Chapter One
England present day,
Madison gripped the straightening iron and slowly pulled it down her remaining lock of bouncing, red curls, taming the uncontrollable mass, and finally achieving the desired look. She gazed into the hotel’s wide bathroom mirror, taking in her pale complexion and attempted to evaluate her life, all nineteen years of it.
They hadn’t all been bad, had they?
She shrugged out of her overlarge pajamas and pulled on her boring black suit. A long sleeved jacket that she wore over a plain white, button down blouse, with a mid-length black skirt. Considering where she was headed this afternoon, her drab attire was, in fact, quite appropriate.
She, along with her father, arrived in England two days earlier to attend her estranged grandmother’s funeral. Today they were to meet with the old woman’s attorney. Madison was more than positive that if it wasn’t for the woman’s millions, her father would have been content to remain at home in the states, sinking deeper into his present addiction.
Madison sat carefully on the edge of the tub to pull on her favorite pair of black heels. They were misery for the toes, but oh how she loved the way they made her feet look so petite. She paused a moment to admire the delicate angel wing tattoo on her left ankle, a small smile parting her lips. It was a moment of teen-age rebellion. A reminder of a time in her life when all she wanted was to be heard. She could still hear her mother’s voice echoing in her ears. “You’ll regret it Maddy, maybe not today, but one day you’ll regret it.”
Her smile faded. Two years later, her mother packed her bags and left without so much as a goodbye or a second look over her shoulder. It had been a shock to Madison and it sent her alcoholic, arrogant father into an even faster downward spiral that left them in their present state: barely speaking and nearly bankrupt. Her once tolerable father was now a man that she cared little to know, let alone to inform others he was related.
He was so obsessed with his drink, he rarely had time to see to his daughter’s needs. He’d even tried to pawn his burden off on his mother, only to be quickly refused. Her grandmother’s refusal was more of a rejection to Madison who’d prayed that her grandmother, would be kind enough to offer her only grandchild the coveted home her father could never provide. The old woman’s denial broke Madison’s heart and left her feeling unwanted and rejected by the only family she had left.
When the news arrived of her grandmother’s death, along with the summons to England from the old woman’s attorney, it left Madison terribly confused. Her father, on the other hand, nearly jumped for joy. She knew there was no love lost between her father and his aristocratic mother, he simply knew his mother had million’s and they must go somewhere. As he was the only heir, he figured his mother’s fortune would fit nicely in his empty pockets.
Madison rolled her eyes in annoyance at her father’s fist banging on the door, telling her, in his own subtle way, to hurry it up.
She looked again to the mirror and stared at her pale reflection. She looked so much like her mother it was almost scary. The same pale skin, a soft dusting of freckles across her stubby nose, light blue eyes, and a mass of long, thick curly red hair that always seemed to have a mind of it’s own.
The similarities made her shudder, and caused her to think maybe this was why she felt she had to straighten her bouncy locks in hope that maybe, just maybe, if she could alter her appearance in even the slightest way, her father wouldn’t despise her for reminding him daily of the woman he’d driven away.
Madison blinked at the woman in the mirror and wanted nothing more than to ask her why she left her daughter behind to be raised by a man who could barely take care of himself. It was a stupid question that would never be answered, so she put it behind her, straightened her suit and told herself she would be the woman she longed to be. If only she could find that courageous, beautiful woman hiding behind her self doubt and sorrow?
She pulled her eyes from her reflection and reached across the counter to retrieve her black leather bag. She pulled open it’s zipperless mouth and peered down at her belongings. Everything from candy to sleeping pills, CD player with a few personalized CD’s, cell phone, wallet, her passport and a bit of make up. She hated to travel and having everything she needed at her fingertips put her nerves at ease.
“Maddy I’m leaving now, with or without you.” Her father’s voice boomed through the door, a slight slur to his bellowing words. It was only midmorning and he was already drinking, a confirmation to her of how serious his addiction had become.
Madison sprayed her neck with a bit of perfume, threw the bottle into the bag then slung it over her shoulder and straightened her frame.
“Two weeks,” she whispered to herself. “Two weeks is all you need.” She’d managed to find the perfect school and the perfect scholarship that would help pay for most of tuition and give her the freedom her soul needed from her fathers tormenting presence. He’d made fun of her for choosing dance as a major and told her that no school would want her. Nonetheless she’d been accepted and celebrated her victory alone. But heaven help her to endure just two more weeks.
* * * * *
Madison sat in a rather uncomfortable chair, wide-eyed and barely breathing as her future was laid out before her. The attorney’s mouth was moving, but the words he spoke were unbelievable.
