Chapter 1

Breathing deeply, the padding footfalls of a lone jogger on a blank stretch of highway smoothly accelerated up a steep embankment of a familiar hilltop, this hilltop was one he had climbed every morning for the last four months. The familiarity of the run calmed the mind that was although tranquil on this run always at unease. Rhythmic breathing followed by rhythmic joggers’ steps propelled the man onward towards his destination, towards his home…. Strangely it felt like home, but the man knew he was on borrowed time, always They came for him, always They found him, and always unspeakable terrible things happened to the inhabitants of the places he called home. Closing his eyes, the man continued to run the road he knew so well, taking in the fresh scents of the Colorado mountain air, he knew there was a family of deer nearby, although how he never really understood, it was one of his gifts one of the ones he had paid so dearly to receive. The gifts always got stronger when They got near, always They found him, how he never knew, but for once he was considering running, escaping from Them before harm could come to the inhabitants of this sleepy mountain town he had made his home. Fear was not really a part of it, but the empathy he felt for the people of the town called Diggers Ford, they had touched him somehow, invaded into him the way he had invaded into them, and for once the fear he felt for himself had changed into outrage at what They would do to the people of Diggers Ford to try and catch him, to try and take him back to that place. Gods! That place! A cold sweat erupted out on his skin causing goose bumps to explode onto his forearms and the nape of his neck. The sense of the family of deer bedded down a mile or so off of the highway charged into his mind and he knew they like so many around them were healthy, and happy, having just had a fawn the mother doe was nurturing him, he could feel the love emanate out of her towards the spring ling, could smell her glands and how they mixed with her fawns. He could also sense with amazing clarity the whisper of the mountain lion stalking nearby, she would narrowly miss the bedded down deer, but it was only because the wind was blowing downwind of the lion and the mother doe would smell the predator long before he arrived. Amazingly how this situation mirrored his own, how he knew his predator was coming for him, yet he wanted….needed to stand his ground and defend what had truly for the first time in what seemed like lifetimes become his true home. Curse Them! He screamed at the top of his lungs, and with the same clarity he had sensing the animals, he knew that They had heard him, that They were so very close now, and They had powers that rivaled his own, although in dark twisted ways, ways that defiled life, powers that would demand many lives and cause vast amounts of pain!
The road began to descend towards the room he rented from widow Nel, she was an older woman, in her late sixties, and her husband David had recently passed on from a heart attack. This had left her alone and having a farm to run and little money left over from the insurance policy she had taken to renting rooms out to wayward travelers in exchange for some sweat and good ole fashioned put your back into it work.
Graham Sullivan had met Nel four months earlier while walking through town on his escape from one wrecked place to hopefully somewhere he could find some peace. She had immediately noticed his solid frame not from a sexual viewpoint but one of a seasoned trader who understood what she perceived as the true value of a man.
Nel pulled her old 1988 Dodge Diesel up and manually rolled the window down to get a better view of this impressive looking stranger. Nel noticed right off that even riding in her oversized diesel rig this man could look her directly in the eye, he must be at least 6’3, and the width of his shoulders hinted at a frame of at least 230lbs. She instantly liked this stranger, something sad in his bluish green orbs said I’m a good man, I’ve just hit hard times, you can trust me and I would never hurt you. Strange how those exact words went off in her head and at the same time she felt as if she had formed them and put them there.
What a catch Nel thought, now if he only likes fried chicken and biscuits I can broker a deal. She smiled to herself when she thought of this, because who had ever met someone that didn’t like fried chicken and biscuits anyhow!
A few hours later the two of them were seated at her dining room table deep in conversation that only seemed to be stemmed from one side of the room, and from one oversized pudgy mouth.
Nel had never been a beautiful woman, she resembled a tomboy, always wearing jeans, and a ball cap, always comfortable and always smiling, even the death of her husband could not slow this woman down. Nel has an appetite for life and being able to cook had put a sparkle in her chestnut colored eyes, one that unmistakable said yes I was a mother, yes I was a housewife, yes I am a god faring Christian, and yes wipe your damn feet before you come in my house!
