CHAPTER TEN: THE ROAD BEYOND THE ORCHARD
The wagon reached the orchard wall after midnight.
Martha held the reins while Jonah checked the harness.
Elias arrived with his mother and a small bundle of clothes.
Ruth came behind them carrying bread wrapped in a clean cloth.
“The cook made this,” Ruth said.
“She said she had been saving flour for a day worth remembering.”
Elias thanked her.
A window opened on the upper floor of the house.
Adelaide stood behind the curtain with a candle in her hand.
She did not call out.
She did not attempt to stop them.
Elias climbed into the wagon and helped his mother settle beneath a blanket.
Jonah took the reins from Martha.
“We cannot promise an easy road,” Jonah said.
“I never expected one,” Elias replied.
The wagon rolled past the kiln where the old bricks lay scattered beneath the weeds.
Elias watched the ruined arch disappear behind the trees.
His mother held Hannah’s shoe in both hands.
“Do you think she will remember me?” she asked.
“I think she will remember the blue thread,” Elias said.
His mother smiled through her tears.
The wagon turned onto the north road and left the estate behind.
The End.
