by Sara Schoen
Chapter 15
"Mommy, I'm tired!" Jessi complained. Exhaustion was getting to her because we had been running for hours on end; I was too afraid to stop for even a second. I was constantly looking over my shoulder expecting to see Steve right behind us, but every time all I saw were trees and brush. That didn't stop the paranoia from taking over my mind. We had to fight through the brush, and now my legs were starting to hurt from pushing through the branches, thorns, and leaves that covered the ground. My feet ached, but I had to ignore it, and every time pain shot through them when I took a wrong step.
"I know, honey, but we have to keep moving," I said as I pulled her along by her hand. Right now, I was thanking Coach Chinos for making me a distance runner in track. I had stamina to run and keep going, at least for a little while longer, but soon we would need to rest.
"But Mommy, I'm tired."
"Okay, we can rest for a little while, but then we have to keep going," I let her hand drop so that she could sit down. The second I let go of her hand she plopped down in a heap and looked as if she was ready to fall asleep.
"Can we see what Daddy packed Mommy? I'm thirsty."
I had told Jessi that Garrett took good care of us and prepared something for our trip. I hoped that it would ease her. She was so scared, and the news that Garrett was taking care of us seemed to relax Jessi enough so that she wasn't on the verge of tears.
"Sure, sweetheart," I said softly, as I pulled the backpack off my back and started to dig through the contents. There was a blanket, a packet of diapers, extra clothes, water bottles, food, and a map. I handed Jessi the bottle of water so she could take a sip while I re-tied her shoes.
"Where is Daddy, Mommy?" Jessi asked with a tearful expression on her face. She worried about Garrett and me greatly.
She had been so worried about me when Steve had taken me away. Then when Garrett had broken the window in the basement, he pushed her through the opening and instructed her to hug a tree and wait for me to come out and get her. I was glad that Garrett had reacted so quickly, I wouldn’t have been able to think as clearly as he had. That's what saved both of our lives, and hopefully his once this is all over. I shook my head viciously, I had to push Garrett from my thoughts for a while—I needed to focus and get Jessi out safely before worrying about him.
I looked at Jessi as the night started to shroud everything in a pitch-black blanket. I could tell she was worried about Garrett and me, and we had grown attached to each other. We were now a part of her and she would never be able to forget us, even if I got her home and back into her old life.
"He is back at the house. He will come find me later after you're somewhere safe," I said, hoping that it would ease her mind slightly.
"Doesn't he want to see me?" She asked as she choked on her tears.
"Of course he does! But he's working really hard on keeping you safe and once you're somewhere safe, then he will come find us," I said, as I wiped off the dirt and thorns on the bottoms of my feet so I could slide my shoes on.
I glanced up at the sky, it was growing dark and there was barely a sliver of moon tonight, soon I wouldn't be able to see. Who knew how long I had before Steve came looking for Jessi and me? I needed to get Jessi back to Charleston before Steve could come looking for us. Would he go back to her hometown to take her again? I hoped her family would protect her better this time, and prevent her from being taken again.
"We have to keep moving, Jessi," I said, as she handed the water bottle back to me. We had made it a fair distance from the house, for running on foot, but we still weren't close to Charleston yet.
"But Mommy, I'm tired!"
"I know you are, sweetheart. I'm hoping to make it to your home tomorrow morning, and to do that we have to keep going."
Jessi looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding her head and getting up from the ground. She had seen the horrors of a world that no one her age should be subjected to and knew that it was wrong. That's what made her understand that we had to keep going, so that we could get away.
"Okay, Mommy," she said as she slipped her hand into mine again. We walked as the sun had almost completely vanished, giving off a purplish glow in the dark night. This would be the last visible light of the day and then Jessi and I would be sent into darkness. I glanced around the area to see if there was any cover we could take to sleep for the night. There were dead branches and tall bushes littering the ground, making it difficult to walk through the brush. I could hear animal claws scratching into the earth around us, frightening Jessi and me. There was a growl, here and there, while we could see the yellow eyes watching our every move.
