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For the Love of My Sister |
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Disclaimer: Still don't own them, and I am still making no money from them, and I still need to get my car fixed. Thanks to Mog for letting me play in her ATF sandbox.
Notes : First of all I would like to thank Teresa and Becky for planting the seed of this story in my little head. : ) Hugs and Thanks ladies. I have done resurch for this story but this time dealing with multiple personality disorder.
This story also makes some references to Kris's wonderful story "Happy Anniversary, Mr. Larabee" if you haven't read it then I highly recommend it because it is a good read.
Thanks goes out to my very best friend Jen who had to take all those boring and lovely little psyche classes in college. Thanks for the help and I owe you dinner. : )
Thanks also goes out to my Dad who is the poet in the family. He wrote this poem for me knowing that every time I try to write a poem it turns into a story. : ) Thanks Dad.
This story is also dedicated to my one and only RL sister Mary. Who supports me when I need it, and she will gladly kick me in the butt when she thinks I need it. : ) Thanks sis.
This story is for those many brothers and sisters who are out there bugging us and driving us crazy, but they will defend us to the end of time. : )
Warning: some of the words that Little Hannah speaks are misspelled on purpose. Thanks goes out to my beta's. These wonderful ladies fight with me the constant battle of Dyslexia and give their wonderful opinion freely and which is always greatly welcomed. They are following fighters : Judy, Oracle, and LucyJ. Thanks Ladies you did a wonderful job.
Also I would love to thank the Mag 7 fic for their help and advice in the medical field. You guys are the best.
Rating: I've never been good at rating my stories so I am going guess at PG 13 for Language and because child abuse will be mentioned in the story too.
Feedback is always welcome .
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For the Love of My Sister.By John T. Byard
For the love of my sister, I will cross burning bridges.
For the love of my sister, I will hold her hand.
For the love of my sister, If her heart is broken.
For the love of my sister, I will try not to cry.
For the love of my sister, I will watch her given away.
For the love of my sister, I will rejoice while she has children.
For the love of my sister, I will help her children while they grow.
For the love of my sister, I will do all these things.
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Buck Wilmington was sitting at his desk trying to type up his latest report and drinking his morning coffee when the phone rang.
"Denver ATF, Team Seven, Wilmington speaking. How can I help you?" he asked
A little girls voice began to speak, "Hewwo, is Jo Jo dhere?" she asked.
Hearing a little girls voice. Buck naturally assumed she had called the wrong number, "I'm sorry Sweetheart, but there is no Jo Jo here."
"Gots ta find Jo Jo... Jo Jo'll protect us. Jo Jo a'ways protects us" she replied, as she hung up.
Buck just shrugged his shoulders, hung up the phone and looked over his computer at his partner JD Dunn.
Josiah just come out of Chris's office with some folders to begin his new profile report on their latest case. As he passed by Vin's and Ezra's desks he over heard them whispering on what kind of joke they should play on Nathan. Josiah smiled and thought, 'poor Nathan doesn't know what going to hit him.' Josiah just shook his head and continued past Nathan's desk. He could tell that Nathan was talking to Rain by the way he kept retracing her name which was written down on his note book. As he passed JD's desk he saw that he was putting off writing his report on their latest case by playing on the net.
Just as he was about to pass Buck's desk he heard him tell JD, "Yeah, just some sweet, little girl who got the wrong number. She said she was looking for someone named Jo Jo."
A slow grip of fear grabbed Josiah's heart and began to squeeze it into a tight fist. His folders suddenly slipped from his big hands fell to the floor; without thinking, Josiah grabbed Buck up by his throat, pulled him out of his chair and slammed him into the nearest wall.
"Now Buck, I want you to tell me exactly what she said word-for-word."
Josiah's normally calm light blue eyes had suddenly turned a dark, angry blue as he growled at Buck.
Surprised, along with fear, entered Buck's eyes as he struggled to get Josiah's strong hands from his throat. A sudden chill ran through the office as the others were taken by surprise at Josiah's sudden outburst. Josiah was the gentlest man they knew, so long as he wasn't drunk. But even then Josiah had never attacked one of their own. Why now? The sounds of chairs being pushed back across the carpeted floor rose with shots of Josiah's name, "Josiah!" Chris Larabee angrily yelled as he stormed into the room. "Put Buck Down...Now!"
