The Mark

Chapter 1 It was taking every ounce of self-control, but Anna could feel her chest relaxing and her breath becoming steadier. Occasionally, she cringed with the volume of each inhale and exhale, but she kept re minding herself that everything sounded loud when surrounded with silence. She could even hear her heart pounding. A drop of sweat broke from her hairline and rolled down the side of her face, stopping near her ear. She lifted her shoulder to stop the droplet, and the salty sphere was quickly absorbed into her tee shirt. The voices outside the barn moved closer, and she held her breath again. The sounds of footsteps seemed as loud as thunder in the si lence of the night. A couple more moist drops rolled down her cheek, but this time they were from her eyes. At the thought of Henry, his dark, sober eyes and wavy hair, his half smile and suppressed chuckle, his selfless sacrifice, Anna's chest immediately began to ache. A lump swelled in her throat and she choked back a whimper. How did I get here? Why am I still alive? The voices outside began to fade. A car door clicked closed, fol lowed by a second, then an engine started and the car shifted into gear. Slowly the wheels began to roll on the loose gravel. Incredibly slowly. Headlights flashed through the loose wooden slats of the barn, and Anna squinted against its glare. She breathed easier as the car headed down the dirt road back to the highway. But she knew the car-and those that pursued her-could return at any time. She peered through a knothole, watching as the glow of taillights disappeared. A low, flat layer of clouds blocked the moon's light and the darkness lay like a thick blanket across the countryside. She had followed Henry's directions to the barn, traveling only at night, run ning for hours at a time to cover as much distance as possible, and now all she could do was wait. Terror had seized her when the car pulled up just minutes earlier, and her heart still thumped hard against her ribs. If she had been spotted, she would have been shot. As the sound of the tires faded to silence, Anna shook her head in wonder. Once again, she was alone. And safe. By now her eyes had adjusted to the dark, and she studied the tractor next to her. It was large, and felt rusted and old. Anna stood and stretched her legs. She wiped her arm across her forehead, trying to stay the flow of perspiration. She grasped a metal rod on the tractor for balance. She was tired and hadn't eaten all day. Through the barn she heard the c***k of a branch and it made her jump. Anna thought they had left, but perhaps she had been fooled. She crouched again to look out the knothole, but saw nothing. She held her breath and waited but saw no movement. After a few minutes, she steadied herself, stood again, turned and leaned against the barn's wall. She looked across the space littered with farming equipment, then toward the door she had entered through. It was open. A man stood in the doorway, his arms outstretched, hands resting on either doorpost. Anna gasped, realizing he was looking at her. There was nowhere to run. "Anna?" Anna bit her lip. She put her hands over her mouth and chose not to answer. Her ears were playing tricks on her. "Anna? That is you over there, isn't it?" "Henry?" "Yeah, it's me." At the sound of his voice, relief flooded over Anna's whole body. She had not quite let herself accept that she would never see Henry again, but deep in her heart she had feared the worst. Now he stood in the door and without any thought, Anna began to run to him. "I thought you would never make it!" "It's me, Anna. You have nothing to be afraid of." Anna suddenly stopped and forced herself to think. How could it be Henry? Then again, stranger things had happened in the last twenty-four hours alone. She studied his silhouette in the doorway and her fears dissipated. Yes, it was Henry! It had to be. She'd know him anywhere. She quickly moved again, cutting the distance be tween the two of them in no time. Without hesitation, she flung her arms around his neck and squeezed him hard as she began to weep. "Don't cry," he whispered. She felt him wrap his arms around her and for a brief moment all was right with the world. She struggled to speak, but after a few seconds she broke the silence. "I thought you were..." "Oh, come on. You should know by now it's going to take more than a couple of policemen to do me in." Anna pulled away, squinting as she tried to make out his face. Oh, how she loved his voice! And his ability to downplay a crisis... "A couple? It was more like an army, if I remember correctly!" "Whatever. I've got more lives than a cat, but I'm starting to get low on my count, thanks to you!" Anna squeezed him again and smiled. "Stop joking! Did you just get here?" "Yeah. We can talk later, but for now we need to keep moving." "This isn't the meeting place?" Henry took Anna's hand and led her further into the barn. "Be careful-there's a lot of equipment in here. Don't cut yourself." He pointed to something with his left hand, his right firmly grasping her own. There was so much she wanted to say, so much she needed to know. She decided to just follow directions and keep her questions to herself, though they were adding up quickly in her mind. Henry led her back to the corner where she had originally been hiding. He bent down and started to gently run his hands across the floor. She heard him wince, and she bit her lip, assuming a splinter had found its way into his finger. The sound of his hand sweeping back and forth across the floor continued a few more times until the creak of a rusted hinge broke the silence.