Her Guardians Lost(62)

“Molly,” Simon whispered.

Snapping her head up, she saw me, then her brother. I could tell she had been crying. Rising out of her seat, she rushed over and threw her arms around Simon. “Oh, Simon,” she cried. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I heard about Mum, and I—”

Pulling her away, Simon gazed into her eyes. “Shh, it’s okay. Everything is okay.”

I was glad to see she didn’t seem so angry anymore about the fact her brother took her away from her abductor. Maybe now they could start to re-build their relationship.

“Mummy?” I heard a whisper.

Looking down, I saw Caroline’s worried face. With my gloves securely fastened, I held out my hand to her. “Hello, Caroline. I’m Cassie.”

Frowning a little, Caroline looked up at me with the most beautiful brown eyes. “Nice to meet you, Cassie.” She shook my hand, making me smile. Caroline nodded and smiled back. “Mummy keeps crying.”

Looking over my shoulder, I could see Simon and Molly in an embrace, talking. “I tell you what, Caroline. Why don’t we leave your mother and uncle to talk, and we can go feed the ducks?”

Tilting her head to the side, she watched them both. “He won’t make her sad again, will he?”

“I’m sure not, Caroline. I think your mum is crying because she’s happy to see him.”

“Really?” she beamed. “I always wanted an uncle.”

Holding out my hand to her, I gave her a cheeky grin. “Well, I happen to know your uncle very well and I can say he is a very good man. He would be the best uncle a girl could dream of.”

Caroline smiled and grabbed my hand as we walked towards the lake. “Are you his girlfriend?”

I almost choked. If there were any questions she could have asked, I certainly wasn’t expecting that.

I shook my head. “No. I’m just very close to your family. They’re all such wonderful people.”

Throwing a piece of bread, we watched as it landed in the lake and a duck came along to snatch it. Caroline chuckled a little. “I like watching the ducks eat the bread. Here,” she said, handing some to me. “You throw some, too.”

Taking the bread from Caroline, I smiled. “Thank you.”

“Because it was so sunny this morning, my mum asked if I wanted to go to the park. She looks so sad all the time. I just want her to be happy again.”

I looked down at Caroline’s sad little face. “Caroline, I won’t lie to you and say she isn’t sad, but I do think things will get better. Things have changed quite a bit and I think it will take time to adjust. Your mum just needs a little bit of time.”

“She misses Daddy. I miss Daddy.” She hung her head and my heart immediately broke for her.

Spying a bench in the distance, I threw the last bit of bread. “Why don’t we go and sit down for a little while? There’s a bench over there, not too far from your mum. How about we sit down and chat?”

Taking my hand, she nodded as a single tear fell down her face. I hated seeing adults cry, but it was even worse seeing a child cry. If she had a cut, I could treat it and put a plaster on it. However, the sort of hurt she had was emotional. I wished I could kiss it better, but I knew it would never be as simple as that.

We walked over to the bench and sat down. Caroline was still clutching my hand, and I wasn’t about to let go if she didn’t want me to.

“I’m sure your daddy misses you, too.”

Shuffling in her seat, she squeezed my hand. “Why can’t I see him? They won’t let me see him. They won’t let him see mummy.”

Oh, boy! This was a perfectly adequate question from a little girl whose father had been taken away. She must be confused as hell right now. No one is probably giving her answers—answers she could understand anyway.

“He needs time away so he can answer some questions. He’s helping the police with something important.”

Sighing, she looked down at the ground and shuffled the gravel beneath her feet. “He did a bad thing to save my mum.”

My eyes widened, realizing she knew more than she was letting on. This little girl was only eight-years-old, but it was obvious nothing got past her.

When I didn’t answer, she looked up at me. “I’ve heard my mother talking when she thought I couldn’t hear her. Daddy took mummy when she was little. But he’s not a bad man, I swear.”

I saw the panic in her eyes and laid my hand on her shoulder. “I know he isn’t, Caroline. He’s trying to be a better man. He is trying to make things right.”

Feeling her head tilt up, I looked down at her. “When he makes things right, will he be able to come home?”