River's Run

Chapter 1




“I’ll be there. It might be late by the time I get there but I’ll be there, I promise.” River said sitting on the bed in the hotel she had just arrived at in California.



“Do you swear, River?” Star asked anxiously. She was twirling her shoulder length brown hair around her finger and looking at her older sister, Jo. She had been trying to get through to River Knight for the past two days.



“I swear, Star.” River laughed. “And tell Jo she still owes me for the last time we got together.”



Star grinned at Jo giving her the thumbs up sign. They had been trying to get the three of them together for the past year.



“She’s coming!” Star said excitedly wrapping her arms around Jo’s neck and dancing around.





River let out a tired sigh rolling her shoulders around to ease the tension. She had a lot to do in the next couple of days if she was going to meet up with her two best friends. She grinned. They were really more like sisters to her. They were her only family now. She had grown up traveling with the circus and had met them when their parents had joined when she was five. The Strauss Family Flyers were known for their high-wire acts. When Star and Jo’s parents retired several years ago it became the Strauss Flying Sisters. River’s parent did just about everything from tight-rope walking to the high-wire to River’s specialty, knife throwing acts. River had been born into the life of a circus performer just as Jo and Star had been.



They grew up moving from town to town, country to country, nomads in a modern world. The life had actually been very fulfilling. They were very well loved and protected. Their schooling consisted of learning a wide variety of languages, as well as, learning how to do all types of incredible tricks. They had more parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles than any girl could ever imagine having. It had hurt when River’s parents were killed in a hotel fire during one of their stops when she was seventeen but her circus family had gathered around her and supported her.



Two years ago, Jo and Star decided they were tired of all the traveling and accepted jobs with Circus of the Stars in Florida. They bought a condo and loved the stability of living in one place. River continued traveling with the circus. At almost twenty-two, she was the youngest of the three. The circus had just finished a tour in Asia and she was glad to be home. The girls promised each other they would get together at least once a year. Last year, Jo convinced River to meet them at their condo where Jo produced at least a dozen different guys for River to meet. River knew what they were up too. They thought if they could get her interested in someone she would settle down. River still enjoyed traveling too much to put down roots. All the guys left her feeling awkward and clumsy which was ridiculous when you considered she could hit moving targets with a series of knives while gliding through the air held only by her ankles upside down.



River just wasn’t comfortable around the opposite sex. She always felt a little different. It might be her appearance. She looked more like an elf. Oh, not one of Santa’s more like one from the Hobbit. She wasn’t real tall at five foot six but she was very willowy. She had thick dark brown hair that hung to her waist, pale skin, and huge dark, dark blue eyes outlined by thick dark lashes. Most people thought she wore colored contacts when they first met her. She usually wore dark sunglasses when she was out because her eyes were so different. She didn’t mind when she was performing, it helped with the mystic about her but out in public she would often be stopped and stared at. Her parents used to tease her saying she had been a gift from the stars, which she might have believed if her mom hadn’t had the same unusual eyes.



River was glad they had decided to meet somewhere else this year. Star had picked out a cabin in the middle of nowhere. They were supposed to meet up in the mountains of North Carolina in two days. River was still in California so she had to make arrangements for a flight. She called Ricki who did all the travel plans for the circus and within an hour she had all her flight arrangements done including her e-ticket and leased car. The joy about Ricki making the arrangements was River didn’t have to worry about the usual restrictions for car rentals. Everything went through the company.



Pulling a big, black bag that resembled a duffle bag onto the bed, River opened it to look at her collection of knives carefully packed. She was very, very picky about her knives. They were her life, literally. She had been tossing, juggling, and throwing them since she could walk. Some of the acts her dad taught her had never been performed by anyone else in the world. She was known as the best of the best when it came to anything involving a blade. Making sure everything had survived the shipping from Asia she couldn’t help but laugh when it had gone through customs on both sides of the ocean. Ricki had been there to take care of everything, thank God. Now, River had the next three months off as the circus broke for a much needed rest. She would spend most of it at the cabin Star had rented practicing new acts.