by Reid, Terri
Clarissa’s heart dropped “I’m so sorry, Mom,” Clarissa sobbed. “Please don’t be hate me.”
“Oh, darling, I don’t hate you,” she said, hugging her daughter. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I guess we’ll have to get something with reinforced steel or rubber for the rest of the baby teeth in the Alden household,” Bradley teased. “I have a feeling that butterfingers might be a family trait that I’ll pass on to all of our children.”
Mary laughed and smiled up at Bradley. “Well, in that case, I’m going to hide all of my breakable things.”
Mary was laughing, but Clarissa remembered her own mother would laugh when her father was home. Then when he left, the pain would show on her face and she would lie down for a long time. Mary must hate her but didn’t want her dad to know.
She shivered as she remembered back in Chicago when she dropped a candy dish at Mrs. Gunderson’s house. Mrs. Gunderson had slapped her hard across her face and told her she was a stupid child. Mary probably thought she was a stupid child too. Was Mary going to slap her once her dad left?
Bradley knelt down next to Clarissa and gave her a hug. “I’ve got to go into the office early,” he said. “But I’ll see you tonight.”
“Okay,” Clarissa whispered. “Have a nice day.”
Pulling Mary into his arms, Bradley kissed her and then tenderly looked down into her eyes. “I’m really going to miss you,” he said.
Clarissa stomach tightened even more. He hadn’t said he was going to miss her. Did he love Mary more than he loved her?
“I’ll miss you too,” Mary said, tenderly running her hand through his hair. “Be careful out there.”
They kissed once again and then Bradley bent down and pressed a quick kiss on Clarissa’s forehead. “Goodbye my lovely ladies,” he said with a wink, before he left.
Hearing the door close, Mary sighed softly. “Well, this was an exciting way to begin our first day as a family, wasn’t it?” she asked Clarissa with a smile. “Do you need me to help you get dressed?”
Shaking her head, Clarissa stepped away from Mary. “No, I’m fine,” she said. “I’ll just get ready.”
“Okay, I’ll get your lunch ready and then we can have breakfast together,” Mary said, as she leaned down and gave Clarissa a quick hug. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
Clarissa watched Mary go down the stairs. When was Mary going to be angry? When was she going to yell at her?
She looked at the large shard of china she had placed on her nightstand and Mary hadn’t thrown away. It was so delicate and so beautiful. Mary must hate her for sure.
Chapter Six
There was a quick knock on the front door while Mary was in the kitchen putting a bag lunch together for Clarissa. She wiped her hands on a towel and hurried to the door. Opening it, she smiled when she saw Ian and Gillian standing hand-in-hand at the door.
“Come in,” she invited. “I was just getting things together for Clarissa.”
“Oh, good, then we haven’t missed her,” Ian said. “We wanted to see her before we left town.”
Mary sighed. “I’m going to really miss you,” she said. “You were the best roommate I ever had.”
Ian turned to Gillian. “She meant that only in the most platonic way,” he assured her.
Gillian laughed. “Aye, I can see she only has eyes for Bradley,” she said. “And it’s good for you that she does.”
He leaned over and kissed her. “And I only have eyes for you, my love,” he said.
“What a charmer,” Mary laughed as she headed back to the kitchen to pack the rest of Clarissa’s lunch bag. “Clarissa should be down any minute and I know she’s going to love seeing you.”
“Hey, are you having a party and no one invited me?” Mike asked, appearing in the living room.
“Aye, it’s a going-away party,” Ian said. “Gillian and I are off to Chicago this morning.”
Gillian looked around the room. “Who are you talking to?” she asked.
“Oh, it’s Mike,” Ian explained. “He’s the angel I was telling you about.”
“The good-looking one,” Mike added.
“Aye, the poor disfigured fellow,” Ian said. “I’ve never seen such an ugly bloke in my life.”
