Finding Lilibeth

Darren was horrified with what he had read in the folder. He was ashamed of himself for how he had treated Lilibeth and he was scared about where she had gone. He had his people looking for her but he had no idea where she would go. He watched the video again and realised he had told her that what Lex had said was true. His 8 year old daughter thought he was going to sell her. "Dad" Beau spoke up. "What?" Darren fumed out glaring at Beau. "I'm sorry. I didn't know" Beau began. "You didn't know? You didn't know? That makes it ok how you treated her? How we all treated her?" Darren yelled.

All the boys were embarrassed with there behaviour. "She flinched this morning when you were yelling" Zac mumbled. "She was also crying silently" he added causing Darren to look towards him. "What do you mean crying silently?" Darren asked. "She had tears running down her face but she didn't make any noise, unless you were watching her you wouldn't know" Zac answered. Darren felt worse, had he really cause his daughter to be that scared she didn't make any noise. The boys were all getting more worried, it was dark and no one knew where Lilibeth was or where she would go.

Lilibeth had been walking for hours and had no idea where she was. She came across the park which she had been at with Lex this morning and realised she had been walking in circles. She saw the play equipment which had a little cubby house under the slide and headed towards the house. She would stay in there tonight as she was getting cold and tired. In the morning she would start again and look for a phone so she could call her social worker and hopefully get somewhere safe.

Once Lilibeth was closer to the house she picked up a huge branch that was on the ground and dragged it with her into the cubby house so she could prop it against the door incase someone tried to come in while she was sleeping. She propped the branch against the door and window closing them both. It was dark but Lilibeth didn't care as long as she was away from the house and the people who had sold her. She made herself a peanut butter sandwich and slowly ate it. Lilibeth was in pain again especially her arm where the cast had been cracked thanks to Lex kicking it. When she was finished her sandwich, Lilibeth curled up in the corner of the cubby house falling into a restless sleep.

Morning came quickly and Darren and the boys hadn't slept at all. They had been out looking for Lilibeth. They had driven around all night in groups trying to catch a glimpse of the little girl. All of them felt responsible for her leaving especially Lex and Darren. If Lex hadn't of been drinking he probably wouldn't of said what he had. If Darren had let Lilibeth speak he could of reassured her that Lex hadn't meant what he said at all.

Darren was worried what would happen if the social worker found out about Lilibeth going missing. He wanted a chance to make up to his daughter for his behaviour. He owed her that much at least. He should of read the file but he had been so caught up in his own life he had forgotten about it completely. He also should of paid attention at home and seen how scared Lilibeth was and how his children had been treating her. He knew things would be different if ,no, when Lilibeth returned. He would not lose his daughter before he got to know her.

Lilibeth woke up to loud laughter in the park. She had woken through the night in pain several times and also with nightmares so was still exhausted. There was light coming into the cubby house so knew it was time to go find a phone to call Mark Little. Lilibeth took the branch down and opened the door crawling out of the cubby house.

Lilibeth began walking the opposite way to her house when she ran into the group of boys Lex had met yesterday. They were again drinking and smoking in the park again. When they saw Lilibeth they started to tease her. Lilibeth kept her head down ignoring the boys. She had to find a phone and quickly before her so called brothers and father found out she was missing and sent people to come and get her.

"Oi bitch, don't ignore me" one of the group yelled at her but Lilibeth didn't react. This seemed to anger the guy who pushed Lilibeth knocking her to the ground. "I'm talking to you bitch" the guy said kicking into Lilibeth's stomach before she could curl herself up. Lilibeth started to cough, the kick was stronger then any her mum had given her and she already given her bruises which hadn't fully healed. Another guy picked Lilibeth up by the hair so she was face to face with the guy that was talking. Lilibeth didn't make a sound, she had perfected the art of keeping quiet long ago.

Lex, Leo and Zac pulled up at the park thinking that Lilibeth might be there as that was the only place she had been since arriving. Lex saw the guys he drank and smoked with beating someone and got a bad feeling. Lex tapped Leo on the shoulder pointing to the guys and they both slowly made there way over to the group.

The guy who was yelling at Lilibeth punched her in the side of the head when she refused to answer his questions just as Lex and Leo were close enough to see what was happening. "Hey" Lex screamed when he saw who they were beating up and took off in a run towards them all. Zac heard the screaming and ran towards them all too. The guy holding Lilibeth, was tackled to the ground, dropping Lilibeth in the process causing her to land on her arm. She couldn't hold the blood curdling scream and let it out. She was in pain again. The guy had knocked her shoulder out of the socket sending excruciating pain through her body.