Page 4 of Noble Neighbor
“Are we safe here?”
Heart leaping to her throat, Sunny leaned forward. “Oh, Kenzie, what makes you think we’re not safe?”
“I heard you and Uncle Aleck talk about a safe haven,and you said you’re tired of living like a fugitive.” Kenzie shrugged. “I looked the word up. Did we do something bad, Mommy?”
Dismayed, Sunny cried out, “No, Kenz. We did nothing bad.”
“But that man—” Kenzie broke off, looking away.
Man? “What man, Kenzie?” Fear uncoiled in her stomach and snaked around her innards, squeezingtight. She grabbed Kenzie’s shoulders, barely managingnot to shake her. Had someone found them? Had the years of roaming been for nothing?
Kenzie's eyes widened, her eyes deep pools of anguish as her gaze drifted back to Sunny’s. “The one … he chased us … then …” She shuddered, tears spilling over.
“Oh, Kenzie, that was years ago.”
And her daughter’sdreadful nightmares had long stopped, making her believethe memories had faded.
Leaning closer, she peered intently at her daughter. Such a brave, brave girl. Stroking her palms over those damp cheeks, she whispered urgently, “Kenzie, honey, that man willneverbother us again. I promise. And to answer your question — wearesafe here.”
Sunny brushed an obstinate curl behind Kenzie’s ear before shifting closer to hug her, even as her mind raced. Aleck had agreed that enough time had gone by, enough changes done, to make settling safe. They were the Jones girls now, and the three of them weregoing to be just fine here on their little piece of Nebraskansoil.
An earsplitting shriek echoed around the empty house.
Sunny’s gaze snapped to the door, back to Kenzie, then the door again. “Molly?” She scrambled up and out the room. “Molly! Where are you?”
“Come quick!”
Sunny rushed toward the call, crossing the landing and into the master bedroom. At first glance, it seemed empty. “Molly?”
“Here, Mommy.”
Clearer, her baby’s voice came from the spacious alcove off the back wall where the previous owner had a sewing nook. Sunny stuttered to a halt in the entry and breathed a sigh of relief. Molly knelt in the farthest corner under the built-in table, and from the mewling, she assumed her girl had found a litter of kittens.
Kenzie pushed past her. “Aw, sweet,” she cooed, sinking to the ground, crawling in beside her sister.
Sunny crouched to look, wrinkling her nose at the pungent odor, making a mental note to air the room. There were four grey striped kittens, their eyes already open. She estimated them being about three, maybe four weeks old. They were in a large, flat cardboard box containing scraps of material, something that must’ve been overlooked in the move, and the clever mama had found to make a nest. She scanned the small room. No mom in sight.
“Can we touch them?” Kenzie asked, hand poised to do just that.
“Sure. Just be careful. Their claws scratch, and it could sting.” Although the kittens looked quite docile, most likely recently fed, she didn’t want to deal with the fallout of scratches and tears.
“I’ve never touched a kitty before,” Molly said in awe, gently swiping a finger across the back of the closest one.
Sunny let the girls admire the kittens for a few minutes before drawing them away, adding another item to her newly formed mental list: Contact the local veterinary clinics. “I reckon their mama will return soon, and we don’t want her to get a fright seeing us here. Why don’t we wash hands, eat lunch, and we come and check on them later?”
They ate their sandwiches under the sprawling oaks, the girls taking turns on the rope swing dangling from a sturdy branch. Their energy soon lagged, and Sunny spread a blanket on the ground for Molly to have a nap. Within a short while, Kenzie joined her sister in dreamland, and Sunny longed to do the same.
Today had been emotional. It was the end of an exceedinglylong journey, and she wasn’t thinking of the past days on the road. The recent years had been arduous, and she was exhausted, physically and mentally.
A nap under the trees in the yard of their forever home seemed the perfect way to spend the rest of the afternoon.
2
New neighbors
“Dad! Grandpa! Come quick. It’s the new neighbors.”
Oliver looked up and out his office window at Clement’s call.His son was racing along the gravel road leading to their home, Nala hot on his heels. Clement had eagerlyawaited the new occupants’ arrival, hoping for some company closer to his age in the area.
