The Secrets of Parkerville Series - Book 2 - Golden Shackles Read online

“Gosh, why is it that everything I do, turns out to be such a big mystery I have to solve. Nothing is easy anymore. I just want to know why this is happening to me.”

  Joshua soon pulled up and jumped out of the truck. He brought her the flowerpot and a little shovel.

  “Oh, Joshua, that’s perfect.”

  “Not a problem, darlin’. I’d do just about anything for you.”

  He sat down next to her and handed her the flowerpot, as he noticed the letter in her hand.

  “Do you remember when Cissy gave me that big envelope? I had it when we walked home last weekend. Skye and I opened it and there were photos of my family, my whole family. I never knew I had so many relatives. There was also a smaller envelope, but she told me not to open it until she was gone.”

  “So, is that the letter from her?”

  “Yeah, and there was this strange necklace.” Cassie pulled out the necklace from under her collar. “Isn’t it beautiful? I’ve never seen a stone that glows on its own. It kind of makes me tingly and I seem to understand things better. Also, strange thoughts pop into my mind, when I’m not even thinking about anything.”

  Joshua just stared at her, with a stunned look on his face.

  “Is something wrong? Oh, and did you know I can’t keep my bracelet on, when I’m outside of Parkerville? It unlatched as soon as we were out of town. I had to put it in my purse. Skye had the same problem when Chad held her hand. Her bracelet fell off. She was so worried she wouldn’t be able to fasten it again, but once we were back home, it latched. I don’t know what’s going on; since my bracelet was fine the last time we were here.”

  Joshua kept staring deep in thought and finally blinked, relaxing a little.

  “So, Chad must have a stone like the one you have.”

  “Yeah, I guess. Do you have any ideas?”

  “Not right now, but can you tell me what your Granny said in the letter? Don’t tell me if it’s too personal.”

  “It’s not really that personal. It’s just a little weird.

  ***

  Skye waited for Chad by the theater doors. She kept peering out looking up and down the street but there was no sign of him. All of a sudden, someone took her right hand and clasped it tight. He kissed her on the cheek and pulled her out the theater doors.

  “Where were you?” Skye laughed.

  “Are you kidding? I’ve been here for half an hour waiting for you. I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity. I played the pinball machine for a while, and then I watched your bus pull up.

  “Okay, so where are we going?”

  “I want to show you Marshall City, well, what I know of it so far. I’m glad you wore a coat, since it’s starting to get chilly and it might be cold where I’m taking you.”

  “Good, I like surprises, especially those without Mac around. You know, I don’t even have to look over my shoulder to see if he’s watching me.”

  Chad stopped near a tree and pulled Skye close to him. He kissed her and then held her tight. “Never again, I will never give you up to him again,” Chad whispered in her ear.

  Skye had her arms around his neck and kissed him back. The passion she was feeling at that moment needed to subside. Her aunt trusted her, but did she trust herself? Her cheeks were flushed and she drew away from him, as he grabbed her wrist.

  “Whoops! There goes my bracelet again. I hope nobody saw that.”

  Chad bent down and picked it up.

  “Boy, that’s becoming a problem, maybe I should just take it off, as soon as I leave P’ville.” Skye said, carefully putting it in her purse. “Okay, we better get going.”

  “Yeah, I agree.”

  They ended up in front of a huge building with ornate figures on either side of a steep flight of cement stairs. They ran up the steps and stood breathless at the top.

  “Where in the world are we?” Skye asked.

  “This is Skate World. Come on let’s go in.”

  “Wow, I didn’t realize it was this cold. I can see your breath.”

  “Yeah, this is going to be great.” Chad grabbed her hand and off they went.

  Inside the building was another flight of steps that led down into a skating rink. The rink was larger than any pond Skye had ever skated on and the beauty of it was unmatched by any outdoor landscape. The dome ceiling imitated the sky outside, with a background of beautiful blues, and clouds that actually looked like they were moving. There were pictures of skaters in various skating forms on the walls and snowflakes dotted the walls everywhere. A beautiful white fence encircled the entire skating rink; then there were various sizes of pine trees, some reaching to the ceiling, giving it the atmosphere of winter. What was so different about this rink was the fact that walls had been knocked down so that the rink could go off into different areas. At several points the rink seemed to slope down and around, coming out in different areas of the building.

  “I have never in my life seen anything so beautiful. Who on earth painted all of this? It looks so real,” Skye asked, as they headed for a bench.

