Reborn: Help My Sister Seize Back Her Destiny

It wasn't until twelve years after my sister, Abigail Ritter, died that I learned the truth: the year she turned eighteen, she hadn't simply gotten married. My parents, Dennis and Rhonda Ritter, had taken an 18,000-dollar bride price and promised her, freshly accepted to college, to a twenty-nine-year-old man. On the day she ran from her wedding, she hid in a haystack outside town. And I, six-year-old Aaron Ritter, was the one who found her first. Holding up two pieces of candy, I shouted excitedly toward the house, "Mom! I found Abby!" Four months later, my sister died in her husband's family's home. Everyone said she'd just been born unlucky. Then, twelve years later, I found a letter among her belongings, a plea for help she never managed to send home. At the very end of it, she'd added a few more lines: "I don't blame Aaron. He's still little. He doesn't understand anything." When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day my sister ran from her wedding. Chapter 1 The straw in the haystack jabbed painfully at my face. My sister, Abigail Ritter, was curled up at the very back, one hand still clamped over my mouth. Her palm was slick with sweat, and her whole body was shaking. "Shh, Aaron, not a sound. Please, I'm begging you." I looked at her eighteen-year-old face, and tears welled up in my eyes. Twelve years. It had been twelve years since I'd last seen my sister alive. In my last life, it had happened right here too. She'd been wearing a blue shirt so faded it was nearly white, the hems of her pants caked with mud and an old backpack at her feet. Back then, I had no idea why she was hiding. All I knew was that today was her wedding day. The family had slaughtered a hog, and wedding decoration hung all over the yard. My mother, Rhonda Ritter, had even pinned a little flower to my jacket. She'd told me that if I found my runaway sister and brought her back, I'd get candy. So when I spotted Abigail, I was over the moon. I yelled for them. My father, Dennis Ritter, my uncle, Stuart Cornwell, and the people the groom's family had sent to fetch the bride all came running. When Dad dragged Abigail out of the haystack by her hair, the look she gave me was full of disbelief. In the end, there was nothing left in it but despair. For years afterward, I had nightmares about those eyes. Now I couldn't say a word. I only clutched the two pieces of candy in my palm. My sister's gaze landed on the candy wrappers, and the color slowly drained from her face. She probably thought Mom had used the candy to coax me into finding her, because the hand over my mouth tightened instead of loosening. "Aaron, don't yell. It's not that I don't want you. Once I get out of here, I'll find a way to come back for you." By the end, her voice had cracked. Suddenly, Mom's voice rang out from outside. "Aaron! "Abigail! "Where did you two run off to?" My sister went rigid. I could feel the hand pressed over my mouth turn cold. I shook my head hard, pried her hand away, and whispered, "I won't yell." She froze for a moment. Instead of relaxing, she eyed me warily. I knew why she didn't believe me. Last night, she'd tried to slip out the back door, and Dad had caught her and given her a beating. Then this morning, Dad called me over and drilled it into me again and again, "The second you see your sister, yell. Don't let her blow the money for this family." At six, I had no idea what eighteen thousand dollars meant. I only remembered Dad patting my head and saying, "Once your sister's married, we'll have money to build a new house. Then you can have your schooling, a house of your own, and a wife someday." Back then, I'd even thought my sister getting married was good news for the whole family. I sniffled and lowered my voice. "Abby, I know you don't want to marry Justin." Her expression changed instantly. She stared at me. "Who told you that? Did Dad send you to trick it out of me?" Chapter 2 Just as I'd expected, Abigail's first instinct was still not to believe me. Anxious, I edged a little closer, but I didn't dare touch her. "Nobody taught me. I also know you got into a college in Mayes City." My sister's breath caught. I kept going. "Dad tore up your acceptance letter. You snuck back and saved half of it, and you hid it under the third brick behind the pigpen." This time, she went completely silent. Outside, the footsteps were getting closer. Someone was pushing through the tall grass, cursing as he went. "That brat. All these people waiting on her today, and she has the nerve to pull this." It was Uncle Stuart. My sister's face went white. She grabbed my wrist, her voice barely more than a breath. "Aaron, how do you know about that letter?" My throat tightened. Because twelve years from now, I'd be the one to pull it out of the gap in the pigpen wall with my own