Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Wild Child, Book 2: Lilith
    Wild Child, Book 2: Lilith
    Wild Child, Book 2: Lilith
    Ebook166 pages2 hours

    Wild Child, Book 2: Lilith

    By Mike Wells

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Wild Child, Book 2 - Lilith takes up where the first story left off. Join Kyle, Briana, Brawn and Brains for another hair-raising adventure with the "green water." Several new, intriguing characters are introduced. Written in the same lean, fast-paced style as the original, this sequel will keep you breathlessly turning the pages, eager to find out what happens next.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMike Wells
    Release dateAug 25, 2011
    ISBN9781466199408
    Wild Child, Book 2: Lilith
    Author

    Mike Wells

    Mike Wells is an author of both walking and cycling guides. He has been walking long-distance footpaths for 25 years, after a holiday in New Zealand gave him the long-distance walking bug. Within a few years, he had walked the major British trails, enjoying their range of terrain from straightforward downland tracks through to upland paths and challenging mountain routes. He then ventured into France, walking sections of the Grande Randonnee network (including the GR5 through the Alps from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean), and Italy to explore the Dolomites Alta Via routes. Further afield, he has walked in Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Norway and Patagonia. Mike has also been a keen cyclist for over 20 years. After completing various UK Sustrans routes, such as Lon Las Cymru in Wales and the C2C route across northern England, he then moved on to cycling long-distance routes in continental Europe and beyond. These include cycling both the Camino and Ruta de la Plata to Santiago de la Compostela, a traverse of Cuba from end to end, a circumnavigation of Iceland and a trip across Lapland to the North Cape. He has written a series of cycling guides for Cicerone following the great rivers of Europe.

    Read more from Mike Wells

    Related to Wild Child, Book 2

    Related ebooks

    YA Mysteries & Thrillers For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Indiana High Court Reprimands AG For Remarks About 10-year-old Rape Victim's Doctor

      Nov 3, 2023

      Both the attorney general and the doctor have now been separately reprimanded over the case, which ignited a media firestorm after abortion rights were overturned at the federal level.

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Joys of Being Retired

      Jul 23, 2020

      Several months ago, I wrote that one of my simple pleasures in retirement is having the freedom to run errands at noon on a Tuesday, with little traffic, lots of parking and ’60s music playing on the car radio. That prompted an e-mail from reader Bob

      2 min read

    • Article

      Radio Life

      Dec 30, 2020

      RELEASED 21 JANUARY 496 pages | Hardback/ebook Author Derek Miller Publisher Jo Fletcher Books Post-apocalypse stories often focus just on the nitty-gritty of how to survive when the world ends, but there’s a more challenging question: what happens w

      1 min read

    • Article

      Haunted Hotels

      Oct 15, 2020

      Haunted Hotels
      6 min read

    • Article

      Scary Shorts And Super Creeps

      Mar 3, 2022

      Scary Shorts And Super Creeps
      6 min read

    • Article

      Empire Of The Vampire

      Sep 8, 2021

      RELEASED OUT NOW! 736 pages | Hardback/ebook/audiobook Author Jay Kristoff There’s a real thrill at the Publisher HarperVoyager Empires are made up of many nations, and Empire Of The Vampire is made up of many fairly easily identifiable parts. The wo

      1 min read

    • Article

      How Stephen King’s Gun Essay Found New Life In ‘Gomorrah’

      Jan 17, 2021

      A non-fiction essay about gun violence by the American horror writer Stephen King will be produced by a tiny publishing house in Scampia, on the outskirts of Naples, known as one of the biggest drug-dealing and arms hotspots in Europe and the setting

      2 min read

    • Article

      Found Footage

      Nov 2, 2023

      Found Footage
      6 min read

    • Article

      Fitting In

      Oct 1, 2021

      Fitting In
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Kelpie

      Aug 7, 2019

      The Kelpie
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Goldilocks Effect

      Sep 9, 2022

      The Goldilocks Effect
      16 min read

    • Article

      Clarity

      Feb 1, 2019

      Clarity
      6 min read

    • Article

      Of Rats and Clyde

      Jun 20, 2023

      Of Rats and Clyde
      2 min read

    • Article

      Quotients

      May 7, 2020

      Quotients
      8 min read

    • Article

      Threshold

      Dec 11, 2023

      Threshold
      18 min read

    • Article

      Goodbye Gordon

      Jan 21, 2022

      Goodbye Gordon
      7 min read

    • Article

      “I Indulged In Forgiveness”

      Oct 6, 2019

      “I Indulged In Forgiveness”
      7 min read

    • Article

      Grey Pride

      Jun 21, 2017

      Grey Pride
      16 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Wild Child, Book 2

    4/5

    1 rating0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Wild Child, Book 2 - Mike Wells

      Wild Child

      Book 2 - Lilith

      a novel

      by

      Mike Wells

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright 2011 Mike Wells

      www.mikewellsbooks.com

      This book is a work of fiction.  The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real.  Any resemblances to persons living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

      All rights reserved.  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form whatsoever without written permission from the author.