The small round little man dismissed her father completely, causing him to fume in the corner, sipping some drink from a small flask he concealed inside his jacket pocket. He did very little to mask his anger, as everything that should have gone to him was placed neatly in his daughter’s lap. It was unbelievable!
A good hour later, Madison tried to remain calm as she crossed the parking lot to their rented car. A black, gold trimmed folder stuffed full of important documents clutched tightly to her chest with both arms.
It must be a dream, she would never want for anything ever again. She could attend college and not have to worry about how she would ever come up with the money to pay for it. Best of all, she would never have to live under her father’s roof again.
It was then that she noticed her father stumbling across the parking lot, barely managing to remain on his feet.
“Dad?” Madison quickened her pace, placed an arm about her father’s waist to steady him before he toppled over. He thanked her by shoving her aside to lean his swaying frame against the driver’s side of the car.
“I don’t need your help, or anyone’s, your highness.” His gave his daughter a disgusted look, followed by a failed attempt at a bow before reaching deep in his pocket for his keys.
Madison pushed aside his hateful words and reached out a shaking hand for the exposed keys.
“Why don’t you let me drive?” She nearly had the keys from her father’s grasp when he backhanded her smartly across the cheek, the coveted keys he held in his fist jingled with the sudden, violent movement.
An instant burn traveled up her face and into her eyes, causing them to well up with tears, not so much from the pain, but from who had inflicted it. How could he have sunk this low?
“You don’t want to ride with me that’s fine, you can find your own way.” He yanked the door open abruptly and slumped into the driver’s seat of the car. She stood rubbing her cheek, staring at the man inside the car. He was fumbling with the keys as he tried to put them into the ignition.
Every emotion from hate to pity, welled up within her and in the end, all she could think of was that he was her father. As much as she hated him he was still, and always would be, her father. She couldn’t let him go alone.
She fought back her tears and crossed to the passenger side of the car. Her head screamed at her to just let him be, but her heart wouldn’t allow her to listen to logic. No matter what he’d become, and how she’d grown to despise him, he was the only family she had left. She pulled open the passenger door and climbed numbly into the car.
He fumbled with the keys a minute longer before finally managing to put the car in motion. He turned away from the city and soon they were driving along in silence down a deserted country lane.
Madison slipped off her black heels and stretched her aching feet. She rested her burning cheek against the cool window and closed her eyes, wishing suddenly to be anywhere but where she was. Her father pressed down on the gas and the rental car responded with an added jolt of speed. He was angry and determined to take his frustrations out on the road.
She focused in on her thoughts, trying to think of anything but the scenery speeding by outside her window. In two weeks she would be dancing, she would be happy doing what she loved. She’d started ballroom dancing classes just before her mother abandoned them. All too soon, what was once an extra circular activity turned into her passion and a much-needed escape from the chaos of her world.
She’d found a job that would work around her dancing schedule and free her selfish father from the obligation of supporting his daughter.
The car fishtailed violently when he turned onto a dirt road, shocking Madison out her thoughts. It was growing dark and she wondered if her father knew where he was going, and better yet, if he cared.
She pulled her eyes from the fading sky to look down at the gold trimmed folder she held in her hands and found herself contemplating if it was worth it. Was this wealth, which was given to her, worth this? She’d lost her mother because of her father’s greed and arrogance. Did she truly want to lose what was left of her family over money?
She was the last of the Cunningham line, she had no other family, nothing but what was in this car, recklessly speeding down some dusty country lane.
“You must think yourself a lucky girl,” he slurred as he spoke, then took a corner faster than Madison would have liked.
“What?” she asked, clutching her bag to her chest, fearing she’d made a horrible mistake when she got into the car.
“Don’t play stupid. What did you do to get the old hag to leave everything to you? The granddaughter she hardly knew!” He sped around another corner, nearly running off the road. It was growing dark and the desolate winding road was becoming narrower by the second.
She could only look at him in disbelief. It was his fault that she never knew her grandparents. He was too stubborn to forgive the woman for some past wrong. Madison wanted to know his parents but he denied her the opportunity.
“I didn’t do anything!” Madison flinched when he swerved to miss a large rock in the road. “Slow down, do you want to kill us?” she screamed, but her father only huffed and pressed down further on the gas.
“You’re conniving and sadistic just like your mother.” Madison heard his harsh words, but she also heard the crack of emotion in his voice. He loved her mother, but his arrogance and drunken temper finally drove her away. And for some reason, he couldn’t see that he wasn’t the only one who lost someone they loved. She would have done anything to convince her mother to stay or to take her along. It was a pity her father never seemed to care about anything or anyone but himself.
“You don’t mean that,” she responded, his hateful words etching their way into her heart, her pale eyes burning with her grief.
