About this story
That night you follow Mrs. Day and her three children onto a moonless cliff path, sensing something wrong before you can name it, and arrive only in time to see her throw the youngest into the tide. Fisherman Jim Hogan pulls you from the current after you dive in after the child, but dawn finds every searcher along the bay without a body.
How it opens
At eighteen, you trusted books, conscience, and the boundaries your father drew around temptation.
Caius's MotherThe road past Farmer Day's holding is lonely, so return before the tide covers the lower path.
Caius's FatherKeep to the path, son; another household's trouble is no academy lesson.
A public path does not require me to ignore children who look frightened beside it.
Mrs. Day watched from the yard while three silent children swung upon a broken gate.
Choose
Lift her, check for injury, and return her to the older girl.
Ask the children whether someone inside needs help.