Birthright

Another shot rings out. Nate grunts, and I scream.

“Move!” Nate grabs my hand and yanks me behind him. He topples another tray full of unripened cheeses to the ground, blocking the men’s path. Nate keeps throwing more cheese as he backs away, shoving me toward the door. I swing it open, and he turns to run with me out the back door.

We run through the parking lot, past the post office, and into the trees beyond the buildings. The snow begins to fall faster, and huge flakes cover us both. I glance behind me, but the snowfall has obscured my view, and I can’t tell if anyone is following us.

“Nate! Where are you going? The house is that way!”

“Can’t go to the house,” he says. “I’m not armed, and we need to get away first. Where can we hide?”

“Hide?” I shake my head and huff out breaths as Nate pulls me along. “Where are we going to hide?”

“That’s what I’m asking you!”

A single shot echoes behind us, but the sound is much farther away. Despite the apparent distance, the sound still makes me jump. I look around, but we’re partly surrounded by trees and snow, and there is a field ahead of us, but the snow obscures any familiar landmarks, and I can’t figure out exactly where we are.

“There should be a main road to our left,” I say. If we go there, I can get my bearings.”

We find the road, completely covered in snow. I can’t see more than a few feet ahead of us, but I have a pretty good idea where we are.

“That’s the Drane House over that way,” I tell him. “It’s right next to the cemetery where we were earlier.”

“Drane house? Who are the Dranes?”

“Historical landmark. No one lives there.”

“Let’s try it.”

It doesn’t take long, but by the time we reach the Drane House, I’m shivering so hard I can barely talk, and my feet feel like they’re about to freeze to the ground. I can’t even feel my toes. Nate grabs the handle of the door, but it’s locked.

“Dammit!” He kicks the door, but I grab his arm.

“Nate, stop it! This isn’t Cascade Falls! You can’t just break into places!”

“I’m fucking freezing,” he says, “and you are, too. We need to get inside.”

“You can’t break that door, Nate! They spent years restoring this place!”

“Are you serious? Cherry, people are shooting at us!”

I don’t know why, but the thought of breaking the Drane House door horrifies me.

I glance around, looking for alternatives, but I swear the cold is affecting my thinking. Through the snow, I see the outline of another structure.

“Over there!” I shout as I pull on Nate’s hand. “There’s a building over there!”

We run through the snow. My hands and face are burning from the cold, and my feet are completely numb. When we reach the small building, I realize what it is.

Without any other options available, and with Nate refusing to try to get back to my place, we end up sheltering in the Drane’s old outhouse.

“Nate, you’re bleeding!”

“It’s not bad.” He shifts around in the cramped space, trying to get a look at his shoulder and the blood that has soaked through the top of his coat.

“Did you…” I gasp, unable to say it.

“Relax,” he says quietly. “It just grazed me.

“Relax?” I shake my head. I have no idea how I’m supposed to relax when I’ve just realized he’s been shot. However, he seems so calm about it, I can only hope he’s telling me the truth. “We should get you to a hospital!”