Title- Where Little Girls Tread.

Author- Kim

Summary- Lian proves how much strength and determination she really has, when it comes to the important things in life.

DC owns all characters.

Part 1

Roy glanced back at his daughter, catching sight of the child in the rear view mirror of his jeep he smiled. "Did you have a nice time sweetheart?" he asked as he drove along the dirt road.

"Yes Daddy, I like camping." she replied happily as she continued to brush her dolls hair.

"Well next time we come all the way out here, I was thinking of asking if Uncle Ollie wants to come. What do you think about that?".

"YAAAY, Uncle Ollie is fun." Lian cheered.

They continued to drive along the rough dirt road towards the main highway which was still some miles ahead. They'd spent the weekend camping, which was one of their favorite pastimes and were now returning home. Roy was feeling much more contented and relaxed than he had in quite awhile.

On one side of the dirt road they drove along was an incline that ended in a gully, the other side sloped gently up into a rocky hillside, the area was arid and remote but truly beautiful Roy thought as he reached to turn up the jeeps stereo system as Lian's favorite song came on.

Roy chuckled to himself as he glanced up into the mirror to see the little girl happily singing along and clapping to the beat.

Suddenly out of the corner of his eye, Roy glimpsed an animal. It was almost under his wheels before he could react. Instinctively he reefed the steering wheel to the left and the jeep swerved to the side of the road...to his horror Roy realized he was heading over the embankment, too late to stop the vehicles descent over the side all he could do was hang on and try to keep the jeep upright.

Lian screamed as the vehicle bounced roughly from side to side, throwing her little body to and fro as it continued on it's erratic descent...Suddenly all the movent and noise came to a sharp sudden stop as the jeep slammed into the gully below.

Silence ensued as Lian sat shocked in her seat. After a moment she began to cry, sobbing hysterically she called out "DADDY?" on hearing no response she called again "DADDY?" still no answer.

Through tear clouded eyes she could see her father slumped forward, only his seat belt stopping him from collapsing onto the steering wheel.

Shakily she unclipped her own seat belt and moved forward, she could see the front left corner of the jeep was pushed inwards against her father's legs, effectively trapping him in his seat.

climbing over into the front beside him she cried "Daddy...Daddy wake up.",reaching out she turned his head towards her, horrified to see blood covering the left side of face. "It's ok Daddy" she sobbed as she climbed over to the back seat grabbing the towel they kept in the jeep to use incase she happened to spill her drinks, returning to the front of the vehicle she desperately tried to wipe off some of the blood."

Roy moaned but didn't wake.

"Daddy p...please wake up, Daddy please." she begged desperately, as she stated sobbing again.

After a while Lian looked around, they were still a long way away from the highway, and Lian hadn't seen any other vehicles on the road the entire weekend...Sniffling she suddenly had an idea, searching around she eventually located her father's cell phone, she sat back and began to push buttons...she'd seen her Dad do it lots of times before. After quite some time she threw the phone down, crying again, this time in frustration at not being able to make it work.

Lian waited for her dad to wake, occasionally a soft moan escaped his lips, but he never woke. Eventually Lian realized she couldn't wait any longer, it would be dark in a couple of hours...Her Daddy needed her, she was all he had. she reached up and gently patted Roy's red hair and placed a feathery kiss on his cheek.."I'm gonna find you some help Daddy." she whispered.

Placing the cell phone in her pocket of her overalls she scurried over into the back seat. Then she picked up her Barbie drink flask and hat, pulled on her sandals and climbed out the back door.

end of 1