Living In Secret: Special Edition

By Cristina Salat

Emergency Bulletin: Amelia's mother and new partner devise the disappearance of the plucky 11-year-old from an ex-husband with custody in order to begin a new life together — under assumed identities — 3000 miles away.

 

The start of the 'Gathering The Dreamcatchers' companion novels, this Special Edition contains a first-time-ever Bonus Feature: conversation between the author and cast, with the perspective of 30 years' hindsight.

 

Modern Times need — and deserve — modern, unconventional tales.

 

Brought to you from the author of every Dreamcatcher adventure: The Skin of Water: Defending The Dreamcatchers, Esoterica, Paradise Found, Action: The Future Is Here, Living In Light, and the forthcoming Pipsqueak: What Would The Waltons Do?

 

Modern Tales for Modern Times.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Green Flame Omnimedia
• Release date: Sep 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223017042

Cristina Salat

As a woman of the wind, I have enjoyed years navigating the urban jungles and deep blue seas I call home.Website: https://cristinasalat.wixsite.com/website Eclectic e-store: https://livefromthevolcano.ecrater.com/

Book preview

LIVING

IN

SECRET

Special Edition

Bonus:

Featuring first-time dialog

between the author and original cast!

Cristina Salat

Green Flame Omnimedia

All characters and locations are inventions of the author's imagination. While lives, settings and situations may be based upon historical or societal fact, any similarity to real people, places, things living or dead should be considered coincidental.

Various Editions Copyright 1993, 1994, 1999, 2016, 2019, 2023 Cristina Salat

Printed in the United States of America

All Rights Reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Salat, Cristina.

Living in Secret/Cristina Salat.

p.  cm.

Summary: Amelia's mother and new partner devise the disappearance of the plucky 11-year-old from the ex-husband who has custody to begin a new life together under assumed identities 3000 miles away. This Special Edition contains bonus first-time ever dialog between the author and long beloved cast of unconventional characters with the perspective of 30 years hindsight.

1. Custody of children — Fiction  2. Parental Rights — Fiction

3. Friendship — Fiction  4. Secrets — Fiction

5. Children's Rights — Fiction  6. Alternative Family Structure — Fiction

7. San Francisco (California) — Fiction  8. Adventure — Fiction

First printing, 1993, original hardcover edition, Bantam Books

Second printing, 1994, original paperback edition, Dell Yearling

Third printing, 1999, 2nd paperback edition, Books MarcUs

Fourth, Fifth, Sixth printings, 2016, 2019, 2023 Green Flame Omnimedia,

including trade hardcover + paperback Deluxe Edition

trade paperback 25th Anniversary Update Edition

this color hardcover, paperback, + b/w paperback Special Author-Cast Dialog Edition

and e-book editions

Contact the author:

http://cristinasalat.wixsite.com/website/contact

Your support is most appreciated. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author and publisher, except for brief excerpts to be used in book review.

Green Flame Omnimedia

Postal Suite 783

Volcano, HI 96785

BOOKS BY CRISTINA SALAT

Gathering The Dreamcatchers

Companion Novels/Novellas:

LIVING IN SECRET Special Edition

THE SKIN OF WATER:

Defending The Dreamcatchers

ESOTERICA

PARADISE FOUND

ACTION: The Future Is Here

LIVING IN LIGHT

(forthcoming) PIPSQUEAK: What Would The Waltons Do?

The World Is Beautiful

International Illustrated

Non-Fiction Series:

(various titles available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian)

THE WORLD IS BEAUTIFUL:

Illustrated Inspiration

BODY BEAUTIFUL: Photo Essay Ruminations

on the Art of Being Nakedly Human

NEW WORLD NUDES: Pictorial Ruminations

on the New Earth Underway

BRAND NEW EARTH NUDE:

Envisioning the Birth

of a Naked New World

Literary & Screen Novels:

ROBIN, ROMEO, & JULIETTE THE NOVEL:

Not Your Typical Love Story

ALIAS DIAMOND JONES

ELEVEN-ELEVEN/Huck Finn:

Girl Pirates Extraordinaire

SWIMMING LESSONS

W.A.R.P.

(forthcoming) LIKE A MOTHER

IRRESISTIBLY YOURS

Illustrated Picture Books

for Young People:

STEP-WHALES

PEANUT'S EMERGENCY Deluxe Edition

WITZEL'S WISH

FROGDEMONA: PRECIOUS PEST

THE BLUE HOUSE

Creative Non-Fiction/Memoirs/

Collections & Compilations:

HOME IS WHERE YOU'RE HAPPY

UNDINE INTELLIGENCE:

A Truer Tale of Ancient Elemental Water Beings

AKA Mermaid Love Spells

HOME TOO: Secret Springs

HOME IN THE THIRD DIMENSION

DOING INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY:

Expanded 2023 Edition

HAWAII TRIPTYCH

TOGETHER ALONE: When The Going Gets Tough,

Aliveness Keeps Growing

SLICE OF LIFE

MUSICAL MUSINGS OF A MAGNIFICENT EX-MALCONTENT:

aka Lessons Learned from Andy Gibb & John Denver

2017: A Collection of Stories & Life Snippets

THE BIG PICTURE

BELOVED EX-FRIENDS & EX-LOVERS:

Sticking Together Through Thick & Thin -vs- Letting Go

ORDINARY/EXTRAORDINARY: A Compilation Combo

(forthcoming) CAN WRITERS RETIRE?

