Hearts Afar

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Dedicated to BrokenSparrow for the beautiful cover on the side. If you need covers, ask...

Hope you enjoy ! ! !

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Chapter 1

 

The day started like any other day. I got up, went to my twin sisters’ room, and told them that it was time for school. After showering and getting dressed, I went downstairs. Mom was already up making coffee and eating an apple.

 
          “Mom, you need to eat more than an apple,” I told her, grabbing a granola bar and an orange.

          “I know honey. I’m just nervous. Why haven’t we heard anything yet?” she asked.

 
She was talking about the fact that my father is in the army and we have not heard from him in about four and a half weeks. We get used to not hearing from him for at least two weeks but it’s never been this long. I walked up to her and wrapped my arms around her.

 

          “I know, mom. We miss him to but we know things are tough over there. Maybe their lines have been cut or something,” I told her, trying to calm her down so the twins wouldn’t see her upset.

          “Thanks Claire.”

          “Why are you thanking me?” I questioned.

           “For staying optimistic, you know that if it had been Lacey or Cassie that came down here, they would be a wreck to. You’re so strong.”

           “I get it from dad,” I smiled. “Now, I need to go rush Lacey and Cassie to get ready so I can drop them off at school or I’m going to be late.”

          “Ok Claire, have a good day. Do you have dance practice tonight?”

           “No, but the girls do. I’ll come straight home after school,” I told her.

           “Ok, I’ll pick them up on the way home.”

          “Ok.”

 

After I dropped the twins off at school, I drove the fifteen minutes to get to my school. Just as I was pulling in, I saw Duncan Lilly pulling in three spots away from me. He lived across the street from me and I’ve always had a little thing for him but was also nervous around him. I watched as a bunch of his baseball friends swarmed his car and a girl walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. I just slid out of my car and continued to the building.

 Even though I was on the dance squad, I wasn’t very popular. It wasn’t as if I didn’t have any friends but I normally wanted to be around the kids that were also from a military family. There was not many so we just made our own little group, which consisted of me, Layla, Maxi, Kenneth and Marley. Ken was standing outside the entrance and when he saw me, he walked up to me.

 

          “Looks like it’s just me and you today, kid,” he said, flinging an arm across my shoulders.

          “What do you mean?”

          “Didn’t Marley call you last night?” he asked. I shook my head. “Her pops got stationed in Germany. They leave tomorrow.”

          “Where’s Layla and Maxi?” I asked.

          “Layla is sick and I haven’t heard from Maxi.”

          “Well, this just sucks. I’ll have to call my mom and tell her I’m going to Marley’s after school. I can’t let her go to Germany without saying goodbye.”

          “Can I ride with you?” he asked.

          “But of course,” I said. The bell rung and we walked to my locker. Kenneth never had to go to his locker first thing in the morning because he always got his first class book and stashed it in his backpack regardless if he had homework or not.

          “So, any word on your dad?” he asked me.

          “No and mom is starting to freak. It helps that we’re not on base because I honestly think she would have already had a nervous breakdown if we were.”

          “Yeah, that does help. I’m glad we were able to get off the base also. I’m glad dad finally took that office job he’s been offered for the past three years.”

          “I bet. I just wish we would hear something from him.”

          “I know darlin’. Stay optimistic.”

          “That’s exactly what my mom told me this morning,” I laughed at him calling me ‘darlin’. Kenneth was originally from Montana so he had a bit of a country accent. Living in North Carolina, he did not sound out of place at all.

 

 The day wore on and instead of going after school; Ken and I went to visit Marley during our lunch hour. She told me that she was so upset that she only called Ken last night and told him the news. After taking a hundred pictures, giving, and receiving a hundred hugs from Marley and her family, Ken and I headed back to school.

 When the final bell rung, I went to my locker and put my math book in my backpack. I had to finish off a few problems and that was all I had. The weather wasn’t too hot so I figured that I would go for a run.

 It was something that my dad and I would do together but this tour called him away. I thought about joining track because I loved to run, but dancing was my first love. When I pulled into my driveway, I just about ran up the porch and upstairs to get changed. After pulling on my shorts and changing into a tank top, I went back downstairs and grabbed my running shoes. I stepped out on the porch and put my shoes on.

