Free The Forest of Aisling: Dream of the Shapeshifter (The Willow Series Book 1) by D.S. Elstad Page A

everyone
over to Grandpa Conor’s for a reception.  Dad and I joined Grandpa at the
entrance of the church and accepted condolences from the crowd as they
retreated.  I had no idea who any of them were; Dad wasn’t even familiar
with many of them.  After shaking hands with the last two people to leave
we finally made our way to the car.
     Dad announced that he would take me over to
Grandpa Conor’s for the reception but that he wouldn’t be staying.  When I
asked him about it, he just told me he had his reasons and to call him when I
was ready for him to come and pick me up.  I felt so angry that he was
putting me in this position.
    When we arrived at Grandpa’s, Dad pulled the car
over to a small driveway on the side of the house and just stared at the front
porch.“Aren’t you going to at least come in for a minute and see Grandpa?” I
asked.
    “No, Willow, I’m not. I said hello to him, I did
what he asked of me today,” he answered, his eyes still focused on the house.
    “But Dad, he was happy to see you, I’m sure he
wants to talk with you.  Plus, I’m not really comfortable with you just
leaving me.  I mean, I am a stranger here. I need you,” I pleaded.
    “Uncle Eagan is here; so are Quinn and
Kelleigh.  You’ll be fine. You need to respect my decision on this,
Willow.”  He wouldn’t even look at me, just stared at the house.
    “Whatever, Dad,” I answered angrily and got out of
the car. I slammed the door shut and walked up to the house.  I’d hoped he
would feel bad and follow me inside but, as I turned to look back, I saw the
car turn off onto the road.  He hadn’t even paused long enough to watch me
go into the house.  That made me even angrier.  I decided to go in
there and be the adult of the family since he wasn’t acting like one.
    When I walked into the little house, it felt as
though everyone stopped what they were doing just to turn and stare at
me.  I don’t want to be the adult of the family , I thought to
myself.  It felt so uncomfortable, at least until I saw Kelleigh and
Quinn.  They both waved from across the room and motioned for me to come
over.  I made my way past the looky-loo’s and immediately felt at home
when I reached them.
    “Where’s your pop?” Quinn asked, looking around
the room.
    “He left,” I answered, trying to control the
obvious edge to my voice.
    “Wow, the anger is still there, isn’t it?”
Kelleigh commented, shaking her head.
    “Kelleigh, do you have any idea why my dad is so
angry with my grandfather?”  I asked, quietly hoping the answer might be
nearer than I thought.
    Kelleigh bit her lower lip and shook her head
no.  “Sorry, Willow, I don’t.  All we’ve ever heard about your dad is
that he and Conor didn’t get along.  Grandpa Eagan is very hush-hush on
the subject and our parents just told us that it’s between Conor and Jack and
none of our business.”  She looked over to Quinn, who nodded in agreement.
    “Well, let’s go outside and get away from all of
this, shall we?” she suggested, grabbing hold of my arm.
    While we headed towards the front door I couldn’t
help but notice in the next room, sitting there alone was Grandpa Conor. 
He was holding a picture of Grandma Shannah in his hands.  I wanted to go
in there and sit with him, but Kelleigh pulled me along towards the door. 
We stepped off the porch and made our way to an area right off the front yard.
    “Here’s a nice place to chat, out of earshot,” she
said leading the way to a bench under a large oak tree. “Willow, Quinn told me
about last night,” she looked anxiously all around her, lowering her voice.
“But I’d like to hear it in your words.”
    Her intense stare was boring its way into my
brain.  I told her the whole story, from where I got lost in the forest to
when I saw Quinn.  She pulled herself closer when I got to the part about
the large gray wolf.  When I finished she looked off into the distance,
wrinkling her