Chapter 1

Rule number 1: Never look a madman in the eye. That’s how they steal your soul.

Emily Anderson valued her soul above all else.

She was the secretary at Berryhill Consolidated Schools. She was the gatekeeper for the administrative staff. She was not trained to handle madmen.

Emily stared at her computer screen as if her life depended on it. If she ignored him, he might go away.

No such luck. Douglas Adams was on a mission. He wasn’t leaving until he got what he wanted.

“I’m here to enroll my son in the first grade.”

The secretary never looked up. “What’s his name?”

“Ethan Adams.”

“How old is he?”

“Five.”

“I’m sorry Mr., uh, sir, uh, Mr. Adams, but he’s too young for first grade. Let’s put him in kindergarten.”

“He belongs in first grade. He knows his numbers and he can read.”

“I can write my name,” Ethan said with a proud smile.

Emily was tempted to look at the little boy, but she wasn’t willing to risk it. What if she accidentally looked at the madman instead? She needed reinforcements.

She picked up the intercom phone at her desk. “Principal Sneider, please come to the front office. We have a parent here to see you.”

Without looking up, Emily addressed Mr. Adams. “Sir, the principal will be in to see you shortly.”

Thirty seconds later, Principal Paul Sneider came strolling into the office. His thinning gray hair was slicked back and his hound dog face was set in a perpetually smug smile. He lost his smile when he turned toward the desk and met the midnight blue eyes of Douglas Adams.

Sneider scurried behind the counter to put some distance between himself and Douglas. “What can I do for you, Mr. Adams?”

“I’m here to enroll my son in the first grade.”

“How old is he?”

“Five.”

“We’ll put him in kindergarten.”

Douglas growled. Principal Sneider flinched.

Douglas stared at Sneider. Without blinking or looking down, he gently laid his hand on the little boy’s head. “Son, go wait by the window.”

“Yes, sir.”

Ethan walked across the room and stood in front of the tall floor to ceiling windows. He could see the adults, but he couldn’t hear them. His dad didn’t look happy.

Douglas beckoned for the principal to come closer. Sneider hesitated, then bowed forward.

Douglas leaned across the counter and whispered softly, menacingly. “Listen, Principal Sneider, I don’t want my son in this shithole any longer than he has to be. You’ll put him in first grade.”

“I-I-I.”

“You’ll do what I asked. Won’t you?” Douglas used his most charming voice. The voice that was steel with a touch of honey.

A bead of sweat slid down Principal Sneider’s temple. “Uh, sure. Ms. Bee!” Sneider spotted his escape route. When the devil comes to your door, make someone else answer the bell.

“Ms. Bee,” Principal Sneider called out. “We have a new pupil. Can you escort him to Ms. Anderson’s first grade class?”

Emily gasped. Principal Sneider was putting the mountain man’s son in her sister’s class. Emily and Elizabeth Anderson grew up on stories about the mountain man’s father terrorizing the town. Although Douglas Adams hadn’t thrown anyone out of windows or tried to run over the sheriff, he was unfriendly, unsociable, and unkempt. This could not be happening. Elizabeth was going to have a heart attack when she found out.

Ms. Bee sighed. Sneider was such a coward. He was always looking for a scapegoat. Congratulations, Beatrice. You’re the sap of the hour.

As Emily’s thoughts raced through worst case, apocalyptic scenarios, Ms. Bee calmly assessed the situation. She looked at the counter where the two men stood. One angry and stone faced, the other nervous with sweat dripping profusely down his forehead.

Douglas looked at Ms. Bee. His eyes never left her face as she surveyed him. He stood tall. Six feet two inches of muscle gained from working odd jobs and doing manual labor. His beard was scraggly and unkempt. His long, black hair hung straight to his shoulders. There was no curl or wave to the jet black mass. Douglas didn’t have room in his life for softness.

He was a mountain man. Raising his child alone. He didn’t shave because he didn’t see the point. No one would hire him full time. His wife had left him. He was exhausted, alone, and angry. Ms. Bee could see all of that in his eyes. She too knew what it was like to be alone, but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of making her look away first. 

Beatrice Caldwell was terrified, yet anyone looking at her would never know it. She raised her head high and stared at Douglas with her haunting green eyes. She would not bow to the mountain man. She would do for this man’s child what her father, another mountain man, had never done for her. In that moment, Beatrice vowed to let Ethan know he was loved, no matter the cost to herself.

She stared, unblinking, until the mountain man turned away.

Beatrice turned to the adorable child standing in the corner, watching the adults do their inane dance of dominance and power. If not for the striking blue eyes and straight black hair, no one would have guessed he belonged to the mountain man. His clothes were clean and brand new. His hair freshly cut.

Was this how Douglas Adams looked before he went feral? Surely that’s what everyone would ask when they saw Douglas’s young son.

Beatrice cautiously approached Ethan. She crouched in front of the little boy and smiled. “Hello, Ethan. My name is Ms. Bee. I’m the town librarian, but sometimes I come to the school to read books to little boys and girls just like you. Are you excited about starting school today?”

Ethan looked at his dad. Douglas nodded.

Ethan looked back at Ms. Bee. “Yes, ma’am,” he whispered.

Beatrice stood. She held out her hand to Ethan. “Come with me. You’ll be in Ms. Anderson’s room.”

Ethan smiled up at Ms. Bee and took her hand. As he walked down the hall, he never looked back. He never saw the look of devastation on his father’s face.

Douglas looked as if he’d lost his world. That day, something disappeared from his life. He knew he’d never get it back.

***