Leah accepted this with a nod. The list of things that annoyed her about Alghren was long, but she felt a rush of gratitude for the show of discretion.
“Didn’t get that far,” Leah repeated, numbly. Because someone was there to save you before it was too late. She felt resentment gnawing at the back of her mind, but tamped it down in favor of a civil conversation. Or as civil as it could be right now, anyway.
“For your sake, I hope you’re right.” That was all there was to it. She didn’t want to see someone else go through what she went through. Not even Alghren.
At least they’d given the little girl things to do and play with at the facility. Inwardly, Leah hoped that Marigold wasn’t too attached to all of those things. She wanted as few remnants from the government facility as possible. Ossining had shops that sold things for younger children. All she had to do was visit those places and do a bit of looting. “Thanks,” she said, hoisting the pack onto her free shoulder.
Leah winced when Alghren explained what Marigold’s favorite story was. It was difficult to listen to someone else talk about the things her own daughter liked. “I’ll make sure to read it to her, thank you.” If Marigold wanted a stranger to read her stories, anyway. Part of Leah wanted to be angry at the rescue team for saddling her with a four-year-old she didn’t know… but she couldn’t feel justified in her anger because that four-year-old was her own daughter.
“I guess I should get her settled,” she said, then looked down at the little girl. “You’re probably tired after all the excitement,” she added, smoothing a few strands of hair out of Marigold’s face. Marigold nodded shyly, but said nothing.