Recovering sisters face new crisis

Brittany and Danielle Cann in January, 4 1/2 months after they were critically wounded and left for dead in an episode of domestic violence that killed their mother. (Jonathan Wiggs/ Globe Staff/ File)

EASTON - The family of two teenage girls who were shot in the head and left for dead last year has been caught in the nation's foreclosure crisis: The old farmhouse they rent here is scheduled to be sold at auction next month.

Danielle and Brittany Cann have been living with their father since being released from the hospital late last year after their mother's boyfriend shot them and their mother in the head in their Norton home. Their mother and their dog died in the attack. The boyfriend killed himself.

The Easton house - where the girls live with their father, stepmother, sister, stepsister, and two half-brothers - had been scheduled for auction yesterday, but word came shortly before bidding was to begin that the auction has been pushed back to Jan. 13.

Notice of the postponement capped a roller-coaster day that started with Melissa Cann scouring real estate ads for another place to live. She and Wayne Cann had learned that the house was in financial distress only the night before, when a friend alerted them to a local newspaper's account of the foreclosure of their home and two neighboring houses, both of which were sold at auction last week.

"We had no idea," Melissa Cann said. The Canns had learned in October that the house they have rented for almost four years was for sale, but had been told it would probably not be sold until spring or early summer, she added. "After the holidays, we were going to look."

Much remained unclear yesterday, including whether the owner, James Walsh, who could not be reached for comment, would be able to avoid foreclosure before Jan. 13 and, failing that, whether a new owner would evict the family. The auction was postponed because the mortgage is held by either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, both of which have declared a moratorium on foreclosures until next month, according to Rick Simon, spokesman for Countrywide, which services the mortgage.

Meanwhile, Wayne Cann said he and his wife will search for another place to live, preferably in Easton. "I don't want to uproot everybody," he said.

Looking at the girls yesterday, it was hard to imagine the trauma they suffered the night of Aug. 26, 2007. Last year at this time, neither had returned to school, and Danielle faced more surgery and still had a feeding tube. Now the operation is in the past, and she has regained the weight she lost after the shooting. Yesterday Brittany, 14, wore a red sweatshirt that had belonged to her mother. Both girls' hair has grown back.

"We're finally getting settled," said Danielle, 17.

Danielle and stepsister Erica Smart, 15, are hockey cheerleaders at Oliver Ames High School. Brittany expects to begin recreation league basketball this weekend and will play the Wicked Witch this month in the Norton Youth Theater's production of "The Wizard of Oz." Amanda Cann, 18, who was out of town when the shootings occurred, is thinking of college.

"They're miracles," their father said, "and they're doing very well."