He returned to his daughter's room and floated over to her sobbing form. He reached out to grab her shoulder and felt his hand sink into her tissues. ...he shivered and immediately he was bombarded by her voice and a stream of raw, deep, emotions."Am I reading her thoughts?" He wondered. "Daddy, is that you?" He heard. He backed off and watched as his daughter sat up, turning her bedside lamp on. She sniffled as she looked fearfully around her bedroom. "Daddy, are you there?" She asked quietly.. ’ Linda said, a little too seductive for a stepmother in Isabelle’s opinion. ‘I heard you’d be at home.’ She then noticed Isabelle and smiled brightly. ‘You wouldn’t happen to be the one I spoke to on the phone?’ she asked and moved closer, extending her hand. ‘I’m Linda, Jean’s former stepmother.’ ‘Isabelle.’ she said with a puzzled look. Linda had noticed it and turned to Jean-Marie. ‘Oh, you haven’t told her about the family?’ she asked, then turned to Isabelle again. ‘I almost married his. She was sixteen and had been sold into servitude for the debts of her family, now dead. She refused to open her legs to the animal that bought her claim. He promised to whip her to death if she would not satisfy him.I thought it odd that none would stop such grevious treatment in all of New Portstown. Much would be accounted for come spring.We went hunting as a team. Mary had sewn blanket wool into long over shirts and canvas into over shirts to cover the wool. Small Ear knew the tricks to. ”Aap toh busy rehte ho..main pata lagaungi Vikram ki koi ghar hai ya nahin is area me..”She said eagerly and i just kept quite.”Thanks bhabhi..dekh devar ka kitna khayal rakhti hai meri bhabhi” he said and i just shrugged my shoulders showing that i wasn’t very interested in this conversation.Suddenly he said-“Sheru kyun na is weekend pe hum kahin bahar jaye?Waise bhi job ki treat deni hai tujhe aur bhabhi ko..Bangalore me toh bahut saare pub honge…kya bolta hai?”I just wasn’t ready for this.