Chapter 18 - A Home on North Ridge
Five years passed.
North Ridge changed.
The cabin became a house.
The house gained a barn.
Creek House expanded into three buildings.
Ruth trained two younger women in midwifery.
Thomas opened a larger smithy.
Silver Creek grew.
Micah grew faster.
At five, he had Aayoka's eyes and Elias's stubbornness.
He loved horses.
He hated shoes.
He asked approximately four thousand questions each day.
One morning, Elias found him attempting to lift a saddle.
“No.”
“I can.”
“No.”
“I'm strong.”
“You're five.”
“Uncle Thomas says I'm strong.”
“Uncle Thomas is banned from giving advice.”
Micah crossed his arms.
Aayoka watched from the porch.
“He gets that expression from you.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Micah looked between them.
“Can I ride Bramble?”
“No,” both parents said.
Bramble, now aging and gray around the muzzle, seemed relieved.
That evening, another child joined them.
A daughter.
Aayoka named her Tala.
When Ruth delivered her, she lifted the newborn and deliberately held on tightly.
Elias noticed.
“You expecting her to grab you?”
Ruth laughed.
“I learned from the first one.”
Tala was smaller than Micah had been.
Her cry was softer.
Elias held her.
He looked toward Aayoka.
“You all right?”
“Tired.”
“Happy?”
She smiled.
“Yes.”
Outside, snow began falling across North Ridge.
Inside, Elias sat beside the woman he had once abandoned before sunrise.
May you like
Now he could not imagine leaving the room.
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