  “He did.” Chad pointed out an ordinary man behind the refreshment stand, handing out hotdogs and drinks to customers. The man looked up instinctively at Chad and waved. He looked at Skye and gave her a wink.

  “He doesn’t look like . . .” Skye started.

  “No, I know you’d never think that guy has that much artistic capacity inside of him, but he does and he’s never finished, he’s always painting. You should see some of his paintings. Oh, and the rest rooms? You’ve never seen anything like them.”

  “Yeah, well, I’ll have to see that for myself.” Skye smiled.

  Skye put her skates on and waited for Chad. He was so excited about the place he couldn’t stop talking about it. They skated over to the refreshment stand and Chad ordered them both a hot chocolate.

  “Hey Chad, how’s it going?”

  “Hey Aaron, this is Skye, the girl I’ve been telling you about.”

  Aaron looked at her and said, “Yeah, she’s everything you said she was and probably just a little bit more. Aren’t you?”

  “Absolutely,” Skye answered.

  “Go on kids, go have some fun.”

  They put their drinks down on a small table with seating around it, then off to skate. Skye was a good skater, but after they were on the ice for a while, a redhead skated by them and stuck her foot out tripping Skye.

  “Yikes!” Skye screamed as she went down.

  “Hey, are you okay?” Chad said reaching down to pull her back up.

  “I’m fine. Guess you can see it’s been a while,” she laughed.

  “No one is, with her around.” Chad gave Robin a dirty look.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry. Skye, isn’t it? Gee, I didn’t see you there next to Chad. You should be more careful, or wear something a little brighter so one could see you more clearly. You are a rather dull person aren’t you?” Robin said, with her eyes narrowed.

  “No problem. Robin, isn’t it? I guess I’m a little clumsy on these skates. I don’t have my own skates with me.

  Robin didn’t exactly know how to take this, was it a rebuff or was she just being nice?

  Chad and Skye skated off, leaving Robin to stare after them. Her friend Kathy, who saw the whole thing, came over to her.

  “Good grief, Robin. Way to get a guy, by being rotten to his friend. Now that should impress him, but it looks like he still prefers the other girl. I don’t blame him after the stunt you pulled.”

  “I don’t allow that kind of bullying, Robin,” Aaron shouted at her above the skating and the music. “If you’ve got a problem take it outside; otherwise, leave those kids alone. Or, you can just leave!”

  Robin’s eyes grew as big as saucers. She got away with so much in school, pulling dirty tricks on the kids, she had to do something and make it look as real as possible.

  “Come on, let’s skate over there.” Kathy tried to pull her friend o
ut of the limelight, as kids were staring at her.

  Robin and Kathy approached Chad and Skye.

  “Look guys, that really was an accident and I want to apologize. It was really clumsy of me and I promise it won’t happen again. Do you think you can forgive me?” Robin asked in a sugar sweet way.

  “Sure.” Skye said trying to be a good sport.

  “What about you Chad?” Robin asked taking hold of Chad’s arm.

  “Hey, you tripped Skye not me.” Chad answered.

  “Look, it’s okay, let’s just forget about it.” Skye said getting irritated with Robin.

  “I just felt guilty making a beginner fall down. Maybe you just need a little more practice Skye.” Robin said.

  “I said it’s cool, can we get on with skating now?” Skye narrowed her eyes at Robin.

  “Sure, Kathy and I practically live here, we’re pros. If you ever want a lesson, I’ll be glad to show you some moves.” With that said, Robin skated around them, did a little spin and then took off with her friend.

  “Okay, enough, let’s show them.” Chad said.

  Skye put her arm behind her so Chad could take it, then she put her right hand in his and they skated off. They did a shotgun spin with Chad on the inside, Chad did a sit spin and Skye did a butterfly jump. He lifted Skye in the air and brought her down and spun her, then she skated off, leaped in the air doing a triple axel; she then did a lady back spin, ending the performance by doing an upright spin, then turned and skated into Chad’s waiting arms. Something they practiced on Hogan’s pond back in Bright Springs many times. Yes, they could have tried out for the Olympics, but other things got in the way.

  “Yes, if I get the time, I’ll come by and you can show me a few moves.” Skye said to Robin, and then skated off.

  Robin was furious as all of the spectators applauded and whistled at the two.

  “Gee, they’re fantastic, Robin. I wish you hadn’t said we were pros. They’re the pros.” Kathy said.

  “Oh shut up!” Robin said to Kathy.

  “You’ve got to come again and do that same routine for me.” Aaron begged.

  “Anytime.” Chad said taking Skye by the hand and skating off to another room.