" I'll think about it," my mom replied.I wasn't satisfied with her answer, but I knew thatit was the most I could hope for. If I pressed hernow I woul...d get a quick no. I would wait a few daysbefore I tried again.I went to my bedroom that night just like I did everynight. I put my pajamas on just like every othernight. I got into bed just like I always did. I fullyexpected to wake up the next morning in my bed like Ialways did.But when I woke up in the morning I knew somethingwas wrong. I wasn't. This is my Aunt Shelly, and this is Kimberly.”“Nice to meet both of you,” Brent smiled as he came over to them.“Nice to be here,” Shelly replied as she stood to give Brent a hug.Kimberly rose as well, but being only a teenager she seemed little reserved about giving Brent a hug.Brent was not about to let the opportunity pass, however, and raised his arms to her and felt her trim youthful body lightly press against his in a gentle hug. She maintained the hug a moment after Brent had released his. And he wanted to get the drum frame out from under ground and into the light and warmth of day. Phile, Mandy, and I had to get the People moving to their next camping area. There were nearly three hundred now and we brought deer, rabbits, and pronghorn to lead them and feed them. Babies we had seen born were now parents and even grandparents. Yet we were just twenty years old.Speaking of which, we had to be back on the ranch in time for our birthdays at the end of the month.With the drum frame. Cities were fine, but the countryside was not. She was not just fleeing from a sadist, but from the outdoors itself. Yet all the running got her nowhere, and the open sky and grand spaces of the mountain west burdened down on her like a weight on her chest.When her body finally gave out and she crashed to the ground, she could only curl up in the tiniest ball possible, hysterically sobbing with her eyes clenched shut. ?Help me!? she shrieked when she had breath enough for it. ?Help me.