LIVING IN HAWAII: A Five Act Adventure (so far!)

2022 Update

CREATIVE LIVING:

From Starving Artist to Self-Employed Bliss

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN:

The First Dreamcatcher

MAZE MAGIC:

Lessons from Ancient and Modern Life Labyrinths

FEEDING FRENZY:

Devourers of the Newly Published Spotted—Writers Beware

HOW TO BE FREE

(When the World Seems Anything But): 2023 Update

Along with numerous Green Flame Omnimedia Slims

(Life's defining moments in slender packages)

FREE E-SLIM

Want a free Cristina Salat e-slim?

Subscribe to the author's every-once-in-awhile

newsy alohas from the jungles of Hawaii

(or wherever she happens to be at the moment)

& receive one!

http://cristinasalat.wixsite.com/website/newbie-gifts

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank all those who originally test-read this novel: teachers, librarians, writers, and most especially my experts on what it means to be a kid. Extra special thank-yous to the precious agent and editor who helped secure this story its first homes.

CONTENTS

Books By Cristina Salat

Free E-Slim

Acknowledgments

A Brief Introduction

Living In Secret, The Novel

Chapter 1 Gone

Chapter 2 The Sunshine House

Chapter 3 Turtles Don't Need Anybody

Chapter 4 New Friends

Chapter 5 No More School, Ever?

Chapter 6 Secrets

Chapter 7 Sam

Chapter 8 Good Morning, Birthday Girl!

Chapter 9 Holiday Kisses

Chapter 10 I Wish I Could Live at Your House

Chapter 11 Nancy Thompson

Chapter 12 Just Put a Blue Peg in Your Car

Chapter 13 Fortunes

Chapter 14 Family

Chapter 15 Putting the Pieces Together

Chapter 16 Summer

Chapter 17 No More Secrets?

Chapter 18 My Real Name Is Amelia

Bonus Feature: Author - Cast in Conversation

Excerpt: Esoterica, The Sequel

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Dear Reader

About The Author

A Brief Introduction

So, we'll start with 'Living In Secret,' the tale that began it all...

And then, once that adventure concludes — this one-of-a-kind story which went on to become part of an array of 'Gathering The Dreamcatchers' companion novels, which then wound up condensing time and space in a manner today's quantum physicists and explorers of alternate timelines might recognize — at that point I, the author, will return for a first-time-ever dialog with some of these unconventional characters that you, dear Reader, if you're new to this fictional world will have begun to know...

...almost as if they are real people, with opinions of their own.

Because believe it or not — as I've learned throughout the years — actually, somehow: they are.

LIVING IN SECRET, THE NOVEL

Chapter 1:

GONE

In the middle of the night my mother comes to steal me away.

I am still up, reading under my covers with a flashlight, half-listening for Daddy or his girlfriend, Rosa, when I hear a muffled bump outside my window. I peek out from under the blankets but don’t see anything except the faint glow from the streetlight. Then, all of a sudden, there she is. Mom puts a finger to her lips and motions for me.

I scramble out of bed and tiptoe across the room to unlock the window. We ease it open and it squeaks a little, but I don’t think Daddy or Rosa will hear. The cold October wind blows in and makes me shiver.

Mom is standing on a ladder. She is wearing jeans and a dark sweatshirt with the hood up.

Are you ready? she whispers.

I nod.

I pull on a pair of jeans and a sweater. Mom gestures for me to hurry. She is nervous standing there on the ladder. Someone might see her and think she’s a burglar.

I don’t know who, though. No one on Clover Lane would be up at three o’clock in the morning.

I jam my feet into purple hightop sneakers. Then I drag my packed suitcase out from under the bed. I have all the things Mom said I should take: my favorite clothes, pictures of me from Daddy’s photo albums, and important papers, like my birth certificate, which I had to steal from Daddy’s desk drawer.

Mom goes down the ladder first, carrying the suitcase under one arm. I look around my room one last time, letting the flashlight’s glow flicker silently across the bed, the ruffled dresser, my TV and phone, the empty poster stand in the comer. It’s a pretty room, but I’ve never felt like it was mine. Rosa picked out almost everything before we moved into this new house three years ago.

I shut off the flashlight, place it on my bookshelf, and turn back to the window. Mom is at the bottom of the ladder, looking up, waiting for me. We have been waiting to be together for a long time. I climb out, feet first, and step downward, one rung at a time.