The conversation stayed mostly on key about working arrangements, and Graham after some doing had been talked into taking a room in the guest house, as well as a minimum wage paycheck, and free meals. Before dinner concluded, Nel looked at Graham, at the quick way his hands moved about his plate to stack his dishes, and how his entire body seemed in tune with whatever he seemed to be doing, it was even like that with the way he climbed into the back of the truck! He resembled a dancer and a football player, it was such a strange combination, but Nel disregarded it as good fortune, and filed it away to pray for her new found friend and employee.
Nel spoke as the two of them stood…”Graham, where are you from? Are you running from something?” and strangely she added, “Is there anything I can do to help you?”
Graham composed and with those same sad eyes locked into her, and he spoke the first sentence she ever heard him utter, “Mam, I came from a place I never care to go again, and yes I’ve been running all my life, and I thank you for wanting to help, believe me you are”. With that Graham slid out of the room with that athletic stride ducked under the doorframe and silently let himself out to the guesthouse.
Nel was soothed by his voice, it was not remarkable at all, but something in the undertone, something in it the same way as his eyes, said I have been and seen more then you could ever imagine, and none of it was good. Yet here I am still alive, still living life and still a good person. Nel decided right then to spend a long time with her prayers that evening.
The following day Nel woke early as usual, around 5AM and began the task of preparing breakfast, something about having a man to cook for again had made her feel ten years younger and she celebrated this by cooking: pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, and hot maple syrup.
After setting the table Nel realized that Graham was still not up and she decided that she was more than spoiling her lazy help and with that she was out to scold him for not being up yet. Opening the door to the guesthouse caused an ole creak, and Nel thought how lax she had been with the house since Davids death.
Looking inside Nel realized that the bed had not been slept in, that nothing had been disturbed, she began to wonder if the man she had trusted so completely the night before, had actually become a thief of some sort or done some other terrible things around her farm.
A noise outside broke her daydreaming state, it was the cow in the barn, and the horses whinnying, something was definitely disturbing them, Nel prayed that Graham had not ventured into the stall with Thunder, he was an ex race horse who she had rescued from being made into glue or some other monstrosity.
Racing herself out to the barn, Nel turned the corner seeing the barn door halfway open, and she imagined the scene that would be in front of her,
Graham lay sprawled out, blood running from his head, and his shoulder half out of its socket, a slight moan escaped his lip, yet his life was surely slipping away. Nel heard herself scream and knew that Graham was going to die. Thunder snorted and stomped the ground with his powerful forelegs, he bucked and his forceful back leg crushed Graham’s skull. No more sound came from either of the two humans lips and Nel felt as if she had lost her only child, she felt worse than when she found David out on the pasture lying in the now auctioned off tractor.
Graham stood inside of Thunders stall, stroking the tip of his nose, feeding him some old carrots he had found by the door. A calm serene aura stood around the two of them, Nel had never before seen someone look so right standing beside an animal, nor had she seen an animal look so right standing beside a human. She felt an intense pride in him, and a disdain for herself for not having trusted him. She instantly felt like she had acquired a new son and rightfully so, she and him could share with one another, they had both been through loss, and both seemed to be searching for something the other could provide. Nel had no idea what all Graham had been through, and Graham did not believe that Nel was the one he could confide in about his past and about Them!
Over the next few days Nel was even more impressed with Graham and his amazing talents with the animals on the farm. He could almost understand them it seemed, and when he needed something from them he would just lock those sad eyes into theirs and seem to ask them with his stare, and every time they would do as he wanted.
His physical prowess seemed limitless, it was if he was a giant furnace that ran on Nel’s cooking, and he would work all day and come in at night like he had been napping from sun up to sundown.
Their conversations grew and grew; they blossomed from one answer, to full sentences, to sometimes Graham going as far as to ask her a question. Strangely none of their conversations ever went anywhere concrete, they always talked about the farm, or the town, or about how he had found a hunters trap on Nel’s property, but never anything about him, his past, or where he was headed.
Nel was confident that soon they would move into the conversations she knew he desperately needed to have, but she figured a day off into town would do them both good. So at 5AM the following morning Nel told Graham to get in the truck, and that they were going to town for a lil R&R and to get him some clothes for church.