Natalie let out a sudden scream, and Alice felt herself pulled backward until she fell.
Looking up, she saw that a tall man had run into them, coming from the other direction.
"Sorry lady," he muttered, avoiding eye contact, and continued on his way.
"Well, hello to you, too," Natalie scoffed, letting out her breath finally, as she helped Alice to her feet.
"You okay sweetie?" She looked into Alice's blue eyes and over her white skin for injuries or blood. Seeing none, she relaxed slightly.
But Alice wasn't paying any attention to her mother at all. She was watching that man that had run into them. Alice stared hard, confused by something. Then she closed her eyes and tried to figure out just what it was that confused her.
A swift smack on the head was an answer, though not what she'd been looking for.
"Stop that!" Natalie hissed. "Remember what I told you, you only do that when we're alone! You'll get in big trouble and maybe even get arrested. People will chase you down!"
Alice didn't understand a single word or phrase other than the physical reproach, and "stop it", her mother used that with her often enough to understand it meant she was doing something her mother didn't like. That, and she'd better stop unless she wanted to get hit again.
Alice looked in the direction the man had gone. Now he was tinier than her finger. Finally her face lit up with understanding.
"Bo!"
"What?" Her mother looked at her as if she'd lost her mind.
Alice pointed eagerly at the figure of the man quickly dissappearing from view.
"Bo!" She repeated, jumping up and down with excitement.
Natalie looked at her daughter with revulsion. "You think that guy's cute?" Her voice was shrill and heavy with disapproval.
Not understanding a word Alice simply nodded and smiled, pointing. "Bo!"
Natalie shook her head. "You've got strange taste in men, Alice," her voice was grave. "That loser looked like he just fell off a train or something," again she shook her head until it seemed it might fly off. "Guys like that are nothing but trouble."
With that, she grabbed Alice's sticky hand and pulled her along beside her, still intent on finding a car with a for sale sign.
"Don't let me ever catch you trying to bring home someone like that," Natalie's voice droned on. "Like bringing home a stray dog with rabies you think you can save." Natalie gave a short snort of derision then a laugh. "Like your Aunt Nina. Good lord, talk about a lost cause. Thinks she can save everyone. Know what happens to girls like that?"
Her mother'd stopped talking, so Alice finally looked at her.
"They get used and abused their whole lives."
"Don't be like that, Alice. Guys like that will ruin your whole life."
Alice had stopped listening when she realized her mother wasn't speaking in French. Instead, trying to make her mother understand what she was thinking, she pulled at Natalie's purse and smiled. That got her mother's attention. She stopped talking and looked down at her.
Alice pulled at her mother's purse, then pointed back at the man.
"Mama, Bo!"
"What?"
She tugged harder at the purse and pointed with emphasis at the man walking away.
"Alice," Natalie struggled to remain patience, but was nearing the end of her own, "I don't know what you're talking about. Come on," with that she pulled Alice along behind her.
Using her mind, it didn't take Natalie long to find a car in the neighborhood with a price tag attached to it. The price was right, and if the thing worked, Natalie figured she might as well take it. After all, she wasn't strong enough to really teleport herself anywhere, let alone herself and Alice.
When she rang the bell, a grandmotherly woman answered the door with a smile.
"Can I help you dear?"
Natalie couldn't help smiling back. "I was wondering about the car you have for sale."
"Oh!" The woman's eyes lit up. "That! Yes, of course. It still runs just fine, my husband always saw to that, but," she sighed heavily, "now that he's not here you see, I don't have need for it. I don't drive, myself. There's no need to in a town this size."
The woman stopped talking and eyed Natalie and Alice.
"But you're not from here."
"No," Natalie answered with a shake of the head. "I was wondering if you'd let me take it for a little test drive?"
"Of course dear," the woman smiled, lifting a key from a nail in the wall, letting Natalie take it, then placing a hand on Alice's shoulder. "You take a spin around, and I'll keep the little girl here. There's no car seat in a car so old, and I don't see that you've brought one with you."
Smart. The woman was smart. With an understanding smirk, Natalie pushed Alice towards the old woman.
"Stay here, Alice," she ordered. "Mama will be back soon."
As she walked to the car she thought to herself, that woman's no fool. Keeping my kid for collateral isn't a bad idea. Don't return the car, don't get the kid back.
When she'd closed the car door after herself, she opened up her purse, looking at the wrapped stacks of hundred dollar bills. And in that instant she realized why Alice had been pulling at her purse while pointing to the guy who'd knocked them over. They'd both just finished robbing the same bank.
It's not the same thing, she told herself as she drove down the roads and highways. I'm doing this to protect myself and my daughter from this insane cult. He's just stealing because he's a greedy idiot who's too lazy to work.