Chapter 16 - The PromiseEllie ran two steps, stopped at the bed, and suddenly looked terrified of touching her mother.
Mara held out her arms. “I'm right here, baby.”
“You were sleeping,” Ellie said. “I kept telling you to wake up.”
“I know.”
“I gave Noah the milk. Rosie wouldn't drink it. I tried, Mama.”
Mara's face crumpled. “I know you did. Come here.”
Ellie climbed carefully beside her. For a long time neither spoke. Mara pressed her cheek into her daughter's hair and cried with the quiet shame of someone who wanted to have protected everyone and couldn't.
“I'm sorry,” Mara whispered.
Ellie pulled back. “Did I make you sick?”
“No. Never.” Mara cupped her face. “A grown man did something dangerous to our house. None of it was your doing.”
“I left you.”
“You saved your brother and sister. You went to people who could help us all.”
Ellie took the key from around her neck. “I kept it safe.”
Mara touched the little brass teeth. “You sure did.”
In the hallway Ruth stood with Elena, listening only to the rise and fall of voices, not the words. She hadn't wanted to intrude. When Mara saw her, she began crying all over again.
“Ruth, I should've called.”
Ruth came to the bedside. “We have time for all those conversations.”
“Do we?”
“Yes,” Ruth said. “We do.”
The doctors expected Mara to need continued treatment, therapy, and monitoring. The road ahead would not be clean or quick. But for the first time since the wheelbarrow arrived, Ellie slept that night without her shoes on.
Then a court messenger arrived at Elena's office carrying an urgent motion filed by Vale's attorneys. It challenged the emergency protective placement and alleged Ruth was an unsuitable caretaker because of her age and distance from the children's prior home.
Elena read the petition twice. Victor was under investigation, but his lawyers had found a new way to reach the family.
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A hearing was scheduled for the following morning.
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