Gillian watched a mirror float through the room and hover in front of Ian’s face. Only Ian and Mary could see that Mike was holding it there, but Gillian understood the joke. “Oh, I think your angel disagrees with your evaluation of his looks,” she laughed. “So, you are a handsome fellow, are you?”
The mirror moved up and down.
“How did you ever get a woman with brains?” Mike asked Ian.
Ian chuckled. “Mike wants to know how I got a woman with brains.”
“Well now, I’m might be smart, but I’m shallow,” she said. “I liked the way he filled out his shirt.”
Ian put his arm around her waist, pulled her close and kissed her cheek. “I’m fine with shallow,” he said. “As long as you stay with me.”
She turned and kissed him back. “Forever.”
“More mush,” Mike groaned, a twinkle in his eye. “I feel like I walked into the end of a fairy tale. I’m going to go back upstairs and see if I can get Clarissa to move along.”
“Thanks Mike,” Mary said. “That would be helpful.”
A few minutes later, Clarissa came down the stairs slowly, trying not to make eye contact with anyone until she saw that Ian was in the room. “Ian!” she exclaimed, running down the remaining stairs and throwing herself into his arms. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
He hugged her and spun her around. “Aye, darling, I’m glad I’m here too,” he said. “I couldn’t leave Freeport without saying goodbye to my best girl.”
Gillian elbowed him. “Second best girl,” he amended with a grin.
Clarissa froze. “You’re leaving?” she asked, her voice echoing the surprised look on her face.
“Aye, we’re heading down to Chicago for a wee bit,” he said. “I’ll be working at the University completing my research while Gillian finishes up her assignment. But I promise we’ll come back to Freeport when we can.”
Clarissa shook her head, panic rushing through her little body. “No, you can’t leave,” she cried. “I need you to be here. No one will protect me if you go.”
Ian hugged her. “Darling, there are plenty of people here that will take care of you and protect you,” he said. “Your amazing new mother, Mary, has protected me a number of times. I’m sure no monster is a match for her.”
Clarissa looked over her shoulder to Mary in the kitchen and whispered, “She hates me.”
“What did you say, darling?” Ian asked.
She took a deep shaky breath. “Nothing,” she said. “I just don’t want you to leave.”
He hugged her. “I won’t be too far away,” he said. “Chicago’s not very far at all and I’ll come and visit you whenever I can.”
Tears brimming in her eyes, she nodded her head and stepped away from him. “Okay,” she said softly. “Goodbye Ian.”
“Hey sweetheart,” Mary said, coming back into the room. “What would you like for breakfast?”
Clarissa stepped back, avoiding Mary’s embrace and shrugged. “That’s okay, you don’t have to make me breakfast,” she said. “I can just help myself.”
Confused, Mary stood back as Clarissa helped herself to some toast and peanut butter and placed it in a sandwich bag. “You don’t have to hurry that much, sweetheart, you have plenty of time to eat your breakfast,” Mary said. “The bus won’t be here for fifteen minutes.”
Clarissa picked up the sack lunch Mary and placed it in her backpack. “I’m going over to the Brennans’ to wait for the bus with them,” she said.
“Oh,” Mary said, disappointed. “I thought we could spend a little time together.”
She’s just saying that, Clarissa thought, because Ian and Gillian are here. I know she hates me.
Shaking her head
, Clarissa walked over and slipped on her coat. “I promised Maggie,” she said, hoping Mary couldn’t see through her lie. “I have to hurry.”
She picked up her backpack and hurried to the door. With her hand on the doorknob she turned back to the room. “Goodbye Ian, goodbye Gillian, I hope you have a good time in Chicago,” she said and then she opened the door and hurried outside.
Mary turned to Ian and Gillian, her heart aching a little bit. “Did I do something wrong?” she asked.
“Not that I could see from here,” Ian said. “Seems the lass has a bee in her bonnet.”
“Maybe she just needs to get used to all of you being a family now,” Gillian suggested. “She really has been through a lot.”
