Anna was staring proudly at her new bed of flowers; they really were coming along nicely. She would have probably wanted nothing more of this day if she wasn’t worrying about her daughter. She glanced down at her wrist watch and sighed; this was not the first time she had woken up to find Casey gone, she was at the beach of course, there was no place she loved more, but that still could not relieve the wrath Anna would surely unleash when she returned. Anna thought of what she should do, it was clear some form of punishment was required; the neighbors would surely be looking for her to take some action. She didn’t even understand why she bothered because no matter what she did someone was bound to speak about the young mother who did not know how to discipline her child.
Anna sighed, she had more flowers that needed tending and more to replant, Reverend Tanner had promised her some seeds from where he vacationed last month, he’s said they would thrive in the salty air. She was still deep in thought when she heard a familiar voice calling out to her, her heart leapt. The last time Casey had called out to her like that she’d spent the night at the hospital and three days at home. Anna dropped the shears she held and hurried out front, silently praying that nothing had happened to her girl.
“Mommy” Casey called as they neared the washed out white house, it was old but its surroundings made up for its lack with beautiful flower gardens, neatly trimmed fence and a recently mowed lawn.
Brad had grown weaker and was fighting the urge to faint, mostly because he did not want to put too much strain on the children. He lifted his gaze to the house ahead, squinting at the sun and noticed the slim woman racing up the dirt road, a cloud of dust rising from underneath her boots with each footfall.
“Casey!” she called frantically.
When she noticed the trio her face contorted into several expressions, Brad could not discern them all but he knew he saw genuine concern, something he wouldn’t expect from a stranger. He’d lived in a world where no one cared for a strange face.
Anna looked at him briefly and then took Tommy’s place propping a strong shoulder under Brad’s arm. She looked over at Casey questioningly the fear that something had happened to her daughter had subsided and was replaced with concern for the stranger between them.
“What happened?” she asked.
Casey opened her mouth to explain, just as Brad stumbled to his knees and then onto his hands. Anna knelt down beside him and laid a hand on his bent head which was neatly wrapped in Tommy’s T-shirt, she winched when she notice the bruised and battered face.
“It’s alright now, we’ll take good care of you,” she coaxed; she then turned to her daughter, who was standing nearby wringing her hands, as always she was taking full control of the situation.
“Go get Mike, tell him to hurry” she commanded.
Brad had slumped unto his belly and was groaning in pain. Anna turned him over and pulled him upright, looking at him closely for the first time. She felt her heart skip a beat; her hand flew to her mouth at the frightening realization. His swollen eyes, bloody lips, and wrapped up forehead couldn’t hide who he really was.
“Raj?” she whispered, the stranger did not seem to have heard her, and he looked up at her frightened expression with weary eyes.
“Water,” he moaned and licked his parched busted lips.
Anna started moving again, frantically this time, her hands trembled immensely as beads of sweat ran from her hairline onto her temple, she replaced Casey’s bandage with a towel from her shoulder, pressing hard against the wound, her lips set in a thin line.
Casey and Tommy returned with Mike; who was immediately at Brad’s side.
“Come help me take him inside” she ordered, lifting Brad’s arm over her shoulder, Mike did the same and held Brad’s waist to support him and with strong arms they carried him in.