Veiled Passages Read Free Page A

at her and smiled. “Hi! You’re late,” he said.
    “Sorry, I stopped to chat with one of your officers,” she replied. “We were both enjoying… the beauty of nature.”
    Bradley looked around and breathed in deeply. “Yeah, it’s a great day.”
    Mary nodded. “It certainly is,” she agreed.
    “So do you want to race?” he asked.
    “Of course…” she began, but he took off running before she had a chance to complete her sentence. “Hey, no fair!”
    She dashed after him.  They ran up the path that circled the park: it was as wide as a sidewalk and lined with trees on either side.  From their vantage point, they could see down on the band shell, the baseball diamonds and the carousel.  But Mary was too busy concentrating on gaining on Bradley to enjoy the view. 
    She just started to gain on him when he turned and ran down the hill, using a narrow deer path that wove through the trees down towards the band shell.  
    She increased her pace, watching him skip over roots and rocks like it was a well-practiced obstacle course.  Well practiced!  Crap! This is a set up! He’s cheating! Well, there is no way I’m going to let him win when he’s cheating!
    Quickly assessing the situation, she decided the only way she would be able to catch him was to run directly through the woods and intersect his deer path.  Charging into the trees alongside the path, Mary created a small avalanche as she slipped and slid over dirt, rocks and roots, angling her way towards the path and Bradley.  The hill was steep and Mary’s downhill momentum was increasing.  At first she was exhilarated by her speed, but after a few moments, as small branches whipped against her body and her feet nearly slid out from underneath her, she realized she was not in control and she would have a hard time stopping.  She tried to grab onto small saplings to slow her descent, but she only received a palm filled with slivers. The only thing she could do was plunge forward and hope to keep her feet underneath her.
    Angling her body through the remaining trees, she set herself on a direct collision course with Bradley. If she was going down, he was going along with her.
     

Chapter Two
    Oblivious to the drama behind him, Bradley was racing down the small deer path, his practiced steps easily avoiding the tricky roots and rocks.  He knew he had an unfair advantage and he had set Mary up to fail this time. But, he reasoned, it would be all worth it in the end.
    The sounds of something crashing through the woods to his side caused him to turn just as Mary broke through the brush and careened into him. He wrapped his arms around her to stop her forward motion, but their feet got tangled together and they both dropped to the ground.
    Their forward momentum and the steep incline of the hill caused them to roll down the grassy hill together. “Ouch, ouch, ouch, dammit, ouch,” Mary cried, as her body, often sandwiched between Bradley and the bumpy ground, found every rock, stick and lump in the grass.
    Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, but in reality, were only a few moments, they stopped at the base of the carousel.  Mary landed with her back pressed up against the fence line. Bradley lay next to her, facing the carousel.  He raised his head, slipping his arms from around her body and angling himself up. “Are you okay?” he asked.
    She pushed her hair from her face and sighed. “I’m fine. I think my ego is bruised more than my body.”
    Smiling down at her, he lowered his face, kissed the tip of her nose and then reached across her and placed his hand on the chain-link fence. “I win,” he announced.
    Mary angled her hands against his chest, pushed him, but he didn’t budge. “What? You win?  I could be bleeding internally and all you’re concerned about is winning?”
    He shook his head. “I did ask you if you were okay first,” he reminded her. “Besides, it was really important for me to win.”
    She folded her arms