Page 60 of Shelter (The Wanderers 4)

CHAPTER19

The next three days were stressful but somehow went off without incident. Rush was constantly worrying that something would go wrong. After all, he wasn’t in charge of this escape. He had no idea if he could trust everyone they encountered or not.

The truth was that he could hug Marian. She’d made all these arrangements, putting her own life in danger to save five other people. With each passing day, Rush felt more indebted to her, and he silently vowed to do everything in his power to send a team to rescue her daughter.

The clock was ticking on that possibility though.

They were on the last leg of their arranged transportation tonight, huddled once again in the back of a supply truck. When this road ended, they would be on their own. But Rush knew where they were now, and he could get them to an outpost run by The Wanderers on foot.

Rush was sitting on the floor of the truck with his knees drawn up, his arms wrapped around them, and his chin on his knees. He glanced at Braylon. “Tell me more about Marian’s daughter. Maybe my people will have an idea on how she could be rescued.”

Bray smiled. “She was such a sweet girl.”

“Is,” Riggs interrupted. “She still is.”

“Let’s hope so,” Storm grumbled. “She’s been in that damn girls’ home for eight years. Who knows what the status of her mental health is.”

Haley reached for Storm’s hand. “I was there for fourteen, and I turned out okay.”

Storm wrapped an arm around her. “You’re far more than okay, princess.” He kissed the top of her head.

“They aren’t cruel. They don’t abuse the girls. After all, they need them to be healthy and somewhat well-adjusted when they turn them over to the people who paid top dollar for them,” Haley informed them.

“How many of these homes are there?” Rush asked. His heart ached for the woman sitting across from him who spent fourteen years in what he had to assume amounted to a juvenile detention center.

“Who knows?” Braylon stated.

“Mine was pretty big. The girls live together by age, and I’d say there were about twenty girls near my age. We grew nervous together and quiet when we knew our time was up.”

“How much did you know about what would happen?” Rush asked.

“Not enough. Only that we would be going to fulfill our duties to society by marrying a chosen man. We were raised to be obedient, polite, and demure. We were taught that if we did anything to embarrass the home and make it appear that the school couldn’t train girls to behave and know their place, our fate would be far less pleasant than the cushy life we would be granted with the family who’d purchased us.”

Rush cringed. It was all so fucking barbaric. He’d known such homes for girls existed, but he’d never met anyone who’d lived in one. He doubted many managed to escape and live to tell about it.

“Is there any chance Marian’s daughter was at the same home as you?” It was a long shot, but Rush figured it would help if he at least knew which home Harmony was in. Though that would also require Haley to have a clue where she’d been.

“No idea.” She glanced at Braylon. “Marian never spoke of her when she was around me. I don’t even know her name.”

“We didn’t talk about her a lot because it was too painful. She was our friend. Even though she was only a baby when Marian came to the estate to be our tutor, she grew up with us.” Riggs stated. “Her name was Harmony.”

Haley’s eyes widened. “Harmony? I knew a Harmony. What does she look like?”

“Brown curly hair that hung way down her back when it was pulled straight, but the curls were so tight it never reached very long unless it was braided,” Braylon informed her. “She has huge brown eyes. She’s incredibly smart. Marian let her sit right next to us when we did our studies. She wasn’t permitted to directly educate her daughter, but she did nothing to stop it from happening on its own.”

“We taught her to read before she was old enough,” Storm stated proudly. “Her mother didn’t even know until later, and she scolded us for a long time when she found out.”

Rush frowned. “Marian didn’t want her daughter to learn to read?”

Riggs shook his head. “That wasn’t it. She didn’t want us to get into trouble for encouraging Harmony.”

Haley grabbed Riggs and Braylon by the knees. “How old was she when she was sent away?”

“Twelve,” Braylon answered.

“Did she have darker skin? Like maybe her father was darker than her mother?”

“Yes.” Braylon nodded, his brows lifting.

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