Nodding, Mary took a deep breath and tried to smile. “You’re right,” she agreed. “She’s been through more in the past few weeks than most of us can handle in a lifetime. We probably all just need a little adjusting.”
“Aye, that’s right,” Ian agreed. “Things will be fine in no time. But if you need us, we’re only a phone call away.”
Reaching over and hugging Ian, she nodded. “I’m going to miss having you around,” she said. “But it’s nice to know you’re making Chicago a safer city.”
Ian grinned. “Aye, those library books don’t stand a chance with me around.”
“Take care of Sean for me,” she said. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I could tell something was bothering him.”
“Yes, I think we’ll be able to help,” he said, sending a sideways glance to Gillian. “Gillian has some ideas about his red-headed mystery woman.”
“You do?” Mary asked her.
Gillian smiled. “Oh, aye, I have some contacts through the church that might be able to help me track her down,” she said. “I’m always willing to play matchmaker.”
Mary shook her head. “For some reason, I didn’t think Sean’s interest was romantic.”
“When a man goes looking for a woman,” Ian laughed. “It’s always romantic. Unless, of course, she has him under a spell.”
“Yes, that’s what I’m afraid of,” Mary said soberly.
Chapter Seven
The kindergarten play area, separated from the rest of the school playground, was nearly deserted, only Maggie and Clarissa sat on the swings, barely swinging in the cool spring morning. They both had their shoes partially buried in the sand and gave half-hearted pushes to keep the swings moving. “They really said they were going to kick you out when they had babies of their own?” Maggie asked, horror and disbelief warring on her face.
Sighing, Clarissa kicked at the ground again. “Well, not exactly,” she admitted. “But you should have seen his face. He was so happy about Mary having babies. I know they’re not going to want to have me around.”
“But you’re his own kid,” Maggie argued. “Of course he wants you around.”
Clarissa leaned her head against the swing’s chain and blinked back the tears. “No, he told Mary that he would miss her, but he didn’t say he’d miss me. He just said he’d see me later.”
“That’s just how dads talk,” Maggie said. “He’ll miss you too.”
“What if he sends me away? What if he gives me up for adoption?” she asked. “No one wants me.”
“Of course people want you, your mom and dad wanted you,” Maggie said.
“They left me too,” Clarissa responded with a spurt of anger. “Both of them left me. And Mrs. Gunderson said I was a stupid brat that no one would want once my mom died.”
“Your mom and dad didn’t leave you,” Maggie said. “They died. It wasn’t because of you.”
“My dad died because of me,” she countered. “He went to the bad man and told him to leave us alone and the bad man killed him. I heard people talking about it. And if my dad wasn’t dead, he would have taken care of my mom and she wouldn’t be dead either.”
Maggie shook her head, knowing her friend was wrong but not quite sure how to explain it. “You’re wrong,” she said, trying to come up with some way to show it. “And I can prove it.”
“How?” Clarissa asked.
“Let’s go back to your old house and see if your dad’s ghost is still there,” she said. “And we can ask him. He’ll tell you the truth.”
Clarissa lifted her head and stared at her friend. “Really?”
Maggie nodded. “Really.”
Looking around at the school children starting to mill around the doors waiting for the entrance bell to ring, she jumped off her swing. “We have to go now before the teachers see us.”
Maggie slid off her swing too. “Now? You mean skip school?” she replied. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Come on, Maggie,” Clarissa insisted. “It’s important. Maybe if he’s still there, I can live with him.”
“We’re going to get in trouble,” Maggie said. “Bad trouble.”
“We’ll just tell them we got sick and were trying to go home but we got lost,” Clarissa suggested.
Maggie looked at the school building and then looked back at her friend. Sighing, she hitched her backpack onto her shoulders and nodded. “Okay, we better hurry.”