Josiah's response was to raise Buck a little bit higher up the wall and without looking he spoke only to JD. " JD, dial star 69 for me and write down the phone number of the last incoming call." JD looked towards their leader. With a nod of his head, Chris told JD to do what Josiah asked.
Josiah once again asked his question to Buck, "What did she say?"
Buck answered, "Josiah, it was just a little girl calling the wrong number. There's nothing to get upset about."
Josiah raised Buck higher up the white wall and ask again, "What did she say Buck... Now!"
"She said that she needed to find Jo Jo and that Jo Jo will protect her," he replied.
"Damn!" Josiah angrily said as he suddenly let go of Buck, looked at the piece of paper with the number on it. "Hell and Damnation!" Without looking back, he stormed over to his desk, grabbed his winter jacket and headed for the elevator.
"Josiah!" Chris angrily yelled after Josiah's retreating form. "Where the hell do you think you 're going?"
Josiah quickly looked over his shoulder and saw that Nathan was tending to Buck's slumped form on the floor, then turned to face the famous Larabee glare. "My penance is calling me," he said as he turned and walked into the open elevator door.
"What the hell does he mean by that?" Chris angrily looked around at the others until his angry glare fell upon Nathan, who was looking closely at Buck's throat.
Nathan could swear he could feel Chris's glare burn into his head as he asked, "Nathan, do you know anything about this?"
Nathan slowly nodded his head while he finished checking the newly forming bruise marks on Buck's throat.
"That was Josiah's sister calling him," Nathan said.
"Damn!" Chris swore angrily, while the surprised voices of the others rose throughout the office. "Vin and Ezra, I want you to follow Josiah, and see that he doesn't kill anyone."
"Right on it, Pard," Vin said, as he and Ezra grabbed their winter coats and headed for the elevator.
JD ran his hand through his long black hair and asked, "Nate, I don't understand, how can Josiah have a sister that's a little girl when he's 49 years old."
Nathan looked at Chris, "It's okay Nate, Josiah already told me about his sister so you might as well tell the others."
Nathan nodded his head and began to speak, "The reason why Buck heard a little girl's voice is because Josiah's sister Hannah has multiple personality disorder."
"Huh?!" was both Buck's and JD's reply.
Nathan let out a sigh as he got up from the floor and offered his hand to help pull Buck off the floor.
"Hannah has more then one personality... Buck, the person you were talking to on the phone was Little Hannah... Hannah's four year old personality. Little Hannah only comes out when Hannah is in trouble or when she is under great amounts of stress."
"So you're sayin' that Little Hannah was calling Josiah for help?" Buck asked as he began to rub his hand around his throat.
Nathan nodded his head yes as he looked towards the elevator where Josiah had left.
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Vin and Ezra were following Josiah's car in Vin's jeep.
"Vin, did you know that Josiah had a sister?" asked Ezra
"Well Ez, I kind of figured Josiah had a sister by the picture he has of her on his desk," Vin said, as he concentrated on following Josiah.
"You mean the picture of the pretty woman. I always thought she was his girlfriend."
"It's her eyes that made the connection for me. They carry the same deep sadness that I've sometimes seen in Josiah's eyes."
Ezra nodded his head in agreement. He also had seen the same sadness in Josiah's eyes that Vin spoke of. It was the kind of sadness that would break your heart.
They soon found Josiah's car sitting in front of St. Frances church.
"Why would Josiah go to a church to find his sister?" asked Ezra.
"Well why don't we go and find out," suggested Vin as he got out of his jeep.
As they started to enter the church they heard a loud crash coming form the Convent next door.
Ezra looked at Vin and nodded towards the building where the sound came from. They approached the gates as Vin rang the bell. They watched as a middle age woman dressed as a nun make her way towards them.
"Is there something that I can do you Gentlemen?" she asked softly.
"Yeah, Ma'am, ... uh, Sister, I mean, " Vin said as he ran his hand through his long, brown hair.
"We are looking for a friend of ours..." Vin tried once again, but Ezra cut him off.
"Yes Sister, he is a large man with slightly graying hair...," but Ezra was cut off too by another loud crash soon followed by some yelling.
"We believe that he maybe the person who is now currently destroying something here," Ezra continued, trying to see past the nun and looking for any sign of where Josiah was smashing things at.
