Redemption

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Jessie woke up to light spilling in from a window off to her right and looked toward it. The morning light shone out over the countryside beyond the window and she studied it. Where were the trees? Where was that little pond just outside of her window?

She looked around the room and took in the unfamiliar surroundings. Had she taken a trip somewhere? Wouldn’t she have remembered it f she had?

A feeling of paranoia came over her, and she didn’t know what had elicited the fear in her. She tried to get out of the bed, but her head ached and her leg was weighed down by a splint.

How had she broken her leg?

She reached up and felt her head, which was wrapped in bandages. No wonder it hurt. There were enough bandages wrapped around it to cut off circulation.

Voices came from the other room and she drew her eyebrows close together. Had she been kidnapped?

She had a feeling that someone was chasing her, but she couldn’t think of who it would be. Where was Adam? Why wasn’t he here? They were supposed to go see his great aunt this morning.

Did he know that her leg was hurt?

The door across the room began to open and she expected to see her mother come through the doorway. Momma would explain why she was so confused.

Only her mother didn’t come through that door. An older lady with silvery white hair entered the room carrying a tray with a pleasant look on her face.

“Good morning, Miss Steele. Are you hungry?” the lady asked.

Jessie stared at her, not sure what to think. “Who are you?”

The lady’s eyes clouded over with sympathy. “You still don’t remember anything, do you?”

Jessie narrowed her eyes. Remember what? The lady was beginning to scare her.

“I’m Carby Kidd. You’ve been staying here with me since yesterday. You got a nasty bump on your head that came with a concussion and the inability to learn or remember anything,” the lady said as if she had went through the same speech a thousand times before.

Jessie touched her head. “Where am I?”

“Arizona. You’ve told us that you were from South Carolina, so you’re a long ways from home,” Carby placed the tray on the bedside table and turned to her.

Jessie didn’t remember telling anyone that. She hadn’t even seen this lady before. She rubbed her bandaged forehead. “I’m so confused.”

“I know. Just trust me, okay? I’m not going to hurt you. Now you try to eat some and get your strength back,” Carby thrust a tin cup of milk at her.

Jessie took the cup but didn’t take her eyes off the lady. Could she trust her? She didn’t seem very suspicious, but Jessie had never prided herself with being a great judge of character.

Taking a sip of the milk, Jessie’s eyes jerked toward the door as another figure appeared in the doorway.

“I’m gonna take off, Granny. Oh, she’s awake.” A man stood there, keeping his voice low until he realized that she was awake. He tipped his hat to her. “’Morning, ma’am.”

He wasn’t that tall, but he could pass as a grown man. Black hair combed to the right side of his head and looked as if he kept it nicely trimmed. He had about a day and a half of whiskers on his face and a smile on his lips. Strange, that smile didn’t quite meet his blue eyes, which was shameful. He had a pretty blue color for eyes.