Chapter 5 - Safety With a Price
Emily hated the safest plan. Marianne drove her to an apartment in Manhattan, forty miles from the farmhouse and farther from the work that paid Emily’s college debt. An advocate helped her request no contact, but Emily refused to ask a judge to remove Travis from the property.
“If he’s barred from the farm, the hens lose the only person who knows the ventilation system.”
Marianne nearly said birds weren't worth her daughter’s life. She stopped because Emily had built the flock for ten years, and contempt would sound too much like Travis.
Marianne hired a relief manager for three days. The manager called within an hour. Travis would not open the gate. He claimed Emily had stolen passwords, abandoned the flock, and sent an intruder to damage equipment.
Emily tapped two fingers against her knee.
“What does that signal mean?” Marianne asked.
“Nothing anymore.”
She resigned as the farm’s consulting nutritionist, surrendering her salary and the health plan she might have challenged. She emailed safety instructions, though Travis could call that proof she remained responsible.
By evening, two church women had posted meal-train messages for Travis. No one mentioned Emily.
May you like
The advocate offered to move her again. Emily said no. “Running farther only makes his version look cleaner.”
That night she placed a chair beneath the apartment doorknob. Marianne slept on the floor outside her bedroom, close enough to hear her breathe but far enough not to make another decision for her.
