A moment of silence passed between them.
"You are up." Mrs Walter took a deep breath and yelled for her husband, "Darling! Come over here!"
The loud noise startled the young lady, who cautiously stared at Mrs Walter.
Who was the woman? She did not know.
But more than anything, the young lady could not tell if she was an evil person or a good one. She had been warned about the strangers.
Mrs Walter showed the desire to come near, causing the young lady to flinch. Mrs Walter halted where she was.
It had been three days since they brought the girl to their house.
Although there were no signs of any major injuries inflicted upon her but she remained unconscious. For the last three days, Mrs Walter had been beside her and taking good care of her.
Mrs Walter had known that the girl would be up eventually, but she was not sure how long it would take. She had even wished to call the doctor, but the bridge that had been destroyed in the storm made it difficult for anyone to get to the town.
The only option left was to wait. And finally, that wait was over.
"What happened?"
Mr Walter came from behind, and he too stopped finding the girl up. It would be an understatement to say that she looked terrified.
The young lady pushed herself to the corner.
Her eyes danced all around in search of anything that could be used as a shield...anything that she could use as a weapon to protect herself.
Noticing the state of the girl, Mrs Walter raised both her arms, trying to convince her that she was not there to harm her. "I am not going to hurt you, child." Her eyes softened as she sent a warm smile at her.
Even the soft tone did not help in pacifying her state.
They were complete strangers! How could she trust them? The girl leaned back even more.
A sign of helplessness washed over Mrs Walter. She stared back at her husband, who came to stand beside her.
"She is really scared. I will go out. You calm her down." Finishing his sentence, he moved out of the room.
Two days back, they learnt about a boat that was planning to illegally enter the country through the forest area of the town.
Unfortunately, before it could have even reached the shore, the storm destroyed the boat, causing almost all the people on board to drown in the sea. Except for a few, no one survived.
That, however, was not the disturbing thing.
Further research brought forward quite unexpected information.
There were bodies that were rescued from the sea, and there were also the bodies that took solace for eternity in the depths of the sea.
But all the people on board, apart from the sailor, were girls in their teens or the ones who had just crossed their teens.
Moreover, the boat was not a registered one.
The two girls who managed to survive gave the statement that they were being trafficked into the country. Mr Walter, being the mayor of the town,, went to oversee the situation of the girls before they were taken away by the central government.
The timing of the accident coincided well with the stranger they gave shelter to in their home. They now knew how this young lady reached the place where they found her.
Hence, they could understand the state the girl was in. It must be hard for her to trust anyone after what she went through. It was almost impossible!
The kinds of difficulties she had to suffer before all this caused a sharp ache to take birth in Mrs Walter's heart.
"Hey," Mrs Walter called out softly, "I know you might not trust me now. But if possible to force yourself to believe one last time, I promise to never let you regret that."
For a very unknown reason, Mrs Walter felt a deep connection with the girl.
There was just something about her that she even forced her husband not to let the officers take the girl with them. They had to arrange all the necessary papers and get them notarised in urgency,, all so that they could keep the girl with them until she recovered.
Definitely, it was only temporary because the officials would be back in a month to take the young lady back. In any case, Mrs Walter would be assured that the lady was stepping ahead with a sane and healthy mind and body.
Perhaps because she was a psychologist who had always aimed to help people live without the clutches of dark mind control. Or probably because she was a woman, reaching her fifties soon, and childless.
Maybe it was the yearning to cradle a child in her arms or nurture a lost soul as her own.
This was not just a mindless strike at a provided opportunity, it went deeper than that. Mrs Walter never felt such emotions before for any child,, even when she was the most desperate to be a mother.
The young lady did not say anything for a long while before slowly nodding her head.
Mrs Walter could see the young girl relaxing and took slow steps to her. Being very careful with her steps, she reached the girl. She patted her head gently.
The young lady resisted every bit of her urge to back away. She knew that the lady was not going to harm her; she could feel that. And if she were to show extreme reactions, she was afraid they would get unwanted curiosity about her.
That was the last thing she wanted right now. That's why she let the woman move the palm to her forehead and let it linger there longer than she wanted. "Your temperature is finally normal."
Mrs Walter knew the girl was still wary of her, but at least she had not fully isolated herself.
It was still a good sign.
"Are you feeling weakness or any other issue?"
The young lady did not reply.