I had never been so afraid of a man and so unwilling to leave him alone.<\/p>\n
That was the truth of it.<\/p>\n
Molly Walker lay unconscious on the kitchen floor, and her father was pointing a shotgun at the only other person in the house.<\/p>\n
Me.<\/p>\n
I could see that he wanted an answer.<\/p>\n
Something simple.<\/p>\n
Something he could understand.<\/p>\n
He wanted me to admit that I had put something terrible in her supper.<\/p>\n
But I hadn't.<\/p>\n
And no amount of shouting would change that.<\/p>\n
"Tell me what you did to her."<\/p>\n
His voice shook.<\/p>\n
I looked at the gun.<\/p>\n
Then at Molly.<\/p>\n
"I fed her."<\/p>\n
"That's not an answer."<\/p>\n
"It's the only answer I've got."<\/p>\n
He stepped closer.<\/p>\n
I stayed on my knees.<\/p>\n
My satchel lay near the cupboard where I had dropped it.<\/p>\n
The beans were still on the stove.<\/p>\n
I could smell them beginning to catch at the bottom.<\/p>\n
Under ordinary circumstances, I would have moved the pot.<\/p>\n
That afternoon, I didn't dare.<\/p>\n
"She was talking before you came here," he said.<\/p>\n
"She was talking when I arrived, too."<\/p>\n
"Then why is she lying there?"<\/p>\n
"I don't know."<\/p>\n
He stared at me.<\/p>\n
I could feel him deciding whether I was lying.<\/p>\n
I had met men who enjoyed frightening women.<\/p>\n
This wasn't like that.<\/p>\n
He looked more frightened than I was.<\/p>\n
That didn't make him harmless.<\/p>\n
A frightened person could do something terrible before realizing what his hands were doing.<\/p>\n
I kept mine open.<\/p>\n
"Please," I said. "Look at your daughter."<\/p>\n
His eyes flickered toward her.<\/p>\n
Then back to me.<\/p>\n
"You think I'm not looking?"<\/p>\n
"I think you're scared."<\/p>\n
He swallowed.<\/p>\n
"Of course I'm scared."<\/p>\n
The admission came out almost as a shout.<\/p>\n
Then his voice dropped.<\/p>\n
"She's my little girl."<\/p>\n
I looked at Molly.<\/p>\n
Her apron had twisted beneath her.<\/p>\n
The two knots she had tied at her waist were pressed against the floorboards.<\/p>\n
I remembered watching her struggle with those strings while she stood beside the stove.<\/p>\n
She had been so determined to look capable.<\/p>\n
So determined not to need help.<\/p>\n
And now she couldn't even open her eyes.<\/p>\n
"Then help her," I said.<\/p>\n
His face tightened.<\/p>\n
"Don't tell me what to do."<\/p>\n
"I'm asking you to put the gun down."<\/p>\n
He looked at the shotgun as though he had forgotten he was holding it.<\/p>\n
For a moment, I thought he might set it aside.<\/p>\n
Instead, he shifted it against his arm.<\/p>\n
"What if you poisoned her?"<\/p>\n
I felt my stomach turn.<\/p>\n
"I didn't."<\/p>\n
"How am I supposed to know?"<\/p>\n
"You aren't."<\/p>\n
That answer surprised him.<\/p>\n
It surprised me too.<\/p>\n
But it was true.<\/p>\n
He didn't know me.<\/p>\n
He hadn't watched me make the bread.<\/p>\n
He hadn't seen me take the flour from his cupboard or pour water into the bowl.<\/p>\n
He had come home and found a stranger in his kitchen.<\/p>\n
Now his daughter had collapsed.<\/p>\n
I could understand why those things frightened him.<\/p>\n
I couldn't accept being shot for them.<\/p>\n
"You'll have to decide whether you believe me," I said. "But Molly can't make that decision for you."<\/p>\n
He looked down.<\/p>\n
The little girl's fingers rested against the floor.<\/p>\n
They were still marked with a faint dusting of flour.<\/p>\n
I remembered her asking whether she could help with the dough.<\/p>\n
I remembered telling her she needed to eat first.<\/p>\n
I wished I had given her something sooner.<\/p>\n
I wished I had asked more questions.<\/p>\n
Looking back, those wishes were unfair.<\/p>\n
I had been in that house less than an hour.<\/p>\n
I could not have known everything that was wrong.<\/p>\n
But guilt doesn't always wait for a sensible reason.<\/p>\n
