Kelly woke up. She looked at the pipes connecting her body to beeping machines and understood. This room was just like the hospitals she’d seen on TV. Her heart beat like a fly caught in a spider’s web as she remembered the last time she’d seen Mom, her face lit by the moon as she ordered Kelly to run.

One of the machines made a scary sound then, and the door to Kelly’s room burst open. Kelly flinched, but the adults who came toward her had kind faces and gentle voices, unlike those nasty men from the barn.

“Please help me,” Kelly said to the kind-looking people. “I know the truth about my mom. You have to call the cops! My stepfather killed her.”

The man sat down in the chair at Kelly’s bedside. “We will call the police, but first we need to know a little bit more about what you saw, and who you are. I’m Doctor Freeman.”

Kelly took a deep breath and told the doctor everything.

A few days earlier

Kelly wasn’t at school because she was sick. She clung to the railing as she slowly walked down the stairs. She needed to tell Mom she’d hurled on the bathroom floor.

“Your business has poisoned Kelly.”

Mom’s whisper stopped Kelly in her tracks. The fury in her voice was frightening.

“Jerry, the doctor specifically said that contaminated water might be the cause. Apparently, he’s seen a lot of kids and elderly people with exactly the same symptoms,” Mom continued.

Kelly frowned. Jerry was her stepfather. He worked many different jobs, which he sometimes mentioned at dinner, but she’d never heard him discuss poison. Sometimes he spoke about chemicals—maybe they were poisonous.

“No, it can’t wait!” Mom snapped. “How can you say that? The whole town is feeling the effect of your business. If you don’t stop it immediately then I’ll have to do it.”

Mom’s footsteps were getting closer. Kelly dashed back upstairs and hid in her room while she listened to Mom walk up and enter her and Jerry’s room. Kelly heard drawers open and close. She tiptoed down the hall and watched from the doorway as Mom packed some things into a backpack.

“Is everything okay, Mom?”

Mom gasped and pressed a hand to her chest. “You gave me a fright, sweetpea! Yeah…everything is okay.” Mom smiled at Kelly. “I just have some errands I need to take care of. I’m sorry I have to leave you when you aren’t feeling well, but this is very important.”

Kelly watched anxiously as Mom shouldered her backpack. She didn’t want Mom to get involved in this strange, dangerous-sounding ‘business,’ so she said the only thing she could think of that might make her stay:

“I was sick on the bathroom floor. I’m sorry, Mom. I tried to do it in the toilet, but I didn’t make it.”

“Oh, baby!” Mom knelt in front of Kelly and hugged her close. “I’ll clean it up so there’s nothing to worry about. It was an accident, and everyone makes accidents.”

Mom kissed the top of Kelly’s head and lifted her off the floor. “Now, you need to get back into bed and rest, got it? I’ll be home before you know it, and we’ll have your favorite meal for dinner, okay?”

Kelly nodded. She still wasn’t happy about this, but she had to listen to Mom. So, she let Mom tuck her into bed and listened to her leave.

A few hours later, Kelly went to sit downstairs and watch TV. She was feeling a lot better, thanks to the medicine the doctor prescribed for her, but she was worried that Mom still wasn’t home.

The front door creaked open, and Kelly rushed to the hall. Jerry was there, hanging his coat on the coat rack. He turned as Kelly approached.

“Hi princess, where’s your mom?” Jerry asked.

“I thought she was with you.” Kelly hugged herself and looked out through the front door.

Jerry shook his head. “I haven’t seen her since this morning, kiddo. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about though. How about you and I get started on dinner? That will be a nice surprise for Tina when she gets home, don’t you think?”

Jerry and Kelly made chicken nuggets with corn and mashed potatoes. Mom still wasn’t home, so they sat down to eat as a pair. Kelly drew patterns in her potatoes with her fork and listened to cars driving by on the street, hoping one of them would be Mom coming home.

Jerry put their dishes in the sink and then went to watch TV. Mom still wasn’t home, and it was getting dark now. Kelly sat beside Jerry and tapped his arm.

“Can you call Mom and find out where she is?” Kelly asked.

