A few minutes later, James returns with a full cup of water. As he hands it to Laura he says: "Careful sweetie. It's very full."
"Thank you. I will be."
"You're welcome."
"I'm sorry that all of that happened to you."
"Thank you, Laura."
"You're welcome."
"You know, the reason I'm helping you is because I don't want him to hurt you like he did to me for so many years. Unfortunately, that is not the last time he will whip you like that."
"It's not?" Laura asked, whimpering.
"No, I'm afraid it's not. It will happen every time he gets extremely drunk, which will be almost every day. Unfortunately for you, that means that he will whip you like that almost every day, maybe even two or three times in a day, or more."
Laura starts crying again, and then James pulls her into a hug and lets her cry herself to sleep, saying: "Shhh. Shhh. It'll be ok. You'll be home with your Ma, Pa, and your sisters and friends and neighbors someday."
"I will?" Laura says, still crying heavily.
"Yes. I know you will."
"How do you know?"
"You are a bright and determined girl. Your determination will help you."
"Thank you for trying to comfort me."
"You're welcome."
"Unfortunately it's not working much right now."
"That's OK. Keep crying into my shirt if you need to. Every once in a while we all need a good cry. Cry as long as you need to."
Laura says thank you again, still crying into James' shirt.