Chapter 3 Echoes of the Path

The next morning arrived quietly. A thin layer of mist clung to the fields behind Mrs. Lorna's house, blurring the horizon into something dreamlike. Emily stood at the back porch, her coat drawn tightly around her, watching as dawn peeled back the sky.

She had spent the night restlessly, her thoughts tangled in voices from the past - things she had said, things she had heard, and things she still didn't understand. Sleep had come in fragments, each dream a whisper of something left unresolved.

Mrs. Lorna was already in the garden, her hands deep in the soil.

"I thought you gave up growing in the cold months," Emily said, stepping down from the porch.

Lorna looked up, dirt smudging her cheek. "The ground sleeps, but it still breathes. You just have to listen differently."

Emily crouched beside her, letting her fingers brush over the cool earth. There was comfort in the rhythm of it - the quiet ritual of planting, turning, tending. Life, even in stillness.

"I saw her again," Emily murmured, after a while. "The girl by the chapel."

Mrs. Lorna didn't look surprised. "There's a new novice."

Emily's heart tensed. "Already?"

"She came not long after you left. They said she reminded them of someone. I suppose you left bigger footprints than you thought."

A bitter thought flickered in Emily's mind. Was she already being replaced? Or was this some sign - a torch passed before she was ready to let go of it?

Before she could ask more, the garden gate creaked open.

The girl stood there - the same one from yesterday - with a letter clutched tightly in her hand. Her dark curls were pulled back into a braid, her face framed by quiet curiosity and unshaken resolve.

"You're her," she said, voice soft but clear. "You're Emily."

Emily rose slowly. "And you are?"

"Lina," the girl said. "They told me about you. I wanted to see if it was true."

"What's true?"

"That someone left... and came back."

Emily and Lina stared at each other, separated by years and yet joined by something neither could name.

Lina stepped forward and held out the letter.

"It's from the mentor. For you."

Emily hesitated before taking it. The envelope was aged, the seal unfamiliar. Her fingers trembled slightly as she broke it open.

Emily,

Some journeys don't end where they're supposed to. And some returns are just beginnings wearing old shoes.

If you've found your way back, then your path isn't finished. Come to the clearing beneath the East Ridge, just before sundown.

I have something for you - and a warning.

-D.

Emily read the letter twice, then folded it carefully and tucked it into her coat.

"Who gave this to you?" she asked Lina.

"I didn't see him clearly," Lina replied. "Just a voice through the trees. But he knew you were coming. He said you'd understand the rest."

Mrs. Lorna rose behind them, brushing the dirt from her palms. Her expression was unreadable.

"The East Ridge," she said. "That place hasn't been visited in years."

"Maybe it's time," Emily said, eyes narrowing on the misty hills beyond.