Echoes Read Online Free PDF

tucked her chin against her chest and withdrew.
    Tess caught sight of what looked like a porch light gleaming in the distance and a moment later she came to a road that branched off towards it. The light winked between the trees, looking at once deceptively close and suspiciously far away. Tess followed it all the same, turning onto a narrow dirt road which passed beneath sentries of ancient trees standing guard on either side. A little while later she saw a shadowy grouping of buildings ahead.
    "Is that where you live?"
    Caitlin looked up and shook her head. "No."
    Tess cursed silently. The road wasn't wide enough to swing a U-ey. She'd have to keep going until it opened up. Gravel crunched loudly beneath her wheels and the darkness seemed to layer in thick folds just outside the beam of her lights. At last she pulled in front of a large house with unlit windows that looked creepy as hell. She almost had the car turned back the way they'd come when she saw a silhouette move away from the other shades of darkness and step forward.
    She slowed to a stop as the shadow became a man in a heavy jacket wearing a cowboy hat pulled down low on his head. She couldn't make out his features as he stopped a few feet from her car, but there was something familiar about him. How that could be, especially when she could hardly see him, she didn't know. The feeling was undeniable though.
    She rolled down her window part way and said, "Excuse me, I think I'm lost. I'm looking for Old Post Road?"
    The man stood still for such a long moment that she began to feel uneasy, thinking that a city girl like herself should have had more sense than to stop in the first place. Then he took a step closer to the car and that overpowering sense of familiarity monopolized her thoughts. How did she, how could she know this man? The brim of his hat concealed his face, giving her only the vaguest impression of glittering light eyes. He was very tall and lean, yet powerfully built. Not like a body builder. More a man who worked in a physically demanding job. Well, duh. He was a cowboy if the attire and locale were anything to go by.
    She wished he'd step closer nearly as much as she hoped he wouldn't. She felt anxious and strangely excited with him as near as he was. "Next turn down," he said. His voice was low and even more familiar than his silhouette. Deep and rich, it reached across the distance dividing them and brushed against her senses. He pointed back the way she'd come. "Go right at the end of the drive. It's about a quarter mile more."
    "Thank you."
    She started to roll up the window and then paused. He was staring at her. Watching her with an intensity she could feel, even if she couldn't see it. Maybe he was trying to place her as well?
    She nearly laughed at her own thought. Yeah, right. If she'd really ever met this man before, she knew she'd never have forgotten him.
    "Drive careful," he said.
    As she pulled away, she glanced in the rearview mirror. The night quickly cloaked him, but she felt as if he still stood watching her.
    "It sure gets dark here," she mumbled as she peered back over the steering wheel at the road.
    "I know. I hate the dark."
    Tess gave Caitlin a quick look. The little girl sat huddled against the door. "Well scootch on over here next to me and we can hate it together."
    Caitlin didn't need to be asked twice. With one hand Tess raised the console that divided the front seat and Caitlin settled in as close as she could get.
    "We'll be to your house soon. Do you know who that man was?"
    "I couldn't see him good," she said. "Maybe Mr. Weston."
    "Your principal?" Tess asked, surprised.
    "Or the other ones." Before Tess could ask what she meant by 'other ones,' Caitlin exclaimed, "Turn there. That's our street."
    It began to rain as they bumped up the pitted drive to Tori's house. Apparently Tori had expected to be back before sunset because, like everything around them, the house was dark. Tess turned off the ignition and stared