Epilogue
Saturday, April 24th
Neil’s home, 9 pm
Neil took out carefully the foolscap paper Amy had given him. Attached to it there was the photo of Fredericton station the teacher had given her. After the basketball training that morning, when Sister Nancy had come to call the girl for lunch, she had run upstairs and come back after a few moments. She had given him the sheet of foolscap paper folded in two, and she had told him:
“I am trying to write what I remember, but only YOU can read it. I don't want teacher Rosetta to know about me! Please don’t tell her that I have started to write!”
It was evident the teacher hadn't been able to conquer her trust, and Neil wondered why.
Neil had looked at the girl, and he had asked her:
“How do you feel writing about what happened to you? Do you feel scared?”
“It helps me to keep the images in my mind, because, when they appear, they are so real, but then they vanish…”
Neil had taken the paper, and he had told her:
“I promise not to tell anyone about what you write, ok?”
“I hope it will help you find my father, before he hurts you or takes me away…”
Neil had caressed her cheek, and, after a long hug, he had left her. He realized it was becoming more and more difficult to leave the little girl, because he was growing fond of her, and he felt the urge to protect her.
Now he unfolded the paper. Amy's handwriting was very neat. She had written almost a page, but he couldn't see any erasure or correction.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYFRV3Y4C6r
“I have tried hard to remember what happened before I was found at the station. I remember the policemen trying to touch me, but I was so scared.
I remember the hospital, the doctors watching me and asking me questions. I remember being shown a lot of pictures, but I wasn't able to recall a face. I see only evil eyes, a smirk, and I hear voices. I heard angry voices, and I remember children crying, asking to go home. Then there were no more children, only me… Then once again children arrived, always scared…
I remember being scared, feeling pain and not being able to move, being tied to a bed, sleeping for a long time, feeling hands that touched me and made me feel sick, begging those scary men to leave me alone …”
Neil had to stop, because tears were rolling down his cheeks. How could a child suffer such cruelty? He wiped the tears with the back of his hand, and he went on:
“Now I like living here. The children and the nuns are nice, and I have been able to go to school every day. I sometimes have nightmares or I see those evil eyes, and I am scared.
I would like to remember a name, or to see an entire face, because I am sure that my father is somewhere, and he is hurting other children or he is looking for me. I have met a policeman, Neil, and his colleague and friend Billy. I remember my father saying their names. I am sure he wants to kill them, I don't know why, maybe they are too good, and he is envious. I pray to God to protect them and I am doing my best to recall the names, so that they can arrest those bad people before they hurt them.
I just want to go to school, to read books, to enjoy the time with Neil when he comes to see me… I would like Neil to be my dad, because I feel safe with him, he is always worried about me … I don't want to go back to my father… He be angry because I ran away, and this time I am sure he would kill me…”
Neil folded the paper carefully, and he put it into the drawer of his bedside table. The thing that he could learn from what she had written was that she came from a dangerous world of child trafficking, the world that he had tried to destroy a few years before…
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO6DQh5YDVT
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6jKxWbZUkb
and then Add to home screen.