Valley Of Glamorgan Read Online Free PDF Page A

and
forgetting to slip my shoes on, I stepped onto a huge patch of ice.
I started sliding across the wet ground and before I could catch
myself I slammed down hard with a thud. It seemed that today wasn’t
going to be any better than yesterday but hopefully no one else had
to die. Mumbling to myself I grasped the handle of the van and
hoisted myself back up. Then I heard footsteps crunching through
the snow and swallowed hard; it could be one of the people my
pretend parents worked for. They may have gotten Knoll out of the
way and were on their way to finish what Stephanie and Jack
couldn’t. I closed my eyes, preparing myself for the end.
    After a few moments I heard a stifled laugh.
“What are you doing Mina? You are going to catch your death out
here with no shoes on.” I opened my eyes and gleamed with joy, it
was Knoll. I had never been so happy to see anyone in my life;
meaning I wouldn’t have to take this journey on my own, and for
that I was immensely grateful.
    He insisted I got back into the van
immediately, so I did as he told me. I would have argued because it
was more a command than a request, but at that moment my feet felt
as if they were on fire. Climbing into the front passenger seat I
reached back and rescued my black, fur boots, quickly putting them
on my feet. My icy-toes welcomed the woolly warmth instantly. Then
I grabbed a blanket from the back of the van and draped it over my
legs; it would keep them from being exposed to the early morning
winter air. The cold had affected my body more than I thought it
would.
    As we drove along I looked at Knoll and bit
my bottom lip, trying to build up the nerve to ask him if he would
allow me to go see my grandmother. “Knoll,” I finally stated,
firmly, “I have a favor to ask.”
    He looked at me with a curious expression
before asking, “What might that be, Mina?”
    I took a long, deep breath and began to ask,
“Well before everything happened, we were heading to my
grandmother’s house for the weekend. So I was wondering if we could
go see her, so that she’ll know that I am okay, and perhaps tell
her the truth about Stephanie and Jack.”
    Knoll was silent for a moment, before he
answered, “Mina, I don’t know if that is a good idea.”
    I quickly protested, “I know, but she is the
only thing from my life that has a speck of reality in it. I can’t
just leave her without saying goodbye. Please.” And I looked at him
with the best sad, puppy dog eyes I could manage.
    Knoll glanced at me once more before
focusing his eyes back on the road and said, “I will do this for
you Mina, because I owe you one for taking so long to find you. You
cannot tell a soul when we reach the valley.” After a brief moment
he continued with, “I could be killed for disobeying your mother’s
direct order.”
    I started to protest, as the last thing I
wanted was to get Knoll into any trouble; or worse. I didn’t want
him killed. After all, he had rescued me from the nightmare I was
living in. It was just that wasn’t aware that I was living it at
the time. Everything was becoming too surreal to handle. All I
wanted was to just wake up in my bed back in Palm Springs, eat
breakfast with my parents and take my dog Banksey out for a walk. I
tried to fight back the tears when I thought about his sloppy ears
and his big brown eyes. He would think we had all abandoned
him.
    Knoll sensed something was wrong so he
pulled over to the side of the road. Leaning across the seat he
placed his hand on my shoulder and began speaking, by caringly
saying, “Mina, what is wrong?” I looked at him and noticed for the
first time how unbelievably handsome he was. He had hair the color
of rust; his eyes were a deep mossy green with specks of brown in
them and lips were full and plush; yes, he was very handsome.
    Shaking my head I came back to reality; by
which point I found Knoll staring at me with a look of great
concern spread across his face. My cheeks felt red hot. I