Rushing through the schoolyard, they ran past the line of children and ran out to the teacher’s parking lot. Hiding between cars, they made their way to the street on the far side of the school. Secreted behind a van, they waited until the bell rang and the rest of the students entered the school. A few minutes later, the crossing guard slipped her bright orange vest off and walked over to her car. As soon as the car was out of sight, the girls ran out of the parking lot and crossed the street. “Do you remember where your house is?” Maggie asked.
Pausing and looking around for a moment, Clarissa nodded. “Yes, I remember my mom picking me up,” she said. “It’s only a few minutes away from here. Come on.”
Clarissa started running up the street with Maggie following close behind. They stopped at the next corner and, after carefully looking both ways, they ran across the street and continued their pace. Three blocks away from the school, Maggie tugged on Clarissa’s backpack to stop her. “I have to tie my shoe,” she panted. “We have to stop for a minute.”
Looking around to be sure it was safe, Clarissa nodded. “Okay,” she gasped. “You hide behind the tree and tie your shoe and I’ll look down the street to make sure we’re safe.”
Shrugging off her backpack, Maggie collapsed behind the tree and took her time tying her loose shoelace. Clarissa walked across the grass to the curb, slipped between two parked cars and peered down the street. Across the street, coming from the other direction, a car slowed and a window was rolled down. “Excuse me, little girl,” the man in the driver’s seat said. “Are you lost? Do you need a ride?”
Her heart pounding and eyes wide, she shook her head. “No, no, I’m fine,” she stammered.
Stopping the car across from her, he looked up and down the street. “I don’t see anyone with you,” he said. “It’s dangerous for a pretty young girl like you to be outside all alone.”
“I’m not alone,” she said, backing up. “My, um, my mom is just coming out of the house.”
He quickly glanced up and looked around. “I don’t see anyone coming at all,” he said. “Why don’t you let me give you a ride? I like pretty little girls.”
Clarissa nearly screamed when Maggie came up behind her and pulled on her backpack. “He’s a bad man,” Maggie whispered urgently. “There are ghosts in his car with him. We have to run away, now!”
The girls turned and ran down street.
“Wait!” the man called, jumping out of his car and running after them. “You come back here right now!”
Running as fast as they could, the girls ran toward the corner. “Hurry, Clarissa, hurry,” Maggie urged, leading the way. “He’s starting to come after us.”
Clarissa looked up to see Maggie running into the intersection without looking. Then she saw the black car hurtling down the road. “Maggie, look out,” she
screamed, jumping forward and pulling hard on Maggie’s backpack.
The car screeched to a halt, but Maggie was already careering toward Clarissa, sending them both backward onto the pavement.
“Are you okay?” the elderly woman asked, looking through the passenger side window.
Bruised and scraped, the girls nodded, and slowly got up. “I’m fine,” Maggie said.
“Well, you need to watch where you’re going,” the old woman yelled. “I could have killed you.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Maggie replied, tears sliding down her cheeks. “I’m sorry.”
“Why aren’t you in school?” she asked. “Do I need to call the police?”
Clarissa shook her head. “No! No! Don’t call the police,” she said. “We…we missed our bus and we had to walk. That’s why we’re late.”
The woman stared at them for a moment. “Alright, I won’t call the police,” she said. “But I’m going to follow you to the school and make sure you end up where you’re supposed to be. I’m not going to offer you a ride because I know you’re both too smart to get into a car with a stranger.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Clarissa agreed, looking over her shoulder to discover the man and his car were both gone.
“Good,” the woman replied. “Now start walking.”
Chapter Eight
Jamming the gear shift into reverse, he quickly sped backward down the street the moment he saw the old woman stop her car. They had been perfect, two little girls. He hadn’t caught two together in a long time. He nearly had them, if he had only run a little faster.
He turned down the alley and drove to the side street, watching the girls walk toward the school, the dark car following them. There was no way he could capture them now. He leaned forward and studied them. They had been afraid, not just of him, but of being caught. He knew that look on their faces, guilt and fear combined. They weren’t going to tell anyone about him because they would be incriminating themselves. Besides, he grinned, what could they say?
