FanStory.com - Beyond the Forestby davisr (Rhonda)

Background
Years after a fire took her parents lives and devastated her home, Echo works at a small town newspaper as an investigative reporter. In time, her past and present are destined to collide.

Summary: Young Echo Jones is overlooked by First Responders as she hides in a wheat field during a house fire. Both parents presumed dead, she escapes into an ancient forest behind her home. Alone and afraid, she meets up with a young boy from mysterious origins that tends to her while searching for help.

End of Last Chapter:

As evening approached, and she grew tired of tree climbing, she realized she was hungry again. The pair got down out of the trees, and Echo sat on the soft leaves to wait for Theo to go fishing again.

"I'll be back as soon as I have food," he promised, his green eyes shining with a light that came from within. "Wait here for me, just like you did before."

"Can't I go with you? I can walk in the trees like you, now. Maybe you can teach me to fish, too."

"You're tired," he said. "I'll teach you tomorrow when you've rested."

"But, aren't your parents getting worried about you? You've been with me all day, and I don't want to be alone again. It's getting dark outside."

"I've sent a message to my parents where I am and what I'm doing."

"But, you don't have a phone."

"I don't need one."

"I won't be gone long," he said, leaning down and kissing her cheek tenderly.

She looked at him in surprise. Why did the simple gesture of one child to another make her heart beat faster, and why did her cheek feel warm long after he had leapt into the tree to go find food?

*************

New Chapter:

A voice called out in the distance. "Echo, Echo..."

Echo raised her head slowly from the soft pine needles where she rested.

She sat up stretching, trying to remember what had brought her to this woodland sanctuary. Her immediate memories were of the boy Theo, of climbing trees with him, of talking with him about the strange land he came from, and of eating delicious fish he cooked over a homemade fire.

She remembered he had left again to find more fish to cook and to see if anyone had come looking for her. Where was he now?

Echo shook the remants of a deep, healing sleep from her head. There was something else tugging at her memory, something before she'd met Theo... a fire... great loss... abandonment.

She looked down at her pink dress, torn and stained during a flight from danger. She had lived in a home with her parents and had been loved.

"Echo, Echo..." more voices added to the call, and some of them sounded familiar. She stood to her feet as the rest of the shadows fled her mind.

"Grandma? Grandpa?" The whispered query became a cry of incredible joy. "Grandma! Grandpa!"

"I hear her, Virgil, Oh, I hear her. I knew she was still alive."

"Echo, keep calling," a male voice cried.

Echo screamed and rushed toward the voices, her precious teddy bear, Cindy, left on the floor of the cave behind her.

Theo watched from the trees as Echo collapsed into the arms of an older woman. The missing child was quickly swarmed by a horde of people, some openly weeping and hugging her, others falling to their knees in silent thanksgiving.

He could see vehicles of all sorts storming down an overgrown path, lights flashing and sirens roaring. With great urgency, they were heading for a clearing close to the cave Theo had carefully chosen for its accessibility to the outside world. The help he'd hoped for had arrived, but it was bittersweet.

"Good-bye, my friend, be well." The salutation was almost inaudible, but heartfelt.

Two fish dropped to the ground as Theo turned noiselessly from the scene and left for his own home. He needed to get back and tell his parents the details of what had happened with Echo. More than anything, he wanted to hug his sister, Rebecca.

Before he left, he returned to the cave and retrieved Cindy. For a moment, he embraced the teddy bear, letting tender memories flood his young heart.

*************

As though only a moment had passed, 20 years rushed by like a swiftly flowing stream. Echo's thoughts wandered to where they often did when she was troubled. Her happy spot was a small wooden alcove miles away. She lingered there for a moment before being jolted back to the present.

"You're not going to find your serial killer sitting here staring at a blank wall," Claude Baker said as he walked past Echo's desk.

"I'm not just sitting and staring," Echo said. She snapped her eyes over to her imposing boss. Tall and large framed, he cut quite an aura of authority, but Echo had found a tender soul beneath his bluster.

"It happens I'm thinking about the story, plus, it isn't really my job to catch the guy. That responsibility belongs to Atlanta's finest. I just have to tell the story of his criminality."

"Criminality?" Claude repeated.

"It means his criminal activity."

"I know what it means, I was just pondering the word. I like it, make sure it gets into your story. It sounds very smart."

"I am smart, that's why you hired me."

"Two months ago and you're still proving yourself. So, get that story finished."

Echo paused to look around the newsroom at three of her fellow employees looking very, very busy. Heads bent to their own tasks, it was obvious no one wanted to come to the new girl's aide, not yet anyway.

"And how many times do I have to tell you that a good investigative reporter does more than report news?" Claude continued. "She creates news and then writes about it?"

"I'll keep that in mind, Mr. Baker, but I'm pretty sure our serial killer doesn't need my help with his crimes. Besides, I was just getting ready to leave. Remember, I have to cover the opening of the new Super Whatever-it's-called, today?"

Brian, the editor's son, spoke up. "You mean the Super Claude Mart? As much as you've talked about it opening for the past six months, Dad, they might as well name it after you."

"Look, just because you're my oldest son..."

"And your resident photographer and typesetter."

"And my resident photographer and typesetter, doesn't give you the right to have a smart mouth."

"No," Brian said, "that I inherited from you."

Claude couldn't suppress a chuckle. "That's fair. Well, the real name is Super Handyman, Echo, and it promises to be the most brilliant hardware store in the whole state of Georgia. Make sure you get the name right in your story."

"If you feel so strongly about the place, why don't you cover the opening personally?" Echo asked.

"Me? I'm too busy trying to run the universe. That's why I'm sending my best investigative reporter."

"Your only one."

"That, too."