“She took me for everything I had, then disappeared leaving me to clean up the mess.” Madison watched the trees fly by and remembered that it was her mother who tried to keep the family afloat while her husband sunk deeper and deeper into his addiction. Her mother tried until she couldn’t try anymore.
She looked again down at the folder on her lap, suddenly deciding that, she too, was tired of trying to please a man who would never give in return. She was done, she would go to school and do what she loved and wouldn’t look back. She had a bright future awaiting her, she only needed to reach out and take it.
“I don’t want it.” She placed the gold trimmed folder on her father’s lap and turned her attention back to clutching her bag.
Her father looked down at the folder lying neatly in his lap and then to his daughter. “You think this will fix everything, giving me what should have been mine in the first place?” She could feel his eye’s boring into the side of her head, but she kept her focus on the passing trees.
“No, but I will live my life knowing that I did the right thing,” she whispered, a single tear making its way down her cheek. It was done. She would say goodbye to the man who had once been her father and move on with her life. It wouldn’t be easy, but it would be her own.
“You think you’re so perfect, don’t you?” His words were full of a contempt she never knew could exist between father and daughter. She slouched down in her seat, once again, wishing to be anywhere but confined to the car with her raging father.
Those words of hatred were the last thing she heard before the car spun out of control and struck a tree, sending her world into darkness.
Madison lay on her back, on the thick undergrowth of the forest and attempted to take inventory of her aching limbs. Her pounding head clouded her thoughts and she had to force herself to concentrate.
She moved one leg and then the other and then attempted the same task with her arms. The right obeyed but the left burned with even the slightest movement. She turned her pounding head to examine the damage and immediately wished she hadn’t. The sleeve of her jacket was shredded into nearly nothing, revealing a deep gash running up the length of her arm.
She groaned and did her best to shove the image aside. She’d never been good with blood, especially when it was her own.
She needed to get to her feet and find her father, hopefully he was no worse off than she was and they would be able to call for help.
Madison pushed herself up with her good arm and sat for a moment, fighting to clear her head. The sun had faded from the sky, washing her surroundings in a dim, hazy glow.
She rose slowly to her knees and finally managed to get to her feet. She turned in the direction of the car and gasped. It was hardly recognizable; the bulk of the frame was wrapped around the trunk of a massive tree just off the side of the road. From what she could tell, her father was still inside the vehicle.
Her head protested again, causing her to return to her knees. She would have to go to her father later, right now she needed to find her cell phone and call for help before her damaged head refused to cooperate. Once her vision cleared she looked around the thick undergrowth for her bag. She knew it had been in her arms when they crashed so it must be around here somewhere.
Finally, she spotted her bag lying in the distance, resting at the base of the scariest tree she’d ever seen. It’s gnarled and twisted branches stretched out in all directions, like numerous monster arms reaching out, wishing to snatch the stars from the heavens. No leaves seemed to dare sprout on the limbs, leaving it bare and ghostly, looming over her in the darkness.
She pulled her eyes from the disturbing branches and carefully crawled to where her bag lay at the base of the tree. She turned and rested her weary body against the trunk of tree, placing the bag on her lap.
Her poor head wanted nothing more than for her to lie down and give into sleep but she knew she must stay awake. If she gave in, there was a good chance she would never wake up.
She rested her head against the tree and closed her eyes for a moment, only a moment, breathing deeply to summon the strength she needed to continue. Her heart fluttered and a stiff breeze lifted her hair and then it was quiet.
A quick search of her bag produced her phone, she quickly dialed for help with shaking fingers and waited, nothing. She dialed again, still nothing.
“Stupid piece of junk,” she mumbled as she threw the phone to the ground and pulled herself up. She would have to find her father’s phone. Hopefully it was still in working condition.
She looked up to judge the distance she would have to cross to the car and could only stare in disbelief. Her stunned fingers released the hold they had on her belongings, discarding them, carelessly to the ground, with a muffled thump.
It was gone: the car and even the tree the vehicle had smashed into. Everything, even the gravel road was replaced by a narrow dirt lane that was barely wide enough for a single car. She stumbled forward through the darkness. It was impossible, how could it be here one moment then gone the next.
“Breathe Maddy, breathe,” she told herself.
She staggered to the center of the narrow lane and turned about in a circle as if doing so might produce the mangled car and the gravel road, she knew had been there only seconds ago.
She stood frozen in the center of the lane, dazed and confused, as something warm began to run down her forehead and into her eyes. Madison wiped at her head and pulled her hand back to examine it. Blood covered her fingers and the palm of her hand. That was all she needed to give into the will of her body and collapsed right there in the dirt.
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