Thorber Stone: Lol. I wouldn't say Clark is afraid of a little girl. He'd be the worst "superhero" who ever lived if that was the case. It's more like he's wary of her potential. He knows she picked the names Margaret, Isobel, Lana, and Elizabeth for herself; which means the child has an inkling of who she is, or who she had been, even if it is an unconscious inkling.
Now, Margaret Isobel Thoreaux, the witch from season 4, was able to immobilize Clark and strip him of his powers. And without powers, Clark is as human as you and me. This means he can be killed with a twist of the neck, a bullet to the heart, and all the million other ways a human can die.
So how, you ask, is little Isobel so lethal in comparison to Connor Kent, who could lift a whole house with one hand and his tactile telekinesis; Maddie, who when she's mad can make glass fly and heads literally roll (Very disturbing image by the way.); and five Kent children who have the capacity to level cities in a minute?
By simply taking the power to do all of that, away from them.
So sure, the kid just lifted her spoon, but that's not what alarmed Clark. What alarmed him was the fact that telekinesis was one of the witch's powers. And if the little girl's got one of her powers, who's to say she hasn't got them all? Do you really think he wants a potential witch who could kill him and his children living with him? Even if she's not really the same Isobel from before, do you really think he'd be willing to take the chance?
So thanks for seeing good in Isobel Lana. Naturally, I want you guys to like her, because she's my OC. But that doesn't mean she'll be good;)
Jeremy Shane: Thanks!
The Fallen Sky: Lol. I'm sure Greg showed up at one point, but I think Maddie convinced him she was fine and to go back to work. As I said, Clark hadn't been there the whole time, he just popped in a couple of times and what I wrote happened to be the latest "popped in" moment.
And thank you for understanding Clark's paranoia about Isobel. It's not just him anymore. He's got children and a wife to protect, not to mention everyone else who needs him to be Superman. How can he protect all those people if Isobel strips him of his powers? He won't even be able to protect himself. Also, he probably still feels guilty about Lana dying. So now he's got a constant Lana look-alike. So Isobel's like a double whammy.
As for Jonathan staying behind to watch, that was just Jonathan being Jonathan. He's the most observant of all the Kent kids, and I think he noticed something wasn't right about the way his father was acting around Isobel. So, he stayed behind to watch more of the interaction.
And the way Clark looked to Jonathan for consult of sorts, I don't know, I guess that just happened a lot in my family. My mother would come to me after she's handed out punishment to one of my younger siblings and ask me if I thought it was fair. It was ultimately her decision, I knew that, but if she was asking me for my opinion, it meant she really wanted it. So I would give her an honest answer. Sometimes I agreed with her. Other times I didn't. If I was able to give my mother a legitimate excuse, or speak logically and objectively on behalf of my siblings, those were usually the times I was able to get them out of punishment.
{(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)}
There's nothing special about the new girl. Not according to Noley anyway. In fact, the new girl is weird. The way she eats is weird. She's so neat, not dropping the tiniest of crumbs when she forks up her food. And the way she cuts the meat in precise squares…. Weird just weird.
And that's not all. The way she talks is weird. The way she sits up so straight is weird. The way she never smiles is weird. And the way she stares, a lot, at everybody is not only weird but unnerving as well.
So, for the life of her, Noley can't see what the heck Casey likes about her. Especially because Casey doesn't like anybody.
"Clear the table." Clark announces after everyone looks full. And Noley instantly goes to the living room. It's routine. After dinner, the older kids stay behind to clean up, without using their powers, and Noley is allowed to watch a little TV before she has to take a bath and go to bed.
But the new girl, Isobel, doesn't know about the routine. She stays at the table.
"Isobel." Casey calls to her. "Come with me."
Immediately, like always, Isobel does what Casey says. Noley bets that's the only reason Casey likes the new girl so much. Because she does everything the bossy donkey says without ever questioning her. Ever.
Noley scowls a little when Casey sits Isobel next to her.
"Watch the television while I do my chores." She bosses, and Isobel does it.
Noley frowns at Isobel. But Isobel doesn't notice because she's watching the television, just like Donkey Casey told her to. Noley's frown deepens. The new girl just do everything Casey says like some kind of robot. She can tell her no sometimes. In fact, it's normal to say no sometimes.
But Noley keeps her thoughts to herself and says nothing to Isobel. If she wants to be Casey's slave, then so be it.
About a minute of watching cartoons pass before Sammy comes into the living room and changes the channel. He's not much for chores, so he's left Andrew to do his part alone.
