Wow- lots of reviews/favs/alerts for three days. I'm amazed, and grateful. I refuse to hold chapters hostage to reviews, so a special thank you to all who review and boost my self confidence, and another thank you to everyone who reads this in general.
I know my summary sucks- anyone who wants to try their hand at writing a better one is welcome to. PM me and we'll talk. Thanks!
PS: Next chapter will feature both Amay and MiM. Jamie will come in soon- but I'm still waiting on Jack. I assume he'll make an appearace when he feels like it.
She dozed, drifting in between sleep and hazy awareness. Thoughts drifted across her mind, but thankfully no darkness intruded- she was alone in her consciousness. Then, something- a discord went across the smooth flow of thought. Roused, she sat up, rubbing at one eye.
Sam's ears caught the sound of soft crying. Instantly alert, she got up and quietly followed the sound to its source- a small waiting area just off the main hall. At first glance, it appeared to be empty- but as Sam turned to leave, she spotted a small flash of blond hair.
A little girl, of perhaps about six or seven but looking much younger, was wedged in the one corner hidden from plain view. Instantly, Sam knew she couldn't just ignore this girl. Softly, she lowered herself to sit cross-legged in front of the girl's hiding space.
"Hey. What's wrong, then?" She pitched her voice to be gentle and reassuring- she did have some experience with younger kids, being saddled with babysitting for her host relatives fairly often.
The girl looked up at her with wide, surprised eyes, crying momentarily stopped. "Who're you?" She said suspiciously, rubbing at her red-looking nose with one hand.
Sam smiled at the girl, trying to project an air of trustworthiness- young enough to understand, old enough to comfort.
"My name's Sam. What's yours?"
The girl looked at her oddly. "But that's a boy's name!"
Sam suppressed the urge to laugh. "Well, my real name's Samantha, but most people call me Sam 'cause it's easier to say." And bark across a room, or from down the hall- "What's your name?"
The girl sniffed and eased up into a semi-interested sitting position. "Emily. I'm seven."
"Oh. That's a good age to be- I'm sixteen." Sam smiled at seeing the girl's eyes widen.
"You must be a grown-up then! You must know all kinds a'stuff! " Emily said, eyes wondering in awe at the sight of someone so much older than herself.
"Well, not quite. But I do know that when someone's crying something's wrong. What's wrong, Emily?"
The little girl folded her hands and looked down at her lap. "You wouldn' understand."
Sam raised an eyebrow, which made Emily giggle. "Really? I'm almost a grown-up, remember? You can tell me." She said soothingly, opening her arms for the little girl to emerge out of her corner. "Come here- I promise I won't tell anyone."
Emily looked at her with all the endearing seriousness a child can muster. "Cross your heart?"
"Cross my heart," Sam said seriously, miming an 'X' with her right hand.
Emily considered for a moment before scooting closer to the older girl. "Mitchel said tha' my new parents were gonna be here today. He promised. An' now they're gone. They don't want me anymore, an' they're gonna leave me like daddy did, with Mitchel, and- and-" The girl broke down into tears again.
"Oh, honey." Sam said, sympathy for the little girl swelling as she scooped her onto her lap easily. The girl weighed next to nothing!
For several minutes, Sam just let her cry, this time with the comfort of being held. As she did so, her mind was racing frantically.
This must be the girl Mitchel had mentioned before- the one whose adopters had gotten caught in the freak snowstorm several miles away. Poor chit- she thought it was her fault; that she was going to be dumped and forgotten again.
"Hey." Sam released the girl a bit, meeting her eyes fully. "That's not true. Your new parents are on their way; they're just a bit late, I promise."
Emily sniffled and wiped her nose with her sleeve. "How do you know?"
Sam smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring way. "'Cause I know things. And I know Mitchel, too."
"You do?"
Sam eased the girl off her lap and onto her feet, kneeling before the little blonde. "'Course I do. I just saw him a few hours ago. And he told me that your new parents were late, and because of that, you might have to spend the night with me. How's that, huh?"
Emily eyed her doubtfully. "Really? Cross your heart it's true?"
Sam smiled at the little girl's distrust, but inside, a few tears sprang to her eyes. It wasn't fair that a seven year old would be so used to adult's betrayal that she would doubt anything she was told.
She forced the tears back before replying. "Tell you what. Let's go find Mitchel and he can tell you himself. Alright?"
Emily smiled again- a real smile, one that lit up her really rather pretty little face into something beautiful. "Alright."
Sam took the little girl's hand and ducked under a small end table to retrieve the girl's small bag of possessions. "Is this everything?"
Emily nodded.
"Good. So let's go find Mitchel, okay?"
"Okay." The little girl agreed, if not with enthusiasm, then at least without reluctance.
But first, before she started the search for their social worker, Sam retrieved her abandoned soda bottle and her own possessions. She handed Emily back her own little backpack of clothes before slinging the duffel bag over one shoulder, and hefting the box onto one hip, praying the aged cardboard wouldn't decide to give way then and there.
