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Mr. Edwards, Charles, and Laura make their way back down the mountain and back to the horses. Charles, still holding Laura, carefully climbs on to his horse and clicks his tongue to get the horse moving.
"Hey, uh, Charles?" Mr. Edwards asks softly, to not disturb Laura. "You two gon' be alright?"
"She just needs some food and some rest." Charles nods. "Thank you for coming with me, Isaiah. Thanks for all your help."
"It was nothing." he says. "I'm just glad Halfpint's alright."
Charles looks down at the little girl, who is now sleeping in his arms. He's still trying to wrap his head around why she did what she did, why she thought that he loved Charles more than her. His heart drops to his stomach knowing that if he just spent a little more time with her, she wouldn't have thought so lowly of herself and thought they'd be better off without her. God, how could she think that they would be alright without her? He holds her closer as he clicks his tongue again to get the horse to go faster.
Back in the little house, Mary wipes Carrie's mouth and picks her up out of her highchair. Mary then turns to Caroline, who is refolding laundry in her room.
"Ma, I can take Carrie outside for a while if you need a minute."
Caroline looks up to her, her face red and eyes glistening telling Mary she was still attempting to hide her fear and sadness, places the shirt she was folding down and clears her throat, "Yes, that'd be fine. It's quite a nice day out."
Mary sees the tears trying to escape her mother’s eyes but just nods. As she starts to take Carrie out into the yard, Carrie tugs at her dress.
"Mary, when's Laura coming back?" she asks looking up at her.
Mary hears Caroline cup a hand to her mouth as an audible sob escapes, but she looks down to her and answers calmly. "Don't worry Carrie, Laura will be back in no time. In the meantime, how does playing outside with me and Jack sound?"
Carrie smiles and nods and Mary takes her hand to take her outside.
Mary, Carrie, and Jack start playing fetch with one of Jack's many sticks and Jack gets a good workout running back and forth, going back and forth between both girls to throw the stick until Carrie throws it and Jack runs right past it as the sound of horse feet clomping come within ear shot of Mary and Carrie.
Mary expects it to be her father, but she doesn't expect to see her sister with him. Without a second thought, Mary sprints back to the house and bursts through the front door to get her mother.
"Ma! Ma!" She says as she runs around to the bedroom where Caroline has given up on the laundry and has curled herself up on the bed. "Ma! Get up, Pa's back!"
Caroline sits up on the bed, missing the excitement on Mary's face. "Mary, I-"
"Ma!" Mary interrupts. "Laura's with him!"
"What?!" Caroline says, hopping out of bed, and rushes to the front door.
She stops at the front door to see Laura embracing Carrie and reaching her arm out to Mary as she runs to her. She sees how knotted her hair is, how torn and dirty her dress is, and how tired she looks, but she's back. After nearly four long days, Laura is home.
After reuniting with her sisters, Laura looks up to the house and sees her mother at the door. Caroline rushes to her, and embraces her tightly.
"Oh my baby!"
She sees the giant rip on her dress's arm. "Are you hurt?"
Laura shakes her head as she looks up at her and tries to speak, but her lips tremble as she begins to cry again, and she throws herself into Caroline's side.
"Oh Ma, I'm so sorry. All I wanted was to make things right because I was so mean to him. I don't mean anything I thought, really I don't. And then I thought you'd all be happier with him, a son, instead of me... I just didn't think you'd miss me if you had him back."
"Oh Laura!" Caroline says, tears now streaming down her face as the reality of what her daughter just said hits her, and she cups her face. "Didn't think we'd miss you? Laura, of course we’d miss you, nothing would be the same without you! I'm so sorry I made you feel less than your brother.”
"But you didn’t, Ma! I was jealous… I’ve never felt so mean in my whole life, and I shouldn’t have been. Not to him. I thought that if… if I tried to fix everything God would see me trying to be the good sister Charles deserved, and not the one I had been." Laura says as more tears begin falling down her cheeks. "I know I'm not supposed to ask for things from God, Ma, but I thought if he would just hear what I had to say he'd make a miracle happen."
"Your Pa finding you was the miracle, darling." Caroline says wiping Laura's tears. "God wants you to be with us."
"I know that now, Ma." Laura says. "Jonathan told me!"
Caroline quickly looks from Laura to Charles, confusion taking over her face, but Charles looks just as confused about Jonathan as she does.
"Jonathan? Who's Jonathan?"
"He’s the owner of the mountain I climbed! He took care of me, he made me food and helped me build shelter. God spoke to him a lot." she says looking from one parent to another, she turns back to Caroline. "He made me the cross Pa used to find me, I was washing myself in the river and the cord ripped sending down the river, I never thought I'd see it again."
Caroline finally notices the large crafted cross around her daughters neck with her name carved in it, but looks back up to Laura.
"Why don't we get you inside? Get you into a new dress and I can sew this one back up."
Laura nods as she tries to stifle a yawn, and Caroline pulls her closer as they walk back into the house.
“I can help her, Ma. Come on Laura.” Mary says, once they’re inside the house, wrapping an arm around her sister’s shoulder as they head to the ladder and she helps her up.
Caroline heaves a sigh of relief, Laura is safe and at home. She turns to look at Charles but realizes that he isn’t inside, walking outside she finds him still standing beside the horse they rode home on.
“Charles?” She asks walking over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
He turns around to face her, his face red with tears falling down his face.
“Oh Charles!” Caroline wipes the tears from his face as her vision starts to blur with her own.
”She thought we would be okay without her!” He says, meeting her eyes, more tears creeping into his eyes. “Caroline, she’s ten years old, how could she think something like that?!”
Caroline drops her head as she lets out a sob, “I don’t know.” she answers heartbroken.
"She climbed herself up a mountain, Caroline." he says taking a deep breath. "How did she even come up with a plan like that?"
“I… I don’t know!” she repeats, shaking her head.
"She's probably starving. She says that "Jonathan" fed her, but I was up there, Caroline, there was no one else up there. What could she have possibly eaten out there all by herself?"
“I’m sure there was…” she struggles to come up with a response. “You don’t think she starved herself up there, do you?”
Before Charles can say anything else, a voice calls out from behind them.
“Ma?”
They turn to the house to see Laura, with her hair in two neat braids and now in her brown dress, standing in the doorway.
”I…” she hesitates, biting her lip. “I was just wondering if you needed any help with supper.”
A grin wipes over Caroline’s face as she rushes to Laura, scoops her into the air and kisses her cheek.
“I would just love your help with supper, Laura!” Caroline answers, and Laura throws her arms around her as Caroline carries her inside.
She places her in front of the cutting board on the kitchen table, where Mary is already cutting vegetables and Carrie stands watching. Laura carefully picks up the bread knife and begins slicing the loaf.
As Charles comes to join them inside he closes the door, lights his pipe, and sits at the other end of the table. Mary finishes cutting the carrot and slides the diced vegetable into a bowl, turning her focus to the potatoes.
While she isn’t looking Carrie snatches a handful of the vegetable and giggles as she runs over to jump in to Charles's lap, which gets a laugh out of everyone, especially Laura. Something as silly as Carrie taking a handful of carrot brings back the joy of why Laura loves her family, and being a part of it.
She will never forget her brother, and truly wishes his fate had been different, but she is glad that God knew better than to grant her wish. For she now understands the lengths family would go for one another.