The Hungry Girl Wore My Daughter's Locket

CHAPTER 1 - THE HUNGRY GIRL

The little girl did not belong in the ballroom.

She was barefoot.

Her torn linen dress was covered with dirt, and tangled blond hair hung around her tear-stained face.

She moved between tables filled with silver dishes and crystal glasses while wealthy guests stared.

Then she stopped beside me.

I was having dinner with Veronica, the woman I planned to marry.

The child clutched her dress with both hands.

"I'm hungry," she whispered. "Can I eat?"

Veronica covered her mouth.

"This is disgusting!"

The girl lowered her head.

I should have offered her food immediately.

Instead, embarrassed by the attention of my guests, I allowed pride to control me.

"You need to leave."

The child turned away.

That was when I noticed the silver chain around her neck.

My hands began trembling.

I caught the heart-shaped locket before she could walk away.

"Where did you get this?"

The little girl looked frightened.

"My mom gave it."

The locket had been made for my daughter, Anna, on her sixteenth birthday. Inside, I had placed a photograph of Anna with her late mother.

Eight years earlier, Anna left after I refused to accept her marriage to a poor mechanic.

I believed she would eventually return.

She never did.

My investigators found no address, bank account or reliable record after her husband died.

I opened the locket.

The photograph was still there.

On the opposite side was a newer picture of Anna holding this little girl.

"What is your mother's name?"

"Anna Reed."

The ballroom disappeared around me.

Anna had used her husband's surname after leaving home.

I knelt in front of the child.

"What's your name?"

"Maisie."

"Where is your mother?"

Tears filled her eyes.

"She got sick. The ambulance took her."

Veronica grabbed my shoulder.

"This child could have stolen that necklace."

Maisie shook her head.

Then she reached inside the locket and removed a folded piece of paper.

My home address was written in Anna's handwriting.

Beneath it were six words.

"Find my father before it is too late."