Truth

Once upon a time there were nine girls. They were all sisters, but were living in different homes. Only the youngest three still lived with their biological parents. Our story begins with Ally, the oldest of the nine girls. Ally was kidnapped by a cruel family when she was three. Her fake father John wanted to have a baby girl but his wife, Salva, got sick with Emesic fever. And so we begin.

It was a cold June night and Ally was outside swinging. Her real parents, Jacob and Ariel, were herding the sheep into the barn. John snuck up behind Ally and put his hand over her mouth. Then with his other hand he hit her head so hard it knocked her out. Then he quickly picked her up and snuck away.

When Ally’s real parents noticed she was gone they hurried to find her. They searched for Ally everywhere. They needed their daughter. Their second child would arrive any day now. They weren’t sure what to do. When they didn’t find Ally anywhere, Ariel broke into tears. Jacob tried to comfort her but it was no use they were going to have to move on. Jacob tried to get Ariel to focus on their next child but she was too sad. She was so sad that they were forced to put the child up for adoption.

After John took Ally away from her family, he hurried to get her to his house. He knew she might remember her real parents. But he had a plan. Finally he stumbled through the door only to have his five sons staring at him and the child he carried. He had already told his wife his plan and did not want his sons knowing it. “She is your sister and she always has been. You will not say or tell her otherwise. Got it?”

“Yes Sir,” the boys replied while John was setting Ally on the couch. Then they all gathered around to wait for her to wake up.

Finally Ally awoke and saw five boys and one man standing around her. At first she was scared but then she looked into one of the boys faces and he smiled. He looked so nice it calmed her down. But where was she and what was going on? John had seen her eyes open so he stepped forward and started saying “Hello Ally! I’m your father, John and these are your brothers Harry, Justin, Nate, Andrew, and Josh.”

Josh, she thought. He was the one who smiled at her. But wait this wasn’t her family! “You are not my family!” she screamed.

“Yes we are, Ally.” John replied. “Those people you were with kidnapped you when you were a baby. So welcome home! I should tell you Harry is seventeen, Justin is twelve, Nate is nine, Andrew or Andy as we call him is seven, and Josh is five but he’s a very strong five-year-old. He will carry you to your mother Salva. She will teach you everything she knows.” To Josh he said “Go on then, Josh.”

Josh walked over picked up Ally and carried her into a small, narrow hallway. Finally they arrived at a small room. A woman was lying in a bed with many layers on top. She had black hair, dark blue eyes, her skin was very pale, and she was also very small. “This is your mother, Salva. She will teach you to cook, clean, do the laundry, sew, and take care of your family”, said Josh. Then he set her down and whispered in her ear, “Be good, Ally. I’ll protect you as long as I am here.” Then he gently nudged Ally over to Salva.

Salva stared at her a moment then said to Josh, “Your father should have picked a stronger girl because in three years she’ll be the mother of this household.”

Josh stared at her and sighed, “She’s only three!”

“Yes and your only five! Now, she has lessons to learn. Off with you, Josh. Go help your father, now!” Salva cried.

Josh got up quickly and left the room. “Now,” Salva said in a much kinder tone, “we must get to work.” And so it went on, Ally learned how to clean, cook, do laundry, garden, and sew.
One day, three years later, while Ally was making dinner, Salva screamed. Everyone raced in front of Ally to Salva’s room. They all shoved Ally out of the way except Josh. Josh grabbed her hand and tugged her to Salva’s bedside.

“My dear, what is wrong?” John asked Salva.

“I am sorry but it is time for me to pass on,” Salva replied, “It is time for Ally to take over. I love you all so much!”

Ally could not help herself, she started to cry. Josh hugged her and held her. John stared at his wife.

“I love you so much, my family!” Salva said. “Don’t cry, Ally, don’t cry.”

“Who cares about that dumb child?” John exclaimed. “We need you! Don’t go!”

“Good-bye,” Salva breathed. That was her last breath. Ally cried harder and John pushed Josh away and punched Ally.

“Ally, get back to work!” screamed John, “Harry, plan a funeral, Justin, work in the field, Nate, go into town and sell the crops, Josh, clean the stable, and Andrew, go watch the…”

“Dad!” Andrew interrupted, “Just because mom said good-bye while she was looking at Ally does not mean she loves Ally more than you!”

“Just get moving!” John cried. He shoved all of his sons out of the room and beat up Ally. After he beat her, he shoved her out of the room to do her chores.

