She waited until the building was quiet and left. For the next several days she used small amounts of money from odd errands to buy food and bus rides. She stayed in public places and tried to remain unnoticed. Once, while washing her face at a gas station sink, she discovered someone had taken the last photograph from the outside pocket of her backpack. She sat on the floor beside a vending machine for almost an hour afterward, unable to explain why losing a piece of paper hurt worse than missing supper.
"I wasn't trying to disappear forever," she told Lucy. "I was trying to get somewhere I knew somebody would recognize him." Lucy looked at the napkin inside its folder. "And you remembered the garage."
"He made me memorize the name," Sky replied. "He said there were places a person could go where people remembered what a promise meant." She looked toward the men moving around the workshop. "I didn't know if the place would still be here."
Lucy felt an impulse to tell her that everything would be all right, but the phrase seemed insulting after what the child had described. Instead she asked for permission to make copies of the documents and offered to help retrieve the missing tag through proper channels. She explained that a youth worker and legal advocate might be able to secure Sky's personal property and review complaints about the residence. Sky listened with the wary attention she gave every adult who used words like review and procedure. "Will I have to go back there today?" she asked.
"I don't know yet," Lucy admitted. "What I do know is that we can tell people clearly why you're afraid, and we can ask that you speak to someone who does not work for that home." Sky turned the folder over in her hands. It was not the absolute promise she had hoped for, but it was the first answer that did not sound rehearsed. When she finally nodded, Lucy knew it meant more than agreement. It meant the girl was considering the possibility that an adult could tell the truth about uncertainty and still be trusted.
By midmorning a county youth worker named Natalie Brooks arrived at the garage. She wore plain clothes, carried identification that Lucy checked, and asked to meet Sky privately with Lucy nearby if Sky preferred. Sky chose to have Lucy present but asked Gregory to remain outside. Natalie listened for nearly an hour, took notes, and did not interrupt when the girl described the group home. At the end, she explained that an allegation did not automatically establish every fact, but it did require review and an immediate decision about safe placement.
Natalie arranged a temporary approved respite placement with a local family known to the youth services program while an emergency review could be scheduled. Sky's face fell at the thought of leaving the garage, and Gregory, when he heard, felt a flash of the old fury