"Change it back!" Noley exclaims when she's suddenly watching a huge truck drive over smaller ones. She hates watching sports, or whatever monster trucking is supposed to be. It's boring.
"Just a second, Noley." He answers absently. And Noley knows he has no plans of changing the channel back anytime soon.
"Sammy!" Noley hears her mother yell from the kitchen. "Change it back!"
Noley grins. Sometimes she swears her mother's lying about not having any powers. Otherwise, how does she always know everything?
Sammy grumbles something low under his breath. A bunch of bad words, in fact. Noley heard them, but she's not much of a tattle. Besides, she got her way, it wouldn't benefit her in the least to tell on her cousin.
"That's Papa." Isobel says out of nowhere. Noley looks behind her, searching for her father. Sammy looks at the TV and notes Superman on the screen, saving people as usual. He realizes what Isobel blurted out and knows that if they had been watching this footage with strangers, she would've blown the family secret.
No bueno.
"Look kid," Sammy says to Isobel. She doesn't acknowledge him until sits next to her and turns her to face him. It's obvious he can't be talking to anyone else. "When you see your, uh, Papa, dressed like that, with the cape and suit, you have to call him Superman, understand?" He finishes without missing a beat. This is very important.
Isobel nods her head. It's a very simple order. But Sam continues because he needs the girl to understand why she has to call him Superman rather than dad….or Papa, sometimes.
"Do you know how to keep a secret?"
Isobel doesn't answer. Because Isobel doesn't know. She knows what a secret is; the text definition of it at least, but she's never had to actually do it before.
Sam takes Isobel's lack of response for a negative answer. Then he starts to explain. "You have to keep Superman's identity a secret. No one can know that he's your dad, uh, papa. Do you understand?"
"Yes." Isobel answers.
A little too quickly for Sam's taste. It seems the kid hasn't grasped the urgency of the situation. If she had, there'd be a thoughtful frown on her face, right? And if there was no thoughtful frown, there'd at least be curiosity, right? The kid should at least be asking him why. So he explains further.
"So if someone comes to you and asks you if you know Superman's real name, you have to say no. You have to lie."
Again, Isobel accepts quickly, too quickly.
Sam groans. There's just no way the kid's getting it. Not with how calm she is about it all. So he tries to shake her up a little.
"If someone found out who he was, you could put him, and this whole family in danger."
She doesn't so much as blink.
"Including yourself." he includes. Since the kid's new to the family, she might not care for their safety yet, but surely she cares about her own.
Still, he gets nothing from her.
"Do you want anything bad to happen to your new family?" he asks directly.
"No." Isobel answers.
Still impassive as ever.
Sam gives up. He's not explaining it right. He needs help.
"Stay right here, I'll be right back."
Isobel nods her head.
Noley stares at the new girl curiously. Maybe it's not just Casey. Maybe she listens to everybody.
That gives her an idea.
"Hey, Isobel." The new girl turns and looks at Noley. "Raise your hand." Noley commands.
"Which one?"
Noley doesn't even think about it. "Both of them."
Isobel does so.
Oh, this is too good to be true. It's not just donkey Casey that has a slave. It's her too!
When Sam comes back, he has Chloe with him. Noley was so excited about getting Isobel to do things, she didn't even hear her mother coming. Otherwise she would've told Isobel to put her hands down.
Chloe frowns at Isobel. "Why are you doing that, sweetie?"
"Noel told me to." Isobel answers promptly.
Noley sends a quick glare the new girl's way. Not only was she tattled on, but nobody ever calls her Noel.
Chloe shoots a look at her youngest. Well, technically, Noley's no longer the youngest anymore. Isobel is.
Noley just shrugs her shoulders in response. Really, what can she say to explain herself?
Her mother gives her another look. It's not anger, just this mild form of disappointment maybe. It makes Noley feel bad instantly.
All I did was told the new girl to hold her hands up; she tries to reason with herself. But she knows there's much more to it than that. She took advantage of the new girl, just because she could. Just for sport. And that is bad character.
Chloe has turned her attention to Isobel now, and Noley pretends to watch cartoons. It doesn't seem as though her mother will say anything else to her about what she'd done, but she still feels bad. Ashamed even.
"Isobel, you saw Clark on TV dressed as Superman?"
"Yes, Maman."
Chloe sits next to Isobel on the couch. "Sammy says he tried to explain to you about keeping Clark's identity as Superman a secret."
Isobel just stares at Chloe, waiting for her to continue.
