Mom, You're Free Now

Chapter 3

I endured the searing pain in my face and clung to my story.

"I don't know! Mrs. Harris really did come for Mom in the middle of the night. I don't know anything else!"

My stubbornness pushed him over the edge.

He slapped me two more times, and the taste of blood instantly filled my mouth.

Dad spat at me, his face twisted with malice. "You ungrateful little wretch! You're just like that b***h. You even dare lie to me for her!"

With a cold snort, he sneered, "You think she can escape through all these mountains with every road sealed off?"

Then he left me crumpled on the floor, locked the bedroom door from the outside, and marched out of the house.

I heard him hurry away, roaring for the village head.

Within minutes, the entire village was in an uproar. Shouts and pounding footsteps rose on every side.

Everyone had been dragged out of bed to hunt Mom through the mountains.

Curled in the cold corner, I clasped my hands together and prayed silently again and again.

'Run, Mom. Don't stop.'

Time crawled by.

I remained locked in the empty, lightless room without a drop of water or a bite of food.

Hunger left me dizzy, with darkness pulsing at the edges of my vision.

I didn't know how long I had been there when footsteps finally approached.

Click.

The lock opened. Squinting toward the doorway, I saw Dad walk over one step at a time.

He crouched beside me and growled, "I'm asking you one last time. Where did your mom go?"

I lowered my eyes and bit my lip hard. "I don't know."

Those three words ignited every last bit of his rage.

He sprang up and kicked me savagely in the stomach and legs.

Agony tore through my body. I curled into myself on the floor, shaking with spasms.

"You're exactly like that runaway b***h!"

He kicked me as he cursed.

"I thought she'd finally learned her place after having a child!

"Turns out a used-up b***h I paid for can still dream about running away!

"Does she really think escaping these mountains will give her a decent life? I'd like to see what man out there would ever want her!"

His voice rose with every word.

"I paid 4,500 dollars of my hard-earned money for her!

"I've fed her all these years, and she couldn't even give me a son to carry on the family name. Now she dares run away!"

His tirade stopped abruptly.

His gaze fell on me.

I went rigid as terror swallowed me whole.

I scrambled backward on all fours, curled into a tight ball, and shook.

I might have been only 10, but I was no longer ignorant.

After Mom died in my previous life, Dad had turned all his attention to me.

He shopped me around for the highest bride price.

He brought stranger after stranger back to size me up as if I were livestock.

In the end, Limping Ralph from Cedar Hollow, an old man with a disabled leg, paid 7,500 dollars and bought me.

Dad was going to sell me again.

Sure enough, over the next few days, everything happened just as it had in my previous life. Dad brought different men home to look me over, then sold me to Limping Ralph.

Cold despair filled every inch of me.

Ever since Mom fled, Dad hadn't let his guard down for a second. He watched me day and night, never allowing me out of his sight.

I couldn't find even the smallest chance to escape.

The 3 days passed in the blink of an eye.

Dad tied my hands and forcibly marched me to Cedar Hollow.

Ralph's family had laid out a lively feast. The whole village drank, laughed, and congratulated him on buying himself a child bride.

I was thrown into a dark little room.

While no one was watching, I sawed the rope against a jagged stone. Even when the skin on my wrists split and bled, I didn't dare stop.

Finally, the rope snapped.

I staggered to my feet and ran for the door with all the strength I had left, desperate to get out.

But the next second, the wooden door swung open with a bang.

Limping Ralph stood there on his bad leg, his narrow eyes fixed on me.

"Trying to run, little girl?"

He limped toward me one step at a time.

"Your father warned me. You're restless by nature, just like your mom!

"But it doesn't matter. I bought you to give the Miller family children!"

He bent down, grabbed the heavy hoe from the corner, and grinned.

"As for those legs of yours, you don't need them for that."

Dragging his bad leg, he closed in on me.

I backed away until there was nowhere left to go. Despair smothered me.

Just as he raised the hoe, a furious shout came from outside.

"Don't you dare touch my daughter!"