"Oh, you must be friends of Josiah. Mother Superior said that you would be coming soon," she smiled as she began to unlock and open the old iron gates to the Convent.
"Excuse me Sister, but could you explain to us how Mother Superior knew we where coming," Vin asked.
"Why that's easy, Sister Hannah is missing, when Sister Hannah is missing Josiah will show up, where Josiah goes his friends will not be to far behind," she said with a smile as she turned and headed for the old convent building. "This way gentlemen, Josiah is in the process of donating new office furniture for the House of the Lord ."
As they walked into the office of the Mother Superior, they saw Josiah getting ready to turn over a wooden desk.
"Where is she?!" He yelled as he turned the desk over. "You were supposed to watch over her! She is under your care! Now WHERE IS MY SISTER?!!" he demanded once more.
Mother Superior was used to seeing Josiah have one of his sudden bursts of temper. So she did what she usually did, which was to stand aside, watch, and record every item being broken. She did this all while she waited for Josiah to calm down. which would be in about five minutes.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sister Mary Martha enter along with two young men. She knew in an instant that these were friends of Josiah that she had known would be coming for him. She hoped they had enough sense to stay out of Josiah's way because once Josiah lost his temper he could seriously hurt someone without even knowing he was doing it. Suddenly Josiah stopped redecorating the office and slowly began to calm down.
"Well Josiah," she said in her best no-nonsense Mother Superior voice. "Are you finished redecorating the Lord's office? Have you calm down enough to listen to me?" she asked as she put her note book and pen away. Josiah just stood there in the middle of the office with his head lowered taking a few deep calming breaths before he nodded his head yes.
"Good, now will you please put back what few furnishings that have survived, and I will tell you what I know, then I will hand you the bill for the damage you have caused in your sudden need to redecorate the Lord's office," Mother Superior said with her best no-nonsense smile, but her gray eyes held a bit of kindness in them.
Josiah didn't even look up at her as he just nodded his head as he mumbled "Sorry Mother Superior," as he began to put back some of the non-broken furniture.
Mother Superior nodded her head and then made her way over broken chairs and some tables to introduce herself to his friends.
"Hello Mr. Standish and Mr. Tanner. Welcome to the Sisters of St. Francis of the Holy Family Church," she said as she began to shake their hands.
Ignoring their surprised expressions, she motioned them over to the chairs that Josiah had finished putting up; and now he was working on putting back the desk.
"Sister Mary Martha, would you please bring us some tea?" Mother Superior asked, as the sister nodded her head and then walked out of the room. She turned and set behind the newly placed desk and gently smiled while Josiah finished cleaning his mess.
"Excuse me Sister, but could you please tell us how you know who we are?" Vin asked
She smiled and said, " Why from the letters Josiah had written to Sister Hannah. When Little Hannah comes out to play, her being only four-years-old she's to young to read his letters. So she has me to read them to her when they arrive," seeing the confusion come across their faces, she added, "Oh dear, you don't know about Little Hannah." Seeing them shake there heads no, she turned her accusing gray eyes to where Josiah was just finishing cleaning up his mess.
"No Mother," Josiah said as he let out a great sigh and turned to face her with worry showing in his blue eyes, "they don't know, because I have never told them about her."
Josiah ran one of his large hands through his graying hair and wearily began to sit down as he gestured from Vin and Ezra to her. "Vin, Ezra this is Mother Superior of this Convent," He smiled wearily when he spoke again, "She is also known as Mother to the Sisters and her friends, and also Mom Two by the children of the church."
"Sister," Vin nodded. "Sister," Ezra replied.
"Please just call me Mother. It's a little bit easier to say," she said with a gentle smile as she gave Josiah the 'look'. "Josiah your are stalling for time."
Josiah nodded his head and began to explain, "My sister, Hannah, has multiply personality disorder. In short she has another personally that is a four year old little girl name Little Hannah."
Josiah then lifted his head and asked, "Mother, what was Hannah like the last time you saw her?"
Mother Superior thought for a moment and then said, "Sister Hannah was in good spirits when I saw her last night. It was just after evening prayers, and we were all headed to our cells to sleep. Sister Hannah and I were standing outside her cell, and she was telling me that she wanted to reread your latest letter again before she went to sleep."