I felt it anyway.<\/p>\n
"Has this happened before?" I asked.<\/p>\n
The rancher looked at me sharply.<\/p>\n
"What?"<\/p>\n
"Has she fainted before?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
He answered quickly.<\/p>\n
Then he hesitated.<\/p>\n
I noticed.<\/p>\n
"Are you certain?"<\/p>\n
His jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
"I said no."<\/p>\n
I let the matter rest.<\/p>\n
There was no use turning every question into another argument.<\/p>\n
I leaned toward Molly.<\/p>\n
Her father moved the gun.<\/p>\n
"Stay away."<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
"Then you check her."<\/p>\n
He looked confused.<\/p>\n
"Check what?"<\/p>\n
"Whether she's breathing properly. Whether she's hurt herself falling."<\/p>\n
He stared at her.<\/p>\n
Then he bent closer.<\/p>\n
I watched him move his hand near her face.<\/p>\n
He lowered his head.<\/p>\n
For a moment, neither of us spoke.<\/p>\n
Then he looked up.<\/p>\n
"She's breathing."<\/p>\n
My shoulders loosened.<\/p>\n
It wasn't enough.<\/p>\n
But it was something.<\/p>\n
"Good," I whispered.<\/p>\n
He didn't look relieved.<\/p>\n
Perhaps he was afraid that relief would make him careless.<\/p>\n
Perhaps he simply couldn't believe that anything was good while Molly remained still.<\/p>\n
I understood that feeling.<\/p>\n
I had seen sick children in the places where I worked.<\/p>\n
I had watched mothers sit beside beds through nights that seemed to last forever.<\/p>\n
I had never been a mother myself.<\/p>\n
But I knew what helplessness looked like.<\/p>\n
And I knew that standing there with a gun wouldn't make it go away.<\/p>\n
"Can you move that shotgun away from her?" I asked.<\/p>\n
His eyes narrowed.<\/p>\n
"Why?"<\/p>\n
"Because she's lying on the floor beside you."<\/p>\n
He glanced down.<\/p>\n
The barrel was closer to Molly than he seemed to realize.<\/p>\n
His expression changed.<\/p>\n
He moved it away immediately.<\/p>\n
That was the first time I saw him obey a request without arguing.<\/p>\n
It told me something.<\/p>\n
He was still thinking about her safety.<\/p>\n
Even through his fear.<\/p>\n
I held on to that.<\/p>\n
"What's your name?" I asked.<\/p>\n
He stared.<\/p>\n
"You know who I am."<\/p>\n
"I know the sign outside says Walker."<\/p>\n
He said nothing.<\/p>\n
"I know Molly calls you Papa. That's all."<\/p>\n
His eyes moved toward the doorway.<\/p>\n
For a moment, I thought he might refuse to answer out of sheer stubbornness.<\/p>\n
Then he spoke.<\/p>\n
"Walker."<\/p>\n
I almost smiled.<\/p>\n
"I gathered that much."<\/p>\n
His face hardened.<\/p>\n
I stopped myself.<\/p>\n
There was a time for humor.<\/p>\n
This wasn't it.<\/p>\n
"All right, Mr. Walker."<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
"Now what?"<\/p>\n
"Now we pay attention to Molly."<\/p>\n
He seemed ready to argue again.<\/p>\n
But before he could, I noticed the position of his hand.<\/p>\n
He was holding her shoulder as though he were afraid she would fall farther.<\/p>\n
I had seen grown men handle newborn calves with more confidence.<\/p>\n
He was frightened of hurting her.<\/p>\n
That frightened me less than his anger.<\/p>\n
I lowered my voice.<\/p>\n
"She needs you to be gentle."<\/p>\n
"I know how to hold my own child."<\/p>\n
"I'm sure you do."<\/p>\n
He looked down.<\/p>\n
His hand relaxed.<\/p>\n
I watched his thumb move over the faded blue cloth of her sleeve.<\/p>\n
It was such a small movement.<\/p>\n
But it told me that beneath all the anger was a father who loved his daughter.<\/p>\n
Love, however, wasn't the same as knowing what she needed.<\/p>\n
I had already learned that in the hour before he came home.<\/p>\n
"Molly told me you were checking the south fence," I said.<\/p>\n
His eyes returned to me.<\/p>\n
"What about it?"<\/p>\n
"Nothing. She said you were working."<\/p>\n