      NOVELS BY MIKE WELLS

      Baby Talk

      The Drive-By Wife

      Forbidden (series, with Devika Fernando)

      Lust, Money & Murder (series)

      The Mysterious Disappearance of Kurt Kramer

      Passion, Power & Sin (series)

      Secrets of the Elusive Lover

      With Mother’s Approval (series, with Robert Rand)

      The Wrong Side of the Tracks

      Wild Child (series)

      The above titles are available in all popular ebook formats and most in audiobook format as well.

      Visit the author website/blog at:  http://www.mikewellsbooks.com

      For Lyudmila Kobylniak

      Chapter 2.1

      He moved like a zombie, throwing one foot forward after the other, his head down, black stubble on his haggard face. 

      He had no idea where he was going, or what he would do when he got there.

      Kyle Dunlap had been walking for three days straight, without food, water, or sleep.  He had managed to avoid the people who were looking for him.   He had traipsed across fields, through woods, had even forded creeks and a small river.  He was wearing a holey T-shirt and jeans and pair of oversized work boots, all stolen from a trailer park near the lake. 

      It was now early afternoon.  Kyle found himself traversing yet another large forest.  His mind was blank, lulled into a walking slumber by the steady crunch-crunch-crunch of his footsteps through the leaves.

      He walked for almost an hour before the trees began to thin. He found himself staring across yet another field, bordered by yet another old rusty barbed wire fence.  He climbed over wearily, his body numb to the sharp points of metal biting at his skin.

      On the far end of the field was a small house, so he angled away from it.

      Then he saw a figure.

      It came in and out of focus, like an apparition.

      An old man, standing in the middle of the field, all by himself.  He was swinging a pickaxe, digging a ditch. 

      Suddenly Kyle felt as if he could not take even one more step forward.  As he watched the man dig, his brain sluggishly began working.  Four singular thoughts came to him in the same monotonous rhythm of his footsteps:  work—money—eat—sleep.

      You need some h-help? Kyle called out, his voice cracking. 

      The old man turned and stared.  He glanced around the field as if Kyle might have just dropped out of the sky.

      Say again? the old man called.

      I...  Kyle’s mouth was dry, his lips swollen.   I just w-wondered if you needed some help...

      The field began spinning round and round.

      The next thing Kyle knew, the grass was rushing up at his face.

      * * *

      Moments later, Kyle opened his eyes, his head swimming, aware that he’d been jostled around.  He found himself stretched out on a couch in someone’s living room.  The front door was wide open, a wheelbarrow sitting just outside.

      A man was standing at the door to the kitchen.  He had a telephone in his hand and was punching in a number.  An old man.

      Everything came back to Kyle—it was the old guy who’d been swinging the pickaxe in the field.

       Who are you calling? Kyle said, sitting bolt upright on the couch.

      The man glanced over at him, surprised.

      I’m callin’ an ambulance, that’s who.

      No! Kyle croaked, struggling to stand up.

      The old man lowered the phone.  Son, you’re in a bad way.

      Please don’t call an ambulance, Kyle said.  Please don’t...

      He blacked out again.

      * * *

      The old man’s name was Graham.  Over the next few days, he nursed Kyle back to health.  Through bits and pieces of conversation, Kyle learned that Graham was widowed, had been a farmer all his life, and had recently sold off most of his land and was living frugally on the proceeds.   Thankfully, the conversation was mostly one-way—Graham did not ask Kyle many questions.  Kyle told Graham that his name was Mark, and that he was 21 years old.

      Graham spent almost all his time out in the field, digging the ditch.  Kyle learned that the ditch was, ironically, for a pipe that would bring water to his house from a spring he had recently discovered on his property.

      Every now and then a helicopter would pass overhead, and Kyle would grow tense. 

      Graham noticed this, but he did not say anything.

      Chapter 2.2

      On the third morning after his arrival, Kyle awoke to the smell of bacon. 

      He sat up on the couch, found the work boots, and started putting them on.

      What the hell do you think you’re doing? Graham said, carrying a tray into the living room.

      I’m going to help you dig the—

      You ain’t ready to work yet.  He pushed Kyle back down on the couch with a surprisingly strong hand.  I’ll say when you’re ready.

      He set the tray down in Kyle’s lap—there were scrambled eggs, bacon, buttered toast, and orange juice.

