Free Her Journey Begins by Karen Einsel Page B

me. ”
       “ Brandon, what was it like growing up an only child? ”
       “ It was okay, I guess. You should know, you grew up an only child also. ”
       “ No, not really, I had younger foster brothers and sisters until I was twelve. ”
       “ Do you miss them? ”
       “ Some of them, Jason especially. ”
       “ Who was Jason? ”
       “ He was this little 4 ½ year old boy at my last foster home. ”
       “ What happened to him? ”
    Chris smiles, “ He got moved to a different foster home the same day I did and the family he got placed with, adopted him. He ’ s just about 11 now. ”
       “ Why didn ’ t Barb and Brad adopt you? ”
       “ They couldn ’ t afford the adoption fees. Funny the state will pay you to take care of the kids and yet they want you to pay them to take the kids off their hands. It just doesn ’ t make sense. ”
       “ You ready to go? ”
       “ Sure, where are we going? ”
       “ I thought we ’ d go out and do some hiking and exploring. We can take your camera, a sheet and our lunch with us and have a picnic. ”
       “ I ’ d like that. ”
    They walk up the small hill to the field where they played in the snow just a couple of months ago. Chris looks around at it in wonder. She closes her eyes and inhales the sweet scent of the pine trees. “ Oh Brandon, it ’ s beautiful. “
    Brandon reaches down and picks a wildflower and places it in Chris ’ hair. “ You ’ re beautiful. ”
    Chris smiles at him then looks up at the clear blue sky. “ Brandon look. It ’ s an eagle. Oh wait. There are two of them. ”   Chris holds up her camera and focuses in on the eagles. “ Brandon is this your mom and dads property too? ”
       Brandon ’ s amused at her big blue eyes. She reminds him of  a  child that has seen her first Christmas tree. He wraps his arms around her and pulls her close. “ No. Mom and dads property ends at the bottom of the hill. This is Mother Nature ’ s property. ”
       “ Does anyone else live up here? ” Chris asks as she is looking around at the vastness of the field. “ It ’ s so quiet. ”
       “ Sure, there are cabins here and there. ” He points out some of them hidden behind the trees. “ I ’ ll take you down by the lake, from there you can see almost all the houses up here on the hill. In fact we can spend a couple of hours down there exploring and then eat lunch by the water before coming back up this way. ”
       They walk hand in hand through the trees with Brandon pointing out the different sites along the way. Chris can see there are quite a few people out on the lake today even though it ’ s a Wednesday. But she knows most are teenagers out here for spring break.
       “ We should have brought our bathing suits! ”
    Brandon hears the excitement in her voice and grins. “ We could go skinny dipping. ”
        “ Oh yeah, we could do that. Uh huh, sure. ”
       “ And why not? ”
    Chris blushes and whispers like she ‘ s afraid someone might hear her. “ I don ’ t want everyone to see me naked. ”
    Brandon pulls her into his arms. “ Can I see you naked again? ” Chris wraps her arms around his neck and whispers in his ear.
       “ If you want. ”
       “ Here? ” He asks as he pulls her closer. Pressing against him, Chris can feel the rise and fall of his chest and the growing excitement between them.
       “ Here? ” Her voice resonates with shock.
       “ I want you here. Now. I don ’ t want to wait till we get back to the cabin. Will you do it with me here? ”
       “ Brandon, we can ’ t do that. Someone will see us. ”
        “ No they won ’ t. Come on, I ’ ll show you. ” He leads her up the embankment a little ways where there is an alcove surrounded by trees and plants. Lifting a large branch that is hanging down over the opening Chris can see the ground is padded with pine needles. “ We ’ ll have lunch here and then … But