Brianna walked silently with Joshua him slowing down so he can keep steady with her steps. She was definitely small probably not even reaching 4'5. Her head came up to his abdomen . Her hand was so small in his. His hand was double maybe even tripled hers. He noticed she had pink nail polish on. He smiled to himself and focused on the direction they were going. They were passing many houses that had beautiful rose bushes in the fronts of some. He noticed it was a safe neighborhood. The yellow sign with kids at play assured him of that. This was his neighborhood so he was even more assured that it was safe.

Brianna was counting the houses on the right side of the street. House number fourteen was hers. They were passing house number seven that had pink roses in front of it. Brianna knew her house because it had a large oak tree in the front . She loved to climb the tree and have her mother climb up there with her. When she was three, her mother had taken photos with the two of them in the tree. Brianna had a blue dress with a blue ribbon tied on her ponytail. Her mother had her long chestnut hair tied up in a high bun. Her blue eyes matching that of Brianna's baby blue dress. Her mother's eyes had specks of grey in them giving them a cold feel , but Brianna only saw warmth.

She didn't know her father and she didn't care to. She just needed her mother . She squeezed Josh's hand tighter as she saw the house coming into sight. Josh looked at her and smiled down at her. They walked toward the house and Brianna put her backpack on the steps once they reached them. In the front pocket she had her house keys. A silver key was on a Minnie Mouse keychain. She must really like Minnie Mouse he thought to himself. Brianna finally said her first words to him. " stay out here, I'll go get mommy." With a nod from josh , she unlocked the door and walked in.

The house was dark except for the light coming through the curtains. On the couch laid the sleeping figure of her mother. It was now 3:58. Brianna decided it wouldn't be bad to wake up her mom. Very lightly Brianna placed a kiss on her mother's forehead to wake her up. Instantly, her mom's eyes flew open grabbing Brianna and pulling her on to the couch. Brianna giggled as this was something her mother did regularly. Her mother smiled at her giggles and had Brianna sitting on her stomach. She brushed back a stray hair behind Brianna's ear and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Brianna beamed at her mom and spoke " mommy there's a boy outside. He walked me home and would like to meet you. "

A bit shocked, her mother slowly got up ,and with Brianna in toll walked to the door. Straightening her work clothes that she fell asleep in she opened the door. There stood josh with his hands in his pockets. He looked up at her smiling and offered her his hand, " hello, my name is Joshua Biggerstaff but people call me josh. It's a pleasure to meet you." The blue eyed women shook his hand, " my name is Evangeline Anderson but you can call me Eva. Thank you for escorting Brianna home. Would you like to come in?" Josh was glad to accept her offer and saw Brianna smile. " would you like something to drink? I can make some tea." Josh accepted quickly at the mention of tea. "I would love some tea."

While Eva was in the kitchen , Brianna was starting to talk to josh. " josh can I call you Joshie? " a bit stunned by the sudden question, josh accepted the nickname. He Ruffles her hair a bit . She suddenly reached forward and grabbed at his locket. "May I? " she asked innocently. Josh sombered  a bit and gave her permission to open it. Inside was a picture of a young girl with brown pigtails in a purple dress with a bright smile. Her eyes were just like his. She looked up at him and saw he was a bit sad looking at the picture. She closed the locket and hugged him. He automatically hugged her back trying to fight back the tears that were threatening to come up. He sighed and let go of Brianna. She didn't ask about the girl in the locket but instead ran to her room.

She motioned for josh to follow her but he looked to Eva for permission. She smiled and nodded. He walked down the cream colored hallway that had pictures scattered of Eva and Brianna. He knew what room was her cause it had a picture of Minnie Mouse on the door. He laughed a little at that. She REALLY  must like Minnie Mouse. When they walked in he saw the baby pink colored walls and the same colored bed in the left corner of the room. She ran to her white desk that had many drawings on it. She motioned for him to sit at the desk. He did and looked around. She was not a Barbie girl that was for sure. She had a fascination with Minnie Mouse. She had a lot of Disney related toys with a stack of Disney movies on her desk.

"This is my room. No one has been in here except mommy and me. Joshie do you wanna be friends?" He smiled at her feeling honored to be the first outsider she trusted enough to take her room. " of course Brianna. If you would like, I can walk you home everyday. Would you like that?" He hoped she would say yes because he was slowly becoming a bit attached to her. She reminded him of his little sister. He worried about her walking home by herself . A girl her size and age could be snatched up so fast. He bet it worried her mother too. " yeah! " she hugged him. He chuckled at this a returned the hug.

"Tea is ready" Eva said as she poked her head in the door. The three walked to the dining room where three tea cups sat. It smelled of jasmine tea which was Josh's favorite. He thanked Eva and took a sip of the tea. It was made perfectly. He looked to she Eva blowing on Brianna's drink so it was safer for her to drink. He remembered when his dad would do that for him. His head perked up when he heard Eva speak to him. " So josh, how did you come across Brianna? " she had a concerned look on her face. Josh answered so she wouldn't suspect him of bad intentions, " well I was walking on the crosswalk when I was bumped into and I fell. There was Brianna. She wouldn't talk to me and I decided to escort her home so she wouldn't get hurt if it happened again. People can be cruel as I'm sure you already know but I've noticed this is a safe neighborhood. I had a little sister that went missing when she was walking home five years ago . I didn't want that to happen to her so I decided I would bring her home that way she got home safe. I'm sorry if I worried you when I came here. I just didn't want to see another girl go missing." His words were of pure sincerity. Eva was shocked and quickly responded " thank you so much. I always worry about her. I'm too busy working my two jobs to come get her. It always worries me to no end. I appreciate you doing that. I'm so sorry about your sister..." she knew she hit a soft spot when his expression quickly turned grim. " she was discovered dead in a ditch over on the other side of town. I've always felt guilty about it. I was suppose to be her protector and I wasn't there for her..." He was on the verge of tears.

Eva put a comforting hand on his shoulder . She knew the pain he must be feeling is awful. He responded , " if it wouldn't bother you, I would like to escort Brianna home everyday." Eva nodded happily at his offer. "Thank you josh. I would very much like that and I would like to get to know you better when I have the time. I have to leave for work." After her words were spoken the doorbell rang. Eva got up to open it. There stood Ashley, Brianna's babysitter who watched her when her mom was at the office. "Hey Ashley, this is josh. He walked Brianna home today, isn't that so sweet of him?" Ashley smiled at him and came over to greet him. "My name is Ashley carver, nice to meet you." She stuck out her hand. Josh stood up and shook her hand. " my name is Joshua Biggerstaff but you can call me josh for short. Nice to meet you." Her smile was bright and she could tell he was someone who could be trusted.

Eva grabbed her purse and walked to the door with Brianna following her." Bye sweetie I love you so much. Mommy will see you in the morning. " a kiss and hug was exchanged between the two. " josh do you need a ride home?" Josh walked over. " no ma'am , I actually live across the street. " he saw Brianna smile up at him. He exchanged good byes and walked out the door with Eva . " you're a great kid for doing this josh. Here's my name is case you need to reach me at anytime." The number was inserted into Josh's phone and Eva got into her 2006 Chevy Malibu that had the white paint flicking off of it. She was off to work after waving goodbye to josh. Josh walked over to his cream colored house that had red rose bushes in front of it. He inserted his house key and walked in to his empty house before getting ready to go to work.