35. King
Getting on my dirt bike, I scan the woods. Sparrow has to be here. I don’t know where else to look. I can’t go back to our kids and tell them I haven’t been able to find their mother. I’m going to find her, and she is going to be fine; that’s the only possibility I can let in. This feels like a cruel joke. I finally get Sparrow back and she’s taken away from me.
Seb and his brothers take off to the east, while River, Dad, and Cam take off to the west. Ace for some reason has plastered himself to my side. He’s honestly the last one I want to do this search with, but at least we will be on dirt bikes, and I won’t have to listen to him.
“Let’s go,” I bark out before starting my dirt bike and taking off before Ace can tell me he’s sorry… again.
My brother has messed up before but never like this.
Taking off into the woods, my eyes are sweeping the area for any clues that Sparrow has been through here. From the corner of my eye, I see Ace waving at me. Stopping my dirt bike, I wait for him to drive over to me.
“Seb just text,” Ace rushes out before continuing, “they found a truck, follow me.”
He takes off, me right behind him. Finally, a lead. The truck means Sparrow is close. Finding the truck means I’m a little bit closer to getting my bird back. I swear, I will never let her out of my sight again.
Please let this be our first lead.
Skidding to a stop, I hop off the bike and inspect the truck. This had to be the one that ran her off the road. Opening the truck door reveals the floor covered in food wrappers, empty packs of cigarettes, and cans of energy drinks.
Looking up, I direct my question to Seb and his brothers. They were raised feral; they were never at home, always out in the wilderness.
“Where does this trail lead?” Pointing behind me, Seb and his brothers look in that direction.
Seb steps closer, scratching the back of his neck. “Shit, just trees for probably thirty minutes or so. There’s a small clearing before the cliffs, small shack. That’s it.”
Walking back to my dirt bike, I climb on and say, “That’s where they’re at.”
Bear, the largest of Seb’s brothers, steps up. “We can only take these about halfway. Trees are too thick.” Nodding my head, I start my bike and let the brothers take the lead.
I guess Ace did do something right today— he brought these guys.
About ten minutes later, the brothers stop, and I see what Bear was saying. There’s no way we could have made it through on the bikes. Getting off my bike, I take my gun out of my leg holster and start walking. No surprise, Ace is right next to me.
I’ve never hated all the remote places around Chapel Falls until now. Stopping when I think I hear something, I hold my hand out. “Ace…did you hear that?” I whisper.
Ace stands still and listens but shakes his head no. I think my mind is playing tricks on me. Hearing things that aren’t there. Continuing my search, I start climbing up the hill. We’re all in shape, but I’ll start feeling the burn soon.
Ace is panting next to me, so I guess all those workouts he does, isn’t cutting it. We are only halfway up the hill, and we haven’t seen anything yet. I’m not giving up hope, but I’m not entirely sure if it’s going to be the outcome I’m hoping for.
“King!” I hear yelled out, so I take off running. Stopping short next to Seb, I spot one of his brothers up ahead. In his arms is my Bird.
Yelling over my shoulder, “Ace, call Dad and tell him we need the truck!” I start running until I reach the brother that rarely speaks.
Interesting family.
He wordlessly hands my Bird over to me, and I quickly lay her on the ground to see what sort of injuries she has.
“Fuck.” Is muttered behind me but I’m busy taking off my shirt so I can put it on Sparrow. She has cuts all over her chest, two black eyes, her nose is bloody and swollen.
Sparrow’s eyes flutter open and she screams out, “King!”
“Hey, hey. I’m here, Bird. You found me,” I gently say as I pull my shirt down her body.
“You’re really here?” she croaks out.
“I’m really here. I promise.”
I pick her up when she loses consciousness again. Even though I’m pissed at my brother, I look at him to give me strength. He steps closer, muttering, “We still have to find Chad and take care of him.”
Sparrow stirs in my arms, shocking me when she says, “I think I killed him.” Ace’s eyes widen at her words and he turns to the rest of the group.
“Okay, we still need to locate Chad. It sounds like this is going to be a disposal, so we’ll have to take care of the truck we found too.”
The guys nod their heads and continue up the hill. As they pass me, they give me a small nod of their head and a clap on the shoulder.
Even though we found her, or she found us, I hate that she had to defend herself. Starting back down the hill, Ace catches up to me. “How we getting her back down?”
Good question. I don’t think she can ride on a dirt bike. I’ll carry her down all the way if I have to.
“You call Dad?”
Ace nods his head; at least I know that he’ll be waiting for us. Getting to our bikes, I weigh my options. I can carry her down the rest of the way, but that will take time— time that I’m not sure we have. Putting her on the bike is risky, but if I put her in front of me, I’ll be able to hold her in place.
Looking at Ace, I say, “Hold her a minute.” Before I can hand her over, Sparrow screams out.
“No!” She starts swinging her arms and screaming.
“Hey. Bird, it’s okay. I’m going to give you to Ace, just for a minute. And then we are getting the hell away from here,” I tell her as I brush her hair out of her face.
“Ace? He’s here?” she asks weakly.
Clearing his throat, he says, “It’s me, sis.”
Sparrow nods, so I hand her over to Ace and straddle the bike. Ace slowly passes her back to me, and I get her settled.
“I don’t know about this, King,” Ace slowly says.
I’m not either.
“Bird, I’m going to start the bike now. We are going to get down the hill, then we’ll have the truck. Do you think you can keep your feet up?”
“I can do it, King.”
Starting my bike, Ace starts his next to me. I nod my head towards him and take off back down the hill. I slow down a little when Sparrow wobbles, but once we are at the slower speed, she settles her movement.
Riding with her like this is fucking stupid, I know, but it’s the quickest way to get her help. Ace keeps pace with me back down the hill until he spots our dad’s truck. He kills the bike and takes off. I watch as he throws open the back door.
Reaching the truck, I turn off the bike and put down the kickstand. Ace comes back over and holds on to Sparrow while I climb off the bike. Once I have her back in my arms, I carry her into the back seat of the truck, Ace climbing in after me. Dad and River are in the front seat, River turning around to look at us.
“Where’s the guy?”
“Sis said that she might have killed him,” Ace responds proudly.
I wanted to be the one to take that burden from Sparrow, this is something that’s going to stay with her for the rest of her life. But looking over her shoulder the rest of her life is not a way to live.
Kissing the top of her head, I whisper, “I love you, Bird. I’m never letting you go.”