| |
TED WAS SORTING THE laundry in the back of the house when Lily started yelling for him. It wasn’t a fun kind of yelling.
“Here,” he called. “I’m here.”
“Greenie’s hurt bad. You have to come,” Lily said as she latched on to his hand.
He let her pull him along through the house and out to the front walk. “What happened?”
The children stood in a silent circle around the fallen girl. Greenie was in her early teens, but unsure of her age. She’d been one of the more feral children circling Ted for a long time before making contact. Even here at High Meadow, she’d never really settled in. He didn’t know where she slept at night. She trusted a few of the older children and would join them in simple jobs to earn coins. Ted kept an eye on her to make sure she was getting enough food.
He dropped to his knees to examine her. She lay crumpled on the sidewalk. “Oh dear, oh dear,” he mumbled worried that she’d been hit by a car even though he hadn’t heard one all day.
She raised her head toward him, reaching out a blood-smeared hand.
He carefully held her hand. “Sweetheart what’s happened?” Then he got a better look at her injuries: a swollen eye, split lip and a cut along her cheekbone. “Who did this to you?” He scooped her up and thought about running all the way to the school, but it was over a mile, and he wasn’t that strong. In the distance, he heard the rumble of the shuttle bus.
“Flag down the bus!” he yelped. The children sped off. Ted followed as quickly as he could, cradling Greenie in his arms.
The children managed to talk the driver into detouring down Ted’s street. Little hands pushed and pulled to help him get up the steps into the bus with his bloody burden.
Billy was driving. He gave Ted a somber nod as he stumbled into the closest seat. “Hang on everybody, I’m going to floor it.”
Ted felt more than heard Greenie crying. She’d buried her face against him. He had a hard time putting aside his anger, but he didn’t want her to think he was mad at her. Right now all she needed was his care and attention.
Billy radioed ahead, but Ted couldn’t hear much of it over the grind of the engine. When they pulled into the school, James and Ruth were waiting. Ted needed help getting down the steps without banging the girl’s elbows or knees. He felt his entourage forming at his back as he faced the medical team.
“Can you put her on the gurney?” James asked.
Ted looked down at Greenie to ask her if that was okay. Her eyes were closed, and her body limp. He had a terrifying moment of panic before he saw her take a breath. She wouldn’t mind now. James helped him lay her down. Then there was a long silent rush to the infirmary.
Ruth stopped him at the door. “Wait here with all of them,” she whispered.
Ted turned at her glance to see the mob of kids watching. “We can’t all go in with Greenie,” he said calmly. “So we will all wait here.”
Martin came striding up the hallway. “What happened?”
Now was the time for anger. Ted felt a white-hot pressure fill his chest and flow into his head. “Somebody hurt one of my girls!” He could tell by the look on Martin’s face that perhaps he’d been a bit too loud, but he didn’t care. “She was beaten.”
Martin looked past him to the infirmary door. “I’ll need to speak with her.”
“She’s unconscious,” Ted said with a tremble to his voice. “But maybe we can give you some information.” He looked around at his children. “Hands please. We will hear everyone, but it must be one at a time. Who saw Greenie come home?”
Hands flew up. Ted pointed to an older boy first. “Came from down the street. Saw her coming and that she was hurt ,and Lolly was with her.”
Ted pointed to Lolly. “She came running from that alley between the two blue houses. Bleeding and crying and yelling for help. I grabbed her hand to help her run, and we went right home.”
“Where was Greenie this morning?” Ted asked. More hands went up. Little by little they pieced together her movements during the day.
Martin finished writing in his notebook. “That’s been very helpful. Thank you all.” He gave Ted a look. “Let me know how she is,” he said before leaving.
Helen came to the door. “She’s going to be okay.”
Ted took a big breath in relief. “Thank goodness.”
Helen gave him a hug to whisper in his ear. “She was not raped.”
Ted squeezed her back. “Thank you so much.” It was a fear he hadn’t been able to face. The relief was that much greater knowing she hadn’t been hurt in that kind of way. Then another fear hit him. “Has anybody seen Nixie?”
“She’s talking to Eunice. Been there all morning,” Lily reported.
“Would you please ask her to come join us?” Ted asked.
Lily skipped down the hall. The children settled to the floor, some pulling out string or cards to play games. They were going to wait until they could see Greenie. Ted sat down, too.