A Ride To Remembrance

By Denise Wahlquist

When Kelly loses her memory she must put her trust in the man who rescued her, a burly biker named Duke. With no idea who she is, she begins her rocky journey toward finding herself and much more; love, friendship and a newly found relationship with God. When her future is halted by her previous identity, however, she faces her biggest challenge of all: how to secure the promises of her new life and still renew her past. Can they exist together? Or must she give up one to have the other?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Denise Wahlquist
• Release date: Jul 27, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466074989

Denise Wahlquist

I grew up the leader of the neighborhood imagination club mostly by default since I was the oldest. We had many adventures and I am proud to say they were among the most fun I have ever had. When I finally made it through high school and college and into the adventure of marriage and motherhood, I decided to write down my imaginary exploits in the form of stories. This not only gave me a reprieve from the daily grind of tending babies but gave me an outlet for my imagination. And I had five little heads to fill with nonsense so they could enjoy their own adventures. Marrying my prince charming and playing with our little princesses and princes hasn't done much for my maturity but it has helped my imagination to a very large degree. I think I am a better writer because of it and will continue to be immature and nonsensical with my grandchildren when they come along! You may often find me baking a cake, entertaining friends, watching movies or shopping for a new purse but you will find that I am happiest when my husband is waiting on me! I love to feel like a princess! And I love to make him yummy chocolate cake!

Book preview

A Ride To Remembrance

Denise Wahlquist

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2011 Denise Wahlquist

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Chapter 1

I woke up - or at least it felt like I was waking up - on the back of a motorcycle holding on to the very large man who was driving it as we raced across the desert sand. The first thing I noticed was the scratchy roar of many motorcycles as their fluctuating throttles made spurts of noise up and over the hills. The second thing I noticed was the massive headache throbbing in my brain. It felt like my head was going to explode and at that moment I wouldn’t have minded if it did.

We finally came to a stop somewhere out in the middle of the sand dunes and I was thankful for the rest. All that motion was beginning to make me dizzy and nauseated. One more hill and I think I would have puked more than just the contents of my stomach.

The man on the motorcycle shifted his weight and I realized he was getting off the bike. My head spun wildly as I tried to stay upright without something to hold on to and my arms flailed in front of me as I reached for something to hold in his place. I thought for sure I was falling but someone grabbed my arm and steadied me.

Thanks, I said to the person who was now enveloped in blackness. I assumed it was the guy who got off the motorcycle but I didn’t have time to think too much about it. My stomach was still trying to escape from my chest.

My eyes did me the favor of blacking out so that I wouldn’t have to look at my surroundings for a moment. I tried sitting still and focusing but it took a moment or two to regain their use. When I could see again I was surprised to find there was a very large group of people spread across the sand. And I didn’t know a single one of them.

The man I’d been riding with grunted as he practically dragged me to the center of the camp where everyone was headed. I say he was dragging me because I’m sure that’s what it looked like. My feet would hardly move and I couldn’t make out my surroundings at first. I struggled to walk independently but I was too queasy to do it very well. The man helping me ended up doing most the work.

As we reached our camping spot he released me, and not in a very gently way. I thought he was being mean and unkind but it was hard to tell when I could only feel sick. I strained to view my environment and was surprised to see that there were a lot more people than I originally thought. I looked a little closer, trying to bring some recollection to my brain but I could not. They were all very peculiar to me and not just because I didn’t recognize them. These were the kind of people I usually avoided.

They were dressed in black leather, from their jackets to their boots. They all wore dark sunglasses, gloves and bandanas or hats. And they all had beards. Even the women had facial hair, or at least, I thought there were a couple women in there.

One of the men started speaking and I tried to blink away the grogginess in my head. I could hear him but I couldn’t make out what he was saying. My head was still a mess. He seemed to be talking generally to the crowd and they all stopped to listen. I listened as well, trying to make sense of what I was hearing.

Apparently we were going to spend the night out here in the desert. My first thought was we’re in the desert? but then I remembered the sand and heat. Of course we were in the desert. I really needed to clear my head.

