The Family Origin

Chapter Fifty-Nine: JOSEPH POV

 Miles was away for much longer than I anticipated. He should have only been gone for a few minutes. John could not have gotten far. Miles was so much larger than him, so I doubted there was much of a fight.

Was Miles unable to find John? Did he manage to get off our property? If John told anyone what happened, the police would be on our doorstep. Would Miles attempt to attack the police to keep the family safe? Would he be that foolish?

Emma had stopped moving, and her rattly breathing had gone quiet. The leaves underneath her body were soaked with blood. I ran my fingers through the grass covering Clara's grave. I had not gotten off the ground as I continued to speak to Clara.

I stopped when I heard the crunch of leaves under someone's footsteps. My eyes widened when I saw Miles. I had expected him to come back covered in blood, but I was not anticipating he would return with Maisie. Why was she with him? Why did he take her out of the house?

She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, but I could see the blood splattered across the side of her dress. Crimson streaks were across her pale skin and blonde hair. She was holding Jasper, and a few drops of blood were on the baby. Miles had his arm tightly around her waist as he held her close to his side. His knife was in a tight grip in his other hand.

I pushed myself up onto my feet and brushed the dirt off my pants. Maisie cranned her neck to look up at the trees. The smallest smile formed on her lips.

"What happened?" I asked.

"The man tried to break into our home," Miles said. "He broke the window, but I killed him before he could hurt Maisie or Jasper. I need you to take them back to the house and stay with them."

"Why did you bring them outside?" I asked.

"They are not safe in the house while the window is broken," he said. "They need one of us with them at all times."

I nodded as I stepped toward them. Miles glared at Emma's body and did not let go of Maisie. How worried was he about having them outside?

He did not let go of Maisie until I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. He kissed her temple before walking toward Emma. I quickly turned us around and pulled Maisie back toward the house. I did not want either of us to witness what he was going to do to Emma's body. She tried to look over her shoulder, but I curled her tighter into my body. She was already covered in blood. I did not need her to become emotional.

"Are you injured?" I asked.

"No," she said. Her voice was rough as if she had been crying. "He did not touch us."

I let out a deep breath and took another look at her and my grandson. While walking through the leaves, I noticed her feet were bare. I had no idea where her shoes were. She has not need them since I brought her into the family. The last time I had seen her outside was when I was drunk and crying about Clara. How long ago was that?

"Who were those people?" Maisie asked.

"I do not know," I said. "It does not matter who they were. You and Jasper are safe, which is all that is important to me."

"Do you-?"

"I need to get both of you inside and out of the cold." I cut her off because I did not want to listen to a string of questions. "I do not need either of you to get sick."

Maisie nodded. When we came closer to the house, I saw the kitchen window shattered. I let out a slight groan. How were we going to afford to fix this?

Stepping closer, I could see a bloody body sprawled across the porch. Maisie took in a sharp breath and curled herself into my body to block her view. She was trembling, so I held her close and guided her up the porch steps.