Her Guardian Angel (Fire and Snow) by Khloe Wren Page A

breathed through the pain as best she could, and when it eased off, she dragged herself up using a tree before she continued on. She had been following a creek that had provided her with drinking water, but food wasn't so easy to find. Her head felt fuzzy, and she really wanted to lie down and sleep for a week but thoughts and fear of what he would do to her if he found her kept her going. She came upon a lake and stopped to wash her face in the cool water and have a drink. She was going to have to find food soon or she wouldn't be able to keep going. The cramps were getting worse. She really needed to find a town so she decided she would leave the creek and look for a road.
    She dragged herself up the embankment and into an open field. Running her gaze over the grassy area, she saw a couple staring at her. Shock stole her focus, causing her to stumble over a fallen tree branch. Panic swept through her as she fell to her hands and knees. Kelly's breathing raced, causing her ribs to hurt more. She had to get away or they would take her back, but she couldn't get her body to respond. Nothing would move. She heard footsteps rapidly approach and just as she saw feet come into her field of vision, her eyesight began to dim. She managed to groan out, "Please don't take me back to him," before she lost the battle and the darkness took her into a blissful pain free unconsciousness.
    ~ * ~
    Adele watched as Dominic knelt, frozen in shock, looking down at the limp girl in his arms. She was having as much trouble as he was catching up with everything that had happened in the last five minutes. They had been happily finishing off their lunch, chatting away, having a great time then they both heard something moving toward them from the lake. He had stood and turned toward the noise, so fast it startled her. She began to ask what was there when a tiny wisp of a girl came into view. They had both frozen in shock for a moment. Adele slowly rose to her feet with a gasp of horror. She was just a child, couldn't have been much more than eleven years old, and she had been badly beaten. She had an over-sized blood stained t-shirt on with a jumper tied around her waist, some old trackies and ill-fitting shoes, but the sight that held her transfixed was that every exposed piece of her skin was black, blue, green or red. She was thankful Dominic had snapped out of his shock in time to sweep her up before she hit the ground as she passed out cold. Adele laid her hand on his shoulder, needing a connection to him to help her process what was in front of her. He slowly stood up with the child in his arms. He was so gentle, so careful. He looked into Adele's eyes. His eyes were filled with pain, sorrow and horror. Adele was sure her eyes mirrored his emotions.
    "She's so light, Adele, so small." He swallowed roughly.
    "What kind of bastard does this? To a child? Bloody hell, just look at her!"
    Adele's heart was breaking just looking at this poor petit fille in Dominic's arms. As a tear escaped down her cheek, she snapped into paramedic mode. She wiped the tear from her face and moved in close to the child, gently pressed her fingers to the child's neck to check for a pulse. Relief rushed over her as she counted the weak but steady beat beneath her fingers.
    "Bring her over to the rug, Dominic, I need to check her over before we take her in."
    Adele walked behind Dominic as he headed over to their picnic rug and gently laid out the injured child. She tried hard to remain focused on the young girl and not how good Dominic looked with her in his arms or how gently and carefully he cared for her. As he laid the petit fille out on the rug, she moaned and began to stir.
    "I heard her say something about a 'him,' and I'm thinking it might be best if a man wasn't the first person she sees when she comes around. The last thing we need is for her to freak out and injure herself further."
    She looked up at Dominic to see his pained expression.
    "I know you would