Finding the three of us

The wind rushes through her wet and damp hair as the rain strikes her cheeks. It's hard to breathe as she has been running for what felt like hours. The sounds of people calling her name as she rushes the guide dogs, her last companions on her side that she can trust. At the movement of the bundle in her arms, she slows down to check on her baby. Two round eyes looked up at her, as water droplets fell on her two-year-old daughter's cheek. "Sorry love, just a little bit more, and we will be safe." The woman tries her best to hold in her tears, as fear and the bitter cold rain seep through her clothes. She covers her toddler again to make sure she stays dry and continues her march through the woods with her six dogs. As they rounded a rocky part of the forest, she tripped on one of the slippery rocks and fell hard on her side. Protecting her baby from the fall, she hit her hip and the side of her head as she rolled down the hill. For a short time, she thought that they wouldn’t stop rolling. Miraculously, they stopped at the bottom of the hill as a stream had formed from the rain. Her companions barked with worry and circled her. Sniffing to see if she was awake, while her toddler cried loudly, pulling on her clothes. Luckily, she didn’t roll into the stream and stopped just at the edge of the water. The stream's water lapped at her long black hair. She had fallen unconscious for a few minutes before she finally opened her eyes. She looked up with a small, painful smile as she patted the dogs. She slowly lifted herself up on her elbows as she checked her baby for injuries. None were found as she breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you're okay, Sena." She looks around her surroundings and grunts as she sits up to examine herself. Her knees and elbows were torn and bleeding, as well as the side of her head. She felt a sharp pain in her hip and ankle when she tried to stand up. The dogs nervously paced around her and whined as she tried to stand again. With a wobbly step, she finally got up. She sang her baby's favorite lullaby to help her calm down. "That's a good girl, my love. Thank goodness you guys are okay as well. We've got to keep moving, or else they will catch up." She hobbled across the small stream slowly till she reached the other side. Just then, her companions braked loudly behind them. As she turned around quickly, a group of men and women came into view at the top of the hill that she had fallen from. Then, a familiar silhouette appeared from behind them. A tall and muscular man with short brown hair and with magnificent teal eyes stepped out. Followed by a slender and beautiful woman with green eyes and wavy honey-colored hair. The concern and happiness at finding her was evident in both their eyes. "We finally found you, Henna. Come here, let's go back home. Your mother and the boys are waiting for you," the tall man said reassuringly as he inched towards the side of the hill, trying to find a way down. "St, stay where you are!" Henna shouted as she hugged Sena tightly to her chest. As if sensing her mother's distress, Sena cried loudly as she clung to her chest. The two dogs frantically paced in front of her while the other four stood next to Henna, tails up with their hackles bearing at the group. "I'm going to leave with my baby. I'm not going back to that hellhole that I escaped from ever again. Amitus. I'm sorry Mia, I can't go back with you either." "I'm sorry for not listening and not being there when you needed me. I shouldn’t have left you for so long. I thought that with Mia around, you wouldn't have to worry. Now I know I made a mistake. I will make up for it if you give me a chance," Amitus said nervously. He took another step towards her, and the others started to inch closer as well. "Come back, please, Henna. We can still work things out together," Mia pleaded. "I said stop! I mean it. Move any closer, and I will. I will..." her sentence trailed off as she looked at her baby and whispered to herself. "If I can't escape, at least you will have a better future with your dad and your other mom than with me. I love you with all my heart. Please forgive Mommy for what I have to do. " Tears streamed down her cheeks as she hugged her baby girl tightly and kissed her forehead. She sat her baby down on the ground as gently as she could. Making sure that she was nicely bundled in the blankets, she commanded the dogs. "If anyone comes closer, Chase, bite Sena," Chase, the pitbull, hesitated before he opened his mouth close to Sena's neck. Amitus's face went pale as he gulped nervously and took a step back. All he wanted to do was rush over and hold his child along with his wife. To be able to comfort the hurt that Henna must be going through. "I know that you and Mia can give her a better life than me, so I will leave our child to you. I never hated you, Mia, for ignoring me. It was my fault that you had to share your husband with another woman. So I will take my worthless life and get out of your sight,” Henna said firmly. Amitus's heart twisted in pain as he pleaded with Henna, “Please don’t do this.” He inched closer to the edge as he frantically looked for a foot hold for his descent down the hill. Henna shouted, “I said don’t follow me! Or I will command Chase to attack! Please love and care for her, that is all I ask." She took one last long look at her lovely daughter's face, before she wobbled away deeper into the woods with the pack of dogs beside her. For those few tense moments of waiting, Amitus and the group of people stood patiently and wondered what to do. They were discussing how to approach Sena without getting her hurt when Chase's ears perked up as he turned his head towards the woods where Henna disappeared. Henna had blown the dog whistle for Chase to follow them and leave Sena. With one look at the baby in front of him, he licked Sena's face and lay on the ground beside her panting with his tongue out. He must have felt that it was his duty to protect his little charge instead of hurting her and waited beside Sena instead of following Henna. She, on the other hand, crawled closer to Chase and grabbed his bulky body as she cried loudly for her mother. Amitus took this as an opportunity to take the slightest step forward, watching Chase for any movement that showed aggression. Realizing that Chase was no longer going to harm Sena, he quickly closed the distance between him and his child. The others followed soon after his descent. He was the first to reach Sena. Amitus held his baby in a tight embrace as he kissed the top of her forehead. He rocked her to calm her down while the rest of the group made their way across the small stream. After a while, she calmed down enough to look up at her dad with little hiccups and sniffles, still shaking her small frame. "I've got you now, and I will never let you go. That's a promise I will keep till the last breath I take. Mia, please take Sena back to Mother. We've got to go after Henna. She looked hurt when she left. " Amitus' voice quivered but still stood strong. With a determined gaze, he ordered a female bodyguard and a few other people to follow his first wife back home. Mia reached up and took hold of Sena gently as the child babbled up at her. Mia smiled sadly at the baby as Sena clung to her tightly. "Yes, dear, it's me, Mommy Mia. Let’s get you home to Grandma and your brothers." She embraced Sena as she turned to her husband. "You've got to bring Henna back home. Then we can talk it all out. I will be waiting for good news." Mia then turned around and walked back with a few of the guards up the rocky incline. Amitus made sure that they had climbed back up the hill safely before his group started back up on their search for Henna. "Who is the caretaker of the dogs at the residence?" He waited as a man came forward to answer his questions. "Sir, it is I who care for the guard dogs. Is there any assistance you need?" The man answered as Amitus looked at Chase. He had not moved from his spot where he was guarding Sena. "Make him follow Henna's scent and find her," Amitus said urgently. "Yes, sir." The man said a few commands and whistled the same whistle as Henna's. Chase got up and ran towards the same path that Henna had taken. Everyone rushed in the direction that Chase went, hoping to find Henna.