Josiah nodded his head and asked, "Is that all Mother? She didn't act strange or anything like that?"
Mother Superior gentle smiled at him and said, "Josiah, if you are asking me if Sister Hannah was showing signs of Little Hannah coming through then the answer is no. Like I've said before, when I left Sister Hannah last evening she was in good spirits."
"Mother Superior, could you tell us when you first noticed Sister Hannah was missing?" inquired Ezra.
Mother Superior replied quickly, " hy it was when she didn't show up for morning prayers, when we went to the Chapel."
Vin quietly spoke up in his soft Texan accent, "Mother Superior, could you show us the last place you saw Sister Hannah?"
Mother Superior nodded her head and stood and motioned for the men to follow her. They walked down a couple of hall ways and stopped in front of a solid wooden door with a small window in it. She opened the door and stood aside for the men to enter the small room.
The only furniture in the sparse room was a small bed to the left with a cross over the head of the bed; a night stand with only two empty picture frames, a little lamp and a couple of books on it. To the right was a plain wooden closet where her habits and clean cloths were hung, and Hannah's black veil laying on the floor.
Vin looked around the small room and then turned and asked, "Josiah, do you notice anything missing?"
"Yes, the photos I sent her are missing. One was a picture of all of us standing together at Chris's ranch from our fishing trip last summer, the other was of the ATF building where we work." Josiah pause as he tried to chock down the feeling of worry that was slowly rising in him, he bent down and picked up his sister's fallen veil. "Hannah, wanted to have a picture of the place where I work at so she could feel closer to me," he said through a tight voice, his shaking fingers gently going over her black veil.
Silence slowly began to sink into the small room as Vin and Ezra tried to look for any more clues to the sudden disappearance of Josiah's sister.
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Meanwhile, standing in the front of the guard's desk of the ATF building was a woman in her early middle ages sucking on her thumb and wearing a long black gown. Standing next to her was an elderly Hispanic man holding his cap in his hands.
" 'scuse me, off'cer," she said when she finally took her thumb out of her mouth. "But could you help me find my brodher?"
Officer Lighter looked up and saw a woman dresses as a nun standing there sucking her thumb. Thinking it was one of his buddy's playing a joke on him, he thought he would go along for a bit just to see where it goes.
"Sure Ma'am, What is your brother's name?"
Little Hannah stuck her thumb in her mouth and thought for a moment and then
smiled, "Jo Jo, is my broder's name,"
"Does Jo Jo have a last name?"
Little Hannah nodded her head and said "S'ches. Jo Jo S'ches"
Officer Lighter thought for a moment before he asked , "Do you have a picture of your brother?" The woman nodded her head and smiled as she handed him a picture of team seven on one of their fishing trips. Officer Lighter, seeing the picture, suddenly sat up straight and grabbed the picture out of her hand.
"Ma'am, where did you get this picture at?" Officer Lighter asked.
"My brodher gave it to me. Please can you give it back to me?" she asked as her eyes started to tear up.
Officer Lighter tried to swallow the lump that began to form in his throat as he remembered the mood Mr. Sanchez was in when he stormed out of the ATF office building this morning and he was soon followed close by Mr. Tanner and Mr. Standish.
He turned and looked at the man standing next to her and asked " And you are..?"
"Mr. Martinez , I'm the cab driver that brought her here. I believe that she is telling you the truth, Sir. I think you should call them, and ask them to bring someone down here."
Officer Lighter swallowed another lump in his throat, and he thought , 'We, better be safe then sorry,' as he nervously started to call Team Seven's office. 'Please don't let Larabee answer,' he silent pleaded to himself when he heard the phone start to ring.
"Larabee."
'Darn my luck,' thought Officer Lighter. Larabee must have been born in a bad mood, he thought. "Mr. Larabee, Sir," he nervously spoke, Lighter could swear that he could feel the famous Larabee glare through the phone. "This is Officer Lighter here... there's a woman here claming to be Mr. Sanchez's sister."
There was a short pause, then he heard Larabee yell, "Nathan!" and then there was another pause. Officer Lighter slowly began to let out the breath he didn't even know he was holding as he heard the gentle voice of Mr. Jackson over the phone.