"He explained there may be a time when you have to lie to keep that secret."
Again, Isobel stares, waiting for more.
"Do you understand why?"
"To keep my new family safe." She answers promptly, the first inclination Sam gets that Isobel had heard every word he said.
"Exactly." Chloe says. "To keep your new family safe. But there's another secret you have to keep Isobel."
Isobel doesn't so much as raise an inquiring eyebrow. She simply waits for Chloe to continue.
"Your abilities, like what you did with the spoon during dinner, or how fast you run, you have to keep that s secret to. Only we, your family, can know. Do you understand?"
Isobel frowns. The first expression to come across her face since Casey sat her down to watch cartoons with Noley.
"What is it, Isobel?"
"Some people already know what I can do." She says.
"Who?" Chloe asks. It's the first reference Isobel's volunteered information of her own about her life before today.
"The doctors." She answers simply.
Chloe doesn't press. She knows about the doctors already. Isobel mentioned them earlier when she was pressed on information. The doctors, as Isobel refers to them, are all conveniently nameless. They could be anyone. Otherwise, The League would've found them by now.
"Well, there's nothing we can do about the doctors. But no one else is to find out, understand?"
"Yes, Maman."
"Not only does that mean you can't tell people, but you can't show them either, understand?"
"Yes, Maman."
Like Sammy, Chloe thinks Isobel's answers are a bit too quick. The child doesn't seem to think any of the rules over in the least. She just accepts them; but because Chloe's witnessed Isobel's blinding obedience all day, she's not as alarmed as her nephew.
"Alright. TV time's up. Noley, go take a bath." Chloe commands.
"Youngest goes first," Noley answers without taking her eyes off the television. At least one good thing's come out of the new girl being here. She gets a few extra minutes to stay up. Seeing how bed time is after bath time.
"Noley…" Chloe warns.
"What? She's the youngest now," she protests, pointing at Isobel.
Chloe sighs. There isn't an official rule about the youngest showering first, but Noley's always gone before her siblings because her bedtime has always been earlier than the others'.
"Shower, Noley. Now." Her mother orders.
Noley's eyes widen. That's not fair! If the new girl is a Kent now, she should be treated like the Kents. Not special. Because there's nothing special about her anyway!
But she doesn't protest verbally anymore. She shoots up and stomps her way upstairs, wanting the whole house to know she's upset.
She expects Lizzy to come to her first and ask her what's wrong, but it's her father.
Gulp.
She knows her dad loves her and all, but he loves her mother too. Just how pleased would he be with her if she told him "Mommy's not being fair to me and that's the reason I'm stomping upstairs?" He'll think she's a brat, just like Casey's always calling her.
So she lies. "Nothing." She says.
Her dad frowns. "It's not nothing, Noley Noles."
One day, when Noley's older and bigger, she's gonna hate being called Noley Noles. It's gonna embarrass her; but right now, she totally welcomes the affectionate nickname.
"What's so special about Isobel?" she blurts out.
Clark smiles. "She's new."
"So? Why do Casey and Mom…why do they…" Noley can't figure out what she's trying to say, but her father seems to understand her all the same.
He pulls her up into his arms. She's nine now. Too old to be held, but sometimes, like right now, it's really nice.
"They're trying to make her feel welcomed, like family." he answers.
"Well, if they want her to feel like family, they should just act normal around her." Noley reasons.
"They will. They just want her to get comfortable first. Okay?"
Noley still doesn't get it, but she nods anyway.
"You'll try too, right?"
Noley nods again. She's not gonna treat Isobel like she's precious and special, but she won't call her a donkey yet.
Clark puts Noley down. "Good girl." He smiles at her. She smiles back.
"Isn't it time for patrolling." Clark hears behind him. He turns and spots Casey. Unsurprisingly, Isobel's standing next to her.
Clark frowns at his daughter. He has a sneaky suspicion that Casey wants him out of the house. But she's right all the same. It is time for him to go. The league is pretty big now. Everyone does an hour of patrolling a day, two or three at a time. He always patrols from 7pm to 8pm with his partner, and Casey's godmother, Mia. Though he is called during the day for the big emergencies.
He goes down stairs, kisses his wife. And is gone.
Noley goes in her room to get her bath stuff, and Casey follows her in noting Lizzy's already in the room, reading. Good. She wants to talk to her.
"So, sleeping arrangements…" Casey starts off as soon as Noley leaves. Lizzy looks up from her book. "I'd let Isobel sleep with me, but I don't want to crush her in her sleep."
