Val led them out the kitchen door. The exit came out the rear of the house and before them was the large expanse of lawn. The frat house had been built a hundred yards ago on the edge of the old woods, and its lawn connected to the thick brush beneath the ancient trees. Between them and the twinkling lamp lights was twenty yards of wilderness. Behind them was chaos as people spilled out of windows and doors eager to give the cops some much-needed exercise. People shouted, the music continued to blare, and from somewhere inside the house a goat bleated.
"Come on!" Val shouted at her lost and frightened sheep.
The three raced across the lawn with Rich bouncing atop Marcus' shoulder. They hit the brush running and crashed into the thick brambles and unforgiving wild roses. Their arms were scratched and their clothes torn, but the noise of the police sirens at their backs urged them on better than any coach. They pushed through the mess of undergrowth and were pushed apart by the uncaring branches of the trees.
A few minutes later Peter broke free from the clingy vines and stumbled onto the park path. The gravel trail was empty and the noises behind him quieted. He gasped for air and looked for his friends. His eyes fell on a figure who was half hidden behind a tree ten yards from where he stood. The figure was too thin to be Marcus.
He moved closer to them and squinted his eyes. "Val?" he called out.
The person stepped from behind the tree and he saw it was of a young woman about his age. Her raven-colored hair hung down to her waist, and her pale skin shone in the faint light of the lamps. She wore a thin white blouse and blue jeans, not exactly the usual attire for roaming spirits. Even in the dim light he could clearly make out her thin face and those dazzling blue eyes that sparkled in the dark. Her lips were curled back in a shy smile and she walked with the agility of a gymnast. Her feet didn't make a sound on the crunchy fallen fall leaves.
"Hello," she spoke up.
He swallowed and nodded. "Hey. You from the party, too?"
The young woman tilted her head to one side and blinked at him. "Party?"
He nodded in the direction of the house. "Yeah, the party at the business frat house."
Her hands still grasped the rough trunk of the tree and she bit her lower lip. "Um, no, I'm not from the party."
Peter looked over her clothes. Her blouse was nearly transparent, and the autumn night air was cool on his face. He could see her own face was pale from the cold. "Aren't you a little cold?" he asked her.
She smiled and shook her head. "No, not at all."
Peter slipped off his heavy sweatshirt and stepped up to her. "You have to be cold in that shirt. You're as pale as death. Here, take mine."
He slipped it over her head before she could argue and her face popped out from the top. The way Peter leaned in their noses nearly touched, and when he looked into her dazzling blue eyes a thrill swept through him. The young woman blushed and Peter shook his head to shake loose from his staring.
He hurriedly helped her into the arms of the sweater and stepped back. "There, that's better." A chill breeze swept past them, and he shivered and wrapped his arms around himself.
The young woman's smile slipped from her lips. "Now you're cold. Let me give you back your sweater."
She proceeded to remove the sweater, but he caught her wrist. "N-no, it's fine, really. Besides, I don't live too far away." He glanced around the empty park path. "I just need to find my friends and we can go. Where do you live, anyway?"
The young woman opened her mouth, but her voice was drowned out by others. "Pete! Pete!" came Marcus's deep call.
"Pete, where are you?" Val's voice rang unison.
Peter's hand slipped off her wrist and he glanced behind him in the direction of their voices. "We're over here!" he called back. His friends appeared around a bend in the path. They were covered in leaves and brambles, but otherwise unhurt. Rich still lay across Marcus's shoulder. Marcus's eyes flitted from the darkness between the lamplight to Peter and back again.
"Man, this place is scary," he whispered.
Val reached him and looked him over. "How did you get this far?"
Peter shrugged. "It's just where the brush took me."
Val glanced over her shoulder. "Well, let's get going before the police find our trail. Marcus here tore apart half the forest trying to get through it."
"Sure, but first let me introduce you to-um-" he realized he didn't know the young woman's name. He turned to her, but the spot where she'd stood was empty. His eyes widened. He whipped his head to and fro searching for her lithe form. She was nowhere in sight. He cupped his hands over his mouth. "Hey! Hey, where'd you go?" There was no reply but the soft echo of his voice.
Val leapt at him and slapped her hand over his mouth. "Do you want the police to find us?" she hissed.
He yanked her hand off his mouth and pointed at the tree she'd come from. "But she was right here!"
Marcus's eyes widened to saucer-size. "W-who was right here?"
"A girl. She came out of the woods and I gave her my sweater," he explained.
Val glanced around and shook her head. "Well, she's not here now and we need to leave before Marcus here starts having a heart attack and I have to give him CPR." Marcus's breathing came out in quick gasps and he clung onto Rich's legs. She swung around, crossed her arms and glared at the hefty man. "What is your problem with this place, anyway?"
He pursed his lips and glared back at her. "Haven't you heard of the White Lady?" he snapped back.
Val rolled her eyes. "The ghost? Seriously? You're scared of a woman ghost?"
"Emphasis on the 'ghost' part," Marcus countered.
Peter stepped between them and pushed them apart. "Listen, guys, she wasn't a ghost and I don't think she was going to scare me to death. I even put my sweatshirt on her."
Val brushed aside his hand and half-turned away from the boys. "I don't care if she's the Beige Lady, I'm not afraid of some stupid ghost story. I deal with facts. Period."
"What about the fact that she's been seen by so many people over the last hundred years?" Marcus pointed out.
"Superstitions can survive a long time in the minds of idiots," she retorted.
Peter sighed. "Come on, we have to focus. Remember, police and missing girl?"
Val frowned at him. "Nobody's missing except a girl who took off with your sweater. Besides, we need to worry-" A sound from the far side of the brush caught their attention. Flashlights shone into the woods, and the three of them ducked. Val glanced at Marcus and frantically pointed at his back. "Rich!" she whispered.
Marcus glanced over his shoulder at the prostrate body. "What? Oh, right." Rich's body peeked over the edge of the bushes. Marcus hunkered lower, but the movement caught the light of the flashlights.
"Who's there? Come out!" yelled an officer.
"Run!" Peter yelled.
The three of them jumped to their feet and beat a hasty retreat down the path. "Stop!" they heard behind them, along with a crash of brush as the officers tried to force their way through the twenty yards of survival camp.
Peter was in the lead of their small, panicked group when his eyes caught something white in the forest on his right. He stopped so fast that Val collided into him, and Marcus into her. They all three toppled to the ground with Rich at the very top. They flailed for a few moments before separating and hunkering down near the wild edge of the path.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Val hissed at him.
"I saw the girl again. We have to go help her," Peter insisted.
"No, we need to help ourselves get home and hope Rich's car isn't impounded," Val hissed.
Peter stood, took a step in the direction the woman had gone, or he thought she had gone, and glanced over his shoulder at his friends. "You guys go on ahead. I want to see if I can find that girl."
Marcus's eyes flickered over the area. "Come on, Pete, that's stupid. What if she's that ghost girl and she k
ills you?"
Peter smiled and winked at them. "Then I'll be sure to come back and haunt you guys. Just make sure you're not here when the cops find you." He turned and sprinted into the trees.
"Pete! Pete, get back here!" he heard Val yell at him, but he didn't look back.
Peter pushed, ducked, hopped, and pulled his way through the wildness of the forest, his eyes ever forward looking for the young woman. He left the safety of the path and the lamps far behind him. His only light was from the twinkling stars overhead, and his only clue to the direction she'd gone was his intuition. He just couldn't leave her out here all alone. Not with his sweater. It was his favorite one.
CHAPTER 3