"I work every day."<\/p>\n
"I believe you."<\/p>\n
"Someone has to."<\/p>\n
I looked around the kitchen.<\/p>\n
The floor needed sweeping.<\/p>\n
The cupboard hung crookedly.<\/p>\n
An empty plate sat on the table.<\/p>\n
The room seemed to hold all the work that hadn't been done.<\/p>\n
And Molly had been trying to do some of it herself.<\/p>\n
"She knows you work hard," I said.<\/p>\n
He looked puzzled.<\/p>\n
"Of course she does."<\/p>\n
"She talked about it."<\/p>\n
He glanced at his daughter.<\/p>\n
"What did she say?"<\/p>\n
"That you had enough to worry about."<\/p>\n
His mouth tightened.<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
"She said somebody had to handle things inside while you were outside."<\/p>\n
He stared at me.<\/p>\n
Then he looked at Molly again.<\/p>\n
For the first time, he seemed to see the apron around her waist.<\/p>\n
The cloth was much too large.<\/p>\n
The strings had been wrapped around her body until they nearly disappeared.<\/p>\n
He touched one of the knots.<\/p>\n
His hand stopped.<\/p>\n
"She tied this herself," he murmured.<\/p>\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n
"She was wearing it when I arrived."<\/p>\n
He rubbed the fabric between his fingers.<\/p>\n
Something passed across his face.<\/p>\n
I couldn't name it.<\/p>\n
Not yet.<\/p>\n
He looked toward the stove.<\/p>\n
Then the opened cans.<\/p>\n
Then the flour scattered near the bowl.<\/p>\n
"She's been cooking."<\/p>\n
It wasn't a question.<\/p>\n
"She was trying to cook when I found her."<\/p>\n
He swallowed.<\/p>\n
"I knew she did little things."<\/p>\n
I didn't answer.<\/p>\n
"She likes helping."<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
"I'm sure she does."<\/p>\n
He seemed to hear something in my voice.<\/p>\n
His eyes narrowed.<\/p>\n
"Don't."<\/p>\n
I kept quiet.<\/p>\n
He shook his head.<\/p>\n
"You think I've made her work like a servant."<\/p>\n
"I haven't said that."<\/p>\n
"You've been thinking it since I walked through the door."<\/p>\n
I could have denied it.<\/p>\n
But I had seen the girl struggle with a pot she couldn't carry.<\/p>\n
And I had seen her father threaten me instead of asking why she was hungry.<\/p>\n
So I chose my words carefully.<\/p>\n
"I think she's been trying to do more than a child should."<\/p>\n
He looked away.<\/p>\n
I watched him take a breath.<\/p>\n
Then another.<\/p>\n
For a moment, the kitchen was quiet except for the stove.<\/p>\n
Molly remained motionless.<\/p>\n
Her father looked down at her.<\/p>\n
"She's always telling me she's fine."<\/p>\n
The words were so soft I almost missed them.<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
"Every morning."<\/p>\n
He touched her cheek.<\/p>\n
"I ask if she's all right. She says she is."<\/p>\n
I remembered how Molly had answered me.<\/p>\n
The same words.<\/p>\n
The same quick assurance.<\/p>\n
As though admitting hunger would be a kind of failure.<\/p>\n
"She may think that's what you need to hear," I said.<\/p>\n
He looked up.<\/p>\n
His eyes were wet.<\/p>\n
That startled me.<\/p>\n
I had seen men cry before.<\/p>\n
Usually after too much whiskey.<\/p>\n
Sometimes after losing somebody.<\/p>\n
But I had never seen tears appear so suddenly in the middle of an argument.<\/p>\n
He blinked them away.<\/p>\n
"Her mother used to look after all this."<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
The silence Molly had left when I asked about her mother finally had words around it.<\/p>\n
I didn't know what had happened.<\/p>\n
I didn't ask.<\/p>\n
He looked toward the empty plate.<\/p>\n
Then back at his daughter.<\/p>\n
"She knew how to keep things going."<\/p>\n
His voice sounded strange.<\/p>\n
Almost distant.<\/p>\n
I thought about the kitchen.<\/p>\n
It did look like a place where somebody had once cared about every little detail.<\/p>\n
The cupboard was crooked, but the wood had been polished in the past.<\/p>\n