"Officer Lighter, I've met Josiah's sister before and was wondering if you could describe her to me ? What she is doing?"
"Well Mr. Jackson, she has short black hair that is slightly turning gray, and she is about 4 feet and maybe 11 inches tall and wearing a long black dress. She is sucking her thumb, Sir. She is with a cab driver, by the name of Mr. Martinez, who brought her here and is waiting with her."
"Officer Lighter, tell her to wait right there, and I will be right down. You might also want to play a game of Tic Tac Toe with her in case she gets restless." Before Officer Lighter could form the word 'What' Nathan had hung up the phone.
Officer Lighter hung up the phone and looked at the strange woman who was starting to cry and trying to get her picture back from him. He handed it back to her and got out a piece of paper and two pens.
"I'm sorry Ma'am, about taking your picture away from you, but I had to be sure. Look, would you like to play a game?"
She held the picture close to her chest as she wiped her long black sleeve across her wet eyes. "Wh-wh-what kind of game," she tearfully asked.
"Tic Tac Toe?" he replied with a smile as he handed her a Kleenex to blow her nose.
She gave him a beautiful smile and nodded her head "yes." As he handed her an ink pen, she spoke very softly and asked him, "Can I be Xs?"
They were in their first game when the elevator bell ran and the door's opened. The woman looked up from the game, and stopped what she was doing and ran into the welcome arms of Nathan Jackson.
"Natfen," she yelled happily as he hugged her back.
"Hello Little Hannah," he said as he smiled down at her.
"Natfen," Little Hannah said as she started to look around him, "Where's Jo Jo ? We must find Jo Jo," she said as started to tugged on the sleeve of his shirt. "Jo Jo will protect us. Jo Jo a'ways protect us."
"Shhh, don't worry Little Hannah. Jo Jo's on his way," Nathan quietly assured her and looked over to wear the officer was standing and started to shake his hand.
"I would like to thank you, Officer Lighter, for watching over her while she was waiting," Nathan said as he shook the officer's hand.
"Thank you, Sir." replied the officer.
Nathan noticed Mr. Martinez and shook his hand, "Thanks for bringing her here. I hope she wasn't any trouble."
"No, Mr. Jackson, she was a very good little girl," he said as he took her hand brushed a kiss on the top. Little Hannah giggled when he did this.
"How much is the fare?" Nathan asked as he reached for his wallet.
"No fare, Mr. Jackson. Just tell Mr. Tanner that this is my way of saying thank you for saving my son's life and for giving it a purpose. Any time you need a cab just give me a call and there would be no charge."
Nathan nodded his head and then took Little Hannah's hand, "Come along Little Hannah. Jo Jo's friends are wanting to meet you." Little Hannah nodded her head, but before she took Nathan's hand she turned and thanked the Officer for playing with her and waved good-bye to Mr. Martinez. She then took Nathan's hand as they started to head toward the elevator doors.
When they entered the office of Team Seven, Little Hannah became frightened and began to try to hide behind Nathan. Slowly she began to peek her head around Nathan's arm.
There standing by a desk were three men. A tall blond man dressed in black, talking on the phone. Standing next to him was another tall man with a black mustache and laughter shining through his eyes. Then a smaller man with long black hair and a smile that made her feel less frightened. She looked back down at the picture that she was still holding close to her chest. These were the new brothers Jo Jo had told her about. Jo Jo said they were nice and that she would like them.
"Yeah Vin, tell Josiah that she's okay, and she is here with us. Oh and make sure that he doesn't break any traffic laws on his way back here." Chris said and then hung up.
Upon hearing Josiah's name Little Hannah forgot about being frightened and ran toward the phone that Chris was putting down. "Must speak to Jo Jo," she said as she began to tug on Chris's black shirt. She then turned pleading blue eyes to Nathan as she begged once again. "Must speak to Jo Jo, Nafen. Jo Jo will protect us. Jo Jo always protects us," she pouted in her little girl voice.
Chris turned concerned eyes to Nathan as he watched the middle-aged woman stick her thumb in her mouth and begin to suck on it. He watched as she tried to fight the tears starting to come to her light blue eyes. He noticed that she actually looked and acted like that of a little girl. The only thing that was giving away her true age was the graying streaks in her light brown hair.
Nathan just shook his head and said, "Little Hannah, it's okay. This is Chris, Buck and JD, the friends I was telling you about."
