The tiny squirrel landed precisely in her waiting hands. Emma stroked its small jittering body and murmured soothingly until it stopped squeaking and squirming. It sat back on its haunches and gazed up at the large tree it had fallen from.
"You'll be right back home in just a moment," said Emma gently, and then looked around. Little Bronwyn was effortlessly dragging a carrot across the garden that was three times the size of herself, and Hugh and Millard were playing football in the distance. Enoch was watching her through one of the house's many windows but Abe was nowhere to be seen.
Determined not to let Enoch know of her troubles, Emma crouched down in the grass and placed the squirrel gently in her lap. It scuttled to her knees, pausing to sniff at the frills on her floating blue dress, and then slid down her legs to nibble at the buckles on her gothic shoes.
Emma alternated between playing with the baby squirrel and checking her wristwatch, making sure to do the latter quickly in case Enoch was still watching her. Abe had never been late before and his absence was unsettling. He had been becoming distant from her of late, quiet and withdrawn, but he had never forgotten to meet her under the tree until today.
At last, when Emma was almost unable to bear it any more, Abe emerged from the house with the coiled rope slung over his shoulder. Enoch's face disappeared from the window with a sour scowl. Emma scooped up the squirrel and arose to wait for Abe as he walked across the garden towards her. His head was down cast so that his black fringe fell across his face, hiding his eyes from her. The sun glinted off the watch strapped to his wrist.
"Hello," said Emma softly when he reached her.
Abe reached out to tuck a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear but didn't reply. Resigned, she lifted her arms and he methodically tied the rope around her waist. He gave the finished knot a hard tug and then, satisfied, knelt down in the grass to unbuckle her shoes. The moment her feet were released from their lead prisons, Emma began to rise into the air. Abe grabbed hold of the other end of the rope and held on tight.
"Ready, little one?" said Emma to the squirrel, who squeaked excitedly back at her.
She floated up among the branches and placed the baby squirrel back into the hollow of the tree. Abe began to reel her back in, hand over hand. To her surprise, when she reached the ground again, he kept pulling until she was pressed up against him. He wrapped his arms tight around her and buried his face in the waves of her hair. His heart was beating a quick tattoo against her cheek.
After a short time, Emma pulled back slightly so that she could float up, wrap her arms around his neck, and place a soft kiss on his lips. She pushed his fringe out of his eyes and studied his drawn face.
"What troubles you, my love?" she asked gently.
"Emma," he began, his voice rough. Frustration flashed in his piercing blue eyes as he struggled with the words. "Emma, I... I'm leaving."
"Leaving?"
"Leaving the house. Leaving the loop. Tonight."
Emma stared at him for a moment, stunned, and then began to pull away. He tried to grab her but she pushed him away and jammed her feet back into her lead shoes. She tore the rope from her waist and threw it at him, tears springing into her eyes.
"I don't understand. How could you do this?"
"Please, Emma, just listen to me," begged Abe. "I've spent a long time thinking about this and I'm not doing it lightly. I need to go and we both know it's not safe for you to leave too, but I can't sit here while the rest of the world fights this war and I can't keep hiding while entire loops are being killed. If I fight in the coerlfolc war I can learn far more than I ever could here. I'll grow stronger and help the peculiars fight the hollows. You know I'm the only one who can see the monsters."
"But how can you leave me? Don't I matter anymore?"
Emma was crying now, the tears flowing freely down her cheeks. Abe drew close to her again and tentatively took her hand. When she didn't resist, he twined his fingers through hers and used his free hand to wipe away her tears.
"Of course you matter, Emma. You know I love you and I will always love you, but I need to do this. I can leave this loop and make a difference, and then one day I'll come back to you."
"One day," repeated Emma with a small hiccup. "How old will you be then, Abe? Only twenty? Or thirty? Forty? Even older? What would you want with a sixteen-year-old girl then?"
"I won't be gone for too long," promised Abe. "Just a few years, and I'll find a way to write to you. I will come back for you, Emma, and then we can spend the rest of our lives together. I swear it."
Fresh tears fell from Emma's eyes. She reached up and kissed him deeply, pouring all her love into the kiss. She wanted to etch everything about him into her memory so it could never fade away: the way he tasted, the scent on his skin, the softness of his hair when she ran her hands through it, the exact shade of his blue eyes, the way his fingertips dug into her back when he pulled her even closer...
She had to hope that he would return, even if he had to travel through a thousand loops to find her again. She had to hope that he would hold fast to the love they had shared in this time and that such a love would be strong enough to carry him through however many years he was gone.
She could do nothing but hope.