“You’re getting worried about her, huh?” Jerry patted her shoulder.

Kelly nodded. She didn’t understand why Jerry wasn’t worried, but adults were strange like that sometimes. Mom often told her there were things she’d only understand when she was older, and Kelly assumed this was one of them.

Jerry took out his phone and typed a message. He smiled at Kelly and sent her off to bed with the assurance that Mom would probably be home soon.

However, Kelly woke up to police in her house and Jerry sitting on the sofa, explaining to an officer that his wife was missing.

“Mom can’t be missing!” Kelly shouted from the bottom of the stairs.

“She went to see you!”

Jerry and the cops in the sitting room turned to look at her.

“What are you talking about, Kelly?” Jerry asked. “I was working all day yesterday, and I never saw Tina at all.”

“She was speaking to you on the phone.” Tina turned to the closest policeman. “I heard her talking about businesses and poison making people sick then she said she had to go out to do something important.”

“Did she say where she was going?” The policeman crouched down in front of Kelly.

Kelly shook her head. “But I know she was going to do something because Jerry didn’t want to.”

Jerry chuckled. “Now I understand! Tina did call me while I was working. She wanted me to pick up some rat poison from the store, but I didn’t have time to do it.”

Kelly shook her head. She was sure they hadn’t been talking about going to the store.

“You can check with my work buddy, Steve,” Jerry told the officer. “We were working together all of yesterday.”

The police officer nodded and took Steve’s contact details from Jerry. He then told the police he had to leave soon to take Kelly to school and get to work.

“I think we have all we need for now anyway, sir.” The police officer moved toward the front door. “But we’ll be in touch if we have any further questions, or if we find your wife.”

“I know this is a worrisome business for you, Kelly, but it doesn’t help to lie to the police,” Jerry said as they walked to his truck.

“I didn’t lie. I heard Mom talking to you on the phone,” Kelly replied.

“I know you did, princess, but all that other stuff?” Jerry whistled and shook his head. “You clearly misunderstood what your mom said, which is precisely why we don’t listen in on other people’s conversations, right? That’s naughty.”

Kelly hung her head. She hopped into the car and banged the door shut. As she turned in her seat to secure her safety belt, she froze.

Mom’s backpack was squeezed into the small storage space behind the seats.

“My point is that all that crazy talk will only distract the police from finding your Mom,” Jerry said as he climbed behind the wheel. “You don’t want to do that, right?”

Kelly turned away to look out the window. She didn’t understand everything happening right now, but seeing Mom’s backpack made one thing clear: Jerry lied to the police and was still lying to her.

They pulled up outside the school just as Jerry got a phone call. Kelly was ready to leap from the truck and run to tell a teacher her suspicions about Jerry, but she paused. She didn’t want to miss overhearing anything that might help her find Mom.

“Thanks, Susan, yeah…she didn’t come home yesterday,” Jerry said. “She told Kelly she needed to run an errand, but that’s all we know so far.”

Kelly slumped in disappointment. Jerry’s conversation with some nosy friend wouldn’t help her! She slammed the door shut. Jerry was still talking and didn’t pull away immediately.

Kelly got an idea as she eyed the lumps and bumps of whatever Jerry had beneath the tarp covering the back of the truck. She glanced back at the cab, but Jerry was distracted by his phone conversation. He wouldn’t notice a thing.

Kelly ran around the back of the truck and climbed over the tailgate. She slipped beneath the tarp and curled up in the small gap between two large drums and a big box.

The truck pulled away, and Kelly put a hand over her mouth to contain a squeal. Jerry was the key to finding out what happened to Mom.

Kelly was almost asleep when the truck stopped, and the engine died. She heard the car door open, footsteps crunching on gravel, and then silence. Birds sang, and the wind blew, but there were no car sounds or voices nearby.

Kelly cautiously lifted the flap to peek outside. She glimpsed tall trees and some buildings before a hand reached in and grabbed her. Kelly screamed.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice you climbing in the back, you little brat?” Jerry snarled as he tugged Kelly from the truck. “You’re just like your mother; poking your nose in where it doesn’t belong!”

