Caden left the tavern. He smiled and whistled the whole way home. As he approached the bakery, he was greeted by the warm, sweet smell of baking oats. His trip to the tavern gave him a new look on the town. He wondered why he felt such a strong desire to leave.
He walked into the warm kitchen. He looked around, Sam was eagerly working to fulfill all of the Kitchen duties. Caden looked around at the kitchen, it seemed empty. He turned to Sam. "Sam?" Caden asked. "Where's my father?"
Sam set down the dough she was working on. "I don't know how to tell you this," she said. "I've been trying to avoid it."
"What aren't you telling me?"
"When you left, your father was worried."
"I would have thought he'd be angry."
"No, I think he knew you were going to go," she said. "The next day, he packed up and went looking for you."
"What?"
"He said that if he didn't catch you by the time he reached Tinate, he would send word." Sam checked on the bread in the ovens. Caden helped her rotate the loafs. "I was worried when I didn't hear from him. But then you came home injured, and he was still gone."
"So what happened to him?"
"No one knows." Caden ran out the back door. "Caden, wait!" Sam called. She followed him out.
Outside, Caden ran into Rilyn sitting by the well. "When I heard about your father, I knew you'd try and do something stupid."
"I need to leave, Rilyn. You're not going to stop me." Caden walked to the stable.
Rilyn tripped Caden. He landed with his face in the mud. "You got lucky the last time. I really don't want you to come back to Erdon in a box next time."
Caden pushed himself up and knelt in front of the well. "What's your plan?"
"Give me one month. After that, we can set out again." Rilyn looked at Sam standing in the door. "Or you can leave..." Rilyn pointed at Sam. Caden looked back at her. "And maybe never come home."
