8.

Florence Reardon's thirty-eight years in this world has had as much an incredible effect on her surroundings as it has taken a ragged toll on her body. The rewards to be returned on her soul, when such a time comes for them to be reaped, surely will outweigh the drag taken on her physicality. There is still much life left to be lived, so she would hope, and plenty more aid to be brought to others though as years pass by, how capable will she be to continue her aid relief efforts?

Where once was beauty, a beauty that can easily be imagined if one cared enough to take the time to truly look and see, there now is aged features beyond her years and a lag on her extremities which on occasion take a moment or two to get into gear.

If a stranger were to come into contact with Florence then that stranger would be quick to notice how large a heart she possesses though they would also be quicker to add years, a decade or more even, to her actual tenure of life.

In her current guise Florence spends a great deal of her free time, if it could be said she has free time at all, working voluntarily with a local women's shelter, a shelter she founded. This is something she has been doing for quite some time and something she is more than willing to keep on doing for some time to come, circumstance permitting.

There are no requirements to be a recipient of what the shelter has to offer other than as long as one is female, of any age or race and is in need, whatever that need may be, then the shelter will do all it can to provide that aid. If a male is in need they will not be turned away especially if that need is serious and or time sensitive though arrangements are made for alternate solutions as soon as possible.

It would be rare but not surprising to come across someone out wandering lost in a daze, unsurprising indeed if someone has been through something traumatic and thankfully rare enough that only a small percentage of those who use the women's shelter do so via being found wandering out by some main or back road.

As chance would have it, it would be Florence who would find Majella out wandering the streets wearing nothing other than what could be described as hospital clothing, clothing which has long since been soiled before such time she has been found.

Majella's feet are bare, cut and bruised with other bruising and minor injuries soon becoming evident. Finding it difficult to get a response from the girl, Florence phoned for help, surprised also by the fact that aid had yet to find this girl prior to Florence's own arrival for there are passers-by and on-lookers, all doing anything but help an apparent lost and confused child.

Yeah, Majella may be sixteen years of age and she may have a maturity beyond her years, she still is young and may be more vulnerable than most with having to deal with all she has already been through, some of which most everyone else cannot even begin to imagine or understand.

Fairly soon Majella has a place to be and a place to feel somewhat safe within along with fresh clothing and something to eat. It probably has been quite some time since Majella has had a proper quality meal. Florence has, had and will continue to see to it that the girl she discovered receives the immediate attention she needs at that shelter for ladies.

Not to be ungrateful or anything of the sorts but once Majella feels more like herself she realizes that she has somewhere else to be; at least she hoped she did. He father, her sisters, oh heck, her sisters, is Abigail alright? Knowing the things Majella knows, seeing the things she can see, she knew as she had been taken from her home those trio of years prior to this one, that Abigail would be in danger, not imminent danger at the time though danger all the same, danger that will come and of course quite some time has now passed.

In the moment when she had been discovered wandering the outdoors Majella had been silent, lost within herself, on the journey to the shelter she remained silent though she did show a desire to have Florence remain close, so remain close Florence did. Speech only returned when that realization of hers had fully hit. Dad, Abigail and Lisa, where are they?

'Steady now' speaks Florence in response to Majella's stirrings. 'It's alright, everything is alright. You are safe now.'

By this point Majella had been cleaned up, she has changed clothing and had begun to eat, at that she probably wasn't fully aware of what it was she had been eating.

'No, everything is not alright' Majella says, indeed now completely out of her trance like state. 'Abigail, my sister; I have to get to Abigail. She is in danger.'

'Okay, we'll find your sister. Don't you worry, we will find her.'

Florence glances round searching for a particular co-volunteer in the hopes that between them both they can get all the necessary information from the shelter's newest recipient of aid. Majella too glances around and as she does, she feels an immense fear grow by the second. She has never felt fear like this before, not even when she had been taken from her home and not when the abuse within that facility she was forced to stay within was at its worst.

When pain is your own or when you face a threat, you can deal with it then you do deal with it the best you can though when a threat, a possible life ending threat faces a loved one then having to deal with that is not so easy at all especially when you are being held at a location your loved ones are unaware of. Then not knowing when such a threat will come to pass and finding yourself free from where you were held then a possible hope can exist, your thoughts can't help but be with that loved one.

There was that letter from Abigail but there is no way to know just how much time had passed since that letter had been written. Majella can indeed hope until she knows for sure. Her gift too, being where she is, affects her in an untimely way. It allows, or rather brings about, a seeing of all too much harm all at once, harm past and possible amounts of harm yet to come, intensified by her own situation. Rest in this sanctuary is something that may not come all so easily.

Yeah, she could see the harm many of those in the immediate vicinity have already experienced and are yet to still experience and it is intensely horrific to say the least. It is as if all control of her gift has been lost and this is if she ever had control.

