It's the next morning and Eva is in her bedroom. Eva is packing up what she believes are the essentials: the notebook her father wrote during his visit to Dyoxum, a cooking book, a few clothes and a bag of money.
Eva hears knocking on the door and Eva says for them to enter and it's Ashly. "Eva can I stay here for a bit?" Ashly asks "I want to spend as much time with you as possible, when we still are at home"
"Sure Ashly" Eva says "Just don't become clingy or else it will hurt more" she says as Ashly sits down on her bed "You have Sophie right?" Eva asked
"Yep" Ashly stands up and runs to her bedroom and grabs her doll. She returns "Right here safe with me"
"That's great Ashly, make sure to treat her as my replacement" Eva says "Just pretend alright, until you get used to me not being here anymore"
"Ok I understand that" Ashly says "You named her after all, so it'll be easier. Hey can Sophie keep your room?" Ashly asked
"Yeah sure, let her have it" Eva says smiling "I won't be here so I won't mind at all. Mom might not like it but until she reclaims it, it's Sophie's" Eva keeps packing up
Ashly just sat in Eva's bed watching Eva pack up and she hugged her. "Ashly you know that eventually you will have to grow up right?" Eva says "I know it sounds a bit overwhelming but it will happen soon. You will have to grow up as you won't stay this age forever."
"I know Eva" Ashly says "Mom has always told me about growing up and stuff. I'm excited really, I want to be able to do stuff by myself when I'm older" Ashly says as she stands up and grabs one of Eva's books
"That Ashly was the first novel I got from the library" Eva says "It's not as great as I remembered it, but it was what got me into reading. I'm glad I kept on ready" Eva grabs the book "If you want it you can read it but mom will return it to the library in a few more days"
For the rest of the day Ashly and Eva just have small talk. They spend their time together and Eva has never known how much she will miss Ashly. She has spend most of her years being annoyed by her. Eva since knowing that she will be gone, has started to notices how much she really likes Ashly. This makes her think that she should've been a better sister and not ignore her so much.
It's the next day and Eva has packed everything she needs. Paul decided to take another day off. He promised Aaron that this will be the last day off he will take for the rest of the year. Paul decided to borrow one of the wagons from Scott to have space for everyone to come with.
"Alright everyone" Paul says "We are all packed so let's hit the road" they all get in the wagon and Paul starts to ride the wagon. Emma is sitting next to Paul while Eva and Ashly are inside the wagon.
"Dad how long did it take you to get to Dyoxum?" Eva asked, "I just want to know"
"Well, it took me and Wilson about three hours" Paul says "We mostly tried to get there faster by forcing the horse to go at a faster pace, but the horse got tired quickly, and then we had to make a stop." Paul turns and sees Eva looking out at the plains "Eva we don't need to rush at all we can take it easy"
"Alright dad, I will wait longer if it means we can spend time more together" Eva says as Ashly hugs her "I'm so ready to experience life by myself, I can't wait to write letters to you guys"
"Yeah and make sure to make them interesting" Ashly says "Also have drawings as well, I want to see what you experience"
"Eva don't listen to her, it's more than enough with letters" Emma says as she grabs a bottle of water. "Make sure to drink enough water, I don't want you getting sick"
"Yeah I know mom, I will also try to not stay up late at night as well" Eva says as she holds Sophie "Ashly I will try to write to you all as much as I possibly can. I will think of the drawing part. Maybe I will do it but that's if I'm patient enough" Eva then gives Ashly the doll back
"Dad I will really miss Eva" Ashly says and Paul agrees "Can I leave with her as well if I grow up?" Ashly asks
"Uh…well…" Paul says "Yeah you can, but won't you also be leaving your old man feeling lonely" he says not wanting to imagine having both his daughters gone. "I can't stop you as you will turn into an adult, but it will be painful watching you leave as well"
Emma sees that Paul is trying to not get to emotional . "Yeah your father is right. I will also be sad the day you will have to leave" Emma says
——
Wilson is at work chopping a tree down. Wilson sees the two men Paul had ears dropped that one day. They seem to be talking again and Wilson decided to approach them "Hey fellas anything interesting you're talking about?"
The two men turn and look up at Wilson "Well yeah, we are talking about Arthur. He has yet to return" one of the men say "Some of the guys think he quit but we don't buy it" he continues "You also don't believe that right Wilson?"
"Well of course I don't, Arthur is not the type of guy to just disappear without telling us" Wilson says as he sits down next to them "What do you think happened to him?"
"Well" said the other guy "We heard a bit from some guy that Arthur left a letter for Aaron." The other man said "Apparently Aaron just got it today and it was written a while back" he says
"Why would he not send it immediately if he had it for so long?" Wilson asked "This doesn't feel like something Arthur would do"
"Well it's true" Aaron says, the three men stand up "Don't worry I won't be bothering you, but I couldn't help but overhear." Aaron shows them the letter "It was written about a month ago. Inside it is his suicide letter" the three men are shocked
"Suicide?" Said one of the men "But that's impossible, Arthur has always been open about himself"
"I know but that's not the weirdest part" Aaron says "His son said that apparently he was acting strange. Arthur was like a different person he said, he would spend more time alone and seemed paranoid" Aaron opens the letter "His son told us that he send it to me as soon as it was found a day before Arthur's body was found on a lake. It seems he drowned himself."
"Gosh that's terrible" Wilson says "But why now, why not send the letter when he found it?"
"That's the thing" Aaron said "He did send it to us a month ago, we just never got it" Aaron says "This is more of a recreation of the letter from the memory of his son. His son says that some of the stuff in the letter he has
forgotten, he seemed disappointed in himself that he couldn't remember the whole thing"
"So was the letter just lost, did the person who tried to give it to you forget or was it mixed with another?" said Wilson
"I don't know but I was also told by his son about a week ago that ashes from what seemed to be a cart was found burned. It was found on a hillside near the town, nobody knows who it belonged to"
Wilson then says "Thinking about it, Oliver went to visit that town. It was a week ago and he has yet to return, I don't want to say but" Wilson says "Maybe, just maybe Arthur was threatened by people. I know this sounds crazy, but just listen to me. The letter was gone, Arthur was paranoid, and Oliver is missing in the exact town that changed Arthur's behavior."
"Well Wilson" Aaron says "Gun shots were heard from a distance around that area" Wilson listens to those words, and starts thinking of the worst possible situations.
"Wait!" Wilson says "Paul and his family will be passing by that town soon. I'm not being crazy but maybe there are some bad people inside that town. Paul told me that he will be stopping by that town to visit Arthur." The four men all look serious "I need to go" Wilson says "I want to make sure they are ok" Wilson starts running
"ALRIGHT THEN!" Aaron yells "BE CAREFUL!"
Wilson starts rushing to his cart nervous that maybe they are in danger. He hopes that he is just being paranoid, but Paul told him that when he and the family will drive Eva to Dyoxum, Paul will give Arthur a quick visit to see if he is doing ok.