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Chapter Four

As the storm clouds gathered, Kasey had begun to make her plans to leave the relative comfort of the Anderson's home. Even her bedroom was too big and overwhelming. In her mental panic, she had neatly folded the pretty, floral comforter and blankets to the bottom of the bed. She left a simple sheet and one pillow but then couldn't decide where to sleep.

Mrs. Anderson watched patiently as Kasey tried to rationalize those things that should have been normal. After the officers and Mrs. Watson left, she had quietly helped the slender child take a bath and then change into a pair of pink pajamas. There were some older bruises on her back and legs, but Mrs. Anderson made an effort not to mention them. Kasey was already much too uneasy and didn't need to feel as if she were on display. But the woman studiously filed the knowledge away to discuss with Mrs. Watson in the very near future.

Kasey's eyes were glassy as she tried to hide her fright and uncertainty. Mrs. Anderson had just finished putting new bandages on her scraped knees and she felt clean and so much better. But she kept staring down at herself as the woman brushed out her long black hair and left it hanging loose at her mumbled request. The pajamas were nothing terribly special, but evidently a big deal for this particular little girl.

"What's wrong Kasey?" Her gentle question came now as Kasey bit her lip and smoothed down the front of the night-shirt. It had a matching pair of lightweight pink sleep shorts with white lace piping around the edges. Kasey usually slept in an old t-shirt or the clothes she had worn that very same day.

"It's too nice." She bravely finally spoke to the pretty woman who was demanding nothing from her except that she try to smile. Gazing at the ceiling, even though the home's central air conditioning hummed away, a small white and pink fan turned in slow, easy circles. Her eyes slowly looked at the pretty chiffon curtains and then the white shelves in the corner that held not only books, but a selection of toys. Kasey's breath hitched in her chest and she backed away from the bed with her bear anchored to her chest firmly.

"And ... and .. the bed is too big. It's too pretty for me."

Mrs. Anderson rubbed her arm gently and then just sat down cross-legged on the floor in the middle of the bedroom. Other than the old clothes on her back, her two precious books and the teddy bear from the two officers, the child had come with nothing else. "I have an idea. How about we play a game where you are a princess that has been lost for a long time and because you are a special princess, you get to sleep in your first royal bed?"

"What?" Kasey stared blankly at Mrs. Anderson and bit her lip harder. "A game?" She whispered it quietly and looked from the nice lady to the cozy bed. "I don't know how to play that. I could never be a princess."

"I don't think that's true at all. And maybe you are one and just don't know it yet." Instead of being worried or laughing at her, Mrs. Anderson smiled warmly. "Since I know how to play, how about I teach you about being a princess?"

Kasey's first night had been stunningly peaceful after Mrs. Anderson tucked her in and left a night-light on. Her new teddy bear had been knighted as her special Lord Protector Ted E. Bear and she had giggled at the idea. Lord Ted now held Steve's business card and the old photograph of her and her father. Both were secret and she felt as if they were now indeed very safe. Mrs. Anderson had given her a royal kiss on her forehead with orders to never be afraid to ask for something any time of the day or night. Kasey liked the Anderson's but she was still insecure and uncomfortable in the strange surroundings. So even though that first night was mostly fun, she needed to slip away back to her home to find out if her mother was really gone.

She desperately needed the black velvet bag because she had made a promise never to lose it. The more she thought about the diamonds and her vow, the more Kasey became frightened that it would be stolen or go missing the longer she stayed away.

That terrible fear made her decide to leave her new foster home towards dawn. The storm only helped spur her on since it provided the perfect cover. Though she had newer clothes ready for Kasey, Mrs. Anderson had kindly washed the old ones and left them on the chair with her sneakers in the bedroom. Since the child had precious few of her own private possessions, the woman wisely left the clothes as a type of familiar comfort. In fact, some of the fear had actually eased in the child's eyes as she placed them neatly folded in the room. So she had no real reason to believe that Kasey might already have hatched other plans.

