"Yes, my children are hurt, can we come in? There's been…men broke into my house…”
Mitch’s dad approached and held Reese's shotgun ready. “Who is it?"
Mitch and Amber tripped down the stairs and managed to stick their landing in the foyer. "What's up?" Amber asked as she swiped hair out of her face.
"We’re about to find out—I think it's just Mia," Cami said. She threw back the deadbolt and opened the door. Mia stood on the front porch, a backpack on her shoulders, and one arm around each of her boys. Even in the dim light of the stars—the moon had already set and the sun had yet to rise—Cami saw the abject terror on Mia's face and the whites of her eyes glowed in the darkness. "Mia! Come in, come in. What happened?" she asked as her neighbor led her two children inside the house. Cami took one last look out the front door, then shut it and threw the deadbolt.
"Cami, it was awful," Mia said. The words tumbled out of her and she collapsed into Cami's embrace and sobbed. "I heard glass breaking, then voices. Men broke into my house, they were trashing the kitchen! I heard them coming up the stairs, and I managed to get us all out."
Cami led Mia and the kids into the kitchen. "Amber, get them some water please. Here, everybody take a seat. Boys, are you hurt?"
“Mmmhmmm,” said the youngest around a sniffle and whimper. He nodded and wiped at the tears on his face. “It hurts, Ms. Cami.”
"Here, I got a flashlight," Mitch said. He clicked it on and held the light for Cami to see.
Cami gasped. The boys were fairly covered in fresh blood. Scratches lined their faces and upper arms. They shivered and shook with fright and pain. Mia wasn't much better off.
“What on earth happened?" Amber cried. She knelt next to the youngest boy and tried to smooth his hair. “Oh, you poor little guy…”
"First aid kit—now," Cami ordered as she pointed across the kitchen.
Gary spun on his heel and grabbed it, then deposited the converted tackle box on the table and stepped out of the way. Cami set to work and efficiently cleaned the youngsters’ wounds with gauze pads dipped in water. Thankfully, the cuts they'd sustained were more scrapes than deep lacerations. She slathered Neosporin on their wounds and bandaged them, while Mia explained what had happened.
"I did just like you said, Cami," Mia said over the boys’ crying, and took a sip of water. Her hands trembled, and she almost dropped the bottle when she tried to put it back on the table. "We had a plan in place, and all of us have been sleeping in my bedroom for the past few nights. We took the rope that you gave us, and I tied it to the bed frame. I tied big knots in it every foot, like you suggested, and had it coiled up by the window and ready to go. When I decided it was time to go…” she swallowed, closed her eyes, and balled her hands into fists on the table. "I opened the window, threw the rope out, and had Junior climb down. Then—”
“It was so scary!” Junior chimed in around sobs.
"Go on," Cami said as she dabbed at a scratch on little Caleb’s forehead. He flinched and wailed like someone had cut off his leg. It wasn't deep, but it leaked blood profusely, so Cami broke out a butterfly bandage as she tried to calm the little boy.
“I grabbed Caleb here," Mia said as she put a hand on her youngest boy’s head, "and put the backpack on—just like you told me. I had everything that was important in there, all of our documents and papers, a flashlight, some first aid stuff, and the food and water that you gave us. Oh, and a change of clothes for everybody." She smiled at Cami. "I don't think we’d be alive if it weren't for you. You saved our lives."
"I don't know about that," Cami said as she smiled at the young boy. "There we are, good as new," she said as she ruffled Caleb’s hair. He turned and immediately climbed into his mother's lap. Mia closed her eyes and sighed as she wrapped her arms around her child.
"We were halfway down the rope when it gave way. I guess…maybe I didn't tie it as well as I should have around the bed post. I don't know what happened—all I know is that we fell, and all landed on top of each other."
“On lots of broken glass!" said Junior. He lifted up his freshly bandaged arm and pointed. "The bad men broke out most of the windows on the first floor. All that glass fell out and we landed in it! It hurt a lot," he said solemnly.
"I'm sure it did,” Cami replied, equally as solemn. “You're very brave to have helped your mother get away like that.” Cami leaned in to emphasize the importance of her words.
The little boy nodded, eyes wide. "I was brave, I took care of mommy and Caleb. Mommy wanted to go around the side of the house and into the street, but I said we should go into the backyard and go through the trees."
Cami put her hand over her mouth and smiled. She leaned forward and kissed the young boy on the forehead in the only blood-free spot. "You're a real hero, Junior, do you know that?"
When she looked at Mia, the woman was in tears.
Mia buried her face in her son's
