Chapter 45

For a moment, I convinced myself I was at home with my Grandma. The smell of soup filled the air, thick with garlic, thyme and oregano. The tomato mixture invaded my senses and left me with the feeling of comfort and security. My Grandma's humming floated through the kitchen into the living room where I laid on the couch. The heat lingering in the California air warmed my skin, soothing my aching muscles.  

It was when I found the strength to open my eyes that I realized how wrong I was. I wasn't in California, and my Grandma was dead. The peaceful humming was coming from an old woman, whose hair was white as snow. She stood in the kitchen, stirring something in a large iron pot. The heat that danced along my skin was from the crackling fire, just a few feet in front of me. 

Horror flooded through me as I realized I had been naked when I was found, and that I now wore a long nightgown. A thick quilt was placed over my body, smelling of lavender and other