Little Hannah shook her head no, and said as she took out her thumb, "No Naffen, they are my new brodher's. See?" She took the picture she was still holding to her chest and showed Nathan.
He smiled when he looked at the fishing picture of them at Chris's Ranch. "Little Hannah, can I show them the picture?" he asked. She thought for a moment before nodding her head yes. He took the picture from her and showed the guys.
JD, seeing the picture, walked over to where the pretty woman was standing and began to introduce himself. "Hello Hannah, my name is JD Dunne," he said as he held out his hand for her to shake.
Little Hannah shook her head no and tried to whisper softly as she looked around the room. "Shhh... Hannah's hiding and doesn't want to play. She's hiding from the bad people." she said as she stuck out her lower lip and began to pout. "I'm Little Hannah, do you want to play?" she asked with some hope in her eyes.
"Uh... sure, what kind of game do you want to play?" He asked as he ran his fingers through his long black hair.
"Do you know how to play Tic Tac Toe?" she asked.
"Sure!" he replied with a smile.
"You can be Xs and I'll be Os," she happily said.
Buck looked over to where the kid was and watched as JD got some paper and pens. "Well it looks like the kid has won over another heart." Chris and Nathan nodded their heads in agreement and went over to introduce themselves and watch the game.
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Josiah stormed into the office looking for his sister. He needed to see for himself that she was all right... that she was safe. When he turned a corner he saw her playing a game with JD, surrounded by the protective force of his friends. Josiah stood there for a moment to let his racing heart begin to slow down to a normal beat and sent up a silent prayer of thanks to God for keeping her safe.
"Hannah," he roughly whispered. Seeing that she didn't answer he said a little more loudly, "Little Hannah." Little Hannah looked up and ran into the welcoming arms of her brother as he proceeded to swing her around in a small circle. Slowly he stopped and let her down.
As Ezra and Vin entered the office, Chris walked over and asked, "How bad was the damage?" Vin looked at Chris and smiled, "Enough for Josiah to buy and donate all new office furniture to the Sisters of St. Frances church."
Chris just rolled his eyes and said, "I don't even want to know how that happened," as he walked over to where Josiah was talking to his sister.
"Are you all right?" he asked as he began to look her over for any injuries. Little Hannah nodded her head and said, "I'm fine Jo Jo... but I was awfully scared." She said she hugged Josiah tight.
"Shhhh.... little one, everything will be all right," he said as he comforted his sister.
"Now I need you to tell me everything that happened from when you came out to play," he said as the others began to gather around the desk and listen.
"I... I remember waking up in a dark closet. The closet was dark and scary like the closets that Papa used to put us in when we were bad. I don't like those closets Jo Jo. Bad and awful things happen in those closets Jo Jo."
Josiah nodded his head and solemnly said, "I remember those bad things too Little Hannah." He tried to swallow the lump that formed in his throat as the flood of painful memories started to break through. He was barely able to push them back.
"What happened after you woke up in the closet?" he asked. She smiled and laughed as she clapped her hands together.
"You'd be proud of me, Jo Jo. I 'member the wesson you taught me on how to get out of dhose closets." Josiah's eyes clouded in confusion and lightened as he began to remember. He started to laugh out loud.
"What in the world did you use to pick the lock with?" Little Hannah held up a plain, thin silver cross necklace that Josiah had given her to wear. "I hope you don't mind, Jo Jo. I know it's a gift to us and I tried weally hard not to break it while I's pushing back the lock." Josiah looked at her. He saw the fear and worry in her blue eyes. Bending down he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.
He softly said, "Don't worry Little Hannah, everything is going to be all right. I'm just glad that you are safe and sound." Seeing that Josiah wasn't upset at her, she then smiled and finished telling Josiah what happened.
" 'fter I got out of the closet I knew I had to go and find you because you always protect us. So I went back to Hannah's room and took the pikures you sent us, and then I went to find you. 'll and then I walked until I got to the bus station, and it was open so I fell asleep on a bench. When I woke up I saw a phone, but I had no money to call you. It was then that I saw Hannah's bus driver friend. He thought that I was Hannah and saw that I was crying, and he gave me some money to make the call. But I called the number that you made me wearn for 'merjencies and they said I had the wrong number and so I hung up." She turned pleading eyes to Josiah and said, "But Jo Jo, I'm sure I called the wight number."
