Reclaiming (9 page)

“Alright.”

It was bit out of reach for her and so she balanced herself on the boxes once again to grasp it. She stood on them, turned the
latch and opened the window but as she did, her feet went straight through the top of one of the boxes. She crushed something delicate-sounding inside of it.

“Damn.” She said.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. I stepped on something in this box and I think I broke whatever was in there.”

“Are you hurt?”

“No.”

“Okay, I’m gonna come in now.” He said. “Straight across from where you are standing is the light switch. Go turn it on while I climb inside.”

“Um, okay…” Daniella replied with trepidation in her voice. The basement was terribly dark and seeing even a few feet in front of her was almost impossible. As she
made her way towards the opposite side of the room, she heard Jett begin to come in through the window behind her.

“How far is it?” She asked.

“Well, I’ll tell ya, you’re just about there.” A strange voice replied.

The sound came from in front of her, in the direction of the light switch. Daniella froze in place, her breath clinched in her throat. For a good second or two, nothing happened and then, the light came on. At the base of the stairs stood a tall, middle aged man. Behind a receding hair line and piercing chocolate-colored eyes he looked at Daniella down the twin barrels of a shotgun.

“Now here I thought you were that damn mama coon again.” The man said. “Come close. Come on now. Let me see your face.”

Daniella swallowed and started to walk in his direction.

“Slow…” he said. “Hands up, where I can see ‘em.”

From behind, Jett called out,
“Daniella! Whooaaahhh!!!” He fell through the window and crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.

The man pointed his weapon in the direction of the sound. He squinted and yelled,
“Hey, who’s there? You! You come out here. Right now!”

Daniella heard Jett stand and straighten himself. As she stood with her hands in the air, the man pulled back the action back on the gun. A moment later, Jett emerged from the shadows.

“Dad, don’t…” he said.

Daniella watched as the man
’s grimace melted into shock and disbelief. He dropped the gun to his side.

“Son, what?” He said. “Is it really you?”

Jett nodded slowly at first and then more quickly as he walked towards him. Seconds later, they hugged. When they broke free, his father said, “Where have you been? When you took off we feared for the worst and after we heard about the manhunt, we…”

He hugged Jett again.

After he released him, Jett turned towards Daniella and said, “Pop, this is Daniella. She saved my life and she’s the only reason I’m still free. If it wasn’t for her, I don’t know where I’d be. Daniella, this is my father, David.”

“Nice to meet you, sir.” Daniella said.

The man smiled and replied, “No, the pleasure is all mine.” He placed the shotgun against the wall, walked over and embraced her. “Come, tell us everything. Mother almost has supper ready.”

***

They ascended the flight of stairs which led into the kitchen.

“Was it that coon again, David?” Jett’s mother asked as she hovered over the stove with her back turned towards them.

“No,” he replied. “It was something much bigger… and uglier.”

“Uglier? What on Earth are you…” she said as she turned in their direction.

She stopped mid-pivot and dropped the ladling spoon to the floor.

“Jett!” she shrieked as she ran towards them. She threw her arms around him and started to sob into his shoulder. Daniella glanced at Jett’s father who seemed to fight back tears of his own. After they completed the joyful reunion, Jett introduced Daniella to his mother in much the same way he had with his father moments earlier.

Jett promised to explain everything over dinner. As they ate over the next hour or so, he recapped all the events of the past six weeks which included his crash, subsequent memory loss,
arrest and everything in between. There was one hairy little detail he overlooked however…

Throughout the entire meal, Daniella waited on the edge of her seat to see if Jett would mention anything about his transformation. He didn
’t. For now, she decided that if he didn’t want to bring it up, then she wouldn’t either. It did seem strange to her but for the time being, she let it go. During a break in the conversation, Jo turned to Daniella.

“I cannot even begin to tell you how grateful we are to you for helping him.” She said. “After Wyatt died and Jett disappeared, we imagined the worst. Then, when it was all over town that he was the suspect and had escaped… Well, let’s just say sleep was scarce for both of us.”

Daniella nodded. “It’s okay. I know that he is innocent so the decision to help was easy.”

Jett looked at her and chuckled.
“Well, if everything that’s happened fits your definition of easy, I’d hate to be around when things get tough.”

Daniella smiled but as she did, Jo interjected.
“Well, it’s settled then. You didn’t do it. Just turn yourself in and let the police handle it.”

Before Jett could reply his father said,
“Jo, that’s not going to work. They’ve got their sights set on Jett. What we need is time to get this sorted out.”

“No David, please.” Jett’s mother begged.

“Jo, no. I am not going to just turn him over to the police.” David replied. “You know what we have to do. Now go get the map to the cabin.”

“David! Please, the police can protect him.”

“Jo, now. The map.”

Jett
’s mother sobbed as she stood from the kitchen table and walked away.

After she disappeared, David turned to Daniella.
“You have to understand,” he began. “She already lost one son. She doesn’t need to lose another. This is for the best. She needs time to come to terms with it.”

Daniella had no idea what he meant by that but she felt for the poor woman.

“Excuse me for a second.” David said as he pushed his chair and headed off after his wife.

As he walked out of sight, Daniella looked at Jett and said,
“What’s this cabin your dad was talking about?”

Jett shrugged.
“When we were young, there was a cabin we’d go to in the summer but we haven’t been there in years.” He replied as he shook his head. “I don’t know why he’d send us there.”