Sam eyed the soda for a moment, before deciding to leave it there. There were more important things, after all, than that one bottle.
Now fully situated, Sam took Emily's hand again, smiling at the little girl. "Ready?"
"Ready!"
The pair walked around for a bit, Sam holding Emily's tiny, delicate hand in her own. The little girl looked surprisingly delighted with her company- probably happy to finally have some attention to herself, Sam thought bitterly. However, it wasn't long before they found who they were looking for.
"Oh, so you found our little runaway." Mitchel said, when he saw Sam- and who she was holding hands with. The smile he directed at Emily softened the slight rebuke.
Shyly, the little girl ducked behind Sam, eyes peeping out at the social worker. Sam laughed. "Come on, Emi. Mitchel's a nice guy, remember."
Slowly, Emily nodded, and came back out. Sam looked down at the girl who's hand she was still holding seriously. "And, for the record, good choice to run away." Emily's face broke into a delighted smile.
Sam turned back to Mitchel. "So, what's the story? Where are we staying tonight?"
Mitchel sighed, running one hand through his hair. "Well, Emily's adopters phoned to say they just got their power back, so they'll be up here tomorrow-" Sam nudged the little girl, as if to say see? I told you so. "-and, your uncle, Sam, finally got ahold of whoever he was trying to call. She said she'd be happy to take you in, but she'd like to meet with you first, so she'd be up here tomorrow, too."
Sam blinked in surprise. "That was fast. Do I know her?"
Mitchel shrugged. "I don't think so- but your uncle said she was at the funeral, so-" he coughed awkwardly. "Well, more important things. The shelter says they can put you two up for the night- as long as there's no complaints about room-sharing-?"
Sam looked down at Emily, who looked like Christmas had come early. Sam grinned- but the grin was covering, rather convincingly, the betrayal she felt at this update. "Well, no complaints here. Are we taking your car?"
Mitchel nodded. "We can leave now- In fact we probably should."
Sam sighed in relief. "Finally."
The odd little group made their way out back, to the staff parking lot, and Mitchel's unimpressive green Mazda.
Sam looked at the beat-up car distastefully. "Mitchel, you really need to get a new car. Seriously- how many years have you had this thing?"
Mitchel smiled, unfazed by Sam's derision. "Longer than you've been around, probably. I like this car."
Sam snorted. "Well, you've certainly had it longer than I've been continuously shipped cross-country. You sure we're not going to break down in the middle of nowhere?"
Mitchel raised his eyes to heaven. "You ask that every time. As far as I know, we have not broken down yet. And besides, there's no nowhere to break down in. So load your girl's stuff up and get in."
Sam nodded, and set to work loading her own luggage in the trunk. Emily buckled herself in, but refused to let her own bag out of her sight. Sam could sympathize- and she let her keep it without a word.
When everything was loaded, Sam hesitated just a moment before getting in. "Mitchel?" She asked quietly.
He glanced up from the driver's side of the car. "Yes?"
"Can I say good-bye, or did- did my uncle already leave?" Sam's voice quavered a bit. She knew the answer- but she fervently hoped that this one time, this one time, she would be wrong.
Mitchel's eyes were sad as he shook his head no. "I'm sorry, Sam- but he left right after he told me about Mrs. Bennet, and signed the all the custody paperwork."
"Oh." It was all she could manage to say, what with the lump in her throat and the threatening tears in her eyes. Silently, she slid into the passenger's seat, blinking back those same burning tears. She rubbed at her eyes as Mitchel started the engine, ruthlessly forcing back the looming emotional storm- at least externally.
Internally, though, as they set off for the shelter on a beautiful August day, Sam's heart sobbed with betrayal and loss. And, once again, the reminder that she wasn't wanted.
Why, why, did they have to do this to her now? Sam could understand her relatives shipping her back and forth between each other like an unwelcome Christmas fruitcake- she didn't like it, but she could understand the reasoning. But to ship her off to a total stranger, now, because no one was willing to consider taking her- the cold, uncaring, unfeeling nature of the act stabbed at her. They were her family- and she was part of them- related by blood, not just by marriage or by law. But, apparently, that wasn't good enough. She wasn't good enough.
Sam choked back a sob, reminding herself not to cry in front of other people- people who weren't Amay. It did no good- and it made you look weak.
A light touch on her arm surprised her. Startled, and still rubbing tears out of her eyes, Sam turned around to see Emily reaching for her hand. Emily had a surprisingly mature expression of empathy on her face, for a girl so young and vulnerable looking.
Cautiously, Sam extended her hand back, to within the little girl's reach. Emily held it firmly for a moment. "It's okay. It'll be okay." She said, trying to return the comfort Sam had offered her.
Touched, Sam squeezed the little girl's hand. "Thanks," she whispered, before turning back around and withdrawing her arm. Momentarily reassured by Emily's genuine words, Sam turned her thoughts away from her crappy family and toward the future- and all the worries itself brought.
Bennet-
Sam tossed the name around in her mind, gazing out at a landscape gilded by the setting summer sun, as she drove away from her family, and into the unknown.