When I reach the ground, Mom hands me my suitcase, folds up the metal ladder, and turns it sideways so she can carry it. She scuffs away the marks the ladder made in the ground with her foot. I bend over, scoop up a handful of moist red and yellow leaves from under the big maple tree, and toss them around to cover our footprints.

We ease around to the front of the house and down the cement driveway. The street is dark and silent. I expect to see Janey’s truck with the white lettering on its doors:

HEROLDS & COMPANY

HOUSEPAINTERS

INSIDE & OUT

But Janey is waiting at the comer in a small U-Haul. She gets out and smiles at me. I haven’t seen her in a while.

Mom and Janey hoist the ladder into the back of the truck. It clatters a little and I look around, thinking someone will throw open a door and shout, what’s going on out there?!

But no one does.

My suitcase joins two others in the back of the U-Haul. Mom motions for me to climb in front. Janey puts the gearshift in neutral, and she and Mom push the truck silently around the corner. I look back just once at the house I’ve lived in since I was eight.

Good-bye Daddy, I think to myself. I wish it didn’t have to be this way.

Mom and Janey jump in. Janey starts the engine and drives us away. She doesn’t switch the headlights on until two blocks later.

My hands are cold and sweaty. I wiggle them down into my pockets to warm up. Mom puts her arm around me and I lean against her. She keeps checking her watch.

Watch your speed, she says to Janey. The last thing we need is to be stopped.

I’m only doing sixty, Janey says, glancing at the rearview mirror.

Eventually I see signs to New York City.

We’re going to the city? I ask, sitting up. That doesn’t seem far enough away. Daddy works there!

We’re going to California, Mom says, staring straight ahead. You and Janey are going tonight. I’ll fly out to meet you as soon as I can.

You’re not coming with us? I ask, getting scared. I thought we were all going together.

They’ll look for us, Amelia, Janey says. And if they find us, you’ll have to come back and we’ll be in big trouble. Your mom is going to throw them off the track.

Mom’s arm squeezes my shoulders. Janey will explain everything to you later, she says. I can barely hear her.

When we see the first sign for Kennedy Airport, Janey pulls over to the side of the road. Mom switches on the overhead light and pulls two hairy things in a plastic bag from under the truck seat. Wigs! Two black wigs!

Janey puts hers on. It is long and straight. My wig is gathered into a ponytail, tied with a red ribbon. Mom pins my real hair up with bobby pins and helps me put the wig on. She fastens it to my head with little wads of pink tape, which I know will hurt to pull off. The wig has bangs that tickle my forehead, but I don’t complain. Then Mom removes her makeup bag from the glove compartment.

This will make you look older, she says, fixing my face. She even puts a little mascara on my eyelashes. It doesn’t feel as great as I always thought it would. In fact, it feels like sleep crust.

Don’t rub your eyes, Mom says, taking a brand-new, folded-up windbreaker out of the glove compartment. It is one of those big, pull-over-your-head kind with the zipper pocket in front, the kind I’ve been wanting for a while, and bright red to match the hair ribbon in my wig.

I pull it on and try to smile.

We drive into Kennedy Airport just as the sun begins to rise. Planes are taking off and landing even at this hour. Everything is lit up for miles around. Janey pulls the truck into a parking lot and we get out.

Mom is crying. She asks me if I have the letter for Daddy. I get it out of the front pocket of my suitcase. She takes the letter out of its envelope and reads it silently. I wrote it three weeks ago, but I remember exactly what it says:

Dear Daddy,

I am running away from home. I love you, but I don't want to live with you anymore. You’re never home and Rosa is always on the phone with her friends. You don’t need me around. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.

Love, Amy

Everybody calls me Amy, except Mom and Janey, who call me Amelia, which is my real name. Daddy says Amelia is an old maid’s name, so he started calling me Amy when he got custody. I was six then.

Mom puts the letter in her back pocket and bends over to hug me. She makes my neck wet.

We have to go, Claire, Janey says.

Mom holds me away from her. Be good, Amelia.

I'm always good, I say. That gets her to smile.

Yes, you are.

Are you coming to California soon? I feel a lump in my throat.

As soon as I can, Pumpkin.

We hug again.

Janey says, Claire...

Mom stands up and hugs her too. They kiss on the lips. Then Janey hands me my suitcase and Mom gets into the U-Haul.

Janey and I walk toward the American Airlines terminal. Mom honks once as she drives by. Janey drops one of her suitcases to blow kisses. I wave. We watch the orange and white truck disappear around the bend.

Well, kiddo, we’re off . . . she says, looking nervous.

Are we doing something illegal? I ask.

She looks me in the eye, and nods.

I think Janey must like my mother a lot.

We have tickets to Dallas, Texas. Janey gives them to me to hold while we are standing on line waiting to check our bags. I study the tickets. They are for two people named Megan and Julie Dreisden. Both are adult tickets, for the same price, so I guess I am supposed to look over twelve in the wig and the makeup.

We get boarding passes. No one seems to wonder why we are traveling at 6:30 on a Saturday morning. There are other kids around. I