Page 1 of The Forgotten (Echoes from the Past #2)

She never felt the fatal blow. After the terror and pain of the past half hour, it almost felt like a caress, a cool hand on the brow, comforting her and telling her that it’s all right to close her eyes and let go.

She stared up at the stormy sky as she fell, its low, threatening clouds heavy with rain and the air thick with the cries of seagulls.

There were shouts of angry men and calls for justice as well, but she never heard those.

They were nothing more than a roar in her ears, blending in with the crashing of the waves on the shore as the storm intensified.

She lifted her hand, reaching for something unseen, and let it fall as her gaze fixated on a brief glimmer of sunlight peeking through the gloom.

A single bird wheeled just above, its wings spread wide as it glided toward the sea.

It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen, and she smiled, wishing she could watch it forever.

At last, she allowed herself to close her eyes. She had no more reason to fight. She knew with unwavering certainty that her boy was gone, and now she was free to go too. She slipped away, quietly and without a fuss, as undemanding in death as she had been in life.