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She glanced at the boy. Walking over to her, he held out his hand. It was dirty, but she didn’t care. Sliding her hand into his, she let him help her up.
“Are you okay?” he asked, bending over slightly to peer down at her.
Isa slid her thumb into her mouth. Her dad would yell at her if he caught her, but she found it soothing when she was scared or tired.
Also . . . she didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t usually shy, but this boy had saved her.
“Did they hurt you?” he demanded.
She shook her head.
“Do you want me to walk you home?”
She nodded.
“All right, let’s go. You have to tell me where to go, though.” He started walking.
But she couldn’t move.
Turning back, he frowned at her. “What’s wrong?”
Isa pointed up into the tree, then she realized she had to speak. Isabelle slid her thumb free.
“They threw Razzie up there.”
“Razzie?”
“My rainbow bear. Mama gave him to me.”
His face darkened, but then he nodded. To her shock, he started climbing the tree. He went higher and higher as she watched on in shock, certain he was going to fall and hurt himself.
However, he got high enough to grab Razzie. “Catch.”
She caught her beloved bear in her arms and then watched the boy climb back down. When he reached the ground, she threw herself at him.
He just stood there, as though unsure what to do, while she hugged him.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Hugging you.”
“Oh.”
She leaned back to look up into his face. His hair was too long and he had streaks of dirt on his cheeks.
“Don’t you know how to hug?” she asked.
“Uh. No.”
“That’s okay, I’ll teach you. Mama says I’m a great hugger.”
“All right. You should go home now to your mama.”
“I can’t.” She drew away from him, staring at the ground. “She died.”
“My parents are dead, too.”
Her head shot up. “Yeah?”
