Jacob was the one who found her.
On the home-stretch of his morning run, he happened to glance toward the lake. He wasn't sure what the floating entity was at first but the reality dawned upon him with the rising sun. The partially-decomposed body had surfaced from the depths, face down and framed by those signature Shirley Temple curls.
He crashed into the water to retrieve his sister. Her complexion was pale and blistered, her body swollen and bruised. She must have been in the lake for at least a few days.
Jacob cradled Faith in his arms and waded slowly to the lakeside.
Noah alerted the authorities within seconds of Jacob's rush into the water.
The unusual buzz on the Greenleaf Estate roused the Bishop from his much-treasured Saturday morning lay-in. The Head of Security met him on the driveway, a short distance from the swarm of emergency vehicles that had ambushed the property lines. "Sir, there's been a body discovered on the premises," Noah relayed to the family patriarch. He bowed his head, repentant that his earnest surveillance had not prevented the loss that had befallen him.
"Pop," Jacob wearily ambled toward his father in quiet lament. He was downcast, drenched in the water that had embraced his sister in her final moments on earth. "It's Faith."
"James," Lady Mae hurriedly appeared, alarmed by the mass intrusion. Her husband seemed to be entranced by the circle of first responders huddled beside the lake, who despite their excessive presence had very little sense of urgency. "Jacob," his mother descended the steps at the entrance of their family home. "Why're you all wet?"
"Mae," James snatched himself from his reverie.
"What is it?" The solemnity of his voice stressed the gravity of the situation and her fear multiplied every second that Jacob tearfully avoided her eye. She focused her vision beyond Jacob's broad shoulders and detected the lifeless body at the centre of attention. "Who - - is - - that?"
Jacob widened his stance in attempt to shield his mother and James tenderly shifted her attention away from the deceased. "Mae, my love -"
"It's Faith, mama." Jacob boldly overrode his fathers detraction, "I'm so sorry."
"F-Faith…" Mae sharply inhaled, yet her body would not allow her to breathe. She bolted from the Bishop's embrace, frantic to reach her child but serendipitously blocked by Jacob who scrambled to match his mothers pace. "Oh, Lord, no. No, no, no, no," she collapsed into his arms, her voice weaker than her body. "Faith? Faith, baby, mommy's here. I'm here, baby."
James slumped backward onto the steps, his head in each hand, while Mae battled and pounded her fists against Jacob's chest. "Uncle Mac," he pleaded desperately for aid, yet the older man remained still, devastated as he peeled off his jacket and covered Faith's face.
Grace rolled her eyes to the heavens, as if she could pretend not to hear the vibration of her iPhone.
"Mom," Sophia voiced her irrefutable dissatisfaction. She didn't need to see the caller ID for herself. "That's the seventh time today." It was an estimate, obviously, but Sophia wasn't far off - five missed calls heeded news of yet another Greenleaf family crisis. If only Grace could convince herself entirely that it wasn't her problem.
"Hi, daddy," Grace relented to the Lord's will.
"Gigi," James quietly retreated from the master bedroom where Mae restlessly resisted an Ambien-aided sleep, the Holy Bible cradled to her chest like Faith had once been as a baby. "It's time to come home," he repeated a well-versed request. "Your mother needs you."
"Daddy, we've talked about this -"
"Your sister is dead," he dismantled any excuse Grace could clutch at. "We've lost Faith."