Page 81 of Keeping Penny

“Kylo-Pyro…I can’t see,” she whimpered. “I don’t know how many steps it is or where to go.”

“This is scary, Bowie. I know it. I’m asking you to do something impossibly hard. But you can do it. You know how I know that?”

She sniffed and shook her head.

“Because the moment I saw you walking toward me on that roof in Gabon, I thought to myself, ‘This girl is special.’ And you are. So special. You’re the most specialist girl I’ve ever met in the world. And I love you.”

“I love you too, Kylo-Pyro.”

“Remember when you were going to your first day of school and I told you that ships in the harbor were safe, but that’s not what they’re made for?”

She nodded.

“That describes you perfectly. Sure, you’re safe if you sit at home, where you know where everything is and you won’t bump into anything, but it’s boring. And you, my brave girl, weren’t meant to sit around and do nothing. You were born to do great things. Amazing things.”

Pyro saw her straighten, as if she was truly hearing him and taking him at his word. This girl was incredible. She made him want to be a better person. Stronger. Braver.

“I’m not scared,” she told him. “You said that if you pretend you aren’t scared, it makes you stronger.”

She was also a sponge, taking in everything she heard around her, and Pyro was once again amazed by her resiliency. “That’s right, Bowie-Bear. And you’re the strongest girl I know. Here’s the plan. There are quite a few windows in here, and you can totally fit through them. You’re gonna crawl out and go toward the water. The ocean. You’ll be able to smell and hear it when you get outside. You just have to find the water and turn left. When we got here, I heard music in that direction, and that means people. Walk along the water until you find someone to help you. Using the beach and the ocean to guide you so you don’t get lost.”

Bowie blinked, and Pyro held his breath. When they’d arrived, he’d heard the sound of water lapping on the shore, not crashing against rocks. Making him think the house was on a sandy beach of some sort. Since it was a rental, they probably advertised the beautiful beach on the property.

He could be wrong. The beach could only be a hundred feet long before it turned into a rocky, impassible barrier. But honestly, telling Bowie to walk along the water was the only way to keep her safe. If it was a beach, there should be few obstacles in her path, and maybe someone would be out for an early-morning swim or run. They would find the little girl stumbling along, looking for help.

God, there were so many unknowns in his plan, and Pyro hated himself for asking Bowie to do this. He wanted to just hunker down with the hope that they’d be found before morning, but he couldn’t take the chance. Wouldn’t take that chance. Not with Bowie’s life on the line.

“I can’t swim good though.”

“You won’t be going into the water, Bowie-Bear. You’ll just be walking alongside it. Remember when we were at the beach and we went for a walk, how the sand felt under your feet when we were close to the water? How you could feel the waves coming up on the sand and then retreating back into the ocean?”

She nodded.

“That’s what you’ll do this time too. Find the sand, find the water, then walk alongside it until you find someone who can help you. Call your mom. Have whoever you’re with tell her where you are. Walk slow and steady. Don’t run, don’t rush. Use your senses, Bowie-Bear. They won’t lead you astray.”

“What’s astray?”

“Off course. Away from the right path. You can do this. I know you can. Because Bowie Burns is amazing.”

“I don’t want to leave you.”

She was breaking his heart.

“I know. And I don’t want you to leave me either, but you have to.”

“Because you’re hurt. And the bad men want to do bad stuff to us. I heard them talking when we were walking to the house. They said Colvin. That’s the man who was mean to Mommy in Gabon. Who tooked our money. She was scared of him. They said he was giving them lots of money for us. They’re gonna get the money when their friend takes me away tomorrow. I don’t want to go with them! I want to stay with you and Mommy!” She had to take a few breaths, to calm herself down. “I can do this, Kylo-Pyro. I’ll follow the water and make the bad men leave us alone.”

A tear fell from Pyro’s eye as he listened to Bowie’s determination. He hated that she’d overheard the assholes talking about selling her, but he was beyond proud that she was being so brave.

“Are you going to marry Mommy?”

Pyro blinked at the abrupt change of topic, and he brought a hand up to his face to wipe the tears off his cheeks. “I want to very much, yes.”

“Will you be my daddy then? The one I had before wasn’t nice. But you are. I love you, Kylo-Pyro, and want you to live with us forever and ever.”

“I want that too, Bowie-Bear. I want that more than I can say.”

“Good. When we get home, I’ll tell Mommy and you guys can get married and you can be my daddy.”