Chapter Sixty Four
Esme
We were going frantic with no idea where Kat had gone but then Garrett picked up her trail and leaving Alice and Carmen at the house we went after her through the trees and deeper into the forest worrying that she might cross the path of a bear or wild cat, she was so vulnerable and she wasn't even dressed for the outside.
"Why would she run Garrett? Do you think I scared her making her take a bath? I just don't seem to be getting through to her, she's so hostile for such a young girl."
"She's seen and been through a lot Esme."
"Yes but it was all inflicted by a man, you'd think she would be more comfortable with women around but I get the feeling she doesn't trust Carmen or I."
"Let's just get her back then maybe we can work out the best strategy to get through her hostility."
Peter
I waited a long time without moving or speaking, allowing her to get over the shock and decide what she wanted to do. She was so young, so vulnerable, and she'd been tortured by the only person she could remember being family, I wasn't surprised she was scared of everyone she met but I had this terrible need for her to like me, to trust me, a feeling I couldn't explain even to myself. Eventually she pushed her hair aside to look at me directly although her eyes skidded from mine to my mouth and then over my shoulder as if she wasn't allowed to really look at someone. She didn't speak but she took my hand tentatively and stood up wobbling on her bad foot.
"Shall we go back now? You're cold, here."
I slipped off my jacket and went to drape it round her shoulders but she shied away so instead I handed it to her and waited as she wrapped it around herself then took my hand again.
"Right, let's get back. Are you gonna try walking on that ankle or will you let me carry you? It'll be a lot faster."
She shook her head and started to limp beside me, this girl had guts. I could see she was in pain but it was preferable to being carried by me.
We hadn't gone far when she stumbled and a small cry of distress burst from her lips, a few tears trickling down her face to drip off her chin. I turned to look into her face squatting in order to do so,
"Look I carried you once before and I didn't hurt you did I?"
She hesitated then shook her head.
"Well then, let me carry you back this time."
"But you'll just hand me over like you did last time. You didn't like me, you couldn't wait to get rid of me."
Her words shocked me, had it really seemed like that to her? It was true in a way but only because I felt out of my depth not because I didn't like her.
"Hey Kat, look I should have stayed but I'm not good with...I don't have any experience with kids. How about I stay at the house with you this time?"
She looked up at me and wiped her eyes with the back of a surprisingly clean hand,
"Promise?"
I nodded and she looked at her foot,
"What's your name?"
"Peter."
I waited but she didn't say anything else so I picked her up carefully and started off at a slow jog so she could get used to being close to me and the jogging of her body against mine and then I started to speed up until we were flying along and she put her head on my shoulder and began to relax, was I finally making some headway with her? I liked to think so.
Esme
We heard a noise approaching and suddenly there was Peter with Kat in his arms. He came to a stop and Kat lifted her head to look at us cautiously. She looked at Peter then back to me and I heard him whisper to her.
"I promised and I keep my word."
She nodded and he looked at us,
"I saw Kat leave the house and followed her, we had a bit of an adventure in the forest but she's fine. So let's get back."
"Shall I take her Peter?"
She shrank away from me clutching him round the neck tightly and he put a hand up to stop me,
"I've got Kat Esme, lets just get her in the warm house shall we?"
Garrett and I followed him back, Kat watching us keenly over his shoulder her eyes full of suspicion.
When we got back Alice ran out to greet us looking relieved,
"You found her? Thank goodness for that, is she hurt? Why is Peter carrying her? Carmen rang Darius to make sure the kidnapper hadn't got free somehow and come to grab her."
I tried to hush Alice but it was too late, I saw Kat stiffen but Peter murmured in her ear and she nodded then relaxed once more. It seemed unbelievable to me but Kat seemed to have attached herself to Peter in a way she hadn't to either myself or Carmen and I found myself both amazed and a little hurt. I always considered myself a mother figure and good with children but I hadn't managed to connect with this little girl in the way he had.
Peter
Of course Alice had to open her big fucking mouth and mention him didn't she! I felt Kat stiffen and whispered in her ear,
"No one is going to take you anywhere you don't want to go I promise."
It made me feel good when I felt her relax once more and I carried her straight upstairs into the room I'd seen her make her earlier escape from. It had bare floorboards and there was an area in the corner that had been scrubbed. She followed my gaze and blushed,
"I did that. We didn't have a toilet, we just used the floor when the bucket was full but Esme told me that wasn't very nice. That I should use the toilet in the bathroom. She stripped me off and put me in the water. I didn't like that, it felt horrible and then she scrubbed my skin like we had to scrub the floor to get rid of the blo..."
She trailed off and I understood that she too had seen at least one of the women die and had been forced, along with Bella I assumed, to clean up the blood.
Putting her down on the bed I sat next to her and she timidly took my hand,
"Why are you being so nice to me? I'm not your daughter, I'm a very wicked girl, you should be punishing me for running away."
I grinned at her,
"I'd be more annoyed if the bear had eaten you. You aren't a wicked girl you're just confused and lonely. It's hard for you to understand that we just want to help you. Esme wanted you to be clean and smell nice, doesn't that feel better? And those clothes, they almost fit you and they are clean and not ripped. You look pretty now and once you've had your hair combed out and cut you'll be a real little princess."
She giggled at that, a sound that made me smile,
"Daddy never called me that, he said I was a wicked girl and whatever I tried he never said I was good. If I'm a wicked girl why don't you tell me off? Daddy would have used his belt if I tried to run away from him. That's why he put the chain on my leg, it was a long one before Ellie came but he didn't trust me after, he said I was clumsy and slow and he stopped loving me. No one loves me Peter, I'm too naughty to be loved."
She sounded so sad, so despondent so I pushed her hair away from her face and shook my head,
"No you're not Princess, you're not wicked or naughty and I love you."
The strange thing was that as I said it I realized it was true, I felt a deep attachment to this lost and damaged child, maybe she reminded me of myself as a human.