"That's okay Little Hannah. I know you tried your best, but the person who answered the phone didn't know. So the fault lies with me for not telling them," he said as he looked at Buck asking for forgiveness. Buck smiled and nodded his head, telling Josiah he was forgiven. Josiah looked back down at his sister as she finished telling what happened.
"Hannah's friend the bus driver said he had a friend who drives a cab and owes him a favor. He called his friend, and when the nice cab driver showed up the bus driver told him what was going on. The cab driver nodded his head, and then he asked me if I knew where you lived. I told him no, but I had a picture of where you worked at. I showed him the picture of the building. He said that he knowed where it was at."
"Then he asked to see the pikture of you, and I showed it to him. When he saw it, he said that he didn't care about the favor that he owed the bus driver. The favor he owed Mr.Tanner was more im.m.mportant to him. He told me that the cab fare would be free, because Mr. Tanner helped save his kid from joining one of the gangs in Purgatorio. He said Mr. Tanner showed his son that there were better ways for him." She looked at Josiah and smiled.
"He was a nice man Jo Jo. He was surprised that I could speak Spanish so well. He was kind enough to bring me here and wait with me until Naffen came down to get me. Then he talked to Naffen and then he told me bye."
Nathan turned to Vin and said, "It was Mr. Martinez, and he said for me to tell you thank you for saving his son's life and for giving it a purpose. He also said that any time we need a cab for us to call him, and it would be no charge. He said it's his only way of paying you back for what you did and his way of saying thanks."
"Little Hannah, I need to speak to Hannah. I need to know what happened to her," said Josiah. Little Hannah shook her head no.
"Sorry Jo Jo, but Hannah's hiding from the bad people. She doesn't want to come out and play."
"Could you tell her that I'm here now, and I will protect her," he asked.
Little Hannah nodded her head and began sucking her thumb as a blank look slowly came over her face. Seconds passed and then her eyes blinked. She stood up straighter and the thumb came out of her mouth. She looked up at Josiah with confusion and fear in her clear blue eyes.
Josiah smiled as he watched the personality of Little Hannah disappear and the personality of his baby sister come through. Gone were the child-like features and mannerisms. In place of them was the face and characteristics of a woman who had lived and survived their father.
"J...J..Josiah?" she looked around and then back at her brother. "Where am I?" and then she a look of frustration went across her face, "Who was it this time?"
"Hello Hannah," he replied. Hannah ran nervous fingers through her dark graying hair and turned bewildered, frightened eyes towards her brother and asked in a small pleading voice.
"Please Josiah, tell me what is going on."
"Hannah, what is the last thing you remember?"
She thought for a moment and said, "The last thing I remember was talking to Mother Superior about your latest letter, and then she left to go to bed. I started to enter my cell when I heard someone call my name. I turned around to see who it was, when someone grabbed me from behind and put a cloth over my face. Then everything went black. The next thing I know was waking up here."
"Ma'am, do you remember anything that happened before everything went black?" Vin softly asked. Hannah shook her head.
"Do you remember if it was a man or a woman's voice?" Vin asked. Hannah ran her shaky fingers through the hair once more. "It sounded like a man but then again it could have been a woman. I don't know everything is so mixed up."
"Do you remember anything after you woke up?" Chris asked.
"When Little Hannah comes out to play I won't remember anything that happened for a few hours," she said as she looked up at her brother once more.
"Josiah, please tell me what Little Hannah did this time." Josiah gently smiled down at her and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry Hannah. All Little Hannah did was to protect you as best she knew how."
Having Josiah's reassurance comforted her as she smiled and looked at the strange men surrounding them. She looked at them and then back at her brother with a raised eyebrow. Josiah gently laughed at the accusing look his sister was giving him.
"No Hannah, I've not forgotten my manners," he said as he motioned to his friends and then to his sister.
"Brothers, this is my baby sister Hannah." she rolled her eyes and shook her head at hearing her brother refer to her as his baby sister.
"I'm very glad to meet you. Josiah has told me so much about you." She smiled and shook their hands.
Josiah then looked back at his sister and asked, "Hannah do you have any idea why anyone would want to attack you?"
