Free to Roam

Piper looked out the window as the car sped through the wooded lane. The trees flowed by the window as if taunting her that she was no longer in the city. She couldn't figure out why her mom was punishing her like this. She was a straight A student, never once had gotten in any trouble. She kept her room clean and tried not to get in the way when her mom had clients over for private fittings. Now her Mom was going to Paris for a year to work and she was being sent to the middle of nowhere Upstate to stay with her Grandparents for the year. She had never even met them.

Sure she had spoken to them on the phone every holiday and birthday. They sent her a birthday card with money for her birthday, but other than that she had no contact with them. If they cared for me so much, why hadn't they come to see her every once in a while. They only lived four hours away, and according to her mother they had the money to do so. Her Mom always said they hated the city and kept busy with their businesses.

Just one week ago she was celebrating her thirteenth birthday, a small party in the townhouse she had been living in until this morning. It was after the party that everything had changed. Before that, the plan was that she would go with her mom to Paris and go to an online school. The Grandparents called to wish me my normal birthday wishes and then after Mom talked to them I was suddenly going to spend the year getting to know some more of my family. Considering my mom was the only one I really knew, this was going to be a bit overwhelming. I had two uncles and several cousins who lived on what my mom called the family compound.

Which was another thing. Who has a family compound? What are they mafia or something? Maybe that is why they avoid the city, they are part of the mafia and have to avoid the police in the city. Maybe they are living out here in the middle of nowhere because they are in hiding from the FBI. Maybe they were in hiding from the Mafia. They lived in a safe house protected from the bad guys because they had too much information about all the crimes that had been committed.

"How much longer, Mom?" she asked, turning to her mother as the car sped further on the wooded road. Piper hated to admit it, but the area was pretty. The city got so hot during the summer, but the tress here kept the temperature lower, so she didn't feel the heat. She could imagine all the animals that lived in the woods that surrounded the area.

"We should be there in another twenty minutes. You are going to love it out here. You will have more freedom than you ever had in the city. Your Grandma and Grandpa own two hundred acres, so plenty of room to run and explore. You also have cousins your age, so you will have others to talk to and hang out with. I know you are going to love it here." Her mom said, her eyes never leaving the road ahead.

Ever since the call on her birthday her mother had been acting weird. She had heard her mom's voice in the bedroom as she talked to her grandma. She sounded like they were arguing over something, but Piper couldn't hear what was being said through her mother's door. Her mother had come out of her room that night and announced that Piper was going to live with her Grandparents while her mom went to Paris. She looked like she had been crying, but Piper didn't know why. Her mother said it was for the best and that Piper would really love living outside the city for the year.

Piper kept her eyes trained on the woods that kept flying by the car window. The trees were such a vibrant green. She had of course been to Central Park, but as pretty as the trees there were, they were nothing compared to the trees here. These were thick trees with such thick leaves on them that Piper thought she could get lost in there just by walking in a few feet.

Piper was thinking about how it would feel to sit on the ground below one of those trees as she looked out when she saw it. It started as just a shadow, but then it came closer to the edge of the trees and she knew she had to be imagining things. A cat, no not a little cat you keep in your house, but a huge cat running alongside the car just in the edge of the forest. Piper kept her eyes on the cat. No way was that beast keeping up with them. Her mother had to be going at least fifty miles an hour, but it was right there. She even swore that it was looking at them. Piper watched the giant as it ran beside them. It seemed to be enjoying itself, a look of happiness on it's face. It was a light brown color, with strong muscles on it's legs. Piper couldn't believe there were cats this big here. It just didn't seem right.

Piper kept her eyes trained on the graceful animal as she called to her mom, "Are there supposed to be big cats in this area?" She asked.

Her mom jolted, "What do you mean?", her voice seemed to have a nervous tremble.

"Look, Mom." Piper told her. For the first time her Mom's face moved from the road. She almost thought she saw a hint of a smile cross her face. Her mother honked the horn twice and the cat took off into the deeper woods.

"There, no problem now. It just was curious I guess." Her mom said as she turned her eyes back to the road. She wore a small smile though. "We are only a few minutes away now. Are you ready to meet the family? I have been told they are all going to be home today to welcome you."

Piper drew in a long breath, "I guess I don't have a choice now. I hope they are nice." She said, suddenly nervous. Her family had been living together all their lives. She was an outsider. What if they hated her? What if she didn't fit into the group. It could be a long year.

They pulled up to a clearing with a massive fence and a gate with an intercom. The fence was huge. Maybe it was there to keep out the big cats like the one she had seen. Her mother's hand shook as she began to push the intercom button, but the gate swung open before her mother's hand left the window. "I guess someone told them we were here" her mother said with a laugh and an eye roll. Piper tried to figure out who could have seen them coming, but all thoughts were pushed out of her mind as the car drove through the gate.