“I’m really glad you came home, Daddy.”

I closed my eyes and held on to her.

Those hours trapped on that transport had felt like the worst of my life, and the delay in reaching her sat on me for a long time afterward. But standing on the patio with my daughter breathing steadily against my shoulder, I understood what had actually come of it.

I hadn’t been able to stop what happened to her that night, and I will always carry that. What I had done was get home in time to make sure she was safe, and to make sure she would never have to stand out there alone again.

Inside, on a shelf in the hallway between her school certificates and the new family photographs, sat the small orange stuffed cat Mrs. McDaniel had brought over that night.

Chloe had kept it there ever since.

Nobody ever suggested putting it away.

THE END.