Hannah slowly nodded her head as she thought for a moment, "Yes... Josiah. I'm pretty sure that it's Father Wilhem."
"Father Wilhelm! The new priest?" he asked as he handed her a cup of coffee.
Hannah nodded her head and explained. "A month ago Father Doyle was assigned to the missionary field in Ecuador. At first I didn't think this was strange because Father Doyle had always dreamed of working in the missionary field, and he had even went to put in a request for it. Then I remembered that he couldn't speak Spanish. What little Spanish Father Doyle knows would even make your bad Chinese sound good," she teasingly remarked towards her brother.
"Hey now, I'll have you know that my Chinese has improved since then." Hannah rolled her eyes and shook her head at that remark.
"A week later Father Wilhelm showed up and became the new priest of our order.It was then that I began to notice strange things happening. One thing was the fact that Father Wilhelm makes an awful priest. However, after his arrival at our small parish, the attendance suddenly began to increase. When I tried to speak to the new members, Father Wilhelm would suddenly appear and ask me to do something else for him."
"Then the night before last I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk in the church gardens. As I started to look up at the stars I began to hear whispered voices coming from behind me. I ducked behind a tree and peeked my head around. As they came closer I could tell by the light of the moon that it was Father Wilhelm talking to some of the new members. I noticed that he was carrying a box with him. I watched as he opened the box and take out some guns and He proceeded to sell to them. Guns, Josiah!" she angrily yelled. "He's selling guns on the Lord's property... of all things!"
"Well I was so mad about it that it took me most of the night to calm down and think clearly. I confronted him about it in his office the next day. He told me that I was just seeing things. I told him that I was not seeing things, and that I was going to the police." She paused and turned frightened blue eyes toward her brother. She lowered her head and barley whispered, "He slapped me Josiah. Father Wilhelm slapped me."
"He told me that the police wouldn't believe the ravings of a crazy old nun, and that I had no proof to back up what I saw. I told him that I would find the proof needed. He just sat there and smiled. He told me that I had better watch myself or I may not wake up tomorrow."
The sound of Josiah breaking his coffee mug in his bare hands interrupted Hannah. She noticed and checked to make sure he hadn't cut himself. "Josiah I really wish you wouldn't get so upset." she said as she fussed over his hand.
"He threatened you!" he asked with deadly calm. She nodded her head, and Josiah angrily turned and started to head back out of the office.
Chris nodded to Buck. Vin and Nathan tried to hold a very angry Josiah back while Chris took his life in his hands and moved in front of the charging Josiah.
"Chris, let me go... Now! So I can kill him with my bare hands!"
Chris shook his head no. "Settle down, Josiah." Chris commanded.
"He threatened my sister, Chris," he yelled.
"I know Josiah, but your sister needs you more now than ever before. Josiah, she's frightened and upset. She is turning to you for help." Chris waited and watched Josiah reluctantly nod his head and take another calming breath. Chris nodded for Buck, Vin and Nathan to let him go. Josiah turned and slammed his fist into the wall leaving a huge whole.
Chris sighed and shook his head, "Feel better?"
"Nope." he smiled as he headed back towards his sister.
No one noticed until they were there that Hannah was gone and Little Hannah had returned. Josiah let out a sigh. He ran frustrated fingers through his hair as he noticed the child-like features and the sucking of her thumb that indicated Little Hannah had come out to play.
"Hello again, Little Hannah," he said, as the others noticed that Little Hannah had come back. "Hello Jo Jo," she said as she smiled around her thumb.
"Where did Hannah go?" he asked. Little Hannah stuck out her lower lip and became upset.
"You frightened her, Jo Jo, when you became angry. It brought bad m..m..."
"Memories," Josiah supplied the word for her. Little Hannah nodded her head and once again began to suck her thumb.
Chris looked at Nathan and said, "Nathan why don't you take Little Hannah to the break room and play while we talk to Josiah." Nathan nodded his head and touched her arm to go but Little Hannah started to refuse.
"It's okay, Little Hannah," Josiah said. "Nathan will play Tic Tac Toe with you."
Little Hannah smiled and looked over to Nathan. "Weally Naffan, will you play Tic Tac Toe with me?" Nathan nodded his head and grabbed some paper and pens.
He then took her hand and led her into the break room.