“At last! I need to wash off the stench of those barbarians,” Samuel said, joining them.
“It is just a few minutes walk,” the officer said when she headed towards the horse. She fell beside him, and he led the way, Samuel grumbling behind them with the horse.
They stopped in front of a building. The night had already descended but the streetlights were on.
“This is where they are,” the officer said.
Hannah stared at the brown door. Her heart raced in excitement. What was going to be behind that door? She feared for what she would see. Her...
The door opened. She gasped. Her mother stood at the doorway. Crying, she went into her mother’s arms. The woman hugged her tight, tears spilling from her eyes.
“You are home,” Regina said in tears. “You are home.”
She had missed her mother so much. It seemed like it had been forever since she last saw her. She pulled away from her. Her mother was gaunt, with sharpness in her face. She looked sick, with bags under her eyes.
“I am recovering,” her mother said, reading the questions. She looked behind her to the officer. “Thank you for bringing her home.”
“It was a pleasure,” the officer said with a nod. They watched him go, with quick strides as if eager to get away from them.
“Your daughter is a prostitute!”
She had forgotten all about him. Hannah sighed. And to think she had even thought she had missed him.
“What do you mean?” her mother asked.
“She laid with all those barbarians. She let them defile her,” Samuel said, his voice filled with excitement.
“How have you been mother?” Hannah asked. “Where’s my brother?”
A cry from the inside, and the two women went in, ignoring Samuel who continued to call Hannah names. It was a small house, with a decent room. Their belongings were packed together and there was barely any space.
“We will get a bigger place,” her mother said, noticing her look around.
Relief settled on Hannah when she saw her brother. He stopped crying when he saw her, reaching out to her. Fresh tears welled in her eyes as she held him in her hands. He laughed when she made a funny face.
“Hannah.”
Her stepsister hugged her from the side and she hugged her back. She ruffled the girl’s hair and she clung harder to her.
“Where’s Thomas?” she asked, looking around.
The silence she received scared her. Even Samuel who had followed them in was silent.
“He died,” Regina said, with heaviness in her voice.
Hannah was weak. Thomas was dead? She looked to her mother for confirmation. Her mother nodded.
“How?” she asked. The last time she had seen him he had been a healthy boy, full of life. Had... Had the kidnap caused his death?
“He became very sick when we arrived here—”
“Those savages caused his death!” Samuel snapped.
“He was sick even before the journey began,” little Mary said. “He did not want to tell you because he feared you would beat him.”
Samuel stared at his daughter angrily. “Shut up! You know nothing.”
“Pneumonia,” her mother said.
