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have to help Momma,” she whispered. Daddy told her to take
care of her mother. She didn’t know what to do, but she had to do something.
    “If you go
downstairs, they will hurt her even more. And they’ll hurt you, too. Trust me ,
Ellie.”
    She had no idea
who this bodiless voice belonged to, but she clung to his words. They felt true. He said he wanted to protect her, and she didn’t know what else to do. “I
have to call 911,” she whispered.
    She started to
stand, but the warmth around her increased, enveloping her in a blanket of
security. “No, Ellie. Not yet.”
    The man
downstairs laughed, but it sounded mean and ugly. “Where’s your daughter?
What’s her name? Ellie?”
    Ellie’s chest
froze, refusing to suck in air as terror coursed through her blood, making her
light-headed.
    “You know her
name?” her mother wheezed out.
    The man chuckled.
“I know all kinds of things about you, Amanda.”
    “Ellie’s not
here.”
    Rain pelted the
windows so loudly it sounded like someone was throwing rocks.
    “Then where is
she?” the man asked.
    “She’s spending
the night at a friend’s house.” Her mother’s voice sounded stronger than
before.
    “On a school
night? I don’t think so,” he growled. Then he shouted, “Ellie! Where are you?
Come out and play.”
    Ellie’s body
trembled with fear, and she gritted her teeth to keep them from rattling.
    “Don’t listen to
him, Ellie,” the nice man said in her ear. “He wants to hurt you.”
    A river of tears
streaked down Ellie’s face, and she struggled to keep from sobbing. “I have to
help Momma,” she forced out between hiccuped breaths.
    “No,” the voice
said. “Stay here with me.”
    “Ellie!” the man
downstairs shouted. “If you don’t come down, I’m going to hurt your mommy with
this very sharp knife.”
    Ellie covered her
face with her bunny as she bit her lip to keep from crying out.
    “Show her what
happens to people who don’t cooperate,” the bad man said. “Go find her.”
    Ellie thought he
was talking to her mother until another man said, “Okay.”
    There were two men.
    “No, please .”
Her mother’s voice was raspy and full of tears. “She’s not here.”
    “Hide!” the voice
next to Ellie’s ear insisted. “ Now ! ”
    Ellie stood, torn
between her fear of getting hurt and her desire to help her mother. She’d
promised Daddy she would. The bad man was going to hurt Mommy if she didn’t go
downstairs.
    “Ellie, I want to
protect you,” the bodiless voice said, still nice but louder. “But you need to hide . Now! ”
    Her fear won out
and she scrambled to turn around, running down the hall, making sure to miss the
squeaking boards. She rushed into her room, threw open her closet door, and
burrowed behind a pile of stuffed animals, her back to the wall. Sobs shook her
shoulders, but she covered her mouth with her hand to keep from making any noise.
    “Good,” the voice
whispered, soothing her frayed nerves. “Good girl.”
    Footsteps landed upstairs,
going into the bedrooms at the front of the hall.
    “Stop! Please ,”
her mother begged. “I’ll tell you!” She was upstairs now, in the hallway. Ellie
only had to run out through the bedroom door to get to her.
    “I thought Ellie
wasn’t home, Amanda,” the mean man said in his fake-friendly voice. “Did you
lie to me?”
    Ellie’s mother
said something, but her crying made it incoherent.
    “Keep checking,”
he growled.
    The light from
the hall spilled through the partially opened bedroom door, and her mother’s
sobs echoed in the hall.
    “Momma,” Ellie
wailed softly, trying to get up.
    The warm presence
held her firmly against the closet wall. “ No .”
    “What is it that
you want to tell me, Amanda?” the bad man laughed. “Because I’m most interested
in the ring. Maybe Ellie can fill me in.”
    “She doesn’t know
anything.” Her mother sounded panicked and her words came out in bursts. “I
swear. Please .
Just leave her