The day's work finally done with the hanging of the dish towel, Nathan Errald re-settled at the kitchen table.  He still tried to digest what Garrick and Marissa told him of their trip and the subsequent Council meeting.  After dinner, Garrick beat a hasty retreat to the barn, not only to get out of doing dishes but to give the two of them time to talk.  The reason for the barn was also two-fold.  Even though there was an extra bedroom in the house, thin walls did nothing to promote privacy and his and Marissa's talk before they left town still played in both their minds. Distance would be a good thing, tonight.

"So what's on your mind to do, Missy?" Nathan asked his daughter.

After leaving Lucas, Marissa trudged back the way she came. Lucas's question and the subsequent lack of answer from either of them left her with a confused expression on her face.  That, along with the information they got from Jordan Quopol at the Council meeting left her in a quandry.  There was something about what Jordan said, and the book, and their experiences on the mountain that pulled at her. Something she should go take care of.  But on the other hand, there was her family and the farm...