"Dad doesn't crush Mama in her sleep." Lizzy frowns.
"Dad doesn't get much sleep then if he's constantly aware of having to not crush mom."
"It's not like you need the sleep."
"But I want it."
"No one's sharing a bed." Chloe says in the doorway, announcing her presence to her daughters. Not that it was needed. They both heard her come up. "Your father and I talked it over and we've decided to let you have the cellar, Casey."
Casey thinks about it for a second. It confuses Chloe. The cellar's always been Casey's "spot." She's wanted to move down there for years now, so what is there for her to think over?
"Nah, Lizzy can take it." Casey says after a while.
"What?" Chloe frowns. She didn't expect that. She knows Lizzy would love to be out in the cellar, it was in her journals a couple of times, but she doesn't know why Casey would willingly offer the space up.
"Yeah, Lizzy can sleep in the cellar, and Isobel can take Lizzy's bed."
Isobel. That must be it. Casey's shown an alarming attachment to the girl.
But then Lizzy shakes her head. "I want to stay in the house."
Chloe's jaw drops. What the hell is going on? She understands Casey's reason for wanting to stay, but why does Lizzy want to?
"I want to stay in the house too." Casey answers immediately, fixing her gaze on her older sister.
"Why?" Lizzy asks.
"Why do you want to stay?" Casey challenges.
"So let me get this straight," Chloe interrupts her arguing teens. "You two are arguing over who gets to stay in this bedroom when the both of you want to be in the cellar? What's going on?" she demands.
Casey raises a challenging eyebrow at her sister. "She doesn't want to leave Noley in here by herself." She answers.
Chloe frowns. "But she won't be"-
"Yes, Mama. She will." Lizzy says, fixing Casey with a hard stare. Casey's not gonna treat Noley good and they both know it. It hasn't been hard to pick up on how Noley's feeling about all the attention Isobel is being given, especially by Casey. If Lizzy were to leave those three in the room together, it'd be a complete disaster. It'd be Casey and Isobel vs. Noley all day every day.
"Fine." Casey shrugs. "How about me and Isobel go to the cellar and you and Noley stay in here."
"That's fine," Lizzy concedes.
"It's not Fine!" Chloe interrupts. "Isobel's eight. She's not sleeping outside!" Her daughters have truly lost their minds.
At that moment, Noley makes an appearance.
Casey shifts her focus to her little sister. "Hey Noley, how'd you like to sleep in the cellar with Lizzy?"
"Cool!" Noley exclaims, eyes lighting up in excitement.
"She's nine!" Chloe screams back.
There's no doubt that was a firm no, but Casey presses anyway. "She's not human like Isobel, Mom. Plus Jonathan, Lizzy, and Andrew will be out there with her."
"Enough! Casey, outside, by yourself. That's final!"
Casey nearly argues back, but one glance at the silent, but ever observing, Isobel and she changes her mind.
"Okay." She relents.
"Because I said so!" Chloe yells.
Noley giggles.
Lizzy frowns.
"I said, okay." Casey rolls her eyes.
"Oh." Chloe blinks. She's not used to Casey not arguing back. "Sorry," she mutters before telling Casey to pack up her stuff. Then she leaves.
"Help me pack my stuff." Casey tells Isobel.
No one is surprised when Isobel does.
Casey gives Isobel a light bag of her stuff to carry downstairs. She doesn't need Isobel's help, but she wants to talk to her before she's left alone with the annoying brat and Lizzy.
Once in the cellar, Casey starts lecturing. "Don't be such a puppet. You don't have to do everything everyone tells you if you don't want to."
Isobel doesn't say anything. She waits for Casey to elaborate. She's only ever done whatever people have told her to do her whole life.
Casey sees that Isobel's confused so she starts giving her examples. "Like, if Mom gives you a piece of candy and Andrew tells you to give it to him, you don't have to give it to him if you don't want. It's yours, understand."
Isobel nods.
"Or if someone tells you to do a hundred jumping jacks, you don't have to do it.
"Or if someone tells me to raise both of my hands, I don't have to do it?" Isobel asks, showing Casey she understands exactly what's being explained to her.
Casey frowns. "Yeah. Like that." She answers. But who the hell would tell her to raise both of her hands? Other than a teacher or a doctor. It then dawns on Casey that now she's going to have to explain to Isobel instances in which she will have to do what someone else says whether she wants to or not.
God, the kid can be exhausting.
But she's not as exhausting as Casey thought she would be. Isobel grasps on to Casey's teachings rather quickly.
