C. Leah Wetherby
Cable and Carol Withers were vacationing in the mountains of western North Carolina when they happened upon a little girl sitting alone in a canoe on the banks of a river in the southern part of the Cherokee Reservation. Taking her to the nearest law office in Birdtown they turned her over to Sheriff Conners. After an extensive search for her parents or relatives they were allowed to adopt her and take her home to Durham where she grew into a beautiful young woman.
After the tragic death of her adopted parents Celine Withers, along with her fiancé Marsh and best friends Irene and Mark, returns to the Great Smokey Mountains for a much needed vacation only to find something more sinister lurking in the shadows. Looking for answers to her haunting dreams she finds that she is now running for her life. As she begins to remember the past, finds comfort in her new found heritage and long lost family she is brought to the edge of losing it all again.
C. Leah Wetherby lives in West Chicago, Il but was born in the heart of the Great Smokey Mountains in Hendersonville, North Carolina. She is the mother of two grown daughters and 6 grandchildren and has always had a love for the mountains where she was born. She got her love for reading and writing from her parents, Joseph and Carol Wetherby who were both English and Speech professors at Duke University and has always dreamed of someday writing her own novel.
This is her first novel but she has been writing poetry for friends and family for over 35 years and has had several published on Poerty.com. and is currently working on a sequel to The Cherokee Star.
The little girl was standing next to the Sheriff’s desk not saying a word. She was watching the big man with the gun as he talked to the man and woman who had brought her to his office. The woman placed a protective hand on the child’s shoulder as she explained to the Sheriff. “Cable and I had just rounded the bend of the river and I couldn’t believe my eyes, Sheriff. There she was just sitting in that canoe humming to her self,” she said.
“Did you happen to see anyone else around or even any sign that someone might have been near?” he asked looking down at the child staring up at him.
“No, we looked for some time and even called out but no one answered. Lord only knows how long she was there, why just look at all those scratches and all that dirt. I wonder if she is all right, she hasn’t said a word since we found her.”
The Sheriff crouched down so that he was face to face with the child and looked into a set of the clearest greenest eyes he had ever seen. “What’s your name little one?” he gently asked. She just stared back and stuck her thumb in her mouth. He tried again, ”can you tell me your name little one?” But as he reached out to her she suddenly scooted under his desk and into the far corner.
As the woman crouched down and held out her arms to the child she heard softly “Stay, watch Celine, watch Celine.” She gently pulled the child into her arms and looking over to where her husband and the Sheriff were standing said, “I think her name might be Celine. She keeps repeating watch Celine.”
Chapter One
She was alone in the cave again with the lightening and thunder echoing off the walls. With each flash the walls came to life again as she huddled in the smallest corner she could find. Her mother had told her to stay quiet and not to come out until she came back for her, but that had been so long ago. With all the courage she could muster she crept toward the dark opening of the cave. In the distance she could still see the light from the campfire but now there were lots of loud noises there too.
Earlier it had been raining and the wind was still rushing through the trees and the sky lit up with the constant lightening and she was certain that she heard her fathers voice coming from the camp. Maybe he was calling her. She had better hurry to see what he wanted. She crept down the hidden stairs her mother had brought her up by and edged closer to camp. Suddenly there was a really bright flash of lightening that lit up the entire campsite and she stopped in her tracks. Looking towards the middle of the clearing she saw 4 big bears. They were tall and standing up on their hind legs. Two of them seemed to be searching through her father’s equipment and were throwing everything around and dumping out all the contents of the boxes. Two more were going in and out of the tents. In her child’s mind she couldn’t understand why bears would be in camp and these bears looked funny too.
Where were her parents, she couldn’t see them anywhere but
she was sure that she had heard her father’s voice. Suddenly she was awake, sweaty, shaking and with tears streaking down her cheeks
