Little Lady



  Little Lady

  Deliah Kiester

  Copyright 2013 Deliah Kiester

  Chapter 1

  After much urging from Grammie, I took Mazy, the large black dog, for a walk up on the old rail road tracks behind her house. I had wanted to spend my summer on my own couch, watching television and playing video games. Mom and Dad thought it would be more fun for me to spend a few weeks with Grammie, my grandmother. She had gotten sick of seeing me trudging around her small house and forced me to take her dog for a walk.

  Mazy pulled me along behind her over the path. She had her nose to the ground, tracking a phantom squirrel or something. I began to wonder who was walking who when she suddenly stopped, head in the air with her ears forward. I looked in the direction she did without seeing anything other than trees and rocks and without warning, she lurched forward, the leash ripped from my hands and I chased after a dog running full speed up the trail. I knew I should have turned around and gotten Grammie to call her dog, but I followed Mazy off the main trail, onto a smaller, over grown one.

  As I was running out of breath, I saw Mazy run off the trail again, down a small ditch, and through a drainage pipe.

  I looked up the hill that the pipe ran through. There was a fence at the top that wouldn’t let me over to the other side. I decided the only way to get Mazy back was to follow her through the pipe. I knelt down and peered in and couldn’t see what was on the other side. It appeared to go on forever but I heard barking echoing through.

  There was water running slowly in the bottom of the pipe and beneath the water was slick metal, full of allege. I had to crawl on my hands and knees through it. Quickly, my knees ached from the uneven floor and I prayed the pipe would end soon. It felt like the pipe was slightly curving, though I knew it was impossible.

  I caught glimpse of a light at the other end, finally. I was excited for that and breathed out a breath of relief and crawled a little faster until I was out. My jeans were covered in a mixture of allege and mud and I tried to brush off what I could.

  “Mazy!” I called as I looked around. I was in a grass covered clearing surrounded by extremely large spruce trees. I turned around and looked up the hill again. On this side, there was no fence but the hill was no longer a hill either but a wall of sheet rock.

  “Hello there, Little Lady.” I spun around to see who was in the clearing with me. A few feet away was a woman. I wasn’t sure which caught my attention first; her bright yellow eyes that matched her long blonde hair or her dark green dress that was horribly torn at the bottom and sleeves.

  She giggled and walked closer to me. “I’m Wanda,” she said, holding out her hand.

  I stared at the dirty hand for a moment before shaking it and squeaking out a hello. Her touch was light as a feather.

  “What brings you out here?” Her voice was soft, like her touch.

  “Uh… a dog.”

  She had a wide smile on her face that didn’t seem to fade even as she spoke. “I saw a dog. Was it white?” I shook my head. “Good, because I saw a black one.”

  “Where’d she go?” I asked eagerly.

  Without a word, Wanda turned around and skipped to the other side of the clearing. I nearly had to run to keep up with her long legs. She stopped in front of a thin trail. The trees on both sides of it were thick, causing the trail to be dark and spooky.

  “Are you sure Mazy went down there?” I asked. I couldn’t keep the fear from my voice. I looked to Wanda and her smile that had appeared to be permanent was looking forced. “Are you scared?”

  Wanda looked down at me and her smile was a little more comforting now. “No, Little Lady,” she said, “I’m not scared. Worried is more like it.”

  “Why are you worried?”

  Her smile quivered at the corners. “You’re going to go down that path, aren’t you?”

  I looked down the trail again. The trees seemed to be tangled at the top, giving the illusion the path was another tunnel. It was scary but I was more afraid Grammie would be upset I had lost her dog. “Is there another way?” Wanda shook her head. I took a deep breath. “Then I guess I am going down there. I need to get Mazy.”

  I took a step onto the trail. Wanda put a hand on my shoulder and I looked up at her face. She looked concerned. “I’ll go with you.” She moved next to me and took my hand. Her hand felt strong around my own, giving me hope.