Excerpt from AMONG THE INNOCENT by Mary Alford, taken from Chapter Two   Something caught her attention above. Movement near the cracked window of her old room. Tattered gingham curtains waved. Just the wind? Leah shielded her eyes against the sun’s glare. A figure. Barely visible past the curtains. Someone was in the house. Without thinking of her own safety, Leah raced to the entrance. Ramming her shoulder against the warped door, she forced it open and charged inside. Ten years of dust covered everything, yet time had been encapsulated into this compact space. The sight of her mamm’s knitting next to her favorite rocker sucked the breath from Leah’s body. Pushing aside those heartbreaking memories, Leah drew her weapon and eased toward the stairs while recollections of the many times she and Ruth had slid down the banister crowded in. She stuffed them down deep as she reached the landing. Braced for the confrontation to come. The first door on the right belonged to her parents. As quietly as possible, she opened it and peeked inside, fighting the haunts waiting there. The room was vacant of anything resembling human life. Next, she checked her brother’s room. Nothing. One more…