      Eat.

      * * *

      Kyle tried to obey Graham’s orders for bed rest, but as the day wore on, he became more and more antsy.

      By the next afternoon, he could no longer lie still.  Thoughts kept coming up, bad thoughts about what had happened with Briana and the government men.  Every time he heard a car pass by out on the highway or a helicopter fly overhead, he felt panicky.

      He finally put on his clothes and went outside.

      He found Graham on the far side of the field, sitting on the edge of the wheelbarrow next to the ditch, resting.

      Graham gave a wry smile as Kyle approached.

       You’re name ain’t really Mark, is it. 

      It  was not a question, it was a statement. 

      No, sir.

      And I’ll bet you ain’t twenty-one years old, neither.

       No, sir...I’m nineteen.

      Graham took a sip from a water bottle, studying him.  You want to tell me what you done?

      Kyle shook his head.

      So that’s how it’s going to be. He looked Kyle over. Well, I guess it don’t really matter.  I don’t suppose whatever you done can be that serious...

      Kyle didn’t respond.

      The sound of a helicopter broke the silence. Graham turned and glanced at it, then looked back at Kyle.

       That’s just an emergency medical chopper, Graham said.  County hospital’s just over there.  They pass this way a lot.

      Kyle nodded.  There was another awkward silence.

      Graham picked up a shovel and tossed it to him.  I guess you’re well enough to work now.  But you take it easy, you hear?

      Chapter 2.3

      The days slid into nights and the nights into days.  Kyle found the hard manual labor a relief.  He worked himself relentlessly, the action of the shovel and pickaxe raising blisters on his palms and fingers.  He desperately hoped it would bring him sleep.

      It didn’t.  Whenever he could manage to doze off, his mind was filled with images of Briana in the cave, bathing herself in the green water...and of himself, sealing her inside with the boulder.

      He had abandoned her, his best friend. 

      How long could she live without food and water?  Without regular water?

      He had left her in a cave to rot.

      Chapter 2.4

       About a week after Kyle started helping Graham dig the ditch, it rained for three days straight, the water coming down in heavy sheets.  This did not deter Graham from his project.  He and Kyle kept digging.  They wore black rubber boots and olive-colored ponchos to keep themselves at least halfway dry.  It was messy work, but much easier digging in the mud than trying to break up dry earth. 

      They made a lot of progress.  Graham was pleased.

      One day just after lunch, Graham’s pickaxe made contact with something hard and there was a loud clang.  The old man started cursing.

       What’s wrong? Kyle said, pulling up the hood of his poncho to see.

      Ah, hit more sheet rock, that’s all.  We’ll blast it out later.  He tossed the pickaxe aside and grabbed his shovel.  Come on, let’s work the other end for a while.

      As they made their way through the muddy field, following the wooden stakes that marked off the path the water pipe would take, Kyle said, What do you mean, ‘blast’ it out?

      With dynamite, a’course.

      Kyle glanced down at the brown puddles that had formed at the bottom of the ditch.

      But you can’t use dynamite when it’s this wet, can you?

      Graham chuckled.  You can use dynamite whenever you please.  Dynamite don’t care if it’s wet or not.  Heck, you can even use that stuff underwater.

      * * *

      By midnight that evening, Kyle decided what he had to do.

      He made his preparations just before dawn, when Graham was still fast asleep.

      The weather had finally cleared.  When Kyle came out of the house, the sun felt warm on his face.  His mind felt clearer, too.

      Graham was already hard at work, shoveling.  When he saw Kyle, he smiled.

      Mornin’! he called, like he always did.  But as Kyle got closer, his expression changed.

      I have to leave now, Kyle said.

      The old man nodded slowly, looking Kyle up and down.  I see.   He seemed disappointed. 

      All Kyle could think about was what he’d taken from the storage shed and taped to the inside of his thighs and calves.  He prayed Graham didn’t notice the lumps it made in his clothes.

      You sure you know what you’re doin’? Graham said.

      I’m sure.

       He reached into his overalls and pulled out his wallet. I’m gonna pay you for your work, of course.

      You don’t have to do that, Kyle said quickly.  You gave me free room and board.

      Nonsense, Graham said, and he started counting out bills.  Kyle silently watched, overwhelmed with guilt.  He was stealing from the man who had taken him in and been kind to him.  He could only imagine what Graham would think of him later.

       Let’s see...that’s about three hundred, Graham said, still counting.  Oh, hell— He thrust the whole wad of bills at Kyle.  Take it all—I’m sure you need it more than I do.

      Kyle hesitated.

      Go on, before I change my mind.

      Kyle slipped the money

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1