"Mommy, can we stop?" Jessi asked hugging me around the waist after about another hour of walking difficultly through the woods.
"Sure, Jessi. Your daddy packed us a blanket to sleep on." I said, as she sat on the ground ready to fall asleep right there on the cold hard ground.
I laid the blanket on a patch of grass so that there would be something underneath us. Jessi rolled on top of it the second it settled on the ground and fell asleep a few seconds later. I tried to relax as I laid down to go to sleep, but I couldn't. I didn't know if Steve was still beating Garrett or if he was out looking for me already. If he was looking for me, would he know the way I went or just guess? To say I was scared would be an understatement. I didn't know what fear was before I was taken, now I lived it every day. My brain finally went blank for a moment and let me fall into an uneasy sleep.
We spent the next day traveling as fast as we could toward the direction of Charleston. We forced our way through bushes, thorns, and over fallen branches and trees. Each day we got closer to her home, but also toward people who would try to bring us back to Steve. Steve would be leaving the house soon to track us down, if he hadn't already, which put me into an uneasy sleep each night.
I woke up as the sun was rising. The sound of cars met my ears as I stretched and looked around our surroundings again. We must be getting close to Charleston; I heard a car honk its horn in the distance. Lightly shaking my head, I forced myself awake and dug through the backpack for breakfast. Jessi was curled up sleeping next to me cuddling on the shirts that Garrett had put in the bag like a teddy bear. I lightly shook Jessi awake when it was ready, "Jessi, it's time to get up."
"Are we home yet, Mommy?" she asked, wiping the sleep from her eyes and yawning loudly.
"Almost, only a little while longer."
"Will you be living with me still?" she asked.
"No, but you'll have your real mommy and daddy who will take care of you," I said, petting her hair down from the bed head she now had.
"I'll miss you, Mommy."
"I'll miss you, too." I heard a car whiz by from somewhere around me, bringing my thoughts back to the problem at hand. We had to get out of these woods before Steve came looking for us, or we would be easily targets. "Come on, Jessi, let's get you home." I packed up the camp and we started walking in the direction of the sound of cars. We headed toward a thinning of trees and hit a road right off the tree line. If I had gone as far as I thought I had last night, this should be somewhere outside of Charleston, or at least close enough to find signs for it. I glanced left to see a road sign: Charleston five miles.
"That's your hometown, right, Jessi?" I asked, pointing to the sign.
"Yes, Mommy. Are we home yet?"
"Soon, very soon. Come on." I took a tight hold of her hand and started to walk back into the woods for cover, just in case Steve was using the road to track me down. Garrett had explained that Steve would at times use the car to track down the girls if he thought they could have made it pretty far. I didn't want to be caught and trapped in his car trying to escape again. It was better to play it safe at this point.
I wonder how many girls made that mistake.
It was exhausting walking through the woods, but it was the safest way to do it. My legs were cut up, along with my arms, and blood was starting to seep through my clothes. I could only imagine
how badly cut up Jessi was, but she didn't complain. Maybe she finally understood the situation we were in and knew that it was the price to pay for freedom.
When we stepped out of the woods again, the sun was high in the sky. It had taken hours to walk five miles through the brush, and it was painful to say the least. Jessi now had a cut on her face that started just barely below her eye and raked down her face. I had blood pooling through my jeans and I didn't know if it was from the rape or something from the woods, but it was nauseating to see. I looked around to see that we were near a school crossing.
"Jessi, do you know where we are?" I asked, hoping she knew her town well enough to lead us through the town.
"Yes," she said with a smile.
"How do we get to your house?" I asked, hoping she knew where it was so that I could take her home.
"There," she pointed in the direction of the school, to a cop car sitting out front. Of course her parents had taught her if she ever needed help to go to a police officer. They thought all cops would help, but little did they know some cops kept children hidden.