After making up her mind, Kasey crawled out of the big bed and stripped off the pretty pajamas to change quickly into her regular clothes. But before leaving, she carefully folded the pink pajamas and smoothed out the sheets on the big bed. She was afraid the books from Danny would get wet, so she only took Lord Ted and his special hidden cargo. Tip-toeing down the hallway, she snuck into the bathroom and while everyone was still sleeping, Kasey climbed out the small window to put her plan into motion. She dropped her bear to the ground first and then pulled herself painfully through the small opening. But any noise she made was masked by the growing storm and she was out and well gone without anyone the wiser. She eventually made her way through the rain-soaked streets and alleys to her mother's apartment.

It was eerily quiet in the old building just as the sky tried to brighten in the early morning hours. The door was locked but she knew where the spare key was hidden in the broken flower-pot by the superintendent's office. Quietly, she found it with her wet fingers and snuck back into the much too dismal rooms which seemed ever more dingy and battered after the Anderson's lovely home. The apartment now smelled stale to her and she wrinkled her nose in distaste. Kasey realized a new resentment was building as she slowly walked into her poor excuse of a bedroom and eyed the puddle of rain water on the floor under the open window. She didn't have air conditioning, a ceiling fan or curtains because her mother said they couldn't afford any of those things.

Kasey frowned before shutting the window against the downpour and then sneezed. It made the mugginess immediately worse in the small room but even her old bed was now wet. Carefully, she placed her teddy bear on the pillow and crawled under the bed to tug her suitcase out into the open. Inside, she found her jewelry box and sighed in relief because it was still exactly where she had hidden it. Aged and yellowed, the internal music box no longer worked but the small pink ballerina was still standing on the inside faux pedestal when she opened the lid.

Under the satin lining, was the small black velvet jeweler's pouch that her mother had given to her before they left Las Vegas with the warning to never, ever lose it. That bag went into Lord Protector Ted E. Bear's soft tummy hiding place before she left the apartment to re-enter the storm. But then she stood in the dimly hit hallway for a long time in complete confusion as she crushed her now very damp Lord Ted in a tight hug and tears spilled down her cheeks. Her mother was still gone like Steve said, so the bad men must have gotten her. They would come for her next and Kasey didn't really know what to do. She only knew that she couldn't stay in the apartment by herself.

A scary, elderly man with broken yellowing teeth tried to call her over to him but she ran away in fear and back out into the now heavy rains. His smile was wrong and off. It reminded her of the horror movie she had watched once and the look on his face sent her quickly on her way. Kasey needed a better place to hide and without hesitating or looking back, she made her way towards the broken back door of an old store that had a brightly colored 'For Rent' sign on its front window. The back alley was dark, wet and smelled bad like rotted cabbage or sour milk but she knew that the delivery door to the store was off its hinges. She was just small enough to squeeze through to get out of the heavy rain for a few hours.

Exhausted by her ordeal, Kasey fell asleep on a pile of all cardboard boxes and woke to the sounds of high winds rattling the old shop windows and rain pounding on the leaky patched roof. Water was seeping in steadily from under the front door and running down the walls from the various cracks in the dilapidated roof. She had slept for a long time and she needed to get a better plan as a crash resounded over head from bits of debris churned up by the violent winds.

Tearfully, Kasey opened Lord Ted's zippered tummy and pulled out Steve's business card and read the address for his office. She was sure that she could find it. An old rusty memory from her father told her to go to any police officer for help and she wanted to this time. She also knew that Steve would send her right back to Mrs. Watson. But she was wet and very cold; and suddenly her plan to escape the foster family during the bad storm seemed like a terrible idea.

In the back of her mind, her mother's more strident voice demanded the exact opposite. No police. Stay away from anyone that looked like a cop. Her mother had equally threatened her about CPS and the possibility of a nasty foster home. But the Anderson's were nice and Kasey liked the idea of making believe she could be a princess. Her wonderful experience with the kindly Mrs. Anderson only confused her more.

