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epilogue

Runa

It took around six days for the trap to fully wilt and die.

Meri held me through my grief despite the fact that Chewie showed no signs of pain or being anything but alive and well.

After that, it was another three weeks before another trap grew in its place, though just as she promised, it wasn’t only one, but two.

I was able to pay my debts off to Mabel with interest thanks to the Senator’s money.

I sent a little thank you note with it, but I’m sure she already knows everything she needs to know.

America and I spent the spring building her chicken coop so that by the time summer started, all the baby chicks could move from the bathroom tub to outside the cottage.

We were worried at first, unsure if we should keep them far from Chewie or if their presence was going to somehow ignite some sort of dormant hunting instinct in her.

They only made her more protective, the traps snapping in warning any time a fox appeared or a hawk so much as landed on a branch too close.

It’s been the most comforting part of it all, knowing that no matter what, she’s here to protect us.

The first nights were hard, despite Williams being gone, I still struggled with a lot of anxiety, a lot of fears that her father or someone else in his employment would come searching for us.

The feeling lessened daily, little by little, when I’d wake up and yet again, he had not come for us.

“I told you he wouldn’t,” The I told-you-so tone is only a mask to hide the sadness behind it.

His loss, I’ll love her exactly as she deserves and I’ll love her enough to make up for what he refused.

When we began to prepare for the next eclipse, there was no question about it, we drove back into town and picked out a few more plants to add to our garden.

A decision I’ll never regret as I look out of this cabin window and see Chewie happily existing with her plant friends.

The sundews and the butterworts sing in the morning to trick the birds into landing and the pitcher plants taunt the crows flying overhead.

They all have a little taste for blood, but, if you ask me, so do all of us.