Chapter 3: Tobias The Protector
Chapter 3: Tobias The Protector
Emmett quickly realized Tobias wasn't just another child.
He was carrying the weight of all nine.
He helped Adah walk.
He fixed the twins' torn dresses.
He made sure Samuel ate before everyone else.
One afternoon, Emmett found him repairing a broken fence instead of playing.
“You're thirteen,” Emmett said.
Tobias shrugged.
“Someone has to work.”
“You're a child.”
Tobias laughed bitterly.
“Not anymore.”
Emmett stared at him.
Because he recognized that look.
The same look he saw in the mirror after burying Alena.
A person who stopped living because they thought nobody else would survive.
That night, Emmett sat beside Tobias on the porch.
“You know something?”
“What?”
“You don't have to protect everyone alone anymore.”
Tobias said nothing.
May you like
But for the first time...
He believed someone might actually mean it.
