The next two days of travel home were awkward between Mia and Seth. Although Grandpa only showed signs of stress when the topic of Trace came up, the girl could tell she'd damaged her relationship with her father in a severe way from the constant strain between them.
It hurt to see him look so wounded, as if her flight from home was a personal indictment on his parenting.
It wasn't, not really. In retrospect, if she'd waited a day or two to calm down, things might have gone differently. Different choices could have been made.
She'd been hurt by their silence, and so, she hadn't minded hurting them in return. The impulse was childish, even if borne from a need to find what had been lost in her memories.
Trotting towards home, she kept her horse directed towards the pull as she turned over the recovered memories in her mind for the first time since exiting the cave.
