Adrift Read Free

had more doubts of his angelic origin.  He could be a leprechaun perhaps, but not an angel.  There was a mischievous bend to his lips and his blue eyes had all laugh lines around them, dotted with a fair spattering of light freckles against his ultra-fair skin.  His nose turned up, which would have been cute on a child, but looked rather out of place on his mature face.
    “Who are you?” He called, coming nearer, his blue eyes suspicious.  He waded through waist-high green grass to approach.  The blades parted around his legs and around the open-mouthed, joyous face of a golden dog, running at the man’s side.
    On reflex, I knelt down and tickled the dog’s ears.  He was a golden lab, the spitting image of my dad’s old companion, though Tipper had died seven years ago.  The dog swiped my chin with a sloppy tongue and I giggled.  I looked up at the man, who had drawn to a halt right before me, and was watching us stoically. 
    “I’m Meg,” I told him.  “My name is Meg Tanner.”
    “I’m Devin Horan,” He responded.  “What brought you here?”
    I sighed, rubbing noses with the friendly dog.  “The sea, I suppose, you could say.”  I told him.
    “Kip,” Devin scolded, as the dog licked me again, with enthusiasm.  The dog dropped back a few steps, wagging his high-held tail.  “The sea?” His face was troubled.
    “Where am I?” I asked him.  “I’m afraid I’m… lost?”
    “Yes,” Devin seemed to bring himself back to attention with an effort.  “Yes, you must be lost.  We are on a small island… the closest town is Trinity.”
    “Oh!” I felt a rush of shock.  Part of me had assumed all of this was part of dying, a piece of Heaven.  I watched a piece of dandelion fluff float on the wind and faced my returned mortality.  “I came from Trinity… I’m not sure how I got here.”
    Devin scowled.  “Where are you staying, in Trinity?” He made the question a casual one, turning his shoulder, obviously expecting me to follow him.  I fell into stride behind him, running my finger tips through the high grass.
    I shrugged.  “I don’t know… I don’t really belong anywhere.”
    He turned with a sudden, jerking motion, so fast that I almost ran into him.  His face was troubled, as if I had said something that struck him to the core. 
    “What?” He demanded.  “What did you say?”
    I shrugged, nonplussed by his reaction.  “I don’t really have a place to go.”  I glanced back at the cottage behind me.   It seemed so dark and empty, a shell where a spirit once had been.  It made me think of my father, lying there, with all that made him real missing.  “What is this place?”
      I wanted to ask him about the girl, about the change that had happened to the cottage when he appeared, but was afraid that it would sound like the words of a mad-woman.  Perhaps I had dreamt the whole thing.  Somehow, I could not believe that.
    Devin started walking again, and I had to stretch my legs to keep up with his long strides.  “This is a very old place,” he said, over his shoulder.  “I’m surprised that you found it… not many people show up around here.”
    I broke into a jog and swatted absently at a mosquito gnawing on my leg.  “I didn’t mean to trespass.”
    He shrugged.  “Don’t worry about it… I guess I was just… surprised.  It’s not a safe place.”
    “But it’s so lovely,” burst from me before I could help myself.
    Devin paused, looking back over his shoulder at the old cottage.  “It has its charm,” he said, wryly.  “I don’t know that ‘lovely’ would be the proper term for it.”
    “Where are we going?” I demanded, after he continued on, striding at a pace that made it difficult for me to match my strides with his.  The happy golden backside of his dog appeared and disappeared in the grass and trees around us, wagging his fan of a tail and his mouth agape in simple doggy pleasure.
    “I’m taking you to my