She Waits by Kate Sweeney Page A

and sniffed. I stopped as it dawned on me.
    "Perfume! That's it!" I said.
    She looked at me. "What, my perfume? I'm glad you like it."
    "That's it!" I exclaimed triumphantly as I leaned over and stupidly sniffed her neck.
    "What in the world?" Her face reddened as her hand instinctively went to her neck.
    "What a colossal idiot!" I exclaimed while looking at Maggie, who glared at me. "Oh, no, no, not you. Me, I'm the idiot. That's what I couldn't remember. The minute I smelled your perfume, it occurred to me--the intruder was wearing perfume as well. Geez, I can't believe I didn't think of that before. My father is rolling over in his grave right now," I said and shook my head. "God, it was a woman."
    "Are you sure?" she asked amazed.
    "Positive. Let's get back."
    We saddled up and headed back toward the house. Maggie suddenly pulled her horse to a stop.
    "What's the hold up?" I asked.
    She said nothing. I eased my horse up next to hers. Maggie was staring into the woods, so naturally, I followed her gaze. I didn't see anything.
    "Maggie?" I asked, ignoring my quick shiver. "What's wrong?"
    "I-I thought I saw someone in the woods, over there." She pointed in the direction we were looking.
    "Are you sure, Maggie?" I asked.
    "Maybe not. Let's get out of here, though."
    The uneasiness in her voice had me looking once again. Then I saw something move.
    Deep in the woods, a woman was standing alone. She was dressed in white that made her stand out against the dark woods. She stood so still, it was unnerving.
    She was watching us.
    I looked at Maggie, who had obviously seen her now, too. I grabbed her arm to steady her, or to steady me. Maggie leaned into me.
    "Do you see?" she whispered.
    Is she nuts? "Yes, I do. Why doesn't she move?" I asked. We were talking in whispers. "Is she looking at us? Who is she, can you make her out?"
    "I can't tell. The trees are in the way. Kate, I'm frightened. We just can't sit here."
    "Okay, let's go introduce ourselves," I said, not wanting to do any such thing.
    I had a feeling Maggie felt the same as I saw the fear flash across her face. She then nodded.
    As we started in her direction, the woman abruptly turned and faded into the woods. We stopped and looked at each other.
    "Okay, did you see that?" I asked. Maggie nodded quickly and shivered.
    "Let's see where she's going," I said.
    We went off the path and rode in the direction the woman appeared to have gone. We were getting deeper and deeper into the woods.
    All of a sudden, Maggie's horse reared and took off. As she galloped into the woods, I could see Maggie faltering, almost falling off the horse. She was pulling on the reins, trying to stop her horse.
    I chased after, but soon lost sight of her. I stopped, listened and heard nothing. I suddenly realized I was completely turned around. I had the horse canter slowly while I looked for any indication of Maggie's direction.
    I had to raise my arms defensively to fend off branches that seemed to come alive as they grabbed for me. I made my way through the heavy brush to a little clearing. I stopped and called out, to no avail. Just as I was about to call out again, an inner voice stopped me.
    Leaves rustled to my side, and I turned to look. There was nothing.
    Though it was still afternoon, the massive pine trees gave the woods an ominous darkness, allowing only a few rays of late sunlight through. I waited, straining to hear something, anything. As soon as the horse slowly started to lope, I heard the rustling to my right, once again. I stopped, and the rustling stopped. I continued, and the rustling continued. The woods and I were doing some kind of a macabre two-step.
    Someone, something is walking right by me, I thought as I frantically strained my eyes to see. The sun had gone behind the clouds and the woods took on an even more menacing darkness. Okay, don't panic. How far can she go?
    My shoulder started aching horribly. I was tired and scared and wanted to go home. Nothing better