Lara never seemed to ask where Tim and Annette were taking her to. She trusted that Angela knew of a good place for her. She didn't really care. Her mind was preoccupied with Julia.
"So where are you from?" Annette asked Lara.
"Charleston."
"Oh, big city girl, huh?"
"It's not really that big. What about you?"
"I'm from Elizabethton, and he's from Johnson City."
"Are we still in North Carolina?"
Tim shook his head. "Nope, Tennessee".
"So why you running from the police?" Annette said.
"I don't know. We were driving through Asheville at night and we got lost. It started raining really hard, and we ended up on some dirt roads. We decided to pull over and sleep in the car. And then the next morning, the car was stuck in the mud. So, we walked down the road and found this house. The people there let us stay overnight, but the next morning police showed up and arrested them. We were already outside wandering around when we saw it all, and I think the police found about us when they spotted our car, and started looking for us. I guess they think we're involved with whatever's going on."
"Wow, you've been running from the cops all this time?" Annette asked.
"Pretty much. We kept on running for a few days through the woods until we finally came here."
"Really?" Annette asked. "All the way from Asheville? To White Rock?"
"Well it's like some 70 miles from White Rock to Asheville. So you probably covered a pretty good distance on foot." Tim added.
"My friend Julia and I. She's still at that home for abused women."
"Oh! Why'd she not come with you?"
"She broke her ankle slipping on a rock."
Tim turned along a rather narrow and bumpy dirt road that wound itself up a series of hills until it crested over and descended down the other side. The pickup truck bounced around into a grove of trees until it reached a cinder block house not too far from a large lake.
"Did you ever consider maybe they're just wanting to help you, not arrest you?"
"It doesn't matter to me." Lara explained. "I just don't want any part of them.
Annette grinned and nodded her head. "I don't blame you!"
Tim stopped the truck in front of the cinder block house and everyone stepped out.
"This is Lucy's place." Annette said. "She's Angela's uncle's ex. Everyone around here calls her 'Lucy Goosey' because she's loose as a goose. But no one ever comes here. She's maybe a little crazy but she's harmless and she won't mind you staying."
Lara walked towards the house, which was partially covered with ivy and a galvanized tin roof. There were potted plants surrounding the house, most of which were overgrown with weeds. There were old garden statues, a rusted bicycle, several used tires, and a dusty, dirty patio table and chairs.
Annette knocked on the door. "Lucy? You home, Hun?"
There was no answer.
Annette turned the knob on the door and it opened. Everyone walked in.
The room smelled like an old woman, as if the oils from her skin had rubbed itself deep into the walls and furnishings. There was no electricity and the house was dark. The few windows in the house were covered with dark curtains. There were only candles and a couple of a kerosene lamps but they were unlit. The house contained only a single room. There was a propane stove and counter top on one side, a couch and chair on the other, and a bed on another. Everywhere else was cluttered with knick-knacks, and piles of papers, books, tools, and clothes. Yet, it didn't look unkempt, there was still some sense of order in which they were all arranged.
The floor was concrete, but there was an oval shaped rug that stretched from end to the other. There was a pot-bellied stove in the middle and a few throw rugs surrounding it.
"I doesn't look like she's here." Annette said. "But I know you're welcome to stay, she's always talking about wanting visitors, and she's really nice."
Lara looked troubled but thanked Annette and Tim for bringing her here.
"You'll be safe here." Annette continued."
"We should be getting back." Annette added, looking at the time on her cellphone.
"Hey, I forgot to ask Angela, but will you ask her to bring Julia here if the Sheriff hasn't already been there yet?"
"Oh yeah! Absolutely!" Annette said. "I will!"
"Thanks." Lara replied.
Lara gave hugs to both Annette and Tim.
"Ha! I just been hugged by a naked girl! Annette said. "Look I'm getting excited already!"
Lara watched the two walk out the door. She stepped to the window and moved the curtain aside to watch them drive away. The window was dirty and foggy, and Lara was barely able to see.
In a way, she liked being here, simply because she felt confident her life as a wandering nudist would continue. But, she felt sick inside knowing that Julia was at the house and that she was stuck here with no way to get to her.
Lara took a seat on the couch inside the cinder block house and looked around. It was packed with cans, boxes, and tubs, but not in disarray. There seemed to be a system in how it was organized. But still, there was not much room for any kind of work space.
But it offered no distraction for Lara. She ached for Julia. Her head ran several ideas on how to get her back. She feared that the Sheriff was never called and that she rushed away in haste. But the drive from the House to here was far, and it would take all day and into the night to get back. Worse yet, she didn't even know how to get back.