The stove was old, but solid.<\/p>\n
The table had been worn smooth by years of use.<\/p>\n
This wasn't a house that had always been neglected.<\/p>\n
It was a house where something had changed.<\/p>\n
I looked at Molly.<\/p>\n
She had been trying to fill that empty space.<\/p>\n
With beans.<\/p>\n
With chores.<\/p>\n
With an apron far too big for her.<\/p>\n
Her father rubbed his forehead.<\/p>\n
"I didn't know she was so hungry."<\/p>\n
I wanted to say something comforting.<\/p>\n
Something easy.<\/p>\n
But Molly was still lying on the floor.<\/p>\n
Comfort felt dishonest.<\/p>\n
So I said nothing.<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
"Why didn't she tell me?"<\/p>\n
I thought carefully.<\/p>\n
Then I answered.<\/p>\n
"Maybe she didn't want you to feel worse."<\/p>\n
His face changed.<\/p>\n
He lowered his head.<\/p>\n
For a long moment, neither of us spoke.<\/p>\n
I could hear flies gathering near the window.<\/p>\n
The stove gave a small crack as the fire shifted.<\/p>\n
The smell of beans had grown stronger.<\/p>\n
I looked toward the pot.<\/p>\n
He noticed.<\/p>\n
"What?"<\/p>\n
"The supper."<\/p>\n
He stared at me.<\/p>\n
I almost felt foolish.<\/p>\n
But the smell was impossible to ignore.<\/p>\n
"It's burning."<\/p>\n
His eyes moved to the stove.<\/p>\n
Then he looked back at Molly.<\/p>\n
I could see the anger rising again.<\/p>\n
"You're worrying about supper?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"Then why mention it?"<\/p>\n
"Because if the pot burns, smoke will fill this kitchen."<\/p>\n
He looked at the stove once more.<\/p>\n
Then at the gun.<\/p>\n
His grip loosened.<\/p>\n
I didn't move.<\/p>\n
I knew better than to make the decision for him.<\/p>\n
Finally, he lowered the shotgun.<\/p>\n
He placed it away from Molly.<\/p>\n
Then he turned back to his daughter.<\/p>\n
"Take the pot off," he said.<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
"Are you certain?"<\/p>\n
He gave me a tired, irritated glance.<\/p>\n
"Before the whole place smells of burned beans."<\/p>\n
I stood slowly.<\/p>\n
My knees felt weak.<\/p>\n
I moved to the stove and pulled the pot away from the hottest part of the fire.<\/p>\n
The wooden spoon was still lying across the rim.<\/p>\n
I picked it up.<\/p>\n
For a moment, I just held it.<\/p>\n
Less than an hour earlier, that spoon had seemed worth arguing over.<\/p>\n
Now Molly lay unconscious on the floor.<\/p>\n
I set it aside.<\/p>\n
I turned back.<\/p>\n
The rancher was still beside her.<\/p>\n
He was holding her hand.<\/p>\n
His voice had dropped to a whisper.<\/p>\n
"Come on, sweetheart."<\/p>\n
I walked toward them.<\/p>\n
This time, he didn't reach for the gun.<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
I could see how much it cost him to speak.<\/p>\n
"I don't know what to do."<\/p>\n
Those words changed the room more than the shotgun ever had.<\/p>\n
I knelt beside Molly.<\/p>\n
"Then we'll do what we can."<\/p>\n
He looked down at his daughter.<\/p>\n
And for the first time since entering that kitchen, he let me come close enough to help her.<\/p>\n
Source: newsfeed.cafex.biz<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n I had never been so afraid of a man and so unwilling to leave him alone. That was the truth of it. Molly Walker lay unconscious on the kitchen floor, … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama-sory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11049"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11069,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11049\/revisions\/11069"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nClick here to continue reading: PART 6: Molly Had Been Trying to Replace the Woman Her Father Missed, and Neither of Them Knew How to Ask for Help<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"