Redamancy ✷ Simon Riley

Chap 16)

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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧
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It was going to be Alba's first Halloween tomorrow and Poppy was going to miss the opportunity to be there on the day with her. She wasn't going to get the chance to dress her in an adorable outfit and spend precious time with her.

She felt exceedingly guilty but her mum Kirsty had reassured her that she would make the day memorable for her granddaughter. Plenty of pictures were promised to be taken and sent to the sergeant, which soothed her agonizing guilt.

Her daughter was only ten months old so she would not remember her first Halloween but it was still important to Dargie that Alba experienced the day and had fun with her nana.

She was undeniably lost in a labyrinth of a daydream inside her mind, wondering curiously what her mum would dress Alba up as for Halloween.

Poppy had noticeably relaxed from seeing armed narcos around the young boy in town. Simon had witnessed her lean back in her seat, freeing herself of the uneasiness that had washed over her like a vicious wave from the salty ocean.

Her shoulders were no longer tense with the weight of emotional perturb that had sat itself on her shoulders like the titan Atlas holding up the heavens.

She wasn't mercilessly throttling her index finger with a loose piece of thread she had nimbly picked from her top anymore. The grey thread had long since drifted to the floor of the jeep and camouflaged with the carpet floor, no longer being seen by the eye.

Simon flicked his gaze to their brushed-up knees and remembered when they were seventeen-year-olds on the sofa. When Poppy had her legs curled up underneath her while her head was laying on his shoulder. Her cold cheek buried into his clothed arm while he looked down at her face.

She had the same tranquil expression on her countenance as she did when they were seventeen.

The jeep they were occupying travelled over a bridge over the flowing river Alejandro had told them about. It was a wide stream of water that flowed gracefully over polished rocks below the surface. Boulders were sunken to the bottom, poking out the top like sharp icebergs.

Pine trees were crowded together in clusters while branches and twigs held hands with one another and spiky leaves pointed in every direction. Small insects crawled over bark-wrapped trees while dusty gravel paths curled and enveloped the woods.

Mountains embraced the village while distant trees stood tall and slender. Razor-sharp pebbles were crushed to grained dust under the weight of the three black jeeps driving over them. The wheels had chalky grit wedged between the crevices of the tires as the vehicle came to a halt on the road.