The entire trip I kept feeling like we were being watched. I mentioned it to Dusty and she was evasive. Once I thought I saw a brown shape standing in some brush thirty or forty feet away, but when I stopped and tried to get a clearer view, it melted into the background. She stopped for a moment, choking back tears, her little fists balled at her side. We all waited, respecting her pain. After a few seconds she looked up, determination in her eyes.
She stood there taut as a string, glaring up at Jesse and me. "My friend says I can trust you but I don't trust no grumps. I got animals now. I can hurt you. I don't want to but I will. I can kill you." Her voice was hard. She paused to let it sink in. "Where I'm takin' you is some hurt kids. You better do right. You better take care of them. I mean it."
I thought about the brown shadows in the woods and a shiver ran down my back. I had a feeling this kid wasn't making an empty threat. Jesse squatted down and offered the little girl a hug. "Dusty, I'm sorry grownups hurt you and your friends. Tom and I would never do that. We only want to help." The little girl stepped back from her comforting arms. It was going to be a while before she could trust again.
As we approached the equipment yard, several large dogs stepped out of hiding and bristled up, growling low in their throats. My first instinct was to pick up a stick to protect us but Dusty assured me the mutts would leave us alone as long as we didn't "act like grumps". I told her I wasn't sure I knew how to act any other way. Her grin was grim. I couldn't see anything funny in the situation either.
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