The Child Who Ran Toward a Stranger in the Rain
CHAPTER 1 - THE SONG IN THE RAIN
"Mom, stop! She's singing my song!"
Diana Holt tightened her grip on six-year-old Lucy's wrist and pulled her faster through the storm.
Diana wore a black wool coat already soaked through, and every few steps she looked over her shoulder like someone might be following them.
Lucy stumbled, her red rain boots skidding through a puddle.
Panic flashed across it so quickly it looked almost guilty.
"Honey, she's just a stranger. Keep walking!"
But Lucy twisted free. Her sleeve tore at the seam as she yanked herself loose and ran toward a bus stop bench half hidden by rain.
There, under a broken shelter, sat a woman wrapped in a threadbare gray coat.
Lucy splashed through a puddle and threw herself into the woman's arms.
The woman stopped singing.
For one suspended second, she only stared.
Then her shaking hand rose to Lucy's neck, brushing aside damp curls.
On the left side, just below the ear, was a crescent-shaped birthmark.
"This birthmark..." the woman whispered.
Lucy looked up, confused but not afraid. The stranger smelled like rain, soap long gone, and something strangely familiar.
Diana rushed forward and grabbed Lucy's arm.
"Give me the child!"
The woman stood so fast the bench scraped against the pavement. She pulled Lucy behind her with a fierceness that did not match her thin frame.
When she lifted her tear-streaked face, her voice came out raw.
"You already took her from me once."
Diana went still.
Then a police cruiser pulled up to the curb, lights flashing blue across the rain, and the officer stepped out saying, "Ma'am, is there a problem here?"
