Chapter 14

Several months later in the waning days of an Edmonton summer, Danni sat in the living room of the house she had bought with her payment from Rudy. Although she really didn’t want anything to do with the money, in the end she took it and told herself it was only to give Sarina a good life. From outside the open window she could hear the girl’s voice mingling with those of her new found friends. They were riding their bikes up and down the street and their sounds of laughter were soothing to Danni.

It meant everything was fine with the girl. At last she was coming out of her shell, having fun and acting like the little girl should. Although she was still quite shy and not very talkative, it seemed she had managed to put the Columbian ordeal behind her. Danni thought that she also had experienced some growth. She no longer felt as guilty about taking Sarina away from her homeland. Instead, she believed the girl was much better off in Canada. They both liked it here. It was a nice, peaceful country and Edmonton was such a great place to live, Danni decided they would stay.

To that end, Danni had taken Sarina to a nearby school and enrolled her in the fall term. Since she could provide very little information about her previous schooling, the teachers had given her some books to read and some tests to check her basic knowledge. They discovered that although her reading was a little behind someone of her age, it wasn’t bad. The teacher explained that it was most likely because the girl hadn’t the early start that kindergarten gives pre-schoolers. As a result they had started her in grade one but Danni was proud that she was doing very well in that grade. Just like she figured, the girl was smart,

At first Danni thought she might be restless and bored with her new domestic life but it never happened. It seemed her wonder lust was gone. At first she spent her time looking after Sarina and when school started in a few weeks, she was gonna start her new job. She had found a better way to put her skills to work. She’d be working for a huge insurance company as an investigator of bogus claims. Although it was nowhere near as exciting as previous jobs, she knew she would enjoy it. It allowed her plenty of freedom and she was home every night to tend to Sarina. For now, that was all she wanted.

Danni’s musings were interrupted by the ringing of a telephone. She instinctively grabbed for her new cell, wondering who it could be. Then she realized it wasn’t her Smart Phone. The ringing was a distinctive. It came from the one she used when she worked for Rudy and since only he had that number, she knew immediately who it was.

The ringing persisted. It was partially muted because the phone was stashed in a draw. Danni knew it was going to stay there. As it continued to ring, she thought it was about time to toss it out because she no longer needed it. Danni let it ring until it finally stopped. Then she turned her attention back to sounds of Sarina riding her bike with her friends.

She still had the contents from the safe she opened in Columbia. There were documents testifying to the heritage of Sarina. Danni decided to hang onto to them until the girl got old enough to understand what happened. Then she would explain it all to her. There was also the jewelry, some of which was very expensive, but Danni refused to touch it. It was also Sarina’s, part of her heritage and she would give it to her when she got older. Until then, Danni decided, she was just going to let Sarina be a little girl and live as normal as life as possible. After all, she deserved after what she went through.