"Aaahfff!" Sarah screamed and bent down to bear the pain she felt in her lower abdomen resulting from the punch... With her left hand still on her stomach, she stood erect again and punched him back very hard on his jaw, so hard he bleed.
"Ahhh, she punched me in the face!" The boy screamed placing his hand on his jaw and whilst not that he was also bleeding in his nostrils already. Sarah also screamed at the same time she blow him on his face because she felt the pain after the impact, and the boy was going to fight her for that, but Jack was quick enough to come in-between the two of them.
"Stop... Stop it, both of you!" Jack pleaded while pushing them away from each other to avoid more conflict.
"I'm going to deal with her!" The boy kept ranting but Jack resisted him strongly that he was unable to lay his hands on Sarah again.
"How much is this worth." Jack asked the boy to make him stop struggling to take revenge and the minute he heard that, he calmed himself down and looked up for the first time to see the face of the man who came in between him and Sarah. When he saw Jack, he quickly accessed his worth from his looks to know that he must be a very rich man, and without thinking twice, he declared,
"Fifty dollar, sir."
"You lair and a crook! Sir, this isn't up to fifty dollar. If you doubt me, let's go back to the shop and ask his boss how much this is sold for." Sarah sputtered hurriedly out of anger that he punched her stomach despite taking her revenge.
"Yes, let's go back and see who goes begging!" He lowered his eyebrows and gnashed his teeth and with his fist held tightly in anger to still stroke her.
"Shhhh, both of you. Here, take. Now go back to your shop, and do not call her a thief again. Take that as a payment for the product she took from you." Jack half ranted while facing the little boy after he had shushed the both of them. When he left, Jack took Sarah by the hand and went straight to his car even while hearing her whine, he did not care to let her go off his grip.
"Please sir, leave me alone. Thank you for paying up and saving my ass back there but please let me go. I do not want to go with you, I do not want to live with your family sir." She kept pleading and whining until he put her in the car and shut the door.
"Hey, listen. You can not survive out here on your own! Don't you understand? This place is not safe for you and my conscience can not let me see the daughter of my good friend wandering around the entire city without a home and a means of survival and I fold my arms and do nothing. Like it or not, you are coming home with me. Now put on your seatbelt." Jack scolded in a harsh and rough sounding manner but was still caring like a father to her she did not know when she echoed the words from her lips, saying,
"Yes uncle." Her voice was dim and mournful as she turned her neck to see the location of the seatbelts she was to pull out.
"Hey, sorry I yelled at you but I want to help you because I love you already and I care about you. You do not have to worry about my wife and daughters, if they do not like you, be rest assured that I will. And remember this that one person who loves you is worth more than a thousand people who are against you, alright?" Jack said softly and fondly of kind words and affection she almost felt like crying but sniffled and replied,
"Alright sir."
Jack started the car engines and tapped her on her hair before handling the wheels of the car, saying,
"That's my girl! You can call me father if you want to, or you can stick with uncle or Jack, I don't mind. All I know is that we are both family now and I am so proud of you, never forget that." Jack said affectionately before driving out of the road side, along the market place where he picked her up. She did not say a word after that, but was at peace to both trust him and to go with him to wherever he was taking her to because she herself needed someone in her life after much considerations and thinking jealously about other children she saw in her wandering around the streets who had their parents take care of them and bought whatever it is they needed — just as the other kind woman did to her son whom she purchased ice cream for, who also bought her one.
"This is your room. You can tell me if you need anything instead of stealing something okay." Jack instructed as he opened the door to one of the rooms in his mansion which he build right there in switzerland. She walked in and kept admiring the place but felt lonely even when Jack was still with her. She felt lonely because the entire house reminded her of her dad and of her elder brother, she wished to they were both around to talk with her.
"I won't steal anything again, Jack. I promise. I am not a thief." She half sobbed as she turned to look at him who stood at the door after processing in her head what he just said, for she had thought more about her brother and father than she has listened to what he said when he likened her character to that of a thief simply because she stole something twice.
"Sorry about that. I should not have said that." He apologized. Sarah stared at him for a moment and saw the sincerity in his eyes when he tendered his apologies and so felt she should not be hard on him, after all, he had seen her take the meal belonging to his daughters and what was not hers from the market place where he picked her up from. She shook her head once and said,
"Nevermind, Jack. After all, I earned it." She said and brought her face down in shame. He noticed and quickly squatted down right in front of her, and with a musing heart, he muttered,
"No, Sarah. Don't you ever say that to yourself. You know what you deserve? You deserve better, you deserve to be trained in school and I will do just that. I will take you to one of the bed schools in the country and I will ensure that you graduate. Only promise me you will be a good girl and stand out to be the best. Let's keep your past between us, okay." After he was done comforting her with words of unfailing promises to encourage her, he embraced her for some time and looked right into her eyes.
"Thank you, Jack." She said in just a whisper as she nodded her head.
"Honey, you are back already!" Rose's voice came from behind the door before she showed up. Her eyes first came in contact with Sarah's before Jack could turn to look at her. She smiled mischievously at Sarah the minute she set her eyes on the little girl before maintaining a happy look make sure Jack did not see her angry facial expressions. She was definitely pissed off to see the little girl in her house.
"Oh, yes, Rose. I went to pick her up from the hospital. Luckily she was found to be safe and a few more dressing of the wound was done on her left leg before I returned home. What about my girls? Where are they?" Jack said hastily as he rose up on his feet and walked up to meet Rose.
"They are doing great and are downstairs. Good to have her back." She sputtered and half rumbled when she emphasized about Sarah's presence as she walked away from the door to go down stairs again.
"Yes, thanks. I believe you are going to love her too, she is a sweet girl and please tell me we have something prepared already for supper because I am starving and I know everyone else must be..." Jack sputtered romantically as he went away with her, only the echoes of a part of his words which he said to his wife was heard in the room and Sarah knew they were planning of eating something for the night as she walked towards to door and closed it by herself. She turned around and took a deep breath, then exhaled very hard, before walking up to sit on the large single bed in her room. She picked up a brown teddy bear which was on the bed and embraced it tightly while taking a little more time to grieve over her lost family and feeling how empty her world has become without anyone of her family around to take care of her.
I wish you were here dad...
Those were the thoughts in her musing heart all through the time she sat down there feeling sober and emotionally drained out until she heard a knock on the door.