I wanted to avoid cops, but Jessi raced toward the parked car, and I had to follow.
Please don’t let them be a part of Steve's scheme, I silently begged as we crossed the street. I met Jessi near the cop car and held her tight as we approached. If I had any bad feelings about the police officer, we would just have to run again, go back into the trees, and try a different town. Jessi could be safe anywhere where good police officers were found, then I could make my way to state lines
"Excuse me?" I asked through the open window of the car.
"Yes?" The officer asked turning his head to look at Jessi and me. For a moment he looked us up and down in disgust at our appearance. Then a flash of wonder crossed in front of his eyes, and a smile ran across his face. "You're the two missing girls!" he yelled in excitement, as he took his radio in his hand and reported back to someone.
"Yes we are. How long have we been missing?" I asked, choking on the word. I wasn't missing. I was taken, kidnapped. There was a lifetime of pain in a matter of months.
"I found those two missing girls." There was a pause as he waited for a response on the other side. "Yes, Jessi Sparks and Anna Cowles." There was another pause. "Yes sir." He said before turning back to us.
"What's going on?" I asked nervously as I pulled Jessi closer to me.
"Let's go to the station girls. Whatever has happened will soon be over," he promised as Jessi got in the car
I only wished that it could have been true.
Chapter 16
There was a huge throng of people surrounding the police station. The blue uniforms of the policemen and women mingled with jean-clad individuals waiting for the lost children to return. It was hard to decipher which face went with which person, even as we got closer.
When we exited the car, I glanced from face to face to see the reactions of our presence, and I didn't like what I saw. It was visible on some faces that they were relieved we were okay, while others looked angry, and that scared me. Why would they be upset by us coming home?
"Jessi!" a woman cried out as we walked toward the police station. The cry caused Jessi to suddenly cling to my leg as if she was afraid.
I glanced down at Jessi. Her face was buried into my leg as her grip tightened so I couldn't walk. She was terrified; it was almost the same reaction she had with Steve the first week. I had to break her of the habit so he wouldn't get angry, but from her reaction, I knew I wouldn't like this lady.
The woman shoved her way through the crowd to get to us. I stood between the woman and Jessi with my arms outstretched like Garrett had done to protect us. He wasn't here now, and I had to step up to protect her.
"Move aside!" the woman ordered me.
"No!" I replied as I pushed Jessi further behind me.
"How dare you," the woman said, and stepped forward as I stepped back. The woman's hand went to Jessi's and tried pulling her away from me. When Jessi started crying I refused to let this woman take her.
"No, how dare you! Don't you see that you're scaring her? You clearly don't care if you're yelling. It's scaring her. So back off!" I yelled as I smacked the woman's hand off Jessi's. A collective gasp raced throughout the ranks as they watched the scene unfold.
"Do you have any idea who I am, you little bit–" she glared at me with pure hatred when I held my hand up to make her stop.
"Do you have any idea what we have been through?" That made everyone around us silent. "That's right, you don't know. You're scaring her, and you don't even realize what you could be reminding her of. How dare me? How dare you!" I yelled, even surprising myself at the backbone I had grown just to protect Jessi.
I kneeled down to wrap Jessi in my arms as the woman just stared in shock at what I had said to her. She wasn't used to being spoken to in that manner, and I had never spoken to an adult like that. I was usually shy and soft-spoken, yet now I was yelling at strangers to protect a child that wasn't mine. Jessi is my one connection to know that Garrett saved us. We had to get him help, no matter what the costs. I couldn't just run while he lay in pain in that house, or maybe he was dying.
That image sent my fear off the charts. Garrett could be dying, and I'm here doing nothing to help him.
I looked at the officers around me as I spoke, "There's a boy that's stuck where we were. He helped us escape. By now I can only imagine what’s happened to him."