“Let me go!” Kelly wriggled and tried to kick Jerry, but he held her at arm’s length.

“No way.” Jerry started dragging Kelly toward a barn nearby. “You’re going to join Tina.”

Kelly had wanted to find Mom, but something about how Jerry spoke frightened her. She was suddenly afraid that Mom might be dead and that Jerry would kill her too. She dug in her heels, but the gravel on the path provided no purchase.

Jerry jerked on the bolt securing the barn door and shoved Kelly inside. The bolt slid shut behind her before she could turn and try to force her way back out.

Beams of light shone down into the barn from high windows, but it was still dim and grey inside. Kelly’s eyes took a while to adjust to the lighting. When they did, she noticed something that brought her whole world crashing down around her.

Mom was lying against the wall nearby, and she wasn’t moving. Her head hung to one side, and her hair had fallen in her face.

“Mommy,” Kelly whispered as she sprinted to her mom’s side. “Please wake up, Mommy.”

“Kelly?” Mom blinked in surprise and stifled a yawn as she sat up. “What are you doing here?!”

Kelly let out a sob and hugged Mom tightly. “I was looking for you! I saw your backpack in Jerry’s car and realized he was lying. I hid in his truck, but he found me and threw me in here.”

“I’m so sorry, baby.” Mom put her arms around Kelly and stroked her hair. “I never thought Jerry would go this far. I was wrong about him, Kelly. He’s dangerous.”

“Because of the poison?” Kelly looked up at Mom.

Mom frowned. “I don’t know how you know about that, but yes. Jerry is working with bad men who pay him to dump dangerous chemicals into the lake. Those chemicals are poisoning the town’s water supply.”

“And making everyone sick?”

Mom nodded. “I came out here to stop him, but now…” Mom held Kelly closer and kissed her forehead. “I’m so sorry you got involved in this mess, baby, but I’ll do everything I can to get us both out of this.”

Mother and daughter lay together in the cold and dark. Insects and strange animals called to each other outside. Sometimes Kelly heard men’s voices but never close enough to hear what they said. The moon rose big and full and looked like a picture framed in one of the windows.

“That’s it!” Mom jumped up and walked to the middle of the barn. She pointed at the window.

“That’s how we’ll get out of here, Kelly.”

Kelly rubbed her eyes and followed Mom to the far wall. She looked up at the window.

“See, it’s too high for me to reach alone, but if you get on my shoulders, Kelly, then you can get out. Because it’s dark out, nobody will see you.”

“What about you, Mom?”

“You’ll quietly run round to the door and let me out.” Mom crouched in front of Kelly. “There’s a bolt keeping the door shut, but I don’t think it’s locked. Once you’ve opened the door, we’ll get away from here, okay?”

Kelly didn’t feel safe while balanced on Mom’s shoulders, but she knew Mom was counting on her and refused to let her down. She pushed the window open and climbed through.

It was a long drop to the ground, but Kelly landed safely. She ran toward the front of the barn and crouched in the shadows, just like Mom had told her to. She watched the road and studied the other buildings nearby, but saw nobody.

Kelly let Mom out and she immediately took Kelly’s hand and led her back into the shadows on the side of the barn.

“We need to be fast and quiet, Kelly,” Mom said as she started jogging toward the dark, scary forest. “Let me know if you can’t keep up so I can carry you.”

Kelly ran as fast as possible at Mom’s side. Branches slapped her face once they were under the trees, but Mom kept going. She seemed to know exactly which direction would lead them to safety. Kelly was beginning to think everything would be okay when somebody shouted.

“She’s gone! Get the dogs, we need to find her quickly.”

Mom said a bad word and stopped running. She turned Kelly to face one way and told her to run as fast as possible.

“You’re going to reach a creek. Once you do, go through the water so the dogs won’t find your scent, got it?”

“What about you?” Kelly looked at Mom, her face lit by a moonbeam that had penetrated the forest canopy.

“I’ll meet you on the other side.” Mom kissed her cheek and pushed her forward.

“Now, run!”