Though just to be sure, Casey goes over a few scenarios with her.
"Mom tells me and you to walk to the store, halfway there, I tell you to run back home 'cause I think you're annoying. Do you do it?"
"Not if I don't want to." Comes Isobel's quick reply.
"Okay, Mom tells me and you to walk to the store, halfway there, I tell you to run home because dad called me and he wants you to go home. Do you do it?
"Yes."
"Good. Another thing." Casey moves on. "What Mom and Dad say goes. No ifs ands or buts about it. Do whatever they say, unless they're completely wrong, of course."
"How will I know if they're wrong?" Isobel asks.
"If you know without a shadow of a doubt that you're right." Casey answers.
Then Casey goes through a few more examples and scenarios, trying to give Isobel a clear idea of the kinds of things she has a choice in the matter of, and the kinds of things she's not allowed to refuse.
Once Casey's satisfied, she walks Isobel back up to her, well, her old bedroom. Noley's sitting down on the bottom bunk in front of Lizzy. Lizzy's brushing Noley's still-wet hair for her. It reminds Casey that Isobel still needs a bath, though she hasn't gotten too dirty since this morning's shower.
She takes a few moments to show Isobel where all the stuff she needs for a bath are kept; her pajamas, washcloths, towels, shampoo, whatever. Then she shows her how to set the water. "If you can do it yourself," she says to the child. "Do it yourself. You don't want to be an annoying burden." She finishes, giving Isobel a small lesson on independency.
Isobel nods her head in understanding.
"It's late, so after your bath, Mom will probably tell you to go to bed. Do you know which bed is yours?"
Isobel shakes her head.
"The one that's by itself." Casey answers; then she leaves Isobel alone.
Isobel doesn't mind being alone. In fact, she prefers it, so she takes her time in the bath. She doesn't come out until there's an insistent knock on the door.
"Hey kid, you almost done in there? I gotta take a leak."
Isobel gets out of the tub and opens the door for Sammy.
"Aagh!" He yells in alarm. "Cover up!" He scolds, brushing past her and draping the first thing he sets eyes on over her head. Then, without looking at her, he pushes her out of the bathroom.
Isobel takes the large towel off of her head and starts walking in the direction of her new room. Before she gets there, she's stopped by Jonathan. More specifically, by his frown.
"Give me the towel, Isobel." He demands, holding his hand out.
Isobel does it.
"Hold your arms up."
"Why?" she asks. It takes Jonathan by surprise for a brief second. He's gotten used to her unquestioning obedience. But Casey just taught Isobel that if a person tells her to do something she doesn't really feel like doing, she can ask them why. If the reason he or she gives is a "good one" then she should go ahead and do it. And with that lesson so fresh in her mind, she patiently waits for Jonathan's answer.
"So that I can wrap this towel around you," is Jonathan's answer.
"Why can't I be without the towel?"
"You can. When you're in the tub." He answers. When Isobel doesn't seem very inclined to raise her arms over her head, he continues. "Let me ask you something, Isobel. Where do you go to…relieve yourself?"
"In the bathroom." She answers promptly. He tries to hide just how relieved he is that she knew what he meant by that. He wanted to avoid asking her where she went "pee pee."
"Can you physically do it someplace other than a bathroom?"
Isobel nearly says no because she wouldn't "relieve herself" any place other than on a toilet, but he asked her if she physically could. Therefor the answer is… "Yes."
"Is it appropriate?"
"No."
"And that's because there is a time and place for everything, Isobel." Jonathan answers. "relieving yourself is natural, everybody has to do it. but you just can't do it wherever you want. That's the same thing for this. It's inappropriate for a girl your age to walk around naked."
Isobel can't fault Jonathan's logic, so she lifts her arms up and lets him wrap the towel around her securely.
Afterward, she's sent into her new bedroom.
Lizzy's still brushing Noley's hair, but when Isobel comes in, she announces she's done.
As Noley's climbing up onto the top bunk, Lizzy addresses Isobel. "Would you like me to brush your hair?"
"If you can do it yourself, do it yourself. You don't want to be an annoying burden."
Casey's words come to Isobel immediately. She walks up to Lizzy and takes hold of the brush. "I can do it myself, Moira." She answers solemnly.
Lizzy blinks. She's never gonna get used to being called Moira all the time. She feels Isobel give a small tug of the brush.
"It's still nice to have someone else do stuff for you sometimes. Even if you can do them yourself." She says before letting the brush go.
