He Came to Help Her Walk, But Brought Back More Than Hope

Chapter 2: The Boy in the Courtyard

Daniel had the servants bring towels, a blanket, and Emily's chair, but his attention stayed fixed on the boy.

Isaiah did not run. He did not look guilty. He stood quietly while Emily was lifted out of the basin, dried off, and wrapped in the blanket. She kept reaching back for him.

"Can he stay?" she asked quickly. "Please?"

Daniel crouched beside her. "Sweetheart, who is he?"

Emily looked confused. "He's my friend."

That answer only deepened Daniel's concern.

Emily had been isolated for years. Other children visited less and less as her condition continued. She spent most of her time with tutors, nurses, and her father. Daniel knew all of them. He did not know this boy.

He rose and faced Isaiah. "How did you get in here?"

"The side gate," Isaiah said.

"You just walked into a private estate?"

Isaiah nodded once.

Daniel almost laughed from disbelief, but something in the boy's face stopped him. There was no mischief there. No fear either. Only a strange calm.

Mrs. Brooks, the housekeeper, came into the yard then and froze when she saw Isaiah.

"Sir..." she said, suddenly uneasy. "I told him to leave. But Miss Emily wouldn't let him go."

Daniel looked sharply at her. "So he's been here before?"

Mrs. Brooks hesitated. "A few times."

Daniel straightened. "And no one thought to tell me?"

Emily hugged the blanket tighter. "Because you'd say no."

Daniel ignored that. "Isaiah, where do you live?"

"Over on Miller Street."

"With your parents?"

The boy looked at the ground. "Just my mama."

Then he lifted his head again. "She used to help people walk."

Daniel frowned. "Is she a doctor?"

Isaiah shook his head. "No. She just knows things."

The answer sounded childish. Absurd.

And yet Emily had just taken a step.

Daniel looked back at his daughter. Her cheeks were pink with excitement, her eyes brighter than he had seen in months.

"What exactly did he do?" he asked.

Emily smiled. "He told me not to fight the water. He said the water can carry the part of me that gets scared."

Daniel almost dismissed it as imagination, except that his daughter had not moved like that for the best therapists in the city.

He turned back to Isaiah. "I want to speak to your mother."

Isaiah's expression changed for the first time. It was small, but Daniel saw it. Hesitation. Worry.

"She doesn't like this house," the boy said quietly.

Daniel stared. "Why?"

Isaiah swallowed.

Then he said, "Because she used to work here."

Mrs. Brooks dropped the folded towel she was holding.

And Daniel knew, before anyone spoke another word, that this was no random visit.