They sat in silence for a minute or so when David and Jo reappeared in the kitchen doorway. Even though her eyes were still puffy from crying earlier, Jett
’s mom seemed to have collected herself. David gestured for her to sit down at the table and as she entered, he followed behind her. After they sat down, David unfurled an old piece of paper that contained a hand drawn map. He rotated it upright and slid it into the center of the table.

“Alright…” he said as he pointed towards the middle of the map.
“That’s where you are headed.”

“What’s this cabin you are talking about, Pop?” Jett asked. “Is it the same one we went to when we were kids?”

“What? No. No, we sold that years ago…” his father replied. “No, it’s Owen Carmichael’s place.”

“Who?” Jett asked. “I’ve never heard of him.”

“He’s an old friend of ours.” Jo replied.

“Oh…” Jett said. “I don’t understand. Why would he agree to help me?”

“Because he owes us a favor.” Jo interjected. “Your father saved his life years ago, right around the time that we adopted you and Wyatt. Isn’t that right, David?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes.” David said as he nodded. “But, that’s not important right now. What is important is that you and Daniella get there as soon as you can, preferably leaving here at first light.”

Jett grimaced. “Dad, I’m starting to think that maybe I should turn myself in, like Mom and Daniella are saying.” He crossed his hands together on the dining room table and continued, “Being on my own and on the run is one thing but now all of you are involved. The last thing I want is you sitting next to me in jail.”

“I understand, Jett.” David said. “I appreciate that but you let me worry about dealing with the police here in Pine Hill. They’ve been sniffing around since the day you went missing and they
ain’t found nothing yet.”

“But Pop…”

“I said no, Jett. That’s final!” David barked. “Show me the respect I deserve as your father and do this for me. Your mother has been through enough.” Jo reached down and caressed David on the shoulder as she stood behind him. He looked up towards her and said, “I’m fine, honey.”

After a brief pause, Jett nodded and said,
“Alright, Pop. But if the police do anything to either one of you, I’m back here and I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”

“Agreed.” His father replied. “Now, tell me, how did you get here?”

“Oh, Daniella’s car…” Jett said. “It’s parked about a mile away, in a safe spot.”

“Okay, well, the earlier you can get headed north towards
Fesser’s Grove, the better. The cabin is about thirty minutes south of there.” His father said. “Even after your drive, you are looking at a one hour hike upcountry.”

An hour long hike? Upcountry?

None of that sounded fun to Daniella. In fact, it sounded awful. She liked to hike about as much as she liked to do spinning classes and half marathons, which was not at all and never.

“Alright,” Jett began. “How will he know we are coming?”

“Leave that to me,” his father replied. “Now, it’s best if you both get to bed. Tomorrow will be a long day.”

As they stood from the table and said goodnight, Jo hugged Daniella. “It’s a shame we don’t have more time to get to know each other a little better. I wish things weren’t so crazy.”

Daniella nodded in agreement.
“I know, I feel the same way.”

“When this is all over, we’ll have to sit down and talk about Jett.” She replied. “I’ve got a lot of stories to tell you about that man.”

Jett chuckled. “Daniella, don’t pay attention to her. She’ll fill your mind with all sorts of half truths about me if you let her.”

“Uh huh,” Daniella replied. “Why do I feel like she’s the only one who will tell me what I
need
to know about you?”

“Women’s intuition…” Jo replied.

“Alright, alright,” David interjected. “That’s enough for tonight. Let’s save this for another time.”

***

The next day they got the early start they’d hoped for and after Jett’s parents saw them off, they trekked back through the woods to Daniella’s car. They hopped in and after a drive of a half hour or so, they arrived at the spot on the map where they’d hike in to reach the cabin.

“Are you sure this guy knows we are coming?” Daniella said as she turned off the engine.

“Well, he’s supposed to,” Jett replied. “My father told me he spoke to him last night but I guess there’s only one way to find out for sure.”

With that, they got out of the car and began the dreaded hike. Under normal circumstances Daniella would have pitched a fit about such a thing but she decided to keep her complaints to a minimum. They walked for about fifteen or twenty minutes. Every so often, Jett would send them down a new trail as he checked their position on the crude map.

“Jett,” Daniella began as they made their way up a switchback. “Why didn’t you say anything to your parents about your um,
condition
?”

“Is that what we’re calling it now?” He asked.

“I guess,” she said. “Unless you have a better term for it.”

He chuckled.
“I’m kidding,” he replied. “I couldn’t say. It’s not something you can just bring up under the circumstances. You know?”

“Yes, I suppose.”

“And besides, I’m not their biological child,” he continued. “I figure that once this is all over and I have time to learn about who I am and where I come from that I’ll find an answer to it. Believe me, no one wants to know more about what the hell happened to me than I do.”

For the next half hour, they continued to gain elevation as they followed the trail on the map. At last they emerged from tree cover and into a clearing and a few hundred yards away stood a cabin.

“There,” Jett said as he pointed in the direction of the rustic structure. “That has to be it. Come on.”

They started to walk towards it and as they did, Daniella looked to her left. The hike up was steep and she estimated they
’d climbed a couple thousand feet at least but the journey was worth it. From here, she could see the entire valley floor and forty miles into the distance with ease.

“Wow,” she said as they walked, “it’s pretty up here.”

“Yeah, sure is.” Jett replied.

As they neared the cabin, two dogs approached. Medium-sized mutts. They sniffed around at both of their two legged visitors. Daniella and Jett knelt down to pet them and as they did, one of them licked her face. She giggled.