Come Home

Chloe

"They don't usually come this close to civilization. Are you sure you saw a bear?"

"It's my first time seeing one in person so it might have been something else."

"Which direction did it go?"

"That way. Wait, where are you guys going?"

"Hannah's going to stay here. I'm going to make sure it was a bear."

"Why do I have to stay? I can take care of myself."

"Only one of us really needs to go and someone has to pay the bill. If I'm not back in twenty minutes I'll meet you guys at the house. Let Fredrick know what's up," he instructed on his way out the door. A few moments later, he disappeared into the woods across the street.

"Why is he chasing after a wild animal that could easily kill him?"

"Uh- the boys like to hunt." Her eyes brightened slightly at the end of her sentence, but she soon hid her face by rummaging through her purse.

"Oh, aren't there restrictions for that kind of thing?"

"Of course!" she replied a little to forcfially.

"Oh, okay."

"Sorry, that came out harsh. Um, do you want a tour of the town while we wait?"

"I shouldn't have questioned you guys. You're good honest people and wouldn't do anything bad on purpose. I would like a tour of the town though."

"I'll be right back then," she said with a gesture towards her wallet.

"Hey, how much do I owe you for brunch? And for staying at the house the past two days?" I asked when she returned to the table.

"Oh don't worry about it. You don't owe any of us a cent."

"Are you sure? I feel like I'm being an imposition."

"I'm positive and you're definitely not an imposition. Now lets go explore."

The town was mildly busy as we mosied down the sidewalk looking at all thirteen buildings. Everyone we met greeted Hannah and gave me curious looks on their way to whichever shop they were destined for. We didn't go inside any of them but we didn't have to. Only the mechanic's shop and the boutique were large enough to make it difficult to see the very back. Fifteen minutes later, she had shown me the entire town and had demonstrated how you could throw a rock from one end to the other with ease.

"I don't think Connor's going to meet us back here. Do you want to head back to the house?"

"Sure. How is Connor planning on getting back though? Isn't that a really far walk?" I asked, thinking about how the drive alone had taken thirty minutes.

"Fredrick will likely pick him up. Otherwise we'll probably see him sometime tomorrow."

"Is that normal? For one of you guys to just disappear into the woods overnight?"

"Yeah, it happens all the time."

"What if someone gets hurt? I haven't really seen any phones since I've got here so how would they get in contact with the house?"

"There's a phone in Fredrick's room but it's rarely used. We're all pretty capable of taking care of ourselves and emergencies like that are practically non-existent."

"So no one has disappeared before or anything like that? What about whatever happened to Connor yesterday? Wasn't that in the woods?"

"Yeah, but he's alright."