Chapter-2-the lady in white
543 Words
After a week or so they started there journey. Bryan the driver, at back were Callum and Maisie and Zaira was at front with Bryan. Maisie hated this but she had to agree. The hills were thick with trees, the road winding between the green like a forgotten path. Sunlight pierced through the branches in broken shards. Inside the car, the mood was light—until Zaira leaned forward, her voice sharp.
“Bryan—stop the car.”
He slowed to a gentle halt by the roadside. “What? What is it?”
“Look,” Zaira pointed.
Just beyond the edge of the woods, beside an old bench, sat a frail elderly woman in a long white gown. Her hair was silver and wild, her posture slightly hunched. Behind her, a rusted car stood still with its bonnet popped open, looking as if it hadn’t moved in years.
“Is that real?” Callum said, squinting. “Feels like a scene from a ghost story.”
“She might need help,” Zaira said, already opening her door.
Maisie rolled her eyes. “Seriously? She probably lives in that wreck and talks to squirrels. Creepy old forest witch.”
“Maisie,” Zaira snapped, “be nice.”
The three of them approached the woman. Up close, she looked even more fragile, her fingers trembling slightly as she rubbed her arms.
“I don’t mean to be a bother,” she said, voice soft. “I haven’t eaten since yesterday… and it’s been cold out here.”
“We’ve got food,” Callum said, glancing back at the car.
“And I’ve got a jacket,” Bryan added without hesitation. He pulled it off and gently placed it around her shoulders.
Zaira smiled. “That’s really kind of you.”
Bryan gave a small shrug, brushing it off.
A moment later, the three handed over some sandwiches, crisps, and fruit from their travel bag. The woman accepted it gratefully.
“May God bless you three,” she whispered. Her eyes flicked across Zaira, Bryan, and Callum. “I hope nothing happens to you three.”
Zaira paused. The words sat strangely in her chest.
“That’s so nice of you,” she said with a soft smile. “Thank you.”
They walked back to the car. Maisie was lounging in the backseat with her arms crossed, an unimpressed look on her face.
“You guys are way too soft,” she muttered as the door shut. “We’re not running a mobile charity.”
Zaira turned in her seat. “She’s just a woman in need, Maisie.”
“She’s a weirdo in the woods, Zaira. And you gave her food and a jacket? What’s next, inviting her to the hotel?”
Callum raised an eyebrow. “You’re unbelievable sometimes.”
“Don’t act like you weren’t freaked out too,” Maisie shot back. “She looked like she walked out of a funeral from 1860.”
Bryan stayed quiet, eyes fixed on the road, his jaw tight.
Zaira looked out the window, back toward the trees. The woman was still there, barely visible through the foliage, holding the food in her lap. Watching.
She wasn’t smiling anymore
- Writer
