Chapter 2
“Lizzie! Get back here!”
Betty, she corrected, but kept the thought to herself. Her cheek still stung from the last time she dared to utter her real name.
“Elizabeth!”
She laughed and ran further into the woods.
This was the only place she was safe.
It reminded her of home, or what used to be home, before her mommy decided she didn’t want her anymore, and sent her to live with Hal, who wasn’t her daddy, but still insisted she call him that.
She only did it to avoid being hit. Hal liked to hit.
So did his new wife, Alice.
Only... she wasn’t supposed to call her Alice. Alice was her mommy now, Chic and Polly her brother and sister. They were supposed to be this big, happy family.
But Betty had never wanted a big family.
Happy, sure. Small, happy and content. Not picture perfect, a façade. But what she used to know.
Her mommy.
Penny. That was her name. Penny Anne Peabody, with her floppy bangs and bright blue eyes. Penny, who sang her songs every night before she went to bed and chased butterflies around the front yard. Penny, who always had a hug, a smile, and a promise of just how much she loved her.
Penny...
Who didn’t want her anymore.
She never understood what she had done wrong. One day, the were fine, playing outside, laughing, singing, and the next, she was living with Hal again, far from home with the knowledge that Penny had willingly given her up.
I miss you, mommy, she thought.
Tears filled her eyes.
But she doesn’t miss me.
“Elizabeth?”
It was a voice she’d never heard before, deeper than Hal’s, too low to be Chic’s, who was now seven, and already insisting that he was a man. She paused, listening for it again, and then she took off running.
“Elizabeth! Stop!”
Nothing ever good came from anyone calling her Elizabeth.
Except for Penny.
Only Penny.
“Honey, stop, stop,” hands caught her by the sides, lifting her kicking and screaming clear off the ground. “Elizabeth. Calm down. It’s okay. You’re safe. You’re safe.”
She thrashed in his hold. “Let go!”
“My name is Rob,” he said. Turning her head, she was met with kind eyes, and she finally stopped struggling. “I’m a police officer, honey. It’s okay. You’re safe now.”
Betty blinked. Confused.
“Safe?” She repeated.
In the distance, she could hear sirens. Hal and Alice yelling. Polly screamed.
“Give me my daughter!” Hal shouted.
“It’s all right now, Betty,” Rob told her. “It’s all over. I’m here to take you home.”
Betty.
She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had called her Betty.
***
“Mr. Kelly,” she said.
The man in the hat forced a smile.
That wasn’t his name, she realized, but she knew him. Penny had hated him, but not his son...
Kevin.
Kevin had been her friend.
Kevin...
“Mr. Keller,” Betty corrected herself.
Sheriff Keller’s smile became a little more believable. “Hello, Betty.”
Betty.
She was Betty. Not Lizzie, but Betty.
“You’ve... gotten so big,” he said. “I can’t believe... You look so much like your mom, Betty.”
Her mom?
Alice.
He must have meant Alice.
Betty shrank back in fear. She didn’t want to look like Alice, didn’t want to be anything like Alice.
“Betty-”
“Sheriff Keller?” Rob asked, rounding the corner.
Betty barely knew him, but she ran to him, winding her arms around his leg. He paused, and then placed a comforting hand on top of her head, ruffling her hair.
“You’re all right, sweetheart,” he promised. “This nice man is here to take him home.”
She didn’t have a home anymore.
“I... I don’t want to,” Betty whimpered.
“Elizabeth-”
“Betty,” Sheriff Keller echoed, reaching for her, as if to lift her up. “Betty, come on now. Your mom-”
“I don’t have a mom!” She shouted.
Because... wasn’t that the truth?
Alice would never be her mother, and if Penny didn’t want her anymore...
Then she really was alone.
“Betty, sweetheart, that’s not true-”
“I’ll be good!” Betty cried, as Sheriff Keller hosted her into the air. “Please! I’ll be good! I’ll be good! Just don’t send me back! Please!”
***
Don’t send me back.
Dear God, he thought, as he held the child to his head. She was still such a tiny thing, her arms covered in bruises. He felt sick. What did they do to her?
***
Eventually she fell asleep.
The drive had turned her sobs into cries, her crying into the occasional sniffle before her eyes grew heavy and she gave into sleep.
Sheriff Keller cast a glance back at her and sighed.
This was not the little girl he remembered.
She had only been gone for two years. Seven hundred and thirty-something days. She had always been smart for her age. Perhaps a little too smart, but surely she wouldn’t have forgotten her mother.
Penny.
He’d left her at the bar, under FP’s care. For a moment, he thought about contacting her, to give her a warning. A heads up. Something. But then he thought better of it.
Penny and Betty...
They would be okay.
He had to believe that.
***
Time moved far too slowly.
She had been left alone in a room at the sheriff’s station. FP was outside, moral support. He’d offered to come with her, but this was something she needed to do alone.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
Penny tapped her phone in an impatient rhythm.
Any minute now, and my baby girl will be in my arms.
Any minute now.
***
Heavy footsteps sounded close to the door.
The knob turned.
The door opened.
In Keller’s arms was a tiny blonde girl, hair braided too tightly, wearing one of those stupid, frilly dresses Hal always loved. Her arms were covered in bruises, an all familiar sight, and Penny had to grip the metal table to keep from falling to the floor.
“Betty,” she whispered.
Slowly, Sheriff Keller set the little girl on her feet in front of her.
But Betty refused to look at her.
“Baby...” Penny took a step towards her, only for her daughter to retreat. “Honey... it’s me. It’s mommy.”
Betty didn’t react.
Dear God, Penny thought, holding a trembling hand to her mouth. What had they done to her?