Zara’s knees nearly buckled as Lilly flung herself into her arms.
“Mommy!” the little girl sobbed, clinging to her as if she would never let go again.
“Baby… my baby,” Zara choked out, her trembling hands cupping Lilly’s face, touching her cheeks, her hair, every inch she could reach as if reassuring herself that her daughter was truly there. Panic, relief, and heartbreak flooded through her all at once. “Where have you been? Are you hurt? Are you okay?” Her voice shook, desperate and frantic.
Lilly’s clothes told a story of their own no longer the neat uniform she had disappeared in, but rumpled, worn, as though she had been someplace she shouldn’t have been for far too long.
Ann stood a short distance away, watching mother and child with a faint smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes
