Silver Moon Read Online Free

touched the beach, everything in Elyse’s mind fled except for the feeling of being home again. The warm breeze washed over her, kissed her skin, and then continued on its way, sped by the Caribbean Sea. Her riding dress billowed about her waist, but she did not bother to smooth it down. She crossed the white sand, feeling its heat penetrate the soles of her boots.
    She wanted to kick them off and run barefoot through the sand. Elyse stopped as a memory of the past broke free. She had been four, running along this very beach. Behind her, her father chased her, laughing and making growling noises.
    The memory fled and Elyse took a deep breath before walking toward the trees, her legs guiding her without willful control.
    She stopped at the edge of the trees. Before her was a wide stone path. Lining the path, royal palm trees swayed in the island breeze. This she remembered too although, as with all her memories, it had been vague until she actually saw it.
    She started along the path, her breathing low and shallow; the bag in her hand all but forgotten while her eyes darted everywhere, seeing things she had not seen since childhood.
    Insects called to each other, and birds flew through the leaves of a dozen varieties of trees. Red birches were thick along the path, dogwood and breadfruit trees in abundance everywhere.
    The path gradually steepened, and as the trees thinned out, the flowers and bushes grew denser. Stopping, Elyse looked around again. In every direction cattails proliferated; their large, almost diamond-shaped leaves were emerald green and the fluffy coral tails growing upon them waved in the soft breeze.
    The varied scents of the island assaulted her all at once. She drank them in, as she did the almost forgotten beauty surrounding her—the very things she had come near to giving up hope of ever seeing again. For Elyse Louden, time had stood still and given her a gift that few could ever have or appreciate.
    Shaking herself free of her memories and thoughts, Elyse moved along the path toward her home. She paused when she reached a rise where the stone path leveled off for a short distance. There she turned to look at the land surrounding her.
    Everywhere she looked, she gazed upon Devonairre’s property. For as far as she could see, the land belonged to her. She had been on Devonairre since her booted feet had touched the shore. She had walked through the wild, natural parts, and was now entering the area of the plantation responsible for both her wealth and the troubles in her life.
    Several hundred yards away, several workers went into the field. A moment later, they disappeared into the high stalks of sugar cane. In the distance was a rising funnel of dark smoke, which came from the plant on the other side of Bluefish Bay.
    She looked at the main house. Smiling, Elyse walked faster. “Home,” she said to herself, savoring the word as though it were the rarest of delicacies.
    Ten minutes later, Elyse reached the graded drive that curved toward the main house. Instead of taking that, she walked past it and climbed yet another hill with white stone steps laid within the earth. At the center of the hill, which overlooked the ocean on one side and the main house on the other, was an area fenced with wrought iron, surrounding two granite stones that gleamed beneath the sun.
    Walking to the center of the small cemetery, Elyse stopped in front of the stones. She gazed at them for several long seconds before kneeling on the ground.
    On her left was her father’s grave; on the right was her mother’s. Elyse did not remember her mother at all, for she had died when Elyse was barely two years old. Yet she knew her mother had been a beautiful woman, and her father had loved her deeply.
    “I’m home; Father, Mother, and I won’t leave again.” Elyse stayed by the two graves for a long time, her mind spinning under the fleetingly bare handful of memories of her parents. Then, with her eyes still dry, she stood