I heard a large roar and realized everyone was cheering. This made my head pound harder from the sudden, loud clatter and my nerves did a swift crawl, as if trying to escape my skin. I was out here, in the middle of nowhere with all these men, alone? All sorts of cruel, evil things ran through my brain and I pushed them away before they took over my head. I needed to leave promptly, but where would I run? There wasn’t a town or sign of civilization anywhere near, that much I knew. This wasn’t the desert for nothing.

The panic I felt must have been displayed on my face for the biker man took me by the shoulder and turned me toward him, speaking quietly.

Just stay with me and nothing will happen to you, he whispered in a low, gruff voice with a slight southern lilt.

"Nothing will happen to me by those people or does that include you as well?" I asked gravely, through a very dry throat. I was deathly afraid of the consequences of my being here and I should have probably kept quiet but the question came out anyway.

He gave me a cold stare for a moment and then he smirked, a small grunt of amusement that I didn’t find amusing. He then turned and as he did so, let go of my arm. This left me to stand on my own and I admit it wasn’t good timing; I was still doing the brain merry-go-round thing. So naturally I fell to the ground. Nice going, legs, I thought. They felt like rubber. Come to think of it, so did my arms and everything else I possessed bodily-wise. All except my head, that is. That felt like a two-ton block of concrete waiting to drop and crack apart into little cement rocks.

I blinked a few times and tried to focus on the man who had, for all intents and purposes, just dropped me. He was walking back to his bike and evidently gathering a few items of bedding and some food. He came back slowly, pausing in front of me.

I’ll fix you some grub, you just wait here, he said and then threw a blanket at me. That’s for tonight. It gets a little chilly.

He walked away toward the center of the crowd, a swagger in his step that made me think he was either very arrogant or he just didn’t care about much, maybe both.

There were a few fires being started around the little camp and I assumed he was going toward one of them to fix my grub. There was nothing else I could do at the moment so I did as he told me and stayed put. As scary as he was the rest of the group looked a lot scarier.

The night was surprisingly warm even for the southern California desert. I had no idea where I was at the time but later found out that’s where we were: the Mojave Desert. Lovely.

I stared up at the stars and tried to gather my thoughts. How did I end up here? Where was here anyway? Who were these people? And who was I? I suddenly realized that I had no idea. I understood and could speak English so at least that was a start. But nothing else came to mind; my name, my home, everything I knew, it was all gone. A small amount of panic began to well up inside me.

I searched my pockets for a clue but nothing was in them. That panicky feeling was beginning to grow so I tried to distract my mind by discovering a few things about myself. I was wearing some long plaid shorts of beige material with green and blue stripes. Well, that was good; at least I could remember my colors. I also had on a white short-sleeved shirt layered over a turquoise tank top and some white tennis shoes. My hair was a mess, having been wind-blown all over the place on our little ride. I tried to comb my fingers through it but it was too tangled to mess with. I did find out that it was brown and long enough to reach my mid-back. I wondered what color my eyes were but didn’t have time to worry about it right then. There were other matters that needed to be taken care of.

For one thing, I needed to figure out how I could escape from this predicament. Somehow I knew I didn’t belong here. For one, I was dressed very differently from the rest of the group. No black leather for me. And I didn’t have anything with me, no purse, no personal belongings like a jacket or blanket. I hadn’t planned on being with these people, obviously.

Soon my motorcycle man came back with something in a can that looked like beans. I didn’t know but I was pretty sure I wasn’t a fan of beans but my stomach was telling me to eat so I did. It tasted wonderful, mostly because I felt as if I’d been starved for a week. I ate the entire can before I realized that the guy who cooked them for me wasn’t eating anything. When I finished I timidly handed him the can, feeling bad for not asking if he wanted some. He just took it without a word and handed me a bottle of water. I tried to smile as I took the bottle but the fear in my heart was making me feel apprehensive and anxious. It probably looked more like a grimace. I almost dropped the bottle since my hands still felt funny and tingly but I finally managed it. I drank the water, hoping it would calm me somehow, all the while keeping my eyes toward the ground. I was afraid to look at anyone, especially the man closest to me.

