“I’m a pretty hands-on dad and make the most of my custody. I take care of my little one

whenever I can, and she determines what I can do and where I can do it.”

Sir Paul McCartney

When she looked back at her early days at the Hacienda, she realized that she must have been in shock at first. It took a few days before Quinn, now Pip, began acclimatizing to her new surroundings. After days of travelling, scarce, poor-quality food and little water,  Quinn went from heartbroken to homesick before noticing that her new home wasn’t as bad as she’d assumed it would be. She stopped crying and began noticing that it was warm, the air smelled fragrant, birds sang and no one was threatening to shoot her or beat her. 

The brand became an island of hurt in her mind that she soon learned to wall off. Thinking about it made it seem like she was experiencing her branding all over again and the pain could not diminish. 

She loved the dogs. She spent as much time with them as she could when she wasn’t a drudge in the kitchen. The kitchen was a marvel, she soon realized. Ezzy, the cook, was more than a cook. She seemed to be another mother. 

Ezzy was a large, woman, dark-skinned, heavy, but not fat and never without a smile for her. Before long, she was into everything. She had to know. Her curiosity was insatiable. It wasn’t long before Daro and Ezzy were talking about her. Just trying to keep her busy in the kitchen was becoming a chore as well as a distraction. Plus, where Pip was, the dogs wanted to be. Having Pip and six large dogs in the kitchen was hazardous, especially since Pip, without something to do that would take a long time, needed watching. 

Pip, according to Ezzy, needed a more formal education than she would get in the kitchen. She needed books. Maybe she needed a tutor too. No, to that as far as Daro was concerned. Books he was okay with. Get her books. They both took turns on the computer, looking to see what sort of books would be suitable. At the same time, it became apparent that if they were to keep her, they needed to know something about parenting a bright kid.

They started with a book titled, A Guide to Gifted Children. In it, they found accounts of traits they’d already seen in Pip. Explosive behaviour, restlessness and a tendency to subject both of them, then Pedro too, to unexpected pranks. She tied Daro to his chair with a piece of string through his belt loop. He never felt a thing until he went to get up and couldn’t. Not only couldn’t he get up, he couldn’t release himself either, until she untied him.

Anyone else would have felt his wrath. She glued his slippers to the floor, another time. Pedro got the same treatment at the same time. Soon she was taught how to do laundry. That was a case of unfortunate timing because she was learning to sew as well. She sewed his pant legs together. Another time, his underwear. He struggled in the dark both times trying to get them on.

In the meantime, he saw efficiencies in the way she did things. She evolved her processes. The first time she did something, it might be crude, but successive efforts became more efficient without her having to be told. Once she’d learned a task that was repetitious, she turned it into a game or a dance that looked like it was choreographed. She looked fluid. He wondered how far he could take this or should take this. He could see himself benefitting from her presence with many small things adding up to important efficiencies. He could also see trouble down the line when she fully understood what was going on here. It occurred to him that she brought joy to his life. He’d never thought about life that way. Once he understood that, there was no way he would consider giving her up.

The management of the trafficked girls was always a huge headache. If they weren’t properly sedated, they became restless and would fight amongst themselves over nothing. He’d stopped calling the little girl Quinn literally from the moment of impact. He liked calling her Pipsqueak or Pip for short. They were both English, but the equivalent in Spanish didn’t suit her. Despite her small stature, he could see that she would be a little powerhouse no matter how short she stayed. He could see that she was strong. She seemed far stronger for her size than should have been possible. He decided, without really facing the issue head-on, that he would consider her his daughter until he no longer could. In the meantime, he’d enjoy her while she was still malleable.

Ezzy fared no better. Her spoons went missing. Forks too. She found them later in the potting shed or in the gardens, where they were used as trowels that could fit her tiny hands when she was tending the gardens. Laundry soap was used to give the dogs bubble baths. Then the dogs needed special skin treatments to help them when they couldn’t stop scratching. When admonished by Daro for this, she gave him a verbal drubbing for not providing the proper coat conditioners for the dogs.

The next book they ordered was The Survival Guide for Parents of Gifted Children. With this book, Daro and Ezzy started to understand some of the complexities of what owning this child really meant. Daro started seriously considering reuniting the little girl with her parents. As he thought this through, he realized that Pip had added a dimension to his life he hadn’t known he was missing. She was making his life fun and interesting in ways that his dogs, not even six of them, could…

The boss spent every moment he could watching little Pip. He found he liked the way she moved. He liked her voice and how she spoke. He could see how considerate she was of other people and the dogs. They doted on her. He figured it would not be long before they switched loyalties from himself to her. He wasn’t sure whether to be troubled by that or not.

This all came to a head when she went missing. Daro experienced what Quinn’s parents had experienced the day they’d lost her. Ezzy called Pedro to send her back to the kitchen. Pedro told her he hadn’t seen Pip in hours. She called Daro next who also hadn’t seen her for hours. “Check the dogs,” he said, “and get back to me right away.” 

Fifteen minutes later, there was still no sign of Pip. Life at the Hacienda came to a halt. All of the staff searched everywhere they could think of. Yelling for her as they went. 

They finally stopped looking. The thought that she might have died somewhere on the property was causing even more distress. Daro decided they would comb the property from end to end. No small endeavour, his estate was fairly large and much of it included undisturbed jungle. Still, it had to be done. An hour later they found her. She was as black as the Ace of Spades. Covered in coal dust. When they found her, she was sliding down the huge pile of coal kept in a shed back in the trees where it was stored for use in the forge. When she heard them, she turned around, only visible in the gloom because of the whites of her eyes. She was coal black from head to foot. As angry as he was, Daro had to laugh, she was such a comical sight. 

Still, he couldn’t let her get away with this. He dragged her out of the coal shed. The staff gathered round. Everyone had been inconvenienced and worried on her account and he told her so. “Really?” she replied. “ It was fun. I was having fun. Why can’t I have fun? Besides, I don’t know how long I’ve been here. And anyway, my parents must feel the same way as you do, don’t you think?” She burst into tears. The tears washing down her face made her look so endearing after the tension of the search that he took her in his arms and hugged her to him to console her. His white shirt and trousers took a smearing they would never recover from. 

“You know, Pip,” he murmured into her ear, “If it were possible to return you to your parents, I’d do it. But the risk is just too great. Everyone here would be at risk and I owe them before you. Some time though, I’ll make it up to you. Can you believe that?”

She pulled back from his embrace and looked him in the eye thoughtfully. “Yes, I do believe you. I’m still here, and I love you. I can’t help it. We’re both stuck aren’t we?”

Daro laughed. He picked her up and spun around. “Yes, Pip, I’m stuck and I love you too. I will never let you be lost again. I promise you.”