Her recent state of mind isn't so strong to say the least and now this. It gets to be far too much, collapsing in on her all too quickly. Her entire soul is being flushed with images, experiences and emotion and it most definitely is getting too much to the point where consciousness is soon lost. Her mind, for now at least, has given in to submission. A rest has come, one way or another, both forced upon her and badly needed at the same time.

Majella has never been free to be herself, never been free to explore things other girls, regular girls her age get to experience, though Majella knows no real difference. On some level she has readily accepted all that her life has been right up to this point in time. It may never improve and there will be difficulty ahead, she may have sub-consciously accepted this too but who really knows what the future may hold?

And when she finds out just who it is she is, then a whole new can of worms will open up and she is about to begin a walk down that path without an opportunity to prepare for it. Florence is quite sure that Majella has not slept for some time so once everything for the time being has been seen to, she brings Majella to where she get herself some rest.

Indeed, this is a facility for women and of course men are not refused immediate aid and as it is there is one man being consoled and seen to. He is sitting on a hallway bench and details are being taken from him. This hallway bench so happens to be along the way to where Florence is taking Majella. This gentleman sees her.

'You ...' he says as he stands and points towards Majella. His eyes are wide and his face drains of all colour. '... You' he says once more.

Florence sees him as does Majella in a brief waking moment. She does not know who he is, there is no recollection of him so if he knows her or thinks he knows her somehow then surely, he must be mistaken. It is a busy period for the shelter, still there is more than enough space for there to be a spot for Majella to rest within.

***

When Majella properly wakes, it is to the sight of someone she knows. The face she sees is different to what it looked like the last time she had seen it. Who it is, could it be? No, it can't be, but it is and if it really is, as it appears to be, then where are the other two? Upon waking, Majella needs a couple of second to gather herself then she takes a few more to study the face that has come to her. A couple of years or so have passed, a little over three to be precise, faces, especially young faces are bound to change quite a bit in such a time.

'Lisa?'

It is indeed Lisa and Lisa had given her little sister those seconds upon waking to make the discovery for herself before allowing the delight within herself and her sister to settle in.

'Eh, yeah ...'

Now a different kind of rushing comes, a healthy kind, a happy kind, two sisters are reunited. Then that something else hits.

'Where are they? Where are dad and Abigail? Oh my God, Abigail. Tell me she is alright.'

'Listen, dad is on his way. I rang him the second I was sure that it really was you here.'

'Don't leave me in the dark ... please ... where is Abigail?'

'Look, when dad gets ...'

'No ... no ... no ...'

The flood gates open and Majella cannot contain it. If only she hadn't been taken, if only she hadn't been locked away for those three years, she could have done something to save Abigail. Majella is strong and can deal with a lot of things if she is forced into doing such, but this, damn. She could have done something to save her eldest sister, if only. That letter she had received indeed must at least a few months old, at most; maybe it is a lot more recent. Abigail's final thoughts were with her youngest sister. This letter is something Lisa knew nothing of.

Tom Smith arrives at the shelter and is questioned. Security checks via a computer and the internet are made. He has two daughters, so he is informed by the lady doing the checking and one of those daughters has passed. Allowing just anyone to come into the shelter and lay claim to a minor is a big no-no.

'Hey, I ain't going to waste time here' Tom speaks impatiently. 'Let me see my daughter, ask her and she will tell you. My other daughter is with her now. They are sisters for God's sake.'

'I understand sir but please understand our needs here are of upmost importance ...'

There are guards present to prevent this Mister Smith from going any further into the shelter than where he already so happens to be. The girls being where they are within the building are unaware at this point that dad has arrived. The person dad had been dealing with at a reception point nods to the guards indicating that it is alright, for now at least, to let this man in as long as an eye is kept on him and on in he does go. She understands his desperation and deducts from it that the information before her must be wrong ...

When Tom Smith arrives to where his daughters are, there are more tears to be shed and some things can relax a little.

'Why didn't you save her?' Majella cries, struggling to get the words out and feeling more grief than relief to be in the position she is in. 'I told you ... I told you ...'

'I know you did, honey. I know you did ...'

The reunited father daughter hug is joined by other daughter, making it difficult for any onlooker to believe that there is no relationship here with the girl who had been brought in off the streets not all so long ago and the man who has come to her. Whatever created the circumstances to which the girl had been found, this too is obvious not down to family mistreatment.

It doesn't matter what any record shows, it is clear to anyone and everyone near that Tom Smith is Majella's father and that Lisa is a sister. There is a physical resemblance too to add credence to it all. Florence Reardon will see to it the best she can that the girl she found wandering lost in a daze will get to stay with her family and that this girl will get all the care that she deserves.

She may be willing to let this girl go with whom has come for her though she is not willing to forget her and simply allow things to rightly move on. Florence wants to at least be a part of Majella's immediate future and all parties concerned are more than happy to see this become something more than a promise.