Take A Walk (A Hunter Hayes Fanfiction, Book 5 of The Hardships Saga)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

❝acquittal (pronounced əˈkwɪt(ə)l or uh-kwit-l), noun
judicial deliverance from a criminal charge on a verdict or finding of not guilty.❞

Hunter was watching the girl he had never seen before. Amber was crying loudly, and the entire courtroom was watching her. Frank looked mildly alarmed, but also seemed to not be surprised by her behaviour. "Excuse me, your Honour," said Ivy quickly, before immediately going to Elle's- no, Amber's aid. "Amber. Amber, is this you? Are you Amber?"

The girl was quivering, her eyes watery and red. It killed Drew to see her that way. "Y-Yes," she whimpered. "Where am I? Why is h-he here? Please, let me go, I'll-"

"Your Honour, I request that she is a witness," said Toole, watching her cry. "We need it, it's important testimony. If she can remember the night that Mr Lovelace was killed, we have our culprit. That's all we need, Your Honour."

"I... alright. New witness, up the front. Mr Dunne, please step down."

"Oh come on, she's faking it for sure," snarled Frank.

"I said step down," growled Justice Henderson. "Amber, was it? Is that your name?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am." She pronounced 'ma'am' how she might pronounce 'car', in a very posh, English way. She sniffled.

"What religion are you, Amber?"

"I'm... C-Catholic."

"Right, so you can swear on the Bible?"

"Y-Yes."

She didn't seem to know what was going on as she swore on the Bible, and stood at the witness stand. Her eyes were teary, and she kept glancing over at Frank, fearful for her life apparently.

"Now, Mr Toole, your questions please."

"You'll forgive me for being underprepared for this, Your Honour."

"Of course."

"Amber, dear, what's your full name?" asked Toole gently. Ivy watched on in shock. She had never seen this side of Toole before.

"Amber L-Leavitt, sir."

"And how old are you?"

"Fifteen, sir."

"Where are your family from?"

"My parents are from France but I can't s-speak it. I'm from Australia. I don't know what's g-going on, p-please-"

"We're in a courtroom," explained Toole gently. "We're in a courtroom, and we're gonna make sure that you're innocent, okay?"

"Y-Yes."

"Now," he said. "Do you remember what happened the night that Gabriel died?"

"G-Gabriel..." Suddenly she gasped, shrieking. "He's dead! I knew it, I knew he was-"

"Elle- Amber, please calm down," said Toole, sounding concerned and worried. "Listen to me, now. What happened? Do you remember?"

"Remember..." She was in a strange daze. "I was.... I- I remember, I was scared because he w-was... F-Frank..." (a quiet murmur rolled through the courtroom), "he showed up, h-he was... he was trying... he kept saying that he wanted to marry E-Elle... and when Gabriel said no, he... he pulled out a knife. He told me to r-run, Gabriel, he told me to run and... and then I... he was... I watched Frank..."

"She's bullshitting!" snarled Frank from the stands, and the courtroom began to buzz, some with anger, some with doubt, and some with confusion. "She's just trying to frame me, the f*cking-"