Tonsi raised her fingers and felt skin where hair used to be. Untouched by fire though the heat left her without brows.
Weebert came to her by midday. The morning had been a busy struggle. It was not easy placing all the bricks back together of what happened.
He sat in a wooden chair, shifting to get comfortable. A blank gaze on his face. Unable to look into his daughter's eyes that'd turned a darker shade of gray throughout the day. Nothing was said between them for twenty ticks. Weebert was never good with words, always allowing his guns to speak for him. And one day they would, but not on this day.
"They didn't feel a thing …"
Tonsi sniffled. She hadn't the courage to find his gray eyes neither, and it made it easier to fight back the emotions that wanted to pour out of her like tea from a kettle
"Phase two and a half—"
"How can you think about that now, father?" Tonsi's anger allowed her to glare upon him. He turned to keep his eyes shielded. "How can this be on your mind?"
Weebert reached for his rounded hat and removed it from his head. He always thought better when his hands had something to tinker with; he spun the hat nervously.
"We can not let this be a distraction against our purpose"
"Our purpose?" Tonsi sat up, allowing the silk blankets to slither down her chest; still in her dull white nightgown "Our family was your purpose … this work has become our chaos."
Weebert took a shallow breath, "your mother understood the consequences we could face—"
Tonsi felt the muscles above her eyes furrow. Weebert noticed her anger even without the brows.
"And that makes this ok? Was Brioni, Gwendi, and Hatti—" She swallowed her voice then recovered it once more. "Were they part of our purpose?"
The chair screeched as Weebert took to the window, staring out into the gloom that entrapped the city. He didn't want her to see him frail, she knew, though it would make her feel as though he wasn't deprived of emotion.
"There are many casualties in war, Tonsi. And sometimes, unfortunately, they hit close to home."
Tonsi could not be bought off with cheap words. She squeezed the silk into her palms. "This was not close to home, father — our home was the target — do you not see that, or has the blast done damage to your head?"
Weebert finally looked her way; he glared but at least his eyes were upon her. Face twisted due to remorse, guilt, and anger.
"You are upset with me, but it is you who've failed us, not I." Weebert stood with an awkward slant. "You have the power of foresight yet failed to see such an outcome."
What she believed was a gift for so many years now had become her curse in an instant. "Don't you do that … don't you dare put their ill fate upon my shoulders … my heart already feels heavy."
She could sense that he felt he'd wronged her, but Weebert was never known to admit such things. He lowered his head, slipping his rounded hat over the thinning blonde strands at the back of his head.
"I've have decided to proceed with phase two and a half without you. I believe this is the best course of action — your foresight has failed us — and I must keep you safe from harm."
Tonsi's mouth dropped though nothing came out.
"You will stay with your aunt Nireen and uncle Niruk Nebble during this time …"
"And what of the funeral?" Tonsi shook her head in disbelief. "Will there be none … will you not attend?"
"I've already spoken to them." He pinched his mustache. "They will do everything in my stead—"
"Father! You must be present if not for the last time." Tonsi was no longer angry, only hurt, her eyes and lips sunken as though they'd been buried. "Please. Don't leave them."
"I must …" He said somberly. "Time is of the most importance."
"And what is more important than your family?" She shook, baring her teeth. The tears that slipped down her cheek was as gray as the day. "What has you on the run?"
"I have told you," he slowly crept towards the door, "I must entertain Leslie Turnbuckle. If she can overthrow the Mayor then we can get the corodite we need--"
"Do you believe it was the Mayor who did this?"
Weebert halted at the door, hand on the knob. "I don't know. We had created your path. This maybe retaliation or a means to stop me from getting in the good graces of the former Sheriff. All I know is that I have put things in order—"
"Which things?" Tonsi demanded. "What have you done that would make her side with you?"
He hesitated then said, "Leslie's brother is everything to her and Kenneth Cornfeld was everything to his sister Janie. Janie has come into, well, an interesting position in Sundown City—" He pinched his golden mustache once more. "--Sheriff."
Tonsi couldn't feel her heart. "Father." She was nervous to ask. "Tell me you have not set evil upon Rynan."
"I'm sorry, Tonsi." The door squeaked open. "I had no other choice."
"No other choice, of what, exactly?"
He sighed. "Rynan Turnbuckle must atone for what he's done. And Leslie will be the only one who can help him." He hung in the doorway. Tonsi said nothing, much to his surprise. "You'll understand one day … for now, I must be off to Lone Creek."