Dark Hollow Road (Taryn's Camera Book 3) by Rebecca Patrick-Howard Read Free Book Online Page A

over the back, but the porch was sturdy and when she stepped on it, none of the boards buckled under her weight. The front door was missing, letting her peek inside. It was definitely empty, but she didn’t feel like exploring any farther at the moment. She’d save that for another day, a day when she was trying to find something to do with herself. She might want to take pictures, after all, and the current lighting situation was not ideal.
    About one hundred feet away to the left of the house she caught the remnants of a bonfire pit, complete with blackened beer cans and food wrappers. Logs were positioned around it in a circle. Multiple tracks in the grass suggested a variety of vehicles coming and going to this spot. In front of the porch was a very large stack of wood, suggesting more activity to come. A popular party site, then, although it didn’t appear to have been used for a while. The house didn’t look to be damaged by anyone; the windows could have come out for a variety of reasons. There were no signs of vandalism.
    Hands on her hips, Taryn surveyed her surroundings with an eye for detail. It was a beautiful spot, isolated enough from the main road to offer quite a bit of privacy and flanked by the woods and fields. The remains of a barn could be seen in the distance, and Taryn could imagine a time when this had been a working farm with a rich vegetable garden, grazing cattle, and maybe even horses running through the tall grass. If she closed her eyes she could catch the smell of bacon wafting out of the house on Sunday morning, see a lazy hound dog sunning himself on the porch, hear the flapping of towels and sheets as they dried on the line. This had once been a home and a family had lived here, laughed here, and worked here. Now it was empty, nothing more than a vacant shell. It made her sad in the pit of her stomach.
    Before it got too dark Taryn walked around a little more and took pictures of the towering chimneys, littered fire pit, and deep tracks in the grass. Then, realizing she’d spent far more time than she’d planned, she turned and headed back for the woods. It had been quiet while she walked around the remains of the farm, almost eerily so, but the moment she stepped inside the trees the silence was cut by a wail so deep and loud it penetrated her down to the bones and made her jump nearly out of her skin. In shock, she turned around, fully expecting to see a woman standing just feet from her, clearly in agony. But there wasn’t another soul for as far as she could see. The farmhouse, dark and dreary against the pale sky, was the only thing watching her. And if it had secrets, it wasn’t talking.
    Without another thought, Taryn turned back to the woods and began moving her feet as quickly as she could.
     
     

     
     
    M att was waiting for her inside when she got back to the cabin. “It’s not our imaginations,” she proclaimed as she burst through the front door, her cheeks flushed and cold.
    He’d been sitting in one of the overstuffed recliners but stood up as she drew closer to him. She thought she could see a trace of worry of his face and silently cursed herself for not leaving him a note. She wasn’t used to living with another person who might care where she took off to.
    “What do you mean?”
    Taryn gently unwound Miss Dixie from around her neck and placed her on the coffee table. She let Matt help her with her jacket and boots while she talked.
    “The sounds and stuff we heard? It’s not just our imaginations and it isn’t nature getting the best of us. I heard something today, real close. Oh! And I found a house,” she added. Stopping for a moment, she turned and faced the kitchen and sniffed pointedly. “Food. I smell food.”
    “Chinese take-out,” he waved in the general direction of the kitchen. “What did you hear? And what house? How far did you go?”
    Trailing behind her, he followed her into the kitchen and watched while she helped herself to the