“Who?” Griffin shook his head, clamped his hand on Dawson’s shoulder. “When I first got here, I wasn’t sure this place was right for me. I felt trapped. Even like maybe I’d run away from the world. And then I realized that sometimes we need a time-out. From the world. From expectations. Even from ourselves.The people we’ve told ourselves we have to be instead of who we were made to be.”
“I’m not sure I know what you mean.”
“I mean that the world tells you that if you look inside, you’ll find yourself, and in doing that you’ll find peace. But peace doesn’t come from inside. It comes from knowing that you’re forgiven. Accepted. Safe. It’s about standing in that place of love and letting it set you free.” He lifted a hand to River reading to one of the children by the fire.
Sweet. And yes, this place felt ... well, he’d slept last night, all the way through, without his silly dog jerking him awake, so even Caspian felt it.
But he couldn’t hide from life. “I’m good, Griff. And I made a promise to Keely. So...” He held out his hand.
Griffin gripped it. “I’ll have River pack you guys a go bag. Keep the duds.”
Dawson headed upstairs to his room. He decided to leave his clothing. Why not? Then he knocked on Keely’s door.
No answer.
He opened it. Her bed lay mussed, her clothing on a pile in the chair.
Huh.
He went out and looked over the room below. Spotted Nance and Donald and Oliver, Griffin, and River talking, and a few other families.
No Keely.
And no Caspian.
Maybe she’d taken him outside.
He went back downstairs, grabbed his borrowed Sorels and parka, pulled on his hat, pocketed his gloves, and headed outside.
The sun barely bled through the clouds, the sky a deep gray, bruised around the edges as if it fought slumber. The wind had picked up, snow starting to billow.
Yeah, they had two hours max before everything went dark. “Keely!”
His voice hung on the wind a moment, then scurried away down the snowy main street. He whistled.
No Caspian, no bark.
Weird.
He spotted someone coming from the barn, one of the community members hauling a hay bale out to a wheelbarrow. He headed down to Landon, one of the guys who’d helped him off the ice. He had a couple of spry teenage boys who’d worked with them today on the generator. He lifted a hand. “Have you seen Keely?”
The man, late forties, shook his head.
Really weird.
Dawson headed back inside, stomping off his boots. Walked over to River and Griffin. “Have you seen Keely?”
River shook her head.
“She was trying to catch your dog.”
He turned at the voice, and Oliver stood there. “I saw her right before lunch, with Caspian.”
“Where?”
He shrugged. “She was going out to the field.”
Dawson looked at Griffin, who also frowned. “I’ll go with you.”
