Madison struggled to push him away. In his inebriated state, he smelled something fierce, and the closer he was to her, the more she wanted to regurgitate. But right now, she wanted him off her. He pressed against her, pinning her legs. She couldn't kick at his sore hand as she'd wanted.

Did he really want her dead, or was this just something he muttered without thinking? Nevertheless, she must fight with all of her might. "Get off me," she screamed. "You don't want me dead, I assure you."

He moved his face closer to hers, staring into her eyes. "I could've had that ransom, you know. If only I'd found that woman. You're just like her," he growled. "You take away things that aren't yours."

He shoved her, and her head hit the wall in back of her. Pain exploded inside of her skull. Closing her eyes, she fought against the throbbing. She wouldn't let him win! She was tougher than that...and he was foxed, for heaven's sake.

But for some reason, she couldn't stop thinking about the vision she'd had with the girl reaching out to touch the woman who wore the tattered dress. Suddenly, her mind opened up, and she saw it again, but this time there was more.

Crying out, the girl grasped the woman's dress and fell against her. Startled, the woman whipped around.

"Please help me," the little girl sobbed. "I'm lost."

"Oh, my goodness!" The woman helped Madeline to her feet before pushing back the girl's hair.

The woman's eyes were red and puffy, and her cheeks were moist. "You're lost?" The woman glanced up the street and then turned and looked the other way. "Where are your parents?"

"I-I don't know."

Madison could feel the fear still inside the girl. And, for some strange reason, she could read the girl's mind, too. Madeline didn't want to tell the woman about her father being Lord Hanover for fear she would want a ransom, just like the boy had.

"Well, come with me, dearie. I'll help locate your parents." She held her gloved hand out for Madeline to take. Bare fingers poked through the holes in the gloves, showing the woman's dirty fingernails.

Hesitantly, Madeline slipped her hand into the woman's. Fright beyond anything Madeline had ever experienced rushed through her. She felt as though her mother must be looking for her. She couldn't be that far...could she? But nothing around her seemed familiar at all.

"M-my mother is buying a bonnet."

"All right, dearie."

The woman's footsteps hurried faster than Madeline could keep up. She was nearly out of breath, but she couldn't stop now. She must keep believing she'd see her mother any minute now.

The woman turned down a side street and hurried faster. Then she moved down another street. The buildings didn't look as nice as the one where her mother was buying a bonnet. Tears gathered in Madeline's eyes and she cried silently. Where was this woman taking her?

Soon, they entered a building. Immediately, a strong scent of alcohol choked her, reminding her of her grandpop when he had his daily glass of ale and smoked his pipe. Chairs and tables crowded the room. Men sat at the tables drinking.

The woman still holding Madeline's hand rushed past them and toward a set of stairs. They headed up the rickety steps which led into a long hall. The woman quickly entered the second door on the right.

A man sat on the bed, reading a newspaper. His attention snapped to them. His eyes widened and he jumped to his feet.

"Who is this?" He pointed to Madeline.

"M-my name is Madeline Dixon."

"She's lost, Giles." The woman's voice broke as she wiped tears from her eyes. "I think we should help her. She might not be able to find her parents."

The man frowned. "Agnes, what have you done?" He shook his head. "You cannot just find a child from off the streets and replace her with the one Heaven recently took from us."

"But...she cannot find her parents." The woman turned back and looked at Madeline with large, hopeful eyes as she brushed the hair out of Madeline's face. "She will need someone to take care of her."

Giles? Agnes?

Madison partially snapped out of her vision, and yet, she was still there looking through the little girl's eyes, feeling and thinking everything Madeline was. Madison could feel the grime and dust in the room, walls, and drawers. She had tasted the fear on the girl's tongue, and experienced the ache in her chest as her erratic heartbeat hammered against her ribs. This had never happened to Madison when she had a vision. And yet, the woman and man who were with the little girl were...

My aunt and uncle?

Mr. Langston's alcohol-drenched stench brought her back to awareness. Her kidnapper was now standing in front of her with his arms folded across his chest, looking at her as if she'd grown two heads...and horns. But she couldn't worry about him. She must figure out the confusing vision.

Or was it a vision at all?

It's a memory!

She was the little girl!

Tears filled her eyes. After sixteen years, her mind finally opened to when she'd been six-years-old—nearly seven. Agnes and Giles had taken her into their home, which was far from Ilford. They bade her to call them aunt and uncle, and within months, they never wanted to talk about Madeline's parents because they were dead.

It didn't take long before Agnes started consuming more ale, and when the woman called her name, instead of saying Madeline Dixon, her slur came out to sound like—Madison.

Gasping, Madison brought her hands to her mouth. Tears dripped down her face and onto her fingers. Her heart ached. Tension throbbed in her head.

How could she have blocked out that memory? And how could she have forgotten what her parents looked like? Had Agnes and Giles somehow washed her memory of her childhood?

She covered her hands over her face and sobbed. Her heart clenched, making it hard to breathe. She was cheated of the years that had been stolen from her. Madison's heart cried out for the parents who had loved her unconditionally, only to end up with a couple who cared more about themselves than the girl they were supposed to care for.

Anger welled within her for all that had been taken from her. Madison's life would have been so different if she hadn't been kidnapped. She would have had parents who understood and accepted her gift. That was really all she'd ever wanted growing up.

Although she'd been robbed of that life, she also realized everything that had happened to her so far on life's journey had made her the headstrong woman she was today. She was independent, mainly because she had to be by age ten. She spoke her mind, because that was the only way for people to hear her. And, most importantly, she would never allow anyone to take advantage of her ever again, thanks to the treatment that Agnes and Giles had given her.

Finally, Madison was able to focus clearly on her kidnapper who watched her through uncertain eyes. Although her wrists were tied, her feet were not. She was much stronger than this drunken idiot, and she would not let another greedy man alter her life ever again!

Now that he was off of her, she had more freedom with her feet. She didn't waste any time. She kicked as hard as she could, connecting both feet with his mid-section. A gush of air escaped his throat as he crumbled to the ground, holding his waist. Gasping for breaths didn't give him time to get to his feet, so she jumped off the cot. Since he was down, she might as well keep him there. She kicked him in the back, then in the face. Bones cracked where her booted foot connected to his nose. He yelped and tried to roll away, but she kept after him, kicking him anywhere she could.

A small knife rolled out of his coat pocket and slid across the floor. Quickly, she bent and grabbed it. She glanced at him to make sure he was going to stay down for a minute or two longer. Satisfied, she worked the handle of the knife in her mouth while slipping the blade between her wrists, cutting the rope. Remarkably enough, the blade was sharp enough to split her bindings, and the ropes fell away.

She held the knife toward him. "Looks like the table has turned, Mr. Langston. No longer the weakling, am I?"

Blood dripped from his nose as he clutched his middle and moaned. His white face was laced with pain. Pathetic creature!

"Are you going to blame me for ruining your plans...again?" she asked sarcastically. "After all, I ruined them before. But," she tapped her finger on her chin, "then again, I hadn't ruined them when you tried to kidnap me. Spencer did, correct?"

His brows creased and his moaning stopped. "Wh-what?"

"Yes, as luck would have it, I was the little girl you tried to kidnap all those years ago from Gretchen's Millinery. But this time I will not run from you. I will stay and fight you until my last breath."