Glacier Highway

Chapter 4

“You are stupid and worthless.”

Cara felt the slap on the face. She tried not to show emotion; it only made it worse. She bent down and began picking up pieces of the broken dishes. She had been going into the dining room to set the table when Mrs. Jensen came around the corner too fast and knocked the dishes from her hand.

When she cleaned up the dishes, she cut herself and started bleeding. Mrs. Jenson hit her again, yelled threats, and told her she was getting blood all over everything. Cara was able to stop the flow of blood with a paper towel. She set the table with other dishes. After the family ate, she was allowed leftovers and then had to clean the kitchen. Next, she would be locked into a small room where there was only a bed, a few meager belongings, and three uniforms. Two were daily uniforms, and the other she was to wear for special occasions when someone else was in the home. She had no pictures on the walls or any personal items.

Cara lay down on her bed. As much as she disliked the days, with Mrs. Jensen yelling at her and the children poking her and hitting her, she disliked the nights even more. She never knew when he was going to come to her. He did not seem to come as often as he used to; for the first year, it was at least three times a week. The next year, it had been less, but in the last few months, it had only been once a week. That was a relief. She had heard them arguing. He had said she was getting too old, that they needed to get someone younger. Mrs. Jenson had argued that he needed to be happy with what he had—and what were they going to do with Cara if he got someone new?

Cara closed her eyes and drifted back to the days before she had been picked up on the street on her way home from school. She had been thrown into the van. They put something over her mouth, and she remembered nothing more until she woke. A week later, she was sold to the Jensons.

Cara thought of her family and her life back home. She liked going to church with her family.

“God, are you there?” She wanted to believe in Him. She still hummed songs she had learned in Sunday school. She remembered how the teacher had told them about how much Jesus loved them. She remembered one story about Joseph. His older brothers had hated him and one day sold him to some men traveling by. Joseph believed in God and prayed to Him. He spent many years in jail and then helped some important man when he interpreted a dream. Then he became an important man and ended up saving a lot of people from starving. His brothers had come to ask for help and did not recognize him, and Joseph helped them. Joseph had told his brothers, “What you used as evil, God used as good.”

“God, are you going to use me for good? Do you have plans for me? God, please, are you there?” She drifted off to sleep.

When she woke, she was thankful that the man had not come last night. She put on her uniform and went to serve the family breakfast. Everyone was in a hurry to get somewhere—school, work, shopping. She heard the door lock and the code put in and beep as the last one left. When she first came, she had tried to escape several times. Each time, it ended with severe punishment. After the third try, they put in a security system that they could lock from the outside and then could only be opened from the outside.

She hummed the long-ago Bible songs as she worked. After she had completed all her tasks, she went to her room. The rest of the day, she spent on the cot, waiting for the family to come home.