Silas Kember's Arc

Chapter 4 of 10

The morning after the willow, Silas walked to the bakery with his satchel on his hip. The letters still weighed inside it. He wanted to give Vera something to mark this beginning. But all he owned were words and ink, and words had kept him silent for a year. He feared a letter would feel like hiding again. He stood at her door and found he did not know what to bring her instead. Vera was wiping flour from the counter when he came in. She smiled at him. Then the bell above the door rang a second time, and her smile fell. A broad man filled the doorway. His head was shaved. A burn scar ran along his jaw. A wedding ring hung on a chain against his chest. Silas had never seen him, but he saw Vera's hand grip the counter's edge. "Garret," she said. Her voice came out thin. So this was the husband. The one she had left a year ago. The one she thought she was done with. Garret stepped inside. He did not look at Silas. He looked only at Vera, soft and sure. "I sold the forge out east," he said. "I came back for you, Vera. I was wrong to let you go. I want the house. I want the family we talked about. A child. I want all of it, with you." The shop went still. Vera's eyes went to the ring on his chain, then away. She did not speak. Silas saw her mouth open and close. The old silence pulled at her, the same silence that had chained him for a year. He understood then what to bring her. Not a letter. Not ink. His voice, out loud, where everyone could hear. Silas stepped forward. His hands were empty of paper for the second time in his life. "She's not the woman who left you," he said. His voice did not shake. "She came back. She picked wildflowers at dawn. She stopped wearing the ring. She's starting over, and she's doing it with me." Garret turned. He looked at the scribe with ink stains on his fingers and measured him. "And who are you?" "Someone who finally says what he means." Silas looked at Vera. "You don't owe him an answer written out neat. Just say it out loud. Like you taught me to." Vera let go of the counter. She came around it and stood beside Silas. She faced Garret. "I'm not coming back," she said. "I'm happy. Take the ring off the chain, Garret. Bury it somewhere far from here." Garret's jaw worked. He looked at the two of them, then down at the ring. He turned and walked out. The bell rang once behind him. Vera took Silas's hand. But through the window he saw Garret stop in the lane, grip the chain, and not leave.