“Stop!” Alice cried out as Julia walked away. Frowning, she stuck her bare feet in the boots, put on her coat and clomped across the wood floor. “Smelly shoes.”
Julia smiled down at her. Smelly was the word for anything Alice didn’t like. “You’re such a good girl.” Reaching down, she took hold of Alice’s hand. “Will you follow me?”
Slowly, Alice nodded
Julia led the girl out of the house and toward Peanut’s truck. As she opened the door, she heard Alice start to make noises. It was the low, throaty growl she used to make.
“Use your words, Alice.”
“Stay.” She looked terrified.
This reaction didn’t surprise Julia. She’d anticipated it. At some point in her life Alice had been taken somewhere—by someone—in a car. Perhaps that trip was the start of the bad times.
“I won’t hurt you, Alice. And I won’t let anyone else hurt you.”
Her blue-green eyes were huge in the tiny white oval of her face. She was trying so hard to be brave. “No leave Girl?”
“Never. No.” Julia tightened her hold on Alice’s hand. “We’ll go see Ellie.”
“LEllie?”
Julia nodded, then tugged on the girl’s hand. “Come on, Alice. Please?”
Alice swallowed hard. “Okay.” Very slowly, she climbed into the passenger side of the truck. Julia helped her into the booster seat they’d purchased last week for this very occasion. When she snapped the seat belt in place, Alice started to whimper. At the shutting of the door, that pathetic whimper grew into a desperate howling.
Julia hurried around the car and slipped into the driver’s seat. By now Alice was hyperventilating, trying to unhook the straps.
“It’s okay, Alice. You’re scared. That’s okay.” Julia said the words over and over again until Alice calmed down enough to hear her.
“I’m putting on my seat belt, see? Now I’m hooked in, too.”
Alice whimpered, pulled on the strap.
“Use your words, Alice.”
“Fee. Peas. Girl fee.”
All at once Julia got it. Idiot. She should have foreseen this. The memory of those tiny pale scars on Alice’s ankle. Ligature marks. “Oh, Alice,” she said, feeling tears well in her eyes. Maybe she should quit now, try another time.
No.
Alice had to come into this world sometime, and in this world kids sat in car seats. But there was one concession she could make. Julia moved Alice and the car seat to the middle of the bench seat in the old truck, then held the girl’s hand. “Is that better?”
“Fwaid. Girl fwaid.”
“I know, baby. But I won’t let you go. You’re safe. Okay?”
Alice’s gaze was steady, trusting. “ ’Kay.”
Julia started the car.
Alice screamed and tightened her hold on Julia’s hand.
“It’s okay, honey,” Julia said over and over until Alice quieted.
It took them almost ten minutes to get down the driveway. By the time they reached the highway, she had almost no feeling left in her right hand. She ignored the pain and kept up a steady stream of comforting dialogue.
Looking back on it, Julia could pinpoint when Alice changed. It was at the corner of Azalea Street and West End Avenue.
Earl and Myra’s house, to be precise. As always, the couple had decorated as if it were an Olympic event. White lights twinkled from every surface. A giant Santa and sleigh arced above the peak of the roof in a brilliant display of red and green lights. On the front door was a twinkling green wreath, and tiny green-lit trees outlined the path from street to house.
Alice made a sound of pure delight. For the first time, she let go of Julia’s hand and pointed at the house. “Look.”
This was as good a place as any to stop. They were a block from the police station. Julia pulled over to the curb and parked, then went around to Alice’s door, opening it. Before she’d even finished unstrapping Alice, the girl was slithering out of the seat and climbing out of the truck.
At the edge of the sidewalk, Alice paused, staring up at the house. “Prittee,” she breathed.
Julia came up beside her.
Alice immediately took her hand.
Julia waited patiently, knowing Alice’s penchant for studying things. It was entirely possible that they’d stand here for an hour.
At some point the red door opened. Myra stood there, dressed in a long black velvet skirt and a red knit sweater. Carrying a tray of cookies, she walked slowly toward them.
Julia felt Alice’s tension. “It’s okay, honey. Myra is nice.”
Alice slid behind Julia but didn’t let go of her hand.
“Do you like cookies?” Myra said when she was closer. “My Margery liked spritz best when she was your age.”
Julia turned slightly and looked down at Alice. “She has cookies.”
“Cookees?”
“I made them myself,” Myra said, winking up at Julia.
Cautiously, Alice peered around Julia’s body. In a lightning-quick move she grabbed a red wreath cookie and popped the whole thing in her mouth. By the third cookie she’d moved out from behind Julia and stood tucked along her side.