hands. But I couldn't tell her that. I just looked at her. "Abby, I also know you found out about the 11:40 bus to the county seat. Your teacher, Ms. Stein, is going to be waiting at the station to help you get away." I paused awhile, then said firmly, "Abby, I'm going to help you too." Her eyes instantly turned red. Outside, Mom had already led a group of people to the side of the haystack. "Abigail! "Stop this nonsense! The groom's cars are already at the edge of town! "They've already paid the money. If you run off today, how are we supposed to show our faces?" My sister bit her lip and instinctively started to burrow toward the other end of the haystack. I grabbed her at once. "No, Abby. Uncle Larry's definitely already at the bridge. If you go out that way now, you'll run right into them." She looked at me, her chest heaving. "Then where else can I go?" I squeezed her ice-cold hand. A six-year-old's hand was so small that mine could only close around three of her fingers. "Come with me. Don't run off on your own this time." Abigail didn't come with me right away. She stayed crouched in the haystack, staring at me for several long seconds. "Aaron, tell me something first. Did Mom and Dad teach you to say all this?" I shook my head. Her voice only grew tighter. "Do they want to find out which way I'm planning to run? Is that why they sent you to fool me?" It felt like something had stabbed me in the chest. But I didn't blame her one bit. In my last life, at the most dangerous moment she ever faced, I was the one who brought everyone running. To her, a six-year-old little brother had never been any help. Especially a little brother Mom and Dad had spoiled since birth. To her, I was a nuisance, the kind of kid who'd cry and shout and bring everyone running. Mom's voice rang out again. "Whoever finds Abigail first gets a whole bag of candy!" A few kids laughed and immediately ran off into the fields. I didn't have time to explain. "Abby, come with me to the pigpen." She frowned and didn't budge. I had to add, "The letter's there." That finally got her to follow me out. We slipped out from behind the haystack and edged along the dirt wall back toward the house. The yard was in chaos. More than a dozen tables had already been set up for the wedding feast, the cooking tent was full of steam, and relatives who'd come to help were hurrying back and forth with basins. Nobody would notice two people slipping around behind the pigpen. I went straight to the third brick and pried it loose like I'd done it a hundred times. A plastic bag was stuffed inside. When my sister saw it, she stopped in her tracks. I handed her the bag. Just as I'd said, it held half of her college acceptance letter and a slip of paper folded up very small. On the slip were Ms. Stein's phone number and the number for the Mayes City Board of Education. Her fingers trembled for a long time before she managed to unfold it. Only half of her name was left on the letter. Dad had torn "Abigail Ritter" right down the middle. Chapter 3 Abigail kept her head down and didn't say anything for a long time. I didn't rush her. Twelve years from now, when I first learned about this letter, it would already be too late. Now it was back in my sister's hands. At least this time, it wasn't something she'd left behind when she died. Suddenly, someone outside shouted, "Rhonda! Did you lock up the IDs? Don't let that girl take them!" It was Aunt Melanie Ritter, the wife of Dad's older brother. My sister's head snapped up. I realized it too. Her ID card. If she wanted to take the bus, she couldn't get far without it. My sister's face darkened. "Mom has it." "I know where it is." She whipped her head around to look at me. I didn't explain. I just pulled her through the back door into the house. Mom was always afraid of losing things, so she kept the family's birth certificates, ID cards, and bankbooks locked at the very bottom of her hope chest. In my last life, she'd caught me stealing candy from it twice when I was little, which was how I knew the key was always tucked behind the base of the sewing machine. I stood on my tiptoes and felt around in the gap until I found it. The look in my sister's eyes finally softened a little. It wasn't trust yet, but at least she didn't see me as Mom and Dad's spy anymore. I unlocked the chest and dug out her ID card. Underneath it, though, lay a sheet of paper. I glanced at it, and my hand froze. "Received from the Wright family: a bride price of 18,000 dollars. Should the bride back out, the full amount shall be repaid double." Below that were Dad's and Mom's signatures. My sister was standing behind me, and I felt her go completely stiff. She'd known all along that the family had taken money, but seeing it in black and white was something else entirely. "Eighteen thousand dollars," she read quietly. "They told me it was