Wild Girl of Chernobyl Read online

  Janice thought, They're coming to put you in a home. An institution. A warehouse.

  I don't know what that is.

  You deserve much, much better.

  I deserve freedom.

  Janice stared into Wild Girl's eyes. Yes, you deserve freedom, she thought.

  My name is Helle.

  You are going to have a baby, Helle, Janice thought.

  I know I am.

  But how?

  You don't know?

  No, I don't know.

  He's a boy. He talks to me.

  Janice, still looking into Helle's eyes, thought, It's time for you to get out of here. Away from this place. Away from me. Away from everyone. There is a bayou not far from here. Go there and you'll be safe.

  How do I know where to go?

  There is water, trees, land, fish. No one will find you. Run away from us and you'll find it. Run away from us, Helle. Away.

  Janice stood up straight and turned around. She dropped the duct-tape covered goggles onto the floor and walked through the open door.

  Chapter 6

  The internet video was 3:28 long. The first minute was out of focus and shaky and showed a flat expanse of dark muddy water. The camera bobbed slightly up and down with the movement of the boat. It swung up until several cypress trees about 100 yards away, wide at the base, came into focus. They were clustered near a clump of land that disappeared into the obscurity. At the 1:20 mark, the boat engine roared and the camera moved toward the trees. The engine was the only sound and the camera shook violently. After several seconds, still about 50 yards from the trees, the boat stopped. The camera lens heaved up and down in rhythm with the water. The Spanish moss hanging from above disappeared and reappeared as the camera bobbed. An egret flew across the screen from left to right. After about ten seconds the camera steadied and the land behind the trees came into focus. At 2:10, a naked, dirt-covered figure with short, wavy black hair emerged from behind one of the trees, splashed through the water, and broke into a run as soon as his feet touched solid ground. He was small, about four feet tall, a boy. He was hunched over and moved fluidly. At 2:24, the boy veered slightly leftward and jumped into the arms of a larger figure obscured by the undergrowth. The two figures looked back at the camera, then turned and disappeared into the bayou. The boat engine roared again and moved toward the trees, stopping several yards short. Then the camera stopped.

  The title of the video, apparently posted by the man filming, was “Wild Boy of the Bayou?”

  By the Same Author

  Look for The Power to Live, available from all major online booksellers. Two innocent sisters from Sinaloa, forced into the sex slave trade in California, are separated when one is sold to a new master in Colorado. During each sister's desperate search for the other, they learn their bond is stronger than the evil men who control their lives. One learns that many possess the power to kill but there exists an even greater, more elusive power. The power to live.