowhere, all alone.

Great… did I get abandoned here where I could cause no trouble?

I walked outside to see the two lawn chairs empty. I plopped down in one, kicking the gravel around and bathing in the sunlight. The car was gone. Not even tire tracks remained to hint it had ever been there.

It made me feel nervous. Where were they?

A faint whine danced in the wind, catching my attention. The desert was vast, absent of tall trees and thick shrubbery. Other than some mountains scattered around, the land was flat for as far as your eyes could see. There was a straight line where the blue, cloudless sky met the earth. A small random dust cloud collected and danced into the wind where the whining sound had come from.

I squinted my eyes. It was hard to determine what caused the dust cloud, but I slowly put the pieces together and realized they were horses running straight toward me. I stood and watched them. As they grew near, I saw four of them with people on their backs. There was a random yip and holler as they stampeded their way over.

I was smiling at them with a hand over her forehead to shield me from the sun. I watched in awe. I had always been a city girl. Besides the few times I had gone to the zoo, I had never seen a horse up close. Dannie had gone horseback riding a few times. She had an aunt in the valley with land and horses.

I felt mixed emotions as I thought about Dannie begging me to go with her. I had always wanted to, even jealous of every time she got to go, but I never could find the time to go. That may be my way of avoiding trying something new.

Within minutes, the riders were pulling their wild horses to a stop. The horses pranced around, eager to move. I was only a few steps from one with Oreo ice cream-like fur. He heaved from the heavy, strenuous run and looked me in the eye. Excitement danced in me, but I still lurched backward, as close to the house as possible, for some form of safety.

My eyes flickered from the horse to the man, and my heart dropped, instantly knowing something wasn’t right.

“What’s a pretty gal like you doing out here?” he said with a thick, old Western movie accent.

As his horse danced around, I noticed the glint of his pistol held steady in his hand. My smile fell from my face as I saw the other three horsemen. All just as rough and dirty as the first, holding pistols, ready for a war. Shotguns were tied to their saddles, and hungry looks filled their eyes.

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