Aspen and the Dream Walkers by Caroline Swart Read Free Book Online

she’d cheated and had made a mess
on the quilt.
    Her mother switched on the overhead light as
she entered the room. Aspen’s bedroom was the smallest one, on the
back side of the house and shaded by thick trees, so it was dark in
the afternoon. She brought a plastic cup of water with two headache
tablets, and gave them to her daughter to swallow.
    “You must be coming down with a virus,” Norma
said as she handed back the cup.
    “I don’t feel so well,” Aspen croaked
convincingly.
    “If you don’t feel better tomorrow, you can
stay at home. I’ll take you to the doctor.”
    “That’s okay, Mom.” Aspen continued to play
with the edge of the quilt while an old Mickey Mouse clock ticked
softly in the background.
    “I’ll let you rest for a bit.” Norma smiled
and turned to leave.
    “Mom,” she called out.
    “Yes, honey.” Her mother grasped the empty
cup in one hand and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear with
the other.
    “Do you love Stephan?”
    Her mother gasped. She placed the cup on the
chest of drawers and then sat down at the edge of the bed. “That’s
a strange question to ask.”
    “Do you, though?” Aspen insisted.
    Norma gazed up at the ceiling and thought for
a bit. “I suppose I have to. Don’t I?”
    “No, you don’t. You don’t have to do
something you don’t want to,” she whispered. Turning on her side,
she held her mother’s hand in hers.
    “Oh, really? Well, just remember you said
that.” Her mother grinned and playfully pinched Aspen’s cheek, then
tucked the quilt under her body and rose from the bed.
    “Don’t worry so much, honey. Things will be
fine. Just rest, okay?” Norma blew a kiss at her and pulled the
door shut as she left the room.
    Aspen jumped up and switched off the light
before she slipped back under the covers. Not really sleepy, she
lay there thinking about Miriam, and Dylan, and her strange
dreams.
    Soon Stephan’s bike roared into the garage,
and she winced when his voice rose in anger at her mother. She
couldn’t hear exactly what was being said since he was downstairs,
but it couldn’t have been good.
    Miriam’s bedroom door slammed shut an hour
later, and she shouted, “Great, now my TV isn’t working. Did the
brat come into my room tonight?”
    This was followed by more shouts and door
slamming. Aspen squeezed her eyes shut and clutched the quilt
firmly, angry at the way she and her mother were treated.
    After a while, the house became quiet again.
In the pitch dark, she finally drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 5
    First Bolt
    “Where were you at lunchtime?”
    Aspen opened her eyes and felt the soft green
grass under her hands. She blinked at the two shapes above her and
sat up. Sandy and Dylan looked down at her.
    The sky was a familiar lemon color, and the
air was pleasantly warm. It was so nice here; she wouldn’t mind
having this dream every night, even though she kept dreaming of
people at her school.
    “Hello. I’m back again,” she said as she
smiled at them.
    Sandy frowned. “I waited for you.”
    “Leave her alone, it wasn’t her fault.” Dylan
glared at the tiny girl. Her long blond hair was braided, and she
wore a faded pair of jeans and a dark brown shirt.
    Standing up, Aspen dusted herself off and
looked at her surroundings. A gently sloping hill lay before them.
It was blanketed in a forest of pine, birch, and sugar maple trees.
Patches of red soil broke the line of grass just before it reached
the trees. A narrow trail spiraled between the thick foliage and
disappeared up the hill.
    She felt more confident in her dream and
turned to study Dylan openly. It was just a dream, after all. It
would be over soon.
    He had finely chiseled cheekbones and a
strong jaw. His lips were full and expressive, and thick eyelashes
rimmed his eyes. Black hair completed the almost painfully
good-looking picture, and her heart fluttered as he stared straight
back at her. She reached up and ran her fingertips along his
collarbone, and