money the Wrights lent the family for an emergency... It was never a loan. They sold me." I didn't dare say anything. In my last life, Mom and Dad always told me my sister was ungrateful. They said she looked down on us for being poor. They said she'd turned her back on her own parents just so she could go to school. I believed them for years. It wasn't until I turned eighteen in that life and found the plea for help she never mailed that I finally saw the truth. My sister hadn't abandoned this family. This family had put a price tag on her first. Someone suddenly yelled from outside the gate, "Dennis! There's no sign of her on the east bridge!" Dad's voice came right after. "Keep looking! And call Justin. Have his family send people to stake out the bus station!" My sister's face changed. The bus station was exactly where she'd been planning to go. If she followed the same route as in my last life, she'd be walking straight into their trap. I folded up the paper and pressed it into her hands along with her ID card. "Take them both." But she just looked at me. "Aaron, what about you?" I hadn't expected her to think of me first, at a time like this. My nose started to sting. "I'm going with you." "No," my sister said at once. "You're only six, and you're Mom and Dad's only son. If I really took you with me, the whole town would help them hunt us down." Without thinking, she reached out and stroked my head. It was the lightest touch, but it nearly made me cry. In my last life, right before she was dragged into the wedding car, she'd stroked my head just like that. I grabbed her sleeve and pointed toward the backyard. "We're not going to the bus station. There's an irrigation ditch out behind the livestock shed. We cross the ditch to the old brick kiln, then go up the back of the kiln to the highway." She looked at me. "Are you sure?" I nodded. In my last life, when I was six, I ran wild around that area every single day. Nobody in town knew better than six-year-old me where a person could squeeze through. Suddenly, car horns blared outside. Someone burst out laughing. "The groom's cars are here!" Chapter 4 My heart sank. Abigail had heard it too. We exchanged a look. She finally tucked her ID card close against her body, then took my hand. "Let's go." This time, she was the one who took hold of me first. We had barely ducked into the cornfield when a long string of firecrackers went off behind us, so loud it sent the birds in the field flapping into the air. Abigail stopped short. She knew what it meant: the groom's party was back. In my last life, it wasn't long after these firecrackers went off that Dad and the others found her in the haystack. I pulled her down into a crouch. "Don't take the path between the fields. They'll see us." The corn had already grown taller than my head. Even from a whole field away, I could still hear the celebration in the yard. Someone was shouting, "The groom's here! Hurry up and pour the drinks! We can't be late for the ceremony!" Little kids were chasing the grown-ups around, begging for candy. My sister's grip suddenly tightened. I remembered the two pieces of candy in my pocket too. In my last life, I'd happily called everyone over just to get them. I didn't dare keep thinking about it. I tugged her onward through the corn. We hadn't gone far before she stumbled. When I turned around, I finally noticed the ring of black-and-blue bruises around her right wrist. The rope had done that last night. Back then, Mom had told me, "Every girl makes a fuss before her wedding. Once she's married, she'll understand her parents only want what's best for her." And I'd actually believed it. When my sister cried, I'd even offered her a piece of wedding candy. Thinking about it now, the sweetness of that candy turned my stomach sour. Soon, someone shouted in the distance, "Nothing on the east side! Nobody on the bridge either!" Then one of the relatives hollered, "Everybody pitch in and look! We can't afford to delay the ceremony!" Someone else immediately called back, "The Wrights already put down eighteen grand. You think this wedding's not happening today?" My sister went pale. I pulled her toward the edge of the field. Everyone who'd come for the feast today claimed they were here to celebrate. But all it would take was one word from Dad, and they'd block every road she had. We climbed down into the abandoned irrigation ditch. It had been dry for years, and the two of us ran west, bent low. My sister had already tried to run once last night, and her heels had been rubbed raw. Partway down the ditch, her legs gave out and she sucked in a sharp breath from the pain. I quickly held her up. "Abby, just hang on a little longer. The old brick kiln is right at the end of the ditch." As long as we got past the kiln, we could head for the highway. Right then, the loudspeaker at the wedding feast blared to life. A shriek of static drowned out the firecrackers, and Dad's voice carried across the entire field. "Attention, everybody! Abigail's thrown another tantrum and run off! "The groom's cars are already in the yard, and we're about to miss the ceremony. Anyone who sees her, help stop her! "She took Aaron with her too! Whoever spots him, bring him straight back to me! Don't hurt the boy! "If Abigail won't listen, hold her down. Don't let her get to the bus station!" For a moment, I couldn't even speak. In my last life, Dad said my sister only cared about money and turned her nose up at being poor. Then after she died, he said she'd had a nasty temper and couldn't even behave herself in her in-laws' home. So that was how it worked. As long as Dad spoke first, my sister would always end up the one in the wrong. Above the ditch, motorcycles roared to life. Someone shouted, "Get Freddy over to the highway! The Wrights' people are covering the bus station! A few of you women go ask around at her classmates' houses!" And then there was Mom. I heard her above us, her voice urgent. "Bring Aaron back to me first! Those two have been close since they were little. As long as I've got Aaron, I don't believe Abigail won't come back for her brother!" Chapter 5 Abigail's breathing turned ragged. She pushed me toward a small hollow in the side of the ditch. "Aaron, hide in here. I'll go out." I grabbed her. "If you go out there, they'll take you away!" "But I'm the one they're after." Her voice was shaking, but she was still trying to soothe me. "When you go back, just tell them I tricked you into it. They won't do anything to you." "Yes, they will," I cut her off. She froze. I clenched my jaw and whispered, "I ran away with you today. I'm not on their side anymore." At least, that was surely how Dad would see it. In my last life, while I stood on his side, he'd doted on me. But that love came with conditions. I had to obey him, help him shout for my sister, and believe she was the bad one. The footsteps outside the ditch were getting closer. I hurriedly pointed west. "Go to the brick kiln. Nobody's blocking that way." My sister didn't move. Instead, she looked right at me. "Aaron. How do you know where they're going to be?" The words caught in my throat. For a split second, I almost told her everything. I wanted to tell her that she'd died, and that I hadn't learned the truth until I was eighteen. I wanted to tell her that for twelve years, every time I dreamed about her, all I could hear was my own voice shouting, "I found my sister!" But someone was already running along the edge of the ditch above us. All I could do was grip her hand tight. "Because I don't want to be the reason you suffer ever again." She stared at me, stunned. I didn't give her the chance to ask anything else. I just pulled her onward. A man's voice drifted down from right above our heads. "Catch the little one, carry him off first! Don't let the big one get away. Tie her hands if you have to, just get her over there. We can't afford to cancel the ceremony!" Abigail immediately pressed me flat against the wall of the ditch. We barely even breathed. Only after the footsteps had passed overhead did she slowly let go of me, though her hand never left the back of my head. By the time we crawled out the far end of the ditch, her feet had started to bleed. The old brick kiln was just ahead. She made it a dozen or so steps before she couldn't hold herself up anymore, and she sank down against a crumbling wall. "Aaron, take my ID card." She pushed it into my hands. "And Ms. Stein's number. Go flag down a car on the highway, and once you get to the county seat, go find her. "Show her my ID card. She'll know something happened to me." I put my hands behind my back. "No." She got frantic. "Do as I say!" "You said you'd teach me how to write your name." She clearly hadn't expected me to bring that up out of nowhere. I looked at her. "You still haven't." Her lips moved. After two seconds, she tucked the ID card away again. "Okay. Once we're out of here, I'll teach you." We circled around the brick kiln. The highway lay at the bottom of the barren slope ahead, and I could already hear cars passing by. The 11:40 bus to the county seat came through here every day. When I was little, I used to stand by the road and count how many times a day it honked its horn. When I looked up, I saw the green shuttle bus coming around the bend. My heart leaped into my throat. "Abby! The bus is here!" She saw it too. Ignoring the pain in her feet, she grabbed my hand and ran down the slope with me. If we could just get down there. If we could just flag down that bus. If someone would just be willing to let my sister on... Then a woman's voice came from behind us. It wasn't loud. If anything, it was perfectly calm. "Aaron. Where are you taking your sister?"