The Return Home

Part 5

I turned to the man.

"What?" I asked him. I haven't heard that name in years.

"Is that you?"

I blinked several times. Only one person called me that. One person I believed to be long gone.

"Dustin?" I whispered.

"Look at you!" He smiled as he opened his arms. But I stood there, shocked. I felt the blood drain from me.

"Uh," I breathed out. How's this possible? "You...." I couldn't even say that word. "Wow." I stepped away, Storm following. "You're dead." I finally said to him.

Dustin frowned. "No. I'm here."

"No. You're dead!" I mumbled at him. "You got shot!"

Dustin's face smoothed as he smiled. "Yes. I did. But I survived. What made you think I died?"

"I heard it!" My eyes wide. "I heard three gunshots. I heard what people whispered about. Mum pulled me out of school for weeks! They said it might be a double murder suicide! You got shot! I heard it!"

I was nearly at hysteria.

"That bastard killed my mother. He tried to kill me. He got of easy by putting a bullet in his own head."

His dark hair was swept aside with his hand. I blinked again. He didn't die? "I'm confused." I whispered as I stepped back, landing in to Storm.

"He did shoot me. I survived."

"Where have you been?" I asked him as I tried to convince myself I wasn't crazy.

Dustin shrugged. "I lived with my dad."

"Your dad? You didn't even know him!" I tried not to shriek. Storm whinnied behind me.

Storm, I needed him. Ava! I pulled out my phone to check the time.

"Crap! I've gotta go." I pulled myself up on the horse.

"Where are you going?" Dustin asked as I pulled at the reins. I put the horse in a gallop down the drive way and cut through the yard. He jumped over a fence for me and we went down the street.

I kicked in to the horse. I was breathless, even though the horse did all the work. I raced down the familiar path towards the school.

Memories flooded back to me from so long ago. Memories that had hurt, that made me cry. Memories that I suppressed. I had them buried deep down inside me. I was never letting them up again.

I snatched my hat off my head before it blew away and slowed the horse down near the school.

I slid off him and held his reins as we walked to the front. Ava knows if I'm not near her class, I'm at the front gate.

I made it just in time as the school bell went.

It was only a small school that hosted about a hundred kids, if that.

Ava came running then. I smiled as I watched, her face so joyful.

"Lennie!"

I turned to the voice and saw one of my old teachers.

"Mrs Grant. How do you do?" I asked politely.

"I'm good. Ava is such a bright little girl."

I beamed at her. "Thank you."

"She must get it from you."

I grinned. She has to.

"When are you going to find a man and settle down?" She asked me, politely but nosey as well.

I arched my eyebrow. "I did. Look what happened." I grinned as Ava jumped in to my arms.

"I'll see you around, Mrs Grant." I called as I placed Ava on Storm.

Ava wasn't concerned that the trek home was longer than usual, I didn't mind either, even if I would fall behind on the chores.

We got two kilometres away from the school when I got Ava to stand up and I climbed on to the dark horse.

Ava held the mane as I dug through her bag for her little akubra hat. I placed it on her head as she giggled.

"Faster, Storm, faster!"

"Oh no, we are taking our time." I answered her request. I still needed to think straight.

"How was school?" I asked her as she sat in front of me.

"Fun! We leant a new song today. It was about the letter C"

"Sing it for me."

"Can you make the letter sounds? We can show you how. What letter shall we learn? Let's find out now."

Ava sang as I smiled at her. She may not be a trained singer, but her voice was clear and precise.

"It's about the letter C!" Ava kept going and my grin got wider. "C is for car. C is for carrot. Crocodile, chicken and chariot!"

I giggled as Ava kept going, then she stopped.

"Who is that?" She asked, pointing to our house.

I looked ahead and saw the car still there, a figure leaning on the front.

"I've got somebody in helping me through the day, sweetie." I said as we hit the bottom of the drive way.

"Hold on tight." I whispered to her and dug my heels in to Storm, getting him to go for a run.

Ava held on tightly to Storms' mane, my legs sitting a bit higher than usual and each of my arms on each side of the child.

I could hear her giggle as she bounced about. Her hair whipping up and down, her squeals in my ears, as I watched Dustin turn to us.

I pulled Storm up, making him slow down and slid off him. I took Ava's hands and helped her down the way I had shown her.

"Go get dressed and start your chores." I told her softly as I watched her run off.

Dustin looked dumbfounded. He watched the little brunette leave, running in to the house.

He turned back to me, confusion written on his face.

"You have a daughter?"