Chapter 235

“Where is she?….. I couldn’t find her…. She’s not in her room or the house. Colton, why did you tell me to come down here?... Do you know where she is?” Carmen is already in a state of hysteria, tears streaming down her face, not seeming to care who sees them, and we are blinded by the sudden illumination of the sweeping front drive, and tree line as guards switch on our floodlighting. The patrols are streaming in from the village, the homestead, and every nook and cranny around as they gather together as a thrown-together chaotic search party. I move to Carmen at the door in a flash, instinctively going to her, and pull her into my arms, wiping her face and shooshing her as I cradle her in a hug. She doesn’t fight me. Her body is trembling, her attention fully on the void of her mother’s presence as she lets me hold her up without any resistance. Her body is cold, her posture is weak, and her eyes are fixed on Colton as though begging him for answers she knows he doesn’t have. “We’re