Page 41 of Baby Me

“Mybear.”

“Abear?”

“Yes, he lost his mommy. The mean men killed her, and they skinned her, and when Boo saw it he cried so much, and I had to be a big girl and not cry with him, but I did scream just a little bit.” She showed me a small gap between her thumb and her forefinger and continued. “I’m gonna be his mommy now. But we have a larger chicken tofry.”

Sophie either had a wild imagination or she was just a bundle of cuteness andtrouble.

“A what? Wait, have you been hanging out withLola?”

“Yes, but she’s not thechicken.”

Sophie’s breaths were heavy and her eyes bulged. She clenched her fists around the long sleeves of her hoodie, clinging to it as if it was going to save her life. She appeared to be in survivalmode.

“My friend needs help. He’s hurt.” Shebreathed.

“Whatfriend?”

“He’s behind the shed, but he needs help. Daddy calls him Sasquatch. He’s a little scary, but he saved me and he needs my help right now. He runs away from people. I think he hasn’t seen people in a loooooong time because he eats these leaves and finds these berries, and his teeth are crooked and his hair is like one of Mommy’s old rag dolls I accidentally dragged into mud when I was little. My friend got shot, and I’m scared that he’sdead.”

Oh myGod!

She was serious. I reached for Cameron’s phone and, forgetting that we had no service up here, tried to dial his number. I hung up when I heard the continuous busy signal and realized that I was dialing Cameron from his own phone. I searched the cottage, trying to find a good place to hide her, all the while asking herquestions.

What the hell happened to my detective’s instinct and being in control in stressfulsituations?

Come on, you got this,Kate.

“Your friend is behind theshed?”

Shenodded.

“Where’s your daddy? How did you find the cottage? How long have you beenrunning?”

She replied with, “I don’t know,” after each question I asked, and I decided to leave the questions forlater.

Once I reached the bathroom, I lifted her onto the closed toilet seat and sat herthere.

“All right, you stay right here. If you hear anything or anyone other than me coming to get you, you’re going to quietly climb in the tub, lie down, cover yourself with a large towel, and not move. I’m going to look for your friend. After we find your friend, we’ll go call your grandparents,okay?”

“Okay. You have to be careful, Kate. The bad men are still out there,” she said in a lowered but protectivetone.

“I promise to be careful if you do aswell.”

“What about the lynx?” she asked. “He’ll be scared all on his own. Can he stay withme?”

The cat looked friendly, but I wasn’t sure that was a good idea to bring a wild animal inside. He could definitely do some damage with thoseclaws.

“How about I lock him in a comfortable bedroom until we comeback?”

Shepouted.

“He’s still a wild animal,Sophie.”

“Boo is a wild animal too, and he lovesme.”

“I have no doubt that he does, sweetheart. I’m going to go look for your friend, okay? Does he have aname?”

“I call him Gramps because he looks likeGramps.”

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