Kelly started running. She glanced back and saw Mom disappear through some plants as she headed in the opposite direction, but she kept going. Mom would only be able to find her again if she did what she was told.

Dogs barked somewhere behind her, but they weren’t close. The sound of water was louder, leading Kelly toward the creek. Closer and closer, she was almost there when a gun fired.

Kelly looked back as another gunshot went off. Fear made her mouth dry up and her knees feel weak. She stumbled down a small slope and fell to her knees.

Shouts and barking and shots being fired filled the night. Kelly felt tears running down her cheeks, but she couldn’t stop now. Mom would be waiting for her on the other side of the creek.

Kelly reached the water. Several large stones protruded above the gurgling creek, their surfaces shining in the moonlight. Kelly stepped on one rock, then the next. The rocks were slippery, but she had to keep going.

Kelly reached the middle of the creek when a high-pitched scream echoed through the trees. She turned back the way she’d come. That had sounded like Mom!

Kelly started back, but her foot slipped on a rock. Before she could scream, she was in the icy water, reaching for the rocks. Her fingers slipped over the smooth stone and no matter how hard she kicked, the current was too strong to fight.

Present day

“That’s all I remember,” Kelly told Doctor Freeman. “But I’m sure that was my mom screaming. Jerry and the other bad guys must’ve shot her.”

“You’re safe here. A ranger pulled you from the river and brought you here, but you’ve been in a coma since then,” Doctor Freeman said.

He put his hands on Kelly’s shoulders to comfort the brave little girl crying in the hospital bed. He was shocked by what he’d just heard and knew he had to do something about it, but first, his patient needed reassurance.

“Kelly, I know you’re worried, but it’s impossible to know what happened to your mom at this point.” He patted the girl’s hand.

“I’m going to tell the police everything you just told me, and we have to leave the rest to them, okay? This is their job.”

Kelly nodded and hung her head. “Please tell them to hurry.”

“Don’t worry, I will.”

Doctor Freeman left the room and went straight to his office. He called the police and repeated everything Kelly had just told him.

“We’ll send some officers out to search for this girl’s mother immediately,” the police officer promised.

The next day, Doctor Freeman pushed a patient in a wheelchair out of the elevator and into one of the wards. The woman glanced left and right, peering into all the doors they passed in the corridor.

“I hope you know you’re a hero,” Doctor Freeman said. “Now we know what’s been making so many of the kids in town sick, we should be able to treat them.”

“I just did what needed to be done,” the woman replied.

“Still, it takes courage to do that, especially since the man responsible…”

The woman tipped her head back then and stared at Doctor Freeman, as though daring him to say more. He cleared his throat and walked a little faster instead.

“Here we are.” He stopped outside a private room and locked the wheelchair’s brakes. “She’s just inside.”

The woman rose and walked to the door with a noticeable limp. Doctor Freeman hurried to get the door for her.

“Kelly, you have a visitor,” he said when he opened the door.

The little girl lifted her head from the pillow. Her face lit up when she saw her visitor limp into the room.

“Mommy!” Kelly started pulling back the bedclothes. “I thought they killed you.”

“You stay right there, sweetpea.” The woman smiled.

“I’m coming to you. And, as you can see, I’m very much alive. Just a little hurt. One of the bullets grazed my leg, but the doctor says it will heal well.”

Doctor Freeman looked on as the woman limped to the bed and sat down on the edge. Kelly immediately threw her arms around her and buried her head in the woman’s chest. She smiled as she looked down at her daughter and returned her embrace.

“You saved me, Kelly,” the woman said to her daughter. “Jerry and his no-good buddies were planning to cover up their activities and leave, but thanks to you, the police found them first. They arrested all of them and brought me here to get treatment.”

What can we learn from this story?

• The truth always comes out. Lies and bad deeds can never be hidden forever. No matter how long it might take, there will always be proof that brings these harmful actions to light.
• A good parent will do anything to keep their child safe. It doesn’t matter how overwhelmingly the odds might be stacked against them, there’s nothing that a good, caring parent won’t do when their child’s safety is threatened.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a mom who uncovers the shocking reason why her son gets upset when he sees an old family photo.