Mud clung to her mama’s directions. Flora wouldn’t have steered her wrong. Her mama had met the Devil; she knew him better than anyone. And Mud would heed her warning no matter what. She sank her teeth into the arm holding her down.
“She bit me!” the female voice gasped, her hold suddenly loosening.
Mud took advantage. She gathered every ounce of strength she possessed and heaved upward, only to stare aimlessly at dozens of trees flying by in her blurred vision.
Nausea was instant once again. She fell to her side and retched, moaning through the pain that vomiting produced. Only, nothing came up. Which hurt even more.
The vibrating and humming sound eventually stopped. Mud could hear a commotion happening around her, yet her sick, muddled mind couldn’t seem to process it.
And then another voice joined the other two, this one full of more desperation than Mud had picked up in the first two.
For some strange reason, the new woman’s voice didn’t terrify Mud.
“Oh my God, where did she come from? We have to get her to the hospital! Put her in my car.”
Mud had no idea what a hospital was, nor did she care. She had no intention of going anyway. No, Mud was heading home just as soon as she freed herself from the Devil’s grasp.
Chapter Five
Grace pushed the young girl’s matted hair back from her face in a panic. Not only did the child resemble a corpse, but Grace had never seen another human being as dirty as this one in all her life. Nor had she ever smelled anything quite like the horrific odor coming from the poor thing, either.
“Who is she?” Grace asked Opa while taking in the dark circles surrounding the child’s sunken-in eyes and her filthy, tattered clothes. “She’s burning up with fever.”
Opa shook her head, her hand gently rubbing the back of the child lying on the back seat of her car. “I don’t know. Talako found her beneath a tree on the banks of the swamp. She was unconscious.”
Talako, who had already exited his vehicle, leaned in and took the girl into his arms. He rushed toward Grace’s car.
Grace ran alongside him, opening the back door to her sedan. “Watch her head.”
Bending to deposit the too-thin child onto the back seat, Talako softly admitted, “I didn’t know where else to take her, Mrs. Holloway. She has to belong to someone in town.”
“You did the right thing,” Grace assured him, already climbing behind the wheel of her car. She knew that without a 911 system in place, people had no choice but to suffer their affliction until an ambulance from the next town over could arrive or travel to the hospital by any other means necessary. “I’ll take her to Calhoun Memorial and call you later with an update. Will you notify the Jena police for me?”
Talako nodded and shut the back door, the sadness in his eyes obvious. “She was found on tribal lands. I will have to report it to the tribal police.”
Grace nodded. “Okay then.” She knew without question that Talako thought the same thing as she herself did. Either the girl was a runaway, or someone had severely abused her and dumped her there. Whatever the case, Grace needed to get her to the hospital before she died in the back of her car.
* * * *
“Grace?” Jasper called out, rushing down the wide hall of Calhoun Memorial. “I got your message. Are you all right?”
Getting to her feet, Grace nodded, accepting the hug her husband offered. “I’m fine, Jasper. And I’m sorry for worrying you, but I was in a hurry and, truthfully, panicking a little when I left that voicemail.”
“It doesn’t matter, sweetheart. Tell me what happened.” He pulled back enough to look into her eyes.
She blew out a weary breath. “Talako found a young girl out in the swamps. She was unconscious and barely breathing. She’s the skinniest, dirtiest little thing I’ve ever seen. Oh, Jasper, she looks as if she hasn’t eaten in a long time. Her skin was gray…” Her voice broke on that last word.
“What?” Jasper breathed, running his palms up and down Grace’s arms. “Who is she? Does she belong to someone in Jena?”
Grace thought about that for a moment. “I don’t know. I mean, I don’t think so. I’ve never seen her before. And from the looks of her, she doesn’t appear to belong to anyone.”
“Did you notify the police?”
“Talako is reporting it to the tribal police. Since she was found on tribal lands, there’s not much Jena PD can do about it. I’m sure the tribal police will inform them of the case, so they can search for the child’s parents.”
A tall man with gray hair, wearing a white coat, suddenly strode through a set of double doors, a grim look on his face. “I’m Doctor Frazier. Are you the ones who brought in the young girl?”
“I am,” Grace admitted, pulling free of her husband to face the doctor. “I’m Grace Holloway, and this is my husband, Jasper. He pastors the church in Jena, where she was found. How is she? Is she going to be okay?”
“It’s difficult to tell at this point, Mrs. Holloway. We have her in the ICU. Do you happen to know if her parents have been located?”
Grace shook her head. “We’ve lived in Jena for over thirteen years now, and I’ve never seen that little girl before. She has to be a runaway or…”
“We’re waiting on her bloodwork to come back,” Doctor Frazier began, saving Grace from having to voice her thoughts aloud. “But her chest X-rays aren’t looking good. Definitely pneumonia. She’s severely dehydrated and suffering from malnutrition as well. You could be right about her being a runaway.”
“That poor baby.” Grace swallowed around the lump in her throat. “How old do you think she is, Doctor?”
“There’s no sign of baby teeth in her mouth, which leads me to believe she’s approximately twelve to thirteen years of age. I’ve notified the authorities. They should be here soon.”
Grace was shocked to learn the little girl could possibly be a teenager. She was far too small for someone of that age. Grace had figured her to be no older than eight. “She was found on tribal lands, Doctor. The tribal police will have jurisdiction.”
“I see. Well, I still have a duty to report it. Local law enforcement can sort out the details of jurisdiction.”
Grace agreed. “May I see her?”
The doctor’s gaze softened. “Make it brief. She’s sedated to keep her from pulling out her tubes. For someone so weak, she sure did put up a fight.”
Touching Grace on the arm, the doctor nodded to Jasper and trailed off in the opposite direction from whence he’d come.
Grace moved to step around Jasper, but he wrapped his fingers around her wrist. “Do you think it’s a good idea to go in there? I mean, she could be contagious.”
Glancing down at the hold her husband had on her arm, Grace admitted, “I brought her into the hospital, Jasper. If she’s contagious, I’ve already been exposed.”
“But—”
“I’m going in,” Grace whispered, cutting off the rest of his words.
She pulled free and hurried forward before he could try to stop her.
Grace strode through the double doors the doctor had come through and then stopped at the first nurse’s station she came to. She cleared her throat. “Excuse me. Can you tell me where I can find the ICU?”