When Ally came out of the room, she was bruised and bloody. She was crying as soon as she got out of the room. She got to the kitchen and started trying to cook again but she was crying so hard she sunk to the floor and continued to cry into her dress. The beautiful white dress was now stained with Ally’s blood and tears. Andrew walked into the kitchen and heard Ally crying. “Are you okay?” he asked from the other side of the counter. Slowly he walked over to where he could see her.

“I’m fine,” she blubbered. He walked over to her.

“Don’t lie,” he sighed, “I won’t hurt you. It’s going to be okay, Ally.” He scooped her up, set her on the counter, and started cleaning her wounds. “Calm, down, Ally, Josh and I will take care of you,” he said truthfully.

Ally looked up at him through her tears and hugged him. He held her gently, then bandaged her up, and set her on the floor. She started cooking again. She felt better knowing Andrew and Josh would be there for her.

But the beatings continued throughout her childhood. Until the day before she turned twelve, she had an idea.
But the beatings continued throughout her childhood. Then the day before she turned twelve she had an idea. If he tries to beat me again I’ll threaten to leave him, she thought mischievously.

The next day she got up and got ready for the day. She started her chores and John came in to beat her as usual.

“Don’t take one step closer, John!” she shouted when he started cracking his knuckles. “If you ever touch me again I will leave.”

He stopped and stared at her then walked out to go to the town and get drunk, again. Ally sighed and finished getting breakfast ready.

“Andy, call your brothers for breakfast,” Ally said as Andrew walked in.

“Okay, but they’re our brothers, not just mine,” he replied.

“Oh, please, Andrew, they’re as much my brothers as a piece of grass!” exclaimed Ally.

Andy sighed and went to get his brothers. As soon as Ally was alone, she started to bake a small cake only for herself and Josh. She hoped Josh wouldn’t mind celebrating her birthday with her. She also hoped Nate, Justin, and Harry wouldn’t bother her. Those three were always mean to Ally. She mixed up the ingredients into a bowl. Then she dumped them into a round dish and placed them in the oven. Quickly, she set the table. The boys all rushed in and scarified down their breakfast, except Josh. Then Andy, Nate, Justin, and Harry left to attend to their chores. Josh was still there, though. Today was his day off. He was waiting for Ally to start eating. He always waited for Ally to start eating, on his days off. Finally Josh noticed that Ally had no new wounds from a beating.

“Are you okay, Ally?” he asked kindly.

“I’m great!” Ally replied in a voice much too cheerful for Ally.

“Did my dad beat you?” Josh asked quietly and carefully.

Ally sighed and asked, “No, why?”

“Ally, you and I both know the answer,” he said gravely.

Ally walked over and hugged him. “Josh, he’ll never beat me again or I’ll leave,” Ally said indefinitely while looking Josh in the eye.

“I’m sorry, Ally, I’m sorry I couldn’t stop him,” Josh said sadly but sweetly.

“It's okay, Josh,” Ally whispered and Josh scooped her up just like he did her first day in the house of nightmares, as Ally calls it. Ally blushed and looked away. Butterflies were in her stomach. She had noticed that over the years she had fallen in love with Josh, or at least had a big crush on him. Josh looked at her thoughtfully.

“We should go on a picnic,” Josh suggested, “It’s such a beautiful day. We could ride my horse to the meadow!”

“I’ll need to finish my chores first,” Ally said.

“Chores, smores, Ally I’ll take care of it and I’ll have you home in time to make dinner, please, Ally. I can already smell a cake!” Josh begged getting more excited by the second.

“My cake is in the oven,” Ally thought for a moment. “Fine, we can go on a picnic,” Ally decided. Josh smiled in a way that made Ally’s heart go crazy. Then, he set Ally down and got to work getting the food ready. Ally walked over to help, Josh.

“No, Ally,” Josh said, “eat breakfast and change into your summer dress. I don’t want you to overheat.” Ally did what she was told. When Ally got back into the small western style kitchen, the timer for the cake went off. She raced over and pulled it out of the oven and quickly wrapped it in a cloth, while trying not to burn her hands. Then she placed it in the picnic basket. Josh walked over to her and asked, “Are you ready to go?”

“Yes, I think so,” Ally replied, realizing that this would be the first time she has been outside since she was kidnapped. They took the basket out to the barn, so, they could saddle the horse.