Rolling with the punches

Chapter Six

A girl that appeared to be 13 or 14 appeared in the door, looking incredibly panicked, holding the little blonde boy that was with Kyler in her arms.

When she spotted us standing on the sidewalk she sighed in relief and relaxed visibly. She stomped over and grabbed Terri by the arm.

"Terri! What have I told you about talking to strangers, and you can't leave the house without me. You scared the crap out of me, don't you ever do that again!" she said, looking like she was on the verge of tears.

Terri reached up and patted the hand that was still attached to her arm and gave her a look that was way beyond her years and said, "Mirry, stop worrying, I didn't run on the road and Spikes my friend! Oh and so is Stella," she finished quickly.

I looked back at the girl Terri had called Mirry. She seemed to have deflated and was fighting a small smile.

"Ok Terri bear, its fine just don't do it again ok?" she said, releasing the grip she had on the little girls arm and bending down to look in her eyes. "Kay!" Terri replied happily. The older girl kissed her on the cheek, straightened up and looked at me, smiling apologetically. She reached out her hand and I took it.

"Hi, I'm Mira, sorry about that, she just scared me, you really can't trust this neighbourhood." she said, looking around warily. I chuckled and shook my head,

"No worries, I totally understand," I said, "I'm Stella, nice to meet you Mira," I smiled and she gladly returned it. "And who is this handsome devil?" I asked reaching out to tickle the adorable little boy.

"This is Harley," she said as he giggled and squirmed.

"Puppy!" he demanded in the cutest baby voice ever!

"Will your dog be ok if I put him down?" Mira asked me

"Oh ya, he's fine," I said and she set him down, watching him as he waddled over to spike.

"So why does Terri tell me you two are acquainted?" Mira questioned curiously.

"Oh well we met yesterday and I know Kyler from school," I said as normally as I could manage. Mira stiffened slightly when I said his name but corrected herself quickly.

"Really? He never mentioned you."

This didn't surprise me so I simply said, "Yeah, I wouldn't expect him to." she nodded.

We were talking about school when out of the corner of my eye I saw movement down the street. I turned my head to see a large black truck screech around the corner, going much to fast to be safe.

Another movement attracted my attention, this time it was closer to me. I looked into the street and horror filled me when I saw Harley tottering across it, chasing after a cat.

My mind seemed to detach from my body and the world slowed down.

I jumped into the street as the truck sped towards us, not making any effort to slow down or stop.

I got within range of the little boy as the truck got closer and closer.

I scooped him up in my arms and jumped, angling my body so I landed on my back instead of on him just as the truck reached us.

"HARLEY!" I heard Mira scream as we hit the ground hard, my feet hitting the ground first before back slammed down and my head banged on the edge of the opposite sidewalk. I groaned, closing my eyes.

"Terri, stay here, don't move." Mira ordered before I heard her footsteps approach us, she pulled Harley off me. "Stell are you ok?" I chuckled lightly, wincing from the pain in my head, opening my eyes and sitting up slowly.

"Yep, I'm fine, just a little bump on the head, no worries." I said with a wave of my hand, my voice slightly strained. She looked at me sceptically. "Seriously I'm fine" I confirmed.

She sighed and turned to Harley who was sitting on the sidewalk, looking kind of lost.

"Are you ok baby?" she asked him, picking him up and placing him on her lap. He nodded and she relaxed hugging him to her closely, then shifting her gaze to me.

"Thank you so much Stella, I can't believe I didn't see him, I feel horrible." she said gratefully. I stood up, dusted off my pants and looked down at her.

"It was no problem at all Mira, accidents happen, I'm just glad I could help." I answered sincerely, still slightly out of breath and in a fair amount of pain that I was hiding successfully. She nodded and stood up as well,

"Well thank you anyway." she said again, "Do you live around here?" she asked as we walked across the street.

"No I live about five minutes north of town, my sister lives just over there." I said pointing in the direction of Dana's house and picking up Spikes leash, grateful that he's such a good dog and didn't take off. "How old are you anyway?"

"I'm fourteen" Mira answered, walking over and taking Terri's hand, Harley was squirming in her arms but she didn't let him down.

I pulled at my phone and looked at the time, noticing that it was almost one thirty. "Well I really have to go, my sisters going to be home soon," I said. "It was nice meeting you Mira."

Terri pulled away from Mira and ran over to me, hugging my legs again; I picked her up and hugged her back.

"Thank you." she whispered. I smiled and put her down.

"Your welcome" I replied as she ran back to Mira. "See you guys." I waved and turned back down the road. When I turned the corner I plopped down on the ground, suddenly exhausted, my head aching intensely, all my energy gone thanks to my adrenaline rush.

I sighed and pulled myself off the ground, no matter how much it hurt or even how much it terrified me, it didn't matter because I had a feeling that family had been through way to much already.

MIRA'S P.O.V

I can't believe she did that...she could have been killed...could have been killed because of my stupid mistake! There is something truly amazing about a person that would risk there life for someone they just met. I thought to myself as the three of us trudged into the crap shack we called our house.

My body was shaking so badly i felt as though i would collapse, I really thought he was going to get hit buy that car....I didn't even see Stella, she got there so fast.

When we entered the house I realised that we hadn't ate lunch yet. Setting Harley down I went back to the door, looked both ways for anything suspicious and locked it behind me quickly before walking, almost robotically, to the kitchen.

I searched through the shabby cupboards and found four slices of bread and a juice box. I pulled them out and walked over to the fridge finding an almost empty container of butter and a small block of cheese. A sigh escaped my mouth when I realised that lunch wasn't going to happen for me.

After buttering the bread and slicing the cheese I placed the cheese in the bread, handed one to Terri and ripped the other one up into small pieces before placing it on a plate for Harley.

"You have to share the Juice box." I said, piercing the box with the straw in and handing it to Terri, who took a sip and gave it to Harley.

Once they were finished I had no energy left so I brought them to the medium sized bed room shared by all four of us so they could take a nap.

I placed Harley on one of the two single mattresses that were pressed up against either wall, covering him up and kissing his forehead.

Terri was sitting on the other mattress waiting patiently, I smiled sadly because a four year old shouldn't have that kind of patience.

I walked over and sat beside her; she crawled into my lap and snuggled into my side. I wrapped my arms around her, wishing it was enough to protect her from the world.

Moments later soft snores could be heard coming from the tiny angel in my lap, I sighed and wiped roughly at my watery eyes, laying her down gently in the bed, covering her up and exiting the room.