Free A Way (The Voyagers Book 1) by Tara Lutz

“Dex, when did we meet?  How long have we known each other?”
    She searched his eyes for the answer she was looking for.   They looked back into hers, begging her to find it before he had to speak it out loud.  He brought is fingers to her cheek, tracing her jaw line, resting his palm just above where she could feel her heart beating rapidly. He twisted her necklace around his fingers.  She knew what he was going to say before his lips formed the words. 
    “Forever.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    PART 2
    DEX
    1875

CHAPTER 11
    Alex had just celebrated his seventh birthday and hadn’t really closed his eyes. Playing hide and seek with two five year olds was only something to pass the time while he waited for his friend to finish his morning chores, then they could all walk to school together.  His younger brother and his friend’s little sister were easily distracted and standing around, waiting, was not the easiest thing for them to do.  Both of their bored faces brightened when he suggested they hide, probably in the barn, while he counted to ten.  The children scattered and ran straight for the predicted building. He pretended not to watch as they both vanished from sight, through the gaping double door. 
    “Ready or not, here I come,” he yelled, in a sing song voice.
    He saw who he was waiting for, Gerald also seven, round the corner of the log house.  He was struggling to carry a full bucket of water, collected from the well behind his family’s modest home.  Knowing he still had enough time to find their siblings, he walked the length of the yard, past three clucking chickens, and into the barn.
    As soon as he crossed the building’s threshold, he spotted Peter.  His brother was crouched in an empty stable, his body pressed up against the far side, trying to make himself smaller.  When Peter saw Alex, he shut his eyes, hoping this would make him invisible.   Dust floated through the air on the wings of the sun rays that broke through the cracks in the wooden walls.  Alex heard a barn cat scurry, feeling it brush by his feet before slinking out the door. Outside, the chickens squawked out a high alert to one another.
    “Peter,” the older boy said, “get out here. You can help me find Jessie.” 
    He thought her name was funny, a boy’s name.  He wasn’t surprised she had found a place to hide that wasn’t within view of the barn’s main entrance.  She was always running ahead of them on the way to school, getting too close to the pond, or disappearing into the woods.  Gerald was easily frustrated with his little sister, and often left her behind for his more responsible friend to collect her.  Alex would hold her tiny hand in his and gently pull her to school, so they wouldn’t be late.  
    “Jessie,” he called, moving deeper into the barn.  “Where are you?” 
    She loved this game.  He could picture her stifling a grin, trying not to laugh her five year old laugh.  He wished he had a little sister.  He stopped and listened.  There it was, a muffled giggle, in the loft.  He told Peter to wait, not to touch anything and better yet, to go outside and wait for Gerald. 
    Alex climbed the sturdy ladder to the shelf in the barn.  He reached the top, listened closely and called her name.
    “Jeeesssiieee?”  Nothing, maybe she wasn’t up here. 
    Acoustics in barns could be tricky.  They were full of things for sound to bounce off.  He heard her sneeze, followed by a sound that was more of a sob, than a laugh.  She was definitely upstairs.  He pulled himself up the remainder of the ladder to straighten to his full height.  In a few years he would have to duck, but today, standing on his tiptoes and reaching with all his might, his fingertips were still a few inches from the ceiling. 
    The loft was three quarters full with hay bales.  Gerald and Jessie’s father was one of the few farmers around that had a horse drawn hay baler.  Alex’s father had