Read Online Eximere (The River Book 4) by Michael Richan - Free Book Online

body is gone?” Myrna asked.
    “Yes,” Jonathan said. “Obviously the traces of what happened
are here. But no body.”
    “Where could it have gone?” Russell asked.
    “Wolves,” Roy said. “They might have drug her body across the
bricks like this. But who knows. Maybe some other creatures that haunt this
place carried her off.”
    “What now?” Myrna asked.
    “We continue on,” Roy said, “and get out of here. That’s
first.”
    Jonathan started back down the path, and the group followed.
Soon they entered dense forest, the path twisting and turning. After several
minutes they came to the gravel parking area inside the gate. The area was
empty.
    Jonathan and Roy walked to the main gate, inspecting the
lock. Then Roy returned to the others.
    “Hadn’t anticipated the gate,” he said. “It’s locked, and
we’re not going to get it open. If we want to leave, we’re going to have to
scale the fence.”
    “It’s ten feet high!” Myrna said. “That’s not going to work.”
    “This wrought iron fencing can’t possibly go around the
entire estate,” Russell said. “I’ll bet it’s just along here, for show. We
could follow the fence and see if it becomes scalable somewhere else.”
    “I’m fine with that,” said Roy. He looked at Jonathan.
    “Fine with me,” Jonathan said. “Let’s go.”
    They started off down the side of the fence. Whoever had been
maintaining the yard had kept growth away from the fence on either side of it.
After progressing a hundred yards, the fence disappeared into dense forest.
    “I can almost guarantee you that fence stops just inside
there,” Roy said. “If we go in a little ways, I think we’ll find an opening.”
    Steven looked nervous, but Myrna charged forward. “Let’s go,”
she said.
    They walked into the forest, their progress now slowed to a
fraction of their former pace. Steven felt his fear rising as he twisted and
turned between the tree trunks, bending to avoid branches. He kept his eye on
the fence, and just as Roy had predicted, after thirty feet the iron fence came
to a halt and became a barbed wire fence. Roy held the wire open as each person
bent and passed through it to the other side.
    “Now straight back the way we came,” Roy said. They walked
back out of the forest, emerging into the small clearing around the fence –
this time on the other side.
    “We’ll just follow the fence back to the road,” Roy said,
“and then follow it out to the main road into town.”
    Within a few minutes they had completed the trek and were
continuing their walk away from the estate. When they reached the chain
bisecting the road, they each stepped over it, Roy offering his hand to help
Eliza and Myrna with their balance.
    When they reached the main road, Steven estimated how long
they’d have to walk to get back to town. He guessed twenty minutes.
    “Doesn’t look like much traffic on this road,” Jonathan said
as they started down the side of the roadway towards town.
    “We must look like a sight,” Russell said, “the six of us
marching along the road like this.”
    “I only wish poor Marilyn was with us,” Myrna said. “Seeing
those blood stains on the path – well, it makes one think. Must have been
awful.”
    “We tried to get her to stay,” Russell said. “She refused.”
    “Please, Russell,” Myrna said, “let’s not speak ill of the
dead.”
    They walked along the side of the road in silence for a
while. No cars passed in either direction.
    “I think I need to eat some breakfast as soon as we reach the
town,” Myrna said.
    “Hungry?” Eliza asked.
    “Yes, my stomach is rumbling,” Myrna replied. “I should have
eaten something before we left the house, but I was too nervous.”
    “I don’t feel like eating,” Roy said. “I feel a little
nauseous.”
    “It might be catching,” Russell said. “I don’t feel that
great either.”
    “Let’s get to town and we’ll see what we can find,” Eliza
said. “The town