The big group of people around me had begun to gather around a center fire to finish off the evening chatting and drinking and laughing. As I watched them my worry began to subside a bit. I was like a rock or a tumbleweed simply watching the scene before me. No one looked at me, in fact they all seemed to be ignoring me, so I pulled the blanket around my shoulders and sat quietly, hoping to remain unnoticed. Even the biker I had been riding with seemed to be doing his own thing. After awhile he walked away from the camp and I lost track of where he went. I didn’t care at this point. He was big and scary and I didn’t want to have to deal with him. I guess I was hoping deep down inside that if I ignored him he would go away, like my fears.

After a couple hours everyone started to drift off to their own camps to go to sleep. My motorcycle man came lumbering back about this time and I wondered what he expected of me. Fear rose in my throat and I tried to swallow it back down. Did he think I belonged to him? Had I agreed to this trip? I couldn’t imagine wanting to go somewhere with a bunch of people who scared me, this guy especially. He was well over six feet tall, probably by more than just a couple inches, and he must have weighed close to three hundred pounds. Most his weight seemed to reside in his middle but I could tell there was quite a bit of muscle under that mass. He wasn’t just big because he had a little fat around the middle, he was pretty solid as well. If he wanted something he probably got it. Even the other bikers seemed to respect him.

He had gathered some things from his bike and was spreading them on the ground behind me, shuffling and moving around without looking at me. It almost seemed as if he was ignoring me on purpose.

I didn’t know what to say so I kept quiet. Besides, my throat felt dry and scratchy and I knew talking would hurt it more.

We’ll sleep right here, he said after a few minutes. The we part of that sentence made my nerves twinge. I wondered if I should try and run but he didn’t move any closer to me or try to grab me. I watched him a moment and decided I was still safe for a bit longer so I just pushed it aside in my brain. Even with his deep, gruff voice he didn’t seem threatening, which was odd considering my circumstances. I should have been terrified.

I laid down slowly, exhausted from the fear I had been living with the past few hours and something else I couldn’t quite place. I had been shaky and groggy earlier but once I ate that meager dinner my body seemed to calm down a little. I was still somewhat wobbly but I hoped some sleep would take care of that. I had no energy.

My new partner grabbed another blanket and laid down a few feet behind me, where all his things were. For some reason this made me feel safe so I tried not to worry. I turned toward the fires and stared into the flames until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. For a little while I got some sleep.

It was well into the night when I heard a strange sound and awoke with a jolt. My dreams had been scattered and frightening so at first I wasn’t sure if the sound was real. Then I heard it again.

I forced my eyes open but just a slit. I peeked around the campgrounds, watching nervously for something - I didn’t know what. Was it an animal? What lived out here? All my brain could think of was something called a tiger and the image of a very large and toothy creature creeping toward me. I soon found out I was right on the creature part.

A very ugly man with a long face, long stringy, greasy hair and a gold front tooth was walking around the camp, weaving among the sleeping group as if he were drunk beyond belief. It wasn’t long before I found out he was.

He looked at me and then looked again when he saw my eyes were open. I don’t know how he could tell I was awake. I was sure my eyes weren’t more than teeny slits.

Well, hey, he slurred with a strong southern drawl. Whatcha doin’, honey? He staggered over and fell in front of me, inches from my face. You waitin’ up for me? He tried to get close but lucky for me his judgment was off. My body was exhausted from whatever had made me forget everything and my head was still pounding. Besides, I was scared to death and couldn’t move if I tried.

Go away, I finally told him through the sandy gravel in my throat. It sounded pathetic, like a frog who had lost his voice. The man laughed, showing his gold tooth again.

You women always say that, he sputtered. I could smell the putrid scent of alcohol and I wanted to vomit. I knew I wouldn’t be able to fight him off if he came any closer and I began shaking involuntarily. What was I going to do now? I wanted to just die. I cringed and began pleading in my head please make him go away. I squeezed my eyes shut tight, hoping somehow this would keep the scary man away.

She said go away, came a gruff voice from behind me. Motorcycle man was now awake, at least awake enough to yell at this guy. I slowly opened one eye, then two. The man had stopped. I was safe for a moment.

Gee, Duke, you don’t have to be greedy, the ugly man said as he looked back and forth between us. His eyes held an evil gleam that made my fear grow each time he looked back at me. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen.

She said go away, said the big biker behind me, now known as Duke. "And now I’m telling you," he