Isobel seems to be considering her answer, but then she walks over to Casey's old bed and sits down before brushing her hair.
Lizzy sighs. Isobel's way to sullen for her own good. Someone's gotta lighten that kid up.
{(O)(O)(O)}
"I'm game." Casey announces, and everyone in the house spit takes, gasps, or starts staring at her like she's grown a second head.
She's not surprised. Even though it's Sunday, she got up at a decent hour and ate breakfast with her family. Everyone knows she's not much of a morning person, and will often skip breakfast entirely, but with it being Isobel's first breakfast here at the farm, no one's really that surprised to see that she's checking up on the kid.
But when breakfast was over and Noley announced that she wanted to play tag, Casey was not expected to be the first one to offer to play with her younger sister. In fact, Noley had her back to Casey and was mainly asking Lizzy. If Lizzy was in the mood, she could convince Jonathan. If Jonathan was playing, Andrew might play. If Andrew played, and Sammy was here, Sammy'd play too, but then they couldn't use superspeed.
Casey never plays regardless of who, or who isn't, playing.
Until now.
"Alright, let's do this!" Andrew exclaims, being the first to get over his shock. Sammy soon follows. Then Lizzy and Jonathan.
Casey begins explaining how to play to Isobel, while Lizzy runs out and gets some straw to fairly determine who will be "it."
Sammy ends up with the short straw, and everyone runs out of the house while he counts to ten.
Noley lingers behind. She suddenly doesn't really want to play tag anymore. But her mother gives her a bright smile and shoos her out of the house.
Half an hour of intense running makes Sammy tired so he takes a break. This isn't unexpected behavior. Sammy is human after all, but with Sammy taking a break, the rules of the game change. Superspeed is allowed now. And the game gets a little more interesting.
Noley's it now. She's chasing Lizzy, but off to her right, she sees Isobel. And she's alone. She could catch her easy.
But it's not as easy as she thinks. Isobel's really fast. Noley pushes herself harder than she's ever pushed herself before. She's absolutely determined to catch the new girl.
And catch her she does. Only she doesn't simply tag her. It's more of a push, and Isobel falls to the ground.
Isobel doesn't cry. A small gasp is the only sound she makes. Yet it's enough to have everyone crowd around her as she sits up and hugs her right knee to her chest. She's got her eyes screwed shut and she's holding her breath. More like she's holding her cry in.
"Why'd you do that!" Casey yells at Noley, crouching down to take a look at Isobel's scraped up knee.
"I didn't mean to!" Noley snaps back.
"Yeah, but you didn't exactly say you're sorry yet." Andrew cuts in. He's not yelling at her the way Casey is, but he's not defending her either.
Noley is a bit taken aback by his response. She expected him to be on her side. It was an accident after all.
Isobel lets out the breath she was holding, but then she takes another one. It's because she's holding in the hurt. She's not crying, sobbing, or making any noise. As a result, her face is a very bright pink right now.
"You should apologize." Jonathan lectures.
Noley knows that. She was going to, she was just a little shocked so she didn't do it immediately, but now the way Jonathan's looking at her…It's not anger. It's more like he doesn't recognize her. Like she's the new girl and Isobel's the sister.
Noley's throat closes up. If she says anything right now, her voice will shake and she'll probably cry. She doesn't want to cry in front of the new girl.
"You really hurt her, Noley. You should apologize. Unless you're not sorry. Unless you purposely pushed her down." Lizzy adds. The way she looks at her is even worse than the way Jonathan did. She looks disappointed in her.
Noley's bottom lip trembles. And still she doesn't say anything.
Lizzy waits two more seconds before shaking her head and reaching for Isobel. "Come on, little one."
Isobel doesn't reach for Lizzy back. Probably because she can't see her. Her eyes are still squeezed shut, and she's still holding on her knee.
When Lizzy lifts her up into her arm, she accidently touches Isobel's bloody knee.
Isobel gasps again.
"Sorry, little one." Lizzy croons. "Let's get you to Mama so she can patch you up, okay?"
Once Lizzy and Isobel are gone, everyone turns back and looks at Noley. But Casey is the first to speak to her.
"What the hell's wrong with you!" she yells.
And the dam breaks. Hot tears spill out of Noley's eyes and she runs away.
Her whole family, all of her brothers and sisters, turned on her. She's always known she's not Casey's favorite, but never has every single one of her siblings been against her like this.
{(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)}
A/N: Sorry if this one was a little boring, but I was mostly laying down some ground work. Next chapter should be more exciting;)