 After lacing them up, I did some stretches. While I was going them, mom sent me a message telling me that she would be home an hour late because Cassie and Lacey’s dance practice was going to be a little late letting out. After replying to her and finishing my stretches, I stood up and looked across the street, Duncan saw me and waved at me. I waved back and noticed that he was walking across the road.

 

          “Hey Claire,” he greeted. Oh my god, he just spoke to me.

          “Hey Duncan, what’s up?” I smiled at him.

          “Not much, I was just wondering if you would like some company?”

          “Sure, I’d like that.”

          “Ok, I’ll be right back. Gotta go change.”

          “Ok,” I said as casually as I could muster. When he ran into his house, I wanted to do a happy dance but held off because I was afraid that he would be looking through a window.

 

Five minutes later, I saw Duncan walking back over at the same time a black sedan with heavily tinted windows turned onto the street. The tint was so dark that I knew I wouldn’t be able to see inside if they drove by. Those cars always made me nervous. It would either be someone from the Army with bad news about my dad. Then again, it could be like in some crazy movie, it’s the mob. I was kind of hoping that it was the mob because than they would just pass by my house.

 When they stopped right in front of my house, my breath hitched. I felt Duncan put his arms around me and I leaned into him. I watched as the passenger door opened and then the driver side. Both men got out and put their caps on. The driver was actually in his combat uniform, which was only his camo. The passenger however, was in his class A uniform.  They looked at me and without hesitation; they walked closer to my house.

 

          “Excuse me, but is this the Henderson household?” the driver asked.

          “Yes, it is. Can I help you with something?” I managed to force out.

          “Is your mother home?” the passenger asked this time.

          “She’ll be here shortly,” I told them; completely forgetting that she was going to be late.

          “Miss, my name is Major General Lewis Hatfield. I need you to call your mother home,” the man in the class A’s said.

          “Ok,” I whispered, pulling my cell phone from my armband and blankly dialing mom’s number. When she picked up, I told her the name of the man standing in front of me and she told me she would be there quickly. I knew that she would be dragging Lacey and Cassie out from practice because we all knew this was about dad.

 

I really wish he would show some kind of emotion on his face so I could tell if the news was good or bad but he kept a very natural expression plastered. The men each took a seat on two of the wicker chairs while Duncan pulled me to the other end and sat down on the swing with me. I stared at the two men and just wanted to scream at them to give me answers. Twenty uncomfortable minutes later, mom’s gold Ford Taurus pulled up. Cassie and Lacey climbed out with somber looks and then when mom looked up, I could see the tears in her eyes.

 She greeted the men and invited them in. I knew she was trying to delay the news by offering everyone some lemonade. Everyone accepted and glass and finally mom took a seat. Major General Hatfield looked over at Duncan and I and turned back to mom.

 

          “Mrs. Henderson, this is a family matter,” he told her.

          “I’m aware of that but I’d appreciate you allowing my daughter’s friend to stay here, for support.”

          “As you wish,” he said. “Mrs. Henderson, we just learned that your husband’s convey got hit three weeks ago and as right now, we are unsure of his platoon’s whereabouts.”

 

Mom’s face turned an angry shade of red and just as quickly, she calmed herself down. I looked at Duncan, wishing he could give me some answers. He looked at me, leaned over, and kissed my hair. It helped a little but I just wanted to know the safety status of my dad.

 

           “Pardon me,” mom started. “But you’re telling me that my husband has been missing for almost a month and you’re just finding this out?”

          “Mrs. Henderson, we are doing are best to locate Lieutenant Henderson and his men. You have to understand though, because we are not there, we don’t know the severity of the situation. We lost contact and that’s all we know. We had another crew sent out and they found our missing truck. It was your husband’s. We thought we had located them but it turned out to be another platoon they were working closely with. As soon as we found out, we sat off to find our missing guys.”

          “So my husband’s status is what?” mom asked calmly.

          “Missing in action,” he answered.

          “Thank you General Major. If you don’t mind, when you said that you just learned, how early was that?”

          “It was eleven hundred hours ma’am. As soon as we heard, Private Reed and I drove straight here.”

          “Thank you. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to start supper for my family.

          “Yes ma’am,” he said and the two stood up and left.

 

With that, my family continued with their lives. We kept hoping and praying that our love would bring the missing member of our family back so we could be a complete family again. What we wasn’t excepting was the news that we would receive a mere six months later.


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Hope you all enjoyed this first chapter.

Nothing much to say right now so I'll close....