Jody Salway

Beneath the Tree

Although the summer evening was balmy, Liza pulled the tattered shawl closer around her shoulders and slipped out the cabin door, closing it softly behind her. She pressed against the rough-timbered siding and listened breathlessly, heart pounding in her ears. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she could make out nothing in the night but shrubs and the outline of the tree line as they came into focus. Only a half mile, Sam had said. Only one half mile through the woods to the meeting point beneath the trees. Carefully she stepped forward, her dress catching about her ankles as she made her way towards the trees. Only a half mile and Sam would be waiting with the bag of clothes and small provisions to make it from Hollow Plantation to the next stop. One half mile, beneath the tree.