What We Trade Our Hearing For (a North and South Story)

22. Soul Meets Body

"Cause in my head there's a greyhound station

Where I send my thoughts to far off destinations

So they may have a chance of finding a place

where they're far more suited than here"

-Death Cab for Cutie

Maggie

She wasn't fully prepared for this moment, even though she'd witnessed her mother's steady decline over the last months. No child was ever prepared for the death of their parent. Finn was even more caught off guard. When he'd left home, his mother was young and vibrant, a brightness in his memory that kept him warm during the hard nights overseas. But now, suddenly, he was faced with the shell of the woman who had loved and raised him. It shook him to his core, pulling out emotions that he'd locked away for years.

There was nothing to be done except try to make these last minutes comfortable. Mary was a blessing, a woman with kindness and training to make the transition easier. The transfer from life to death was never an easy one, but Mary made it less difficult. And when Maria Hale was gone, at last, resting peacefully in that eternal sleep, Mary was able to help the family with the final arrangements.

Maria Hale died surrounded by the people she loved most; her children, her husband, and Dixie, her oldest friend. She did not die in the place she loved most, but in a place she merely tolerated, one she didn't get to experience to the full. Her son mourned that he hadn't come sooner, or that he had left at all. Her daughter was saddened that her mother would never see her children grown and settled as she had always wanted. Her husband regretted bringing her to this godforsaken place, believing himself to be the cause of her death. And her friend, she too blamed Mr. Hale for the death of her best friend.

Now that the business of dying was over, Maggie was most concerned about her brother. How they were going to get him back out of the country, to make sure no one saw him or recognized him. That was why, when Dixie came back from the store with a disturbing story, Maggie's anxiety was kicked into overdrive.

"I'm not sure how he recognized me so quickly, but I was just minding my own business when out of nowhere I heard someone calling my name," Dixie said, sitting in the kitchen and wringing her hands. "If I had my wits about me, I wouldn't have responded. Then I could have played it off as if he had the wrong person."

Maggie was gnawing on her lip, thinking hard. "And you're sure he knows about Finn?" She asked again, though Dixie had already explained the encounter several times.

Sighing, Dixie nodded. "It was a big story back home, in all the local newspapers. He asked specifically about your family. I don't think he bought my lie about visiting my sister." She stood up and started bustling around the kitchen. "He said he's engaged to a girl down here, some kind of fitness coach, one that works with some of the prominent families. I'm sure he's got his ear to the ground for gossip. Always was up to no good, that Leonard." She shook her head sadly, trying not to show how scared she really was.

Turning around, Maggie appeared to have made a decision. "That settles it. Finn has to go. Before the funeral. Has dad decided on any arrangements?"

"Mr. Bell is coming to help him get everything settled," Dixie responded with a hint of disdain.

Maggie nodded absently, already a million miles away planning her brother's escape. "Of course, Mr. Bell. But Finn needs to leave before he gets here. No one else needs to know he was ever here." She pushed off the window sill and went to talk to her brother.

John

Now that it was getting warmer, he'd started walking more when he couldn't sleep. It wasn't the safest practice, but John had stopped caring too much about his own safety over the past few months. It was a cloudless night, with a bright moon that made it almost seem like daytime, but late enough that there were few people on the streets. The news of Mrs. Hale's death had put out all thoughts of sleep, so John had wandered through the city, making it a good distance from home.