Again, as I looked at the officer’s faces, I could see some reacted to that news. I realized in that moment Garrett was right. The police were in on it, not all of them, but most of the older looking men of the group. They would be higher ranking, and that would be all it takes to keep people from asking too many questions.
"No, I don't know what you went through, but she is my daughter, and you have no right to keep her away from me," the woman stated in a softer tone, but clearly still mad at my defiance. Now that I looked at her, I could see the resemblance between them. Jessi had gotten her blonde hair and heart shaped face, but Jessi must have gotten her father's demeanor. She was too sweet to be related this woman, her mother was too harsh and uncaring for such a young child to understand.
"Then why is she afraid of you? If I saw my mother after this, right now, I'd have run to her and cried on her shoulder. Jessi ran from you and went to me. Why is she afraid of her own mother?" I asked, keeping a defensive posture.
"Mommy, I'm scared," Jessi cried, and grasped harder onto my shirt as she twisted it into tight twirls.
"I know, but it's going to be okay now. You're home, and nothing like that will happen to you again. Why won't you go see your mother, Jessi?"
"She scares me,” she answered, causing a few people to gasp as a man in uniform stepped forward.
"There you go, Kaylee. Our daughter finally said it. She's scared of you! So you can stop faking, because everyone here today saw how you treat her and her friend. So tell everyone how that man got a hold of Jessi. Please do." A man stepped forward from the crowd, anger lacing his every word.
"How dare you, James! I did everything to protect her!"
"That's not what our witness said. He said you begged for your life and offered Jessi to him in order to save yourself."
"And you believe some homeless man? James, this is slander, I demand that you apologize this instant," Kaylee demanded as more and more people gathered to witness the scene.
"I can't believe our police chief would lie about what he saw. Then again, you'd know that since he confessed to you two sleeping together too, I could see a lapse in judgment." Gasps swept through the crowd. James smiled, clearly proud at how he was getting even with his cheating wife, and waited a moment. "I believe him. I already signed the divorce papers, and am fighting for the right to keep Jessi."
"You can't do that!" Kaylee shrieked as she turned on her heel and came at Jessi and me.
My arm pulled back without warning, and as Kaylee continued her malicious approach toward us I felt my
instinct kick in again. My arm sprang forward and made contact with her nose. I heard her scream as she crashed to the ground and wrapped her hands around her face.
"You all heard that! Kaylee is not allowed anywhere near Jessi or Anna. Get her out of here," James said to the crowd as he stepped forward to us. Officers moved instantly to remove Kaylee from the scene while she kicked and screamed in pain.
Jessi came out from around my back and offered a small smile to James. "Hi, Daddy," she said in a soft voice.
"Hi sweetheart, can I have a hug?" James asked as he crouched down to her level and outstretched his arms.
Jessi slowly came out from around me and went toward James. Her steps were tentative and fearful until she was within two steps from him, then she ran and hugged him. Jessi started to cry as her dad wrapped his arms around her. After our experience I wished nothing more than for anyone to tell me everything was going to be okay and that's exactly what James did for Jessi.
"It's going to be okay now, Jessi," he promised.
"But we have to save Daddy!" Jessi yelled pushing from her father's hold and looking at me with a worried frown.
"Who?" James asked confused with a hurt expression clouding his eyes.
"It's the boy I told you about, Garrett. He was there with us in the house and before I even got there. He was taken like Jessi was when he was her age and could've had his named changed and just accepted the fate, eventually forgetting he wasn't actually Steve's child. We need to get Garrett back too." I pleaded with James. He saved us; we needed to save him.
"I will do everything I can. Let's get you inside. We can contact your parents from there and move forward to look for Garrett," James said as he attempted to pick up Jessi, but she ran toward me and leapt into my arms.
I could see the sorrow written all over his face, it hurt him to have Jessi run to someone else after such an ordeal. He wanted to comfort her like I could and be able to have his daughter back. Little did he know it was going to be hard for her to lead a normal life.