Wheeling Gull Isle Silence lay steadily

“Dunno. Think maybe everyone’s better off. Mom’s got a replacement family. Dinah’s got a new home. Simeon’s probably got both a’those at this point,” he glances down. It had occurred to him more than once that his family didn’t want to be reunited. Maybe they were happy where they were now, without him. 

Afterall, it was John who came for Heda’s leftover children. She probably couldn’t be bothered. Or maybe she’d forgotten altogether.

He huffs, too scared, or too stubborn to turn back. The man’s constant shadow, Judah wades through waist-high ferns and bellies on the shore beside him, taking large gulps of creek water into his mouth.