Kasey sat there for many minutes arguing with herself and trying to decide what to do as she trembled from the cold and then sneezed from the moldy smells in the air. An unexpected cough came next and her nose felt itchy. Her mother had been gone too many days and Kasey was scared, hungry and now her head was achy. In her heart, she felt that the bad men had finally found her mother and she sniffled sadly to herself. She could go to Steve; then she made a face because Steve would definitely send her back to Mrs. Watson - and she deserved to go there. There was a brief flicker of hope in that he might like her enough to keep her himself - at least until they found her mother.

It was a wrong thought and deep down, Kasey knew that too. Sitting in the damp old store, her fingers dug out the black bag from the teddy bear and she opened the small drawstring pouch to dump the handful of diamonds into her small palm. Her mother had gotten them in Las Vegas but she never said exactly how or why. It didn't matter because Kasey had been petrified that night when her mother came home with blood on her clothes and in her hair. Her eyes had been wild and she had been frantic to leave. Before packing, Joanna had pushed the bag into Kasey's hands and demanded that she hide them and keep them safe .. forever.

In reality, Kasey hated this little black bag and the stupid, sparkly rocks. In Las Vegas there originally had been twelve of the expensive gems. Kasey had looked at them often and each time, counted exactly twelve on a dutiful basis. But when they reached Los Angeles, two mysteriously disappeared and Kasey had cautiously gone to her mother in tears. She had been praised for doing such a good job while Joanna explained that she had taken them only to get money so they could pay the rent. The praise had been rare, but Kasey still hated the gems and the terrible responsibility that they signified.

At first, they had food again and a fairly decent place to live. But the typical changes soon took root and Joanna disappeared more and more to leave Kasey to her own devices. Early one morning, Joanna came home looking rumpled and exhausted. She woke Kasey and told her to pack while she showered and changed to her best outfit. Kasey watched impassively from the doorway as her mother tried to hide her splotchy face with makeup. Her hair wouldn't cooperate, so a hat wound up on her head and for the first time, Kasey noticed that her mother was truly trembling.

A few hours later, they were at the airport. And shortly after that, they were on a flight to Honolulu.

Looking at the diamonds in the back of the old dilapidated store, Kasey glared at them because she couldn't care less about them or their tiny black bag. They brought trouble and caused trouble all the time. However, her mother had insisted they were very important and that she needed to keep them safely away from the bad men. So Kasey did as she was told because it was the one thing she coud do to help her mother.

Out of habit, she counted the diamonds again and then felt an over-anxious pang settle in her chest. There were only nine.

She must have dropped one or miscounted. Carefully, but with her heart pounding in her throat, Kasey dumped the stones back into her palm and started over one by one. Each fell separately from her palm and into the black bag as she counted to herself.

Nine.

The sob left her throat before she could stop it. She searched her shirt, lap and the old cardboard she was sitting on. She dug her fingers into Lord Ted E. Bear's soft tummy to be sure. Kacey was exceedingly conscientious and she knew that she did not lose any of the precious gems. A harsh cough suddenly rattled her lungs and she wiped the stray tears from her cheek. No, she hadn't lost a single one. Her mother had taken it and not told her this time.

Her mother hadn't been hurt or taken away by the bad men. The truth was that her mother said a lot of things that Kasey would now admit were not true. Because this time, her mother had completely left her.

"Mommy." Her plaintive whisper filled the dark, empty store and more tears rolled down her cheeks. She was alone.

And though her head was aching more and tears were flowing freely, Kasey didn't wait anymore as she shoved the bag roughly into the teddy's tummy along with the business card and photograph. She rubbed her eyes and face hard before getting to her feet with Lord Bear. Kasey had finally made her decision.

She snuck out the way she had gotten into the store and picked her way down the narrow alley. She was cold, wet and her stomach had started to feel funny. Not exactly hungry but more achy and she rubbed her nose where it began to feel stuffy. Kasey looked up at the sky as thunder continued to boom incessantly. It looked as if it might rain forever and her miserable tears only mixed with the rain that poured down her face.

~ to be continued ~