Description

Celia had three children—eleven year-old Jonie, nine year-old Blair, and five year-old Drew. She also had a cruel and abusive husband named Durk. They lived in an isolated house on the edge of the swamp, and her children had seldom even been to town. She and the children had left Durk and stayed in a shelter for a month. With a court order for Durk to stay away, they returned to their home. A few days later, Durk showed up and was worse than ever. When he threatened to violate Jonie, Celia retrieved a handgun and forced Durk to the swamp where she intended to kill him. While wrestling for control of the gun, her dog Flint attacked and found Durk’s jugular vein. Celia then rolled his body into the swamp. Durk had always told Celia that he could not be killed, because he had become one with the swamp, and Celia had a terrible feeling that more trouble would follow. While at the shelter, Celia had convinced Norma that hers and the children’s lives were in danger. Norma had connections to an Underground Railroad that helped relocate families in abusive relationships. It was a natural step to rely on Norma to help them escape, although Celia did not mention that Durk was in the swamp. Soon the family was on the run towards a new home and new identities, with Mel in the driver’s seat. Mel had helped to relocate many families, and took every precaution to ensure that they were not followed. So it was with great surprise that they learned another couple had been killed in the very motel room that they had recently vacated! Coincidence? When the same thing occurring following a stay with their first short-term host family, Mel and Norma began to wonder if Durk could possibly be following. Things got even more complicated when the police found a recent skeleton in the swamp near Celia’s old house. There were no dental records or other positive means of ID, but their preliminary conclusion was that the skeleton was in fact Durk. If he was dead, then who was following their trail? Norma decided to take the unusual step of flying to the family’s next destination to learn more of the truth from Celia. She had to be careful, because she was the only one that knew all of the stops along the Underground Railroad . . .