Sempre (Sempre 1)

“I’m positive,” he said. “I asked.”

The two of them strolled toward the thinning trees, the brittle, fallen leaves crunching under her shoes. She was apprehensive when they headed into the forest, the same ones she’d tried to escape through months before, but she wanted to believe he wouldn’t lead her astray.

The sound of rushing water met her ears as they walked, the two of them coming upon a small creek. She knelt down, dipping her hand into the frigid water. “It’s beautiful out here.”

“I guess,” Dominic said. “I’m not fond of nature. Carmine’s the one who plays in the woods.”

“Carmine comes out here?”

“He hasn’t since he got back from the boarding school, but he used to when he wanted to be alone. He got into funks, so he’d come down by the water or run along the trail.”

Dominic sat down and leaned against a barren tree as he gazed at the water. Haven mulled it over before pulling off her shoes and wiggling her toes in the thick grass. Rolling up her pant legs to her knees, she stepped into the freezing water.

“There are all kinds of creatures in there,” Dominic warned. “Fish. Bugs. Snakes.”

She smiled as the mud squished between her toes. “I’m not afraid of what’s in this water.”

“I thought all chicks were afraid of snakes.”

“Not me.” She laughed. “I grew up with scorpions.”

“Are you afraid of anything?”

“Of course. Everyone’s afraid of something.”

“So what are you afraid of?”

She paused, considering how to answer. “Hope.”

His brow furrowed. “Hope scares you?”

“I try not to hope for anything,” she said. “If you expect nothing, you aren’t disappointed when you get nothing.”

“That’s . . . sad,” he said. “You don’t have any hope?”

“I guess I do a little bit now.” She kicked around in the mud, not wanting to dwell on the fact that she now had the one thing she told herself she’d never succumb to. “What are you afraid of?”

“Losing my dad,” he said. “I already lost my mom to this life. I don’t want to lose him, too.”

An ache strangled her chest as she thought through his words. Her mama was still alive, but she felt as though she’d lost her forever.

“You should always have hope, you know,” Dominic said.

“My mama used to say that all the time.”

“Smart woman,” he said. “You knew her?”

“Yes. I spent my whole life with her. She told me to run, to try to escape, but I got caught. That’s when your father took me.”

Dominic stared at her. “My father took you from your mother? Does he know that?”

“Yes, he knows.”

They were quiet for a while, Dominic sitting in thought as she stomped around in the creek. “I’m sorry you’re here,” he said eventually. “It stumps me that he’d take you from your mother. That’s wrong.”

“It was scary to leave her, but I wouldn’t call it wrong,” she said. “Compared to where I came from, my mama would say he did me a favor.”

Dominic stared at her in silence for a while before telling her they needed to get back. Although she hadn’t wanted to go inside, she tentatively stepped out of the water. Her feet were covered in mud so she cleaned them off, figuring Dr. DeMarco wouldn’t be happy with a dirty-footed servant scampering around when he had company.