Merriton

An unfamiliar face, but with the whole town watching for her, Sierra tried to hide. The woman was running through the deepest of the woods of Mount Zen, just like Sierra, except she had a kid in one of those running strollers. The big wheels crunched through the pine needles and gravel. Sierra hid as well as she could, wishing for camouflage workout clothes. “Nike?” Sierra thought to herself, “God, what was I thinking? I should be buying my clothes at the Army surplus.”

When the woman approached her hiding place, she slowed the stroller and looked right at Sierra. Neither of them said a word. Sierra could smell the sap coming off a tree near her. They looked at each other and the little boy in the stroller pointed at Sierra and laughed. The unknown woman finally spoke, “You’re that rich bitch who bought the Thunder Brothers Ranch.” Sierra felt the full fear of being found out. Maybe this woman wouldn’t tell anyone that she had been running again. What could she say to make this woman keep quiet?

“Yeah, that’s me.” If she couldn’t hide in a town this small, how had this woman gone unnoticed for so long? “Who are you?” The woman squinted at Sierra. “Why don’t you run with me? It’s safer if we go together.” Sierra nodded and shrugged. They both started running, slowed by the unknown woman’s pace. She finally talked, “My name’s Andrea Sebastian.” Sierra’s eyelids fluttered at the name. “Sebastian? Then you must be related to the Thunder Brothers.”

Sierra felt the woman’s gait slow a bit. Her running stiffened while she pushed the stroller. “I was married to John.” The revelation of it all hit her. “Oh yes, I remember you!” The woman sniffed angrily. “I’m sure Angie’s told you a bunch of lies about me.” Sierra’s brow knitted. “No, Angie’s never even mentioned you. I heard from Kevin that you and John were married and had three kids. John takes every Sunday off for the children. We thought it was funny that he wouldn’t do any work on the farm on Sunday. He must really love his kids.” Andrea’s face was drawn and angry. “You might say that.”

In silence, the two of them ran slowly through the trees of the furthest reaches of the sno-park. Poorly maintained, it could be easy to get lost, but Sierra kept her new iPhone in her pocket. She felt safe knowing that she could just turn on the GPS feature and get herself out of where ever she got into. She had never completely lost her way yet, but since they built that 3G tower on the mountain, she felt a lot safer. The crisp air felt like the first hint of autumn. Last year at this time, it was still a little warm, but this week had been cooler.

Andrea finally spoke, “You should run with me. I don’t think it’s safe for women to run alone in these woods.” Sierra didn’t know how to answer. She would LOVE a running partner, even if she had to slow to the crawl that they were at, but the risk of being found out scared her. She decided to be completely honest. “I’d love to run with you, but it has to be a secret. You can’t tell anyone about it or they’ll stop me. Do you understand?” Andrea’s features hardened and she started running quicker. “I didn’t think Angie could be so petty.” Sierra shook her head. “They all are. You can’t let anyone know I’m running with you. Can you keep my secret?” Andrea shrugged. “My lips are sealed. Nobody talks to me anyway.”

The speed of their run slowed again and Sierra felt like she was running in water. The quiet of the forest overwhelmed her. She felt a warm surge of friendship from this woman, but because of their pathetic pace, her legs felt like they were barely moving. Andrea broke her out of her reverie. “So what’s your name? I’m not going to keep calling you ‘Rich Bitch’ if we’re going to be running partners.” She sighed and replied, “Sierra McCain.” The woman nodded. “Like the mountains?”

Sierra stopped running. Within seconds, Andrea stopped running as well, looking behind her. “Something wrong?” Her whole life, growing up in San Francisco, she had told people that her name was Sierra only to have them respond, “Like the club?” The Sierra Club had been an important environmental mover when she was a child, but her parents had named her after the Sierra Mountains, their favorite vacation spot when Sierra was conceived. Andrea had been the first person to ever ask her if she had been named after the mountains instead of the club.

“No, nothing’s wrong.” She started running slowly so that Andrea could keep up with her. “You’re right. I WAS named after the Sierra Mountains. It’s funny that you would have heard of them.” Andrea snorted. “The schools here in Merriton aren’t THAT bad.” The two women laughed. At the end, Sierra had the best and worst run in months depending on whether you were judging by loneliness or mileage.