The next few days are all blurry. I remember going to a cemetery for mom's funeral and I remember some one from mom's family taking Laura and me home with them. Dean, Laura, and I put up a pretty big fight over that one, but there was nothing we could do. I still don't know why dad let them take us girls to start with, but he did. I guess it was easier on him cause we were all crammed into one room at Mike's house.
The day dad left us I couldn't forget if I wanted too. Dad came to the place Laura and I were staying to leave Dean and Sam for the day. Laura was sitting on the porch holding Sammy, while Dean and I played in the yard. She wouldn't let anyone near Sam except for Dean and me. She was afraid that the people dad left us with would hurt him. I think she knew even then that the people dad left us with were bad people. They all hated the fact that mom gave up medical school to marry dad.
Dad came back later that day to pick up the boys. Laura begged him to take us with him, but he said no. He didn't wanna disrupt any plans mom's family had for dinner. When she started crying, I think he almost changed his mind, but didn't. He just loaded the boys up in his car and drove away. Laura ran into the house crying and I just stood there, wondering what was going on. I couldn't understand why Laura was so upset. Dad left us everyday.
Late that night, dad came back. Laura and I woke up when we heard arguing downstairs. Dad had come to take us with him. He was taking us out of Lawrence. Laura and I jumped up and started packing up what little stuff we had. We were half way down the stairs trying to drag our bag with us when we heard the front door slam. Laura just screamed and ran out after dad. I've never heard anything like that scream since. I stood there for a second and then walked out after her. Mom's family just stared at me as I walked out.
I found dad and Laura on the walkway, half way between the car and the house. Dad was knelt down and Laura had her arms around his neck. She was begging him not to leave. Dad promised her he would be back for us when he got settled. I just walked up to them and told Laura she needed to let him go. She turned to me with a complete look of shock on her face, so I said it again. A few minutes later, she let him go. She handed Patrick to dad and told him to give the toy to Sammy, so our baby brother wouldn't miss her too bad. He reached into his pocket and took out two small rings. They had belonged to mom. He gave one to me and the other to Laura. He reached over, gave me a hug and a kiss, then got in the car. The last thing I saw as dad drove away was Dean. He was banging on the back window and crying for dad to stop. He didn't want to leave his sisters behind.
Two weeks later, we were given to mom's brother and his wife. They took us to a place 15 miles outside of Wichita. They took us into the basement of the house and showed us our new room. Everything inside was white from the ceiling to the floor. Even our beds had white sheets and blankets. There was a smaller room at the back with a sink, toilet, and small bathtub. They told us to go inside and change into the clothes that were in the dresser. Everything in the dresser was white as well.
After we did that, they told us to bring our old clothes out to them. We did what we were told. They were standing in front of a fireplace holding the bag with the rest of our stuff. They told us to pick 1 thing that we wanted to keep besides the rings dad had given us. I chose my Berry of course and Laura chose a Polaroid picture dad had given her of the 6 of us. The picture was taken at our birthday party. When we had our treasures, they threw the whole bag into the fire. They made us stand there and watch it all burn. When Laura started to cry, the woman hit her. I turned and punched the woman in the back of her knee as hard as I could. She just looked at me for a second and I told her no one was allowed to hit my sister. The man picked me up by my arm and threw me into the room as hard as he could. I hit the wall and was knocked out.
When I woke up, I was still in the same place I'd landed. Laura was sitting next to me and the door was closed. I stood up and Laura helped me over to my bed. She said we were locked in. There was nothing we could do. This began 6 years of hell. No sunlight. Constant beatings, sometimes 3 or 4 times a day. The only thing we were allowed to do was the school work they gave us. Laura never got used to it. She cried for dad every night. After the first 6 months I stopped crying, completely. I never even shed a tear when they beat me.
There was one good thing that came out of those years. At the end of the first year, on our 3rd birthday, we got a letter from Dean. After that we got a letter from him almost everyday. I never understood why they let us have them, but they did. Maybe it was another way for them to torture us, but instead those letters saved us. Gave us hope. We were never allowed to write back, but that didn't matter. As long as dad and the boys were ok, we would be too. Those letters taught us a lot about hunting. Dean told us everything Dad